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HISTOEY 


OF 


PORTAGE  COUNTY, 


OHIO. 


Containing  A  History  of  the  County,   its  Townships,  Towns, 
Villages,  Schools,  Churches,  Industries,  etc.;  Portraits  of 
Early  Settlers  and  Prominent  Men;  Biographies; 
History  of  the  Northwest  Territory;  His- 
tory OF  Ohio;  Statistical  and  Mis- 
cellaneous Matter,  ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLTJSTI^J^TEID. 


CHICAGO: 

WARNER,    BEERS    &    CO 

1885. 


o 


<2. 


CHICAGO:  ^   ») 

■  ^— y^"  John  Morris  Company  »'j^  < 
*•  ^ PRINTERS. Vv 


PREFACE. 


TN  submitting  the  Histor}'  of  Portage  County  to  the  public,  the  publishers 
-■-  trust  that  it  will  be  received  in  that  generous  spirit  which  is  gratified  at 
honest  and  conscientious  eftbrt.  The  impbrtance  of  rescuing  from  oblivion 
and  preserving,  in  a  permanent  form,  the  pioneer  annals  of  the  county  and 
its  various  local  communities  has  been  duly  appreciated  by  its  citizens, 
whose  assistance  has  contributed  materially  to  the  success  of  the  work. 

In  the  compilation  of  the  many  chapters  it  has  been  the  earnest 
endeavor  of  our  writers  to  disengage  from  the  great  mass  of  facts  those 
which  relate  to  the  permanent  forces  of  the  county,  or  which  indicate  the 
most  enduring  featiu'es  of  its  growth  and  prosperity.  Free  use  was  made 
of  the  State  reports  and  county  records,  as  well  as  of  all  reliable  sources  of 
information  bearing  on  the  history  of  this  section  of  Ohio,  such  as  Howe's 
"Historical  Collections,"  Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce's  sketches  of  the  first  set- 
tlements on  the  Western  Reserve,  Christian  Cackler's  reminiscences  of  pio- 
neer times,  the  late  John  Harmon's  recollections  of  the  war  of  1812,  Reid's 
"Ohio  in  the  War,"  and  the  early  newspaper  files  so  wisely  preserved  by 
Col.  William  Frazer,  and  now  in  possession  of  his  son  Homer  C.  Frazer,  Esq. , 
of  Ravenna,  who  kindly  gave  our  historians  free  access  to  said  files  at  all 
times.  In  every  part  of  the  county  descendants  of  the  pioneers  were  inter- 
viewed, and  their  recollections  carefully  sifted  and  compared.  Private 
papers  and  family  manuscripts  have  thus  been  drawn  forth  from  their  hiding 
places,  and  every  effort  made  to  glean  from  the  husks  of  tradition  the  scat- 
tered grains  of  truth. 

For  the  convenience  of  its  readers  the  book  is  divided  into  four  parts: 
Part  I  contains  a  condensed  history  of  the  Northwest  Territory.  Part  II,  a 
history  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  Part  III  embraces  the  general  history  of 
Portage  County,  its  townships,  towns  and  villages.  The  general  history 
of  the  county.  Chapters  I  to  XIII  inclusive,  was  written  by  Mr.  R,  C. 
Brown,  of  Chicago,  111.,  and  Chapters  XIY  to  XXXIV  inclusive  were  mostly 


iv  PREFACE. 

compiled  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Norris  of  the  same  city;  while  the  complimentary 
sketches  in  Part  IV  were  obtained  by  a  corps  of  solicitors,  and  a  copy  of 
each  sketch  submitted  for  correction  to  the  subject  or  his  friends,  on  whom 
we  have  depended  for  accuracy. 

The  publishers  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  to  thank  the  county, 
township,  town  and  village  officials,  the  editors  of  the  several  newspapers? 
and  the  members  of  every  profession  and  calling  throughout  the  county 
who  in  any  way  assisted  the  historians  in  their  labors,  for  their  generous 
sympathy  toward  the  enterprise.  Special  acknowledgments  are  due  to 
Enos  P.  Brainerd,  Esq.,  Homer  C.  Frazer,  Esq.,  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Esq., 
Hon.  Marvin  Kent  and  Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman,  all  of  whom  rendered  impor- 
tant aid  to  the  general  historian  and  his  assistants  in  gathering  authentic 
historical  data.  We  place  the  volume  in  the  hands  of  our  patrons  with  the 
belief  that  it  will  be  found  a  valuable  contribution  to  local  historical  liter- 
ature. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


CONTENTS. 


PAET  I. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 


PAGE. 

Geogiaiiliical  I'osition 17 

Early  Explorations 17 

Discovery  of  the  Ohio 2G 

English  Explorations  and  Settlements 28 


PAGE. 

Aiucrican  Settlements 53 

Division  of  the  Northwest  Territory 58 

Tecumseh  and  tlicWarof  1S12 Gl 

Black  Hawk  and  the  Black  Hawk  War (11 


PART  11. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO. 


History  of  Ohio ;...    7s 

French  History 7G 

Ordinance  of  1787,  No.  32 87 

Comments  upon  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  from  the 

Statutes  of   Ohio.     Edited    by   Salmon    P. 

C'hase,  and  Published  in  the  year  1833 91 

The  War  of  1812 107 

Banking Ill 

The  Canal  System 113 

Ohio  Land  Tracts 114 

Improvements 119 

State  Boundaries 121 


Organization  of  Counties 122 

Description  of  Counties 122 

Early  Events 122 

Governors  of  Ohio 143 

Ancient  Works 157 

Some  Genera!  Characteristics 160 

Outline  Geology  of  Ohio 1G2 

Ohio's  Rank  During  the  War  of  the  Kebelliou...  165 
A  Brief  Mention  of  Prominent  Oliio  (ienerals...  177 

Some  Discussed  Subjects 172 

Conclusion isi 


PART  III. 

HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


OHAPTEPt  I.— iNTROnucTORY  —  Organization  — 

Area  and  Population 187-197 

Primitive  Appearance  of  the  Country — 
The  Claims  of  Virginia  and  Connecticut— 
The  Connecticut  Western  Keserve — Dona- 
tion of  Fire  Lands,  and  Sale  of  the  Balance 
to  the  Connecticut  Land  Comi)any — Indian 
Titles  Extinguished — Ordinance  "of  1787— 
Arrival  of  the  First  Surveying  Corps  at 
Conueaut  —  The  Reserve  Surveyed  into 
Townships— Trials  and  Sulferings  of  the 
Surveyors— Erection  of  .lett'erson  and  Trum- 
bull Counties — Organization  of  Franklin 
Township— Portage  County  Erected,  and 
Selection  of  its  Seat  of  Justice— First  Elec- 
tion, and  Organization  of  the  County — 
Minutes  of  the  First  Meeting  of  the  Com- 
missioners —  Original  Townships  —  Tax 
Levies  and  Collectors  of  1808— First  Year's 
Receipts  and  Expenditures — Changes  in  the 
AVestern  Boundary  Line— Present  Bound- 
aries— Origin  of  the  Name  of  the  County — 
The  Portage  Path — Areas  and  Townships — 
Population  Statistics. 

CHAPTER     II.— Portage    County    Ninety 

Years  Ago— Geology 198-217 

Portage  County  Ninety  Years  Ago — Tim- 
ber and  Fruit-Bearing  Trees  and  Vines — 
Roots  and  Herbage — Wild  Animals,  Birds 
and  Reptiles — Big  Hunts — General  Topog- 
raphy, Streams  and  Lakes  —  Geology  of 
Portage  County — Surface  Features  and  De- 
posits— Geological  Structure — Coal  Measures 


— Coal  No.  1 — Coals  Nos.  3  and  4 — Fire  Cllay 
— Altitudes  in  Portage  County  above  Lake 
Erie. 

CHAPTER    III.— Archeology— Indian   His- 
tory  217-228 

The  Pre-llistoric  Races — Mound-Builders 
— Their  Great  Anti()uity— Occupation  of  the 
Country  —  The  Wonderful  Monuments 
Which  They  Left  Behind  Them — Some  Evi- 
dences of  TheirEx-istence  in  Portage  County 
-  -The  North  American  Indians — Their  j->up- 
posed  Origin— Brief  Sketch  of  Them- In- 
dians of  Portage  County — The  Great  Trail — 
— The  Indian  Chiefs  Bigson,  Stignish  and 
Big  Cayuga— Extracts  from  the  Reminis- 
cences of  Christian  Cackler  of  the  Indians 
of  this  Section. 

CHAPTER     IV.— Pioneers— First     Settle- 

HENT.s 228-240 

The  I'ioneers  of  Portage  County — Their 
Heroic  Perseverance  and  Privations— New 
England  Transplanted  on  the  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve— The  First  Settlement 
Made  Within  the  Limits  of  Portage  County 
—First  Settlers  of  Mantua,  Ravenna,  Auro- 
ra and  Atwater  Townships — Atwater  Hall, 
the  First  White  Child  Born  in  the  County- 
First  Settlers  of  Palmyra,  Dcerfield,  Nelson, 
Rootstown,  Randolph,  Sutfield,  Charles- 
town,  Hiram,  Franklin,  Shalersville,  Edin- 
burg,  Windham,  Paris,  Brimtield,  Freedom, 
Streetsboro  and  Garrettsville  Townships — 
The  Portage-Summit  Pioneer  Association. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER  v.— Pioneer  Days— Habits,  Cus- 
toms, ETC 241-260 

Pioneer  Days  and  Trials — Habitations  of 
the  First  Settlers — Furniture,  Food  and 
Medicine^ — Habits,  Labor  and  I)ress — Early 
Manners  and  Customs — Bees  and  Weddings 
— The  Hominy  lilock  and  Pioneer  Mills — 
Prices  of  Store  Goods  and  Produce — Items 
From  an  Old  Cash  Book — Mode  of  Livinfc — 
Churches  and  Schools — Period  of  the  War 
of  ]8r2^Prices  After  the  War — First  Crops 
Raised  in  the  County — Agricultural  Imple- 
ments of  the  Pioneers,  and  Subsequent  Im- 
provements Made  in  Them — Pioneer  Farm- 
ing— Cheese  and  Butter  Statistics  — First 
Stock  Brought  into  the  County — Stock  Sta- 
tistics Since  1840— Statistics  of  Wheat,  Corn, 
Oats  and  Hay— Total  Valuation  of  I'roperly 
by  Decades — Portage  County  Agricultural 
Societies — Portage  County  Horticultural 
Society. 

CHAPTER  VI.— Militia— War  of  1812 2G0-2S2 

First  Military  Organization  on  the  West- 
ern Reserve— War  of  1812  and  First  Call 
for  Volunteers — John  Harmon's  Recollec- 
tions of  the  War — Second  Regiment  Ohio 
Militia — Capt.  John  Campbell's  Company  of 
Volunteers — Camp  on  Barrel  Run — March 
to  Cleveland,  and  Embarkation  for  Lower 
Sandusky — Description  of  the  Trip  and  Ar- 
rival— Incidents  at  the  Fort,  and  Sickness 
Among  the  Soldiers — Departure  for  the 
River  Raisin — Hull's  Surrender — Start  for 
Maiden,  and  Arrival  at  That  Point— Pa- 
roled Prisoners— Return  Home  of  the  Sick 
and  Paroled  Men — Deaths  in  the  Command 
— Alarm  Caused  by  the  Surrender — Regi- 
mental Record  of  the  Second  Regiment — 
Response  to  a  Call  for  Troops  in  181-3. — Jlr. 
Harmon's  Concluding  Remarks— The  In- 
habitants of  Portage  County  Fear  an  Indian 
Invasion — Distresijing  Incident  of  the  War 
— Re-organization  of  the  Militia— Muster 
Days  and  Sham  Fights. 

CHAPTER  VII.— Internal lMPROVEMENTS.282-297 
Internal  Improvements— The  Great  In- 
dian Trail— Pioneer  Roads  of  Portage  Coun- 
ty— Mail  Facilities  and  I^etter  Postage — 
Stage  Routes  and  Drirers — Canals— Early 
Canal  Legislation— The  Ohio  Canal  Com- 
menced and  Completed— Pennsylvania  A 
Ohio  Canal  —  The  Efforts  Made  to 
Have  it  Built— Its  Construction  and  Com- 
pletion—First Boats  Arrive  at  Ravenna- 
Subsequent  Success  of  the  Enterprise- 
Causes  Which  Led  to  its  Abandonment— 
Railroads— Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh— Cleve- 
land A  ]\Iahoning  Valley— Atlantic  ct  Great 
AVestern— Cleveland,  Yonngstown  &  Pitts- 
burgh —  Connotton  Vallev  —  Pittsliurgh, 
Cleveland  &  Toledo— The  Proposed  Clinton 
Air  Line,  and  the  General  Railroad  Facili- 
ties of  the  County. 

CHAPTER  VIII.-Educational 207-309 

Education  in  Ohio— Lands  (jranted  for 
Educational  Purposes — Commissioners  of 
Schools  and  School  Lands  in  1822— The 
School  Lands  Sold  and  a  School  Fund  Estab- 
lished —  Pioneer  Schools,  Schoolhouses, 
Teachers  and  Books  in  Portage  County- 
How  Teachers  were  Employed  and  Paid— 
An  Amusing  Agreement— Growth  of  Edu- 
cation—Government and  Progress  of  Schools 
Prior  to  1851— Schools  for  Colored  Youth 
Established  —  Reorganization  of  Schools 
Under  the  Laws  of  1853— Present  Govern- 
ment of  Schools. 

CHAPTER  IX.— Official,  Political,  etc..309-327 
Public  Officers— Members  of  Congress- 
State  Senators— Territorial  and  State  Rep- 
resentatives —  County  Commissioners  — 
Treasurers— Clerks— Recorders-Auditors- 
Sheritls —  Coroners  —  Surveyors  —  Probate 
Judges— Seat  of  Justice  and  Public  Build- 
ings— Prison  Bounds- County  Infirmary- 
Political  Statistics  of  Portage  County — First 


Election  Held,  with  the  Names  of  the  Can- 
didates and  Voters  —  Gubernatorial  and 
Presidential  Vote. 

CHAPTER  X.— Judiciary— Medical 328-344 

The  Judiciary — Organization  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  in  Ohio,  and  its  Subse- 
quent Changes — Pioneer  Courts  of  Portage 
County — Sessions  of  1808-09,  and  the  Juries 
and  Trials  of  Those  Two  Years^Anecdotes 
of  Pioneer  Justice  in  This  County — Com- 
mon Pleas  Judges — Associate  Judges — Prose- 
cuting Attorneys — Riding  the  Circuit — I^io- 
ueer  Resident  and  Visiting  Lawyers — Brief 
Sketches  of  Leading  IMembers  of  the  Bench 
and  Bar — Present  Bar  of  Portage  County — 
The  Portage  County  Medical  Association. 

CHAPTER  XL— Noted  Criminal  Events..3  17-301 
The  Most  Noted  Criminal  Events  in  the 
History  of  Portage  County — Trials  and  Sen- 
tences of  the  Culprits— The  Alleged  Crime 
of  John  McManus— The  Murder  of  Mathews 
by  Aunghst — The  Muider  of  Cummings  by 
Harris — The  Murder  of  Catherine  McKisson 
by  Her  r>rother-in-l.aw,  David  McKisson — 
The  HeatbiuanMauslaugbterCase — Alanson 
Baldwin  Stabbed  to  Death  by  His  Nephew, 
Lemuel  W.  Price — Attempted  Killing  of 
Prentiss  by  Flower — The  Shorts-Wilson 
Shooting— The  Murder  of  John  Rhodeu- 
baugh  by  Jack  Cooper  and  Joel  Beery — 
Harriet  Musson  Murdered  by  Wilson  S. 
•  Roof — Shooting  of  Alfred  L.  Ilarris  by  His 
Father — The  "Kelso-Montague  Case — The 
Newell-Roberts  Atfair. 

CHAPTER  XII.— The  Press 362-372 

The  Newspapers  of  the  Past  and  Present 
— Ravenna  l'a|)ers — Western  Cotirier  and  the 
Western  Public  A<h:ertiser — Ohio  Star — Walch- 
miiTi^ /lackei/e  Democrat — Western  Reserve 
Cahinet  and  Fdiiiity  Visitor — Plain  Dealer — 
Porlai/R  Sentinel — Portage  Count ii  Whig,  and 
Home  Companion  and  Whi(t — Purtai/i-  Couitty 
Democrat,  Jiepuldican-Democral,  and  Ravenna 
Republican — Independent  Press  and  Reformer 
— Hickory  Hail  and  Fusion  T/iresher — Arfjus 
— Democratic  Press — Porlage  County  Rejiul>- 
lican — ^Kent  Newspapers — Proposed  Frunklin 
Gazette — The  Omnium  Gatherum  and  its 
Successors:  Tlie  Family  Visitor,  Literary 
Casket,  Cuyalioi/a.  Reporter,  Satuniaij  Reriew. 
Commercial  Bulletin,  Saturday  llidhtin,  and 
Kent  Saturday  lUdletin — Kent  iVeim  of  1807 — 
Present  Kent  Aews — Garrettsville  News- 
papers— Garrettsville  3IontIdy  Review — Gar- 
rettsville Journal  —  Home  Bazar  —  Atwater 
Newspapers — Sharp  Sickle — Atwater  News. 

CHAPTER  XIII.— War  of  the  Rebeli.ion..373-391 
Portage  County  in  tlio  Rebellion  —The 
Patriotic  Feeling  of  Her  People  at  the  Be- 
ginning of  the  Great  Struggle  for  National 
Life— Meetings  Held  to  Denounce  Treason 
and  to  Support  the  Government— Enroll- 
ment of  Volunteers  Under  the  President's 
First  Call,  and  Their  Departure  for  Camp 
Taylor — Good  Work  of  the  Relief  Commit- 
tees, and  Generosity  of  the  Citizens— The 
Number  of  Men  Sent  into  the  War  by  Each 
Township,  and  the  Commands  in  Which 
They  Served— Official  Roster  of  Commis- 
sioned Officers  from  this  County— Amount 
of  Money  Annually  I^xpended  for  War  Pur- 
poses by  Portage  County  from  1861  to  1805 
— Closing  Scenes  of  the  War— Public  I)em- 
onstrations  of  Great  Joy  Over  its  Glorious 
Termination— The  Rejoicings  of  the  People 
Suddenly  Turned  to  (irief  by  the  Assassin- 
ation of  President  Lincoln. 

CHAPTER  XIV.— Atwater  Township 392-399 

Arrival  of  Atwater  and  Others— Early 
Privations— Birth  of  First  Child— Another 
Lone  Settler — Organization — Marriages  and 
Deaths— Some  Old  and  New  Things— An 
Ancient  Musket  —  Early  Churches  and 
Preachers  —  Schools  —  Newspapers— Indus- 
tries, etc. — Officers  and  Statistics. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV.— Aurora  Township 400-405 

Ebenezer  Sheldon— First   Legal   Business 
— A  Lonely  Couple— A  Moilel  Pioneer  Wile 
— Other  Settlers— Early  Hardships— Organi- 
zation— The  Methodist  Circuit  Pvider— l-'irst 
Church  and  SchDols— First  Birth  and  Death 
and  Other  First  Things — Hunters  and  Hunt- 
ing Stories— Early  Facts— A  Small  Meeting 
with  Large  Results — Churches  and  Schools 
— Business,  etc. — Statistics. 
CHAPTER  XVL— Brimfield  Township.. ..40.5-411 
A     Many-named    Township— Equalizing 
Lands — Explorers  and  Settlers — Location  of 
tiie  Early  Pioneers — Organization  and  Pol- 
itics— Three  Clas.ses  of  First  Events — Educa- 
tion and  Religion — Business  Beginnings — 
Large  Shippers — Resources — Statistics. 
CHAPTER      XVII.  —  CiiARLESTOWN      Town- 
ship   412-415 

A  Hunter  Squatter — First  Permanent  Set- 
tler—The Blandlbrd  &  Granville  Co.— Post- 
Bellum  Settlers — Fifty-six  in  Four  Families 
— Leading  First  Events — First  Birth  and 
Marriage — First  Mills— Schools  and  (  hurches 
— Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin — Organization — Offi- 
cers, Business,  etc. 
CHAPTER  XVIIL— Deekfield  Town,ship.416-423 
Breaking  First  Ground — Settlers  of  ISOO 
— The  Elys,  Days  and  Divers — A  Trip  on  the 
Ma-um-ing  —  Hardships  and  Privations — 
Great  Increase — First  Military  Company — 
After  the  Organization — A  Kcmarkahle 
Family — Some  Early  Facts — Grant's  Tan- 
nery— Shooting  of  Diver — Hunters  and 
Hunting — Early  I'reachers  and  Churches — 
Schools,  Business  and  .Statistics. 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Edinbi-rg  Township 424-431 

Early  Settlement — Abbott  and  Chapman 
— Other  Pioneers — Rial  JIcArthur  and  R. 
M.  JIart — Some  Noted  Names — Organization 
and  Officers — The  Champion  llunt — Old 
Time  Adventures,  Facts  and  Social  JCvents — 
Churches  and  Schools — Edinbnrg  Center — 
]?usiness,  Resources  and  Statistics. 
CHAPTER    XX.— Franklin   Township  and 

Kent 431-452 

First  Settlement — The  Haymakers  —  A 
Primitive  Mill— Early  I'acts  and  Settlers — 
Contest  for  the  County  Seat — Low  I'rice  of 
Produce — First  Burying  Ground — Rceds- 
bury  —  Organization  —  First  Law  Suit — 
Cackler's  (ieese — Important  Primitive  In- 
dustries— Fine  Water-Power — The  Manu- 
facture of  Gla.ss — The  Twin  Villages  in  1.S27 — 
The  Rival  Taverns — Early  Merchants,  etc., 
etc.  —  Progress  of  Improvement  —  y^enas 
Kent — Franklin  Land  Company — The  Ca- 
nal Outrage — Franklin  &  Warren  Railroad 
— Incorporation  —  Increase  of  Business — 
Standing  Rock  Cemetery  —  Names,  Ages 
and  Iieaths  of  Some  Early  Settlers — .lohn 
Brown — Brady's  Leap — Primitive  Schools 
and  Religion — Sketches  of  the  Churches- 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons — Odd  Fellowship 
— other  Orders  and  Societies. 

CHAPTER  XXL— Freedom  Township 452-459 

Before  the  Organization — Charles  H. 
Paine,  the  First  Settler— A  Lone  Pioneer — 
More  Arrivals— First  Election — A  Thought- 
ful Veteran— Paul  Larkcom— A  Number  of 
First  Things— Churches  and  Schools- Hor- 
ace Greeley's  Uncle — The  Army  Hunt— Sad 
Death — Sagacity  of  a  Dog— Business  and  Sta- 
tistics. 
CHAPTER     XXII.— Garrettsville     To^VN- 

ship 459-400 

Arrival  of  Col.  John  Garrett— The  First 
Mill— Slow  Growth— The  Dual  (iovernment 
— Business,  Manufacturing,  etc. — The  Fair 
—Churches— Union  Schools— Masonic  Bo- 
dies—Odd Fellowship— Young  Meji's  Temper- 
ance Council — ( cood  Templars — Statistics. 

CHAP'I'Fi;  XXTIL— HiKAM  Township 460-475 

Who  was  the  First  Settler  .'—Honey  and 
Williams— Mason  and  Tilden— Other  Perma- 


PAOE. 

nent  Settlers — The  Youngs,Ben  jamin  Hinck- 
ley and  Samuel  Udall— Many  First  Events — 
Churches  and  Schools — Hiram  College — 
President  James  A.  Garfield — Organization 
and  Origin  of  Name— The  Mormons — Tar- 
ring and  Feathering  Smith  and  Rigdon — 
Rich  Land,  Beautiful  Location  and  Business. 

CHAPTER  XXIV.— Mantua  Township 47.5-485 

First  Settler  of  Portage  County — First 
Wheat — Amzi  Atwater — Elias  Harmon — 
Other  Settlers — Organization — First  Birth, 
Marriage  and  Death — Primitive  Industries 
— A  Peculiar  Character — Another  Queer 
One — Judge  Atwater's  Bear  Fight  -( 'hurches 
andSchools— Business,  Soil,  etc.— Mantua  Sta- 
tion— ^Mantua  Corners — Masonry — Statistics. 

CHAPTER  XXV.— Nelson  Township 480-494 

Coming  of  the  Pioneers — The  Mills  Broth- 
ers— Two     Lonesome    Families — Important 

Arrivals — Heads  of  Families  in  1815 — First 

Buildings — First  Arrivals  and  Departui-es^^^"^ 
Churches  and  Schools — Taverns,  Mills  and 
Roads — Fiat  Juslilia,  Ruat  Ccelum. — Exploits 
of  Capt.  Mills — Summary— Township  Offi- 
cers— The  Ledges — Statistics. 

CHAPTER  XXVL— Palmyra  Township 495-505 

The  Vanguard — Pioneer  Daniels — Capt. 
Baldwin,  Truman  Gilbert,  Artemus  Rug- 
gles— The  (ireat  Trail — A  Noted  Character 
— Pioneer  Dentistry— A  Famous  Trapper — 
An  Irate  F.  F.  V. — "Moses  Jabe"  Gilbert, 
the  Contractor — Numerous  First  Events — 
Preacher  and  Churches — Schools  and  Teach- 
ers— Organization — Palmyra  Center — Dia- 
mond— Coal  Banks — Business,  Societies  and 
Statistics. 

CHAPTER  XXVIL— Paris  Township 505-508 

Good  Land  with  a  Bad  Name — Slow  Set- 
tlement—Organization— Ch  u  r  c  h  e  s  and 
Schools — Some  First  Events — Notable  Hap- 
penings— McClintocksburg  and  Newport — 
Officers,  Business,  Resources  and  Statistics. 
CHAPTER XXVIII.— Randolph  TowNsniP.511-518 
First  Two  Settlers — Bela  Hubbard  and 
Salmon  Ward — The  Tide  Flows  On — Ward's 
Four  Trips — Oliver  Dickinson — First  Deaths, 
Births  and  .Alarriages — Initial  Industries — 
A  Few  Early  Facts— Organization  and  Offi- 
cers— Churches  and  School.s— Old  and  New 
Incidents — The  Hubbard  Squash — Randolph 
Fair — Underground  Railroad— Soil,  Streams 
and  Statistics. 
CHAPTER  XXIX.— Ravenna  Township  and 

City 518-544 

Original  Proprietors — The  Pioneers — First 
Cabin — Benjamin  Tappan — First  Birth  and 
Death— Primitive  Mills— The  Village  Site  in 
ISOG — A  Threshing  Machine — Laying  Out  of 
the  Village— First  I'.uilding— Old  Burying 
Ground — .Schools  and  Scholars — First  Court 
House  and  Jail— Recipe  for  Clearing  off 
Stumps— Two  Old  Structures — An  Incident 
of  1812 — Pen  Picture  of  Primitive  Ravenna 
— John  Brown's  l^'ather — Jesse  (irant's  Tan- 
nery— Some  Noted  Settlers — Some  Early 
Facts— Two  Notable  Raisings— First  Sun- 
day-School— Sundry  Items — Early  Merch- 
ants— A  School  Needed— First  School  Meet- 
ing— Growth  of  the  City— Incorporation — 
Industries— Banks  and  Banker.s — Pioneer 
Preachers  on  Religion — First  ^Congregation- 
al Church,  and  Rev.  C.  B.  Storrs- Methodist 
Episcopal  Church— Disciples  Church— Uni- 
versalist  Church — Church  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception— Episcopal  Church— Secret 
and  other  Societies— Statistics. 
CHAPTER  XXX. — Rootstown  Township..544-552 
The  First  Cabin— David  Root— A  Sad 
Death— First  Wheat  Crop- Nathan  Muzzy— 
A  Distillery— An  Alien  Justice— First  Birth 
— The  Chapmans— First  Frame  Structure- 
Mother  Ward— The  Fir.st  Criminal— Primi- 
tive Schools— The  Old  Grave-yard— Early 
Churches— Organ  ization  and  Officers— Noted 
Events— Soil,  Products  and  Statistics. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER     XXXI.— Shaleesville     Town- 
ship  552-557 

A  Pioneer  l-'amily— Early  Privations- 
Some  O'ther  Settlers— Three  Self-made  Men 
—Silas  Crocker,  Sylvester  Beecher,  David 
Mcintosh — Organization— Births,  Deaths 
and  Marria^'cs— Muzzy  and  His  Mill— I'irst 
Industries— Schools  and  Churches-War  llee- 
ord— Incidents  and  Facts— An  Aged  Land- 
Mark— Business— Resources-Statistics. 


CHAPTER    XXXII.  —  Streetsboeo     Town- 
ship  558- 

Rapid  Settlement  —  Some  AVell-known 
Names— Cleveland  &  Wellsville  Turnpike- 
Organization— No  Paupers  Wanted— I^arly 
Liberality  and  Enterprise— A  Few  First 
Events— Churches  and  Schools— Business, 
Officers,  etc.— Statistics. 


CHAPTER  X  X  X  ITI.—SuFFiELn  TowNsniP..563-5G7 
A  Fine  T(i\vnsliip--One  Lonely  Settler- 
Benjamin  Italdwiii,  and  the  "Baldwin" 
Apple— Other  Settlers— Honest  .John  Fritch 
—A  Noted  Hunter— Two  Organizations— A 
"Flustrated"  Justice— First  Mills,  Stores, 
etc.  —  Coming  of  the  Germans  —  First 
Churches  and  Schools— First  Birth  and 
Death— Mogadore—Suffleld  Center- A  Du- 
plex Town,  etc.— Statistics,  etc.— Business, 
Resources  and  Oiiicers. 
CHAPTER  XXXIV.— WiNniiAM  TowNSniP..5r)7-574 
The  Becket  Land  Company— The  March 
Westward— Some  ICaily  Settlors— Organiza- 
tion and  Officers — ( :hurches  and  I're.achors — 
Initial  Events  of  Interest— Primitive  Edu- 
cators—Building and  Enterprise— Business 
— Grand  Array— Township  Otticers— Statis- 
tics. 


PAKT  lY. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


Atwater  Township 

Aurora  Township 

Brimlield  Township 

Charlestown  Township 

Deerlicld  Township 

Edinlmi^  Township 

Franklin  Township 

Freedom /Township '1° 

(larrettsvillo Township 723 

Hiram  Township 741 

Mantua  Township 7o2 


577 
593 
601 
017 
G21 
r.:'.7 
R58 


Nelson  Township ;^'l 

I'almyra  Towushij) 777 

Paris  Township 7S2 

Randolph  Township 783 

Ravenna  Township S09 

Uootstown  Township 862 

Shalersville  Township 878 

Streetshoro  Township 885 

Suflield  Township ^^^ 

Windham  Township 911 


PORTRAITS. 


...  407 
...  541) 
....  418 
...  49S 
...  499 
,...  529 


Adams,  Horace,  SufBeld  Township 

Atwood,  .Toshua,  Freedom  Towusliip 

Bloomfield,  Lewis  M..  Kandolph  Townshii 

Boszor,  Henry,  Brimtield  Township 

Boszor,  Sarah  N.,  Brimlield  Township 

Brainerd,  E.  P.,  Ravenna  Township 

Carlton,  Peter,  Mantua  Township 376 

Carlton,  Clarissa,  Mantua  Township 377 

Clapp,  Selali  S.,  l''ranklin  Township 640 

Clapp,  Mrs.  Marv,  Franklin  Township 641 

Crocker,  Silas,  Siuilorsville  Township 334 

f^rocker,  Mrs.  Cynthia,  Slialersvillo  Township...  335 

Davidson,  .lames  F.,  Brimlield  Township 600 

Day,  Luther,  Ravenna  Township 81 

Dewey,  George,  Franklin  Township 438 

Dunn,  James,  Garrettsville 233 

Earl,  Ebenezer  W.,  Windham  Township 682 

Eggleston,  i  ien.  Nelson,  Aurora  Township 509 

Foster,  Jonathan,  Mantua  Township 254 

Fowler,  Heujamin,  Nelson  Township 540 

Fuller,  C.  C,  Nelson  Township 203 

Gartield,  Jaraes  A 47 

Garfield,  Mrs.  Lucrelia  R 213 

Gibbs,  Mason,  Deevllcld  Township 609 

Gorby,  Thomas,  Kandolpli  'I'owiiship 314 

Hart,  Reuben,  Ihimlield   I'owiisliip 569 

Hartzell,  John,  Deerlield  Township 662 

Hawley,  E.,  Paris  Township 651 

Haymaker,  J.  D.,  Franklin  Township 323 

Hill,  William  S.,  Streetshoro  Township 467 

Jennings,  P.  U.,  Mantua  Township 387 

Kent,  Marvin,  Franklin  Township 183 


Kent,  Zenas,  Franklin  Township 

King,  Joseph  D.,  Ravenna  Township 

Larkcoin,  A.  C,  Freedom  Township 

Lyman,  Judge  Darius,  Ravenna  Township- 
Norton,  James,  Garrettsville 

Ober.  R.  H.,  (iarret-tsvillo 

Pannelee,  Luther  II.,  Franklin  Township... 

Parsons,  Edward,  15rimfield  Township 

Paulus,  William,  Suffield  Township 

Plum,  Frederick,  Streetshoro  Township., 


Powers,  Dr.  A.  M.,  Rootstown  Township.. 
Price,  Dr.  Joseph,  Randolph  Township 


Ray,  Col.  C.  H.,  Mantua  Township. 

Reed,  C.  A.,  Ravenna  Township 

Russel,  Luther,  Streetshoro  Township 

Sawyer,  Oliver,  Brimlield   Township 

Sherman,  Dr.  A.  M..  Franklin  Township 

Smith,  E.  (".,  Garrettsville 

Spencer,  Oliver,  Aurora  Township 

Stilwell,  Barnet,  Brimtield  Township 

Stratton,  J.  B.,  Franklin  Township 

Strickland,  Willis,  Ravenna  Township 

Thompson,  R.  J.,  Ravenna  Township 

Tidball,  Dr.  A.H.,  Garrettsville 

Waggoner,  Dr.  Joseph,  Ravenna  Township 

Webb,  James,  Freedom   Township 

Wilson,  Samuel,  Suffield  Township 

AVoodard,  James,  Franklin  Township 

Woodbridge,  Mrs.  INlary  A.,  Ravenna  Township. 

Woodworth,  E.  S.,  Windham  Township 

Woodworth,  Thomas  J.,  Windham  Township.... 


115 
520 
731 
149 
203 
427 
303 
589 
398 
487 
620 
345 
691 
243 
478 
722 
223 
283 
711 
580 
029 
365 
671 
356 
294 
560 
702 
458 
.  273 
447 
,  194 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


^lap  of  Portage  County 13 

Population  of  the  Uiiiied  States 69 

Area  of  the  United  States 69 

Area  of  the  Principal  Countries  in  the  World...  09 


Population  of  Principal  Countries  in  the  World.    69 

Population  of  Ohio  by  Counties 70 

List  of  Ohio's  Governors 72 

Population  of  Portage  County  by  Townships 197 


...^ 


i  /^  p  @  w 


O  H  X  Q 


ff.5  W 


/?.Q  W 


^.7  w. 


/?.6  W. 


PART  I. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 


The  ITorthwest  Territory. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  POSITION. 

When  the  Northwestern  Territory  was  ceded  to  the  United  States 
by  Virginia  in  1784,  it  embraced  only  the  territory  lying  between  the 
Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers,  and  north  to  the  northern  limits  of  the 
United  States.  It  coincided  with  the  area  now  embraced  in  the  States 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  that  portion  of 
Minnesota  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  United 
States  itself  at  that  period  extended  no  farther  west  than  the  Mississippi 
River ;  but  by  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803,  the  western  boundary 
of  the  United  States  was  extended  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Northern  Pacific  Ocean.  The  new  territory  thus  added  to  the  National 
domain,  and  subsequently  opened  to  settlement,  has  been  called  the 
"  New  Northwest,"  in  contradistinction  from  the  old  "  Northwestern 
Territory." 

In  comparison  with  the  old  Northwest  this  is  a  territory  of  vast, 
magnitude.  It  includes  an  area  of  1,887,850  square  miles  ;  being  greater 
in  extent  than  the  united  areas  of  all  the  Middle  and  Southern  States, 
including  Texas.  Out  of  this  magnificent  territory  have  been  erected 
eleven  sovereign  States  and  eight  Territories,  with  an  aggregate  popula- 
tion, at  the  present  time,  of  18,000,000  inhabitants,  or  nearly  one-third  of 
the  entire  population  of  the  United  States. 

Its  lakes  are  fresh-water  seas,  and  the  larger  rivers  of  the  continent 
flow  for  a  thousand  miles  through  its  rich  alluvial  valleys  and  far- 
stretching  prairies,  more  acres  of  which  are  arable  and  productive  of  the 
highest  percentage  of  the  cereals  than  of  any  other  area  of  like  extent 
on  the  globe. 

For  the  last  twenty  years  the  increase  of  population  in  the  North- 
west has  been  about  as  three  to  one  in  any  other  portion  of  the  United 
States. 

EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

In  the  year  1541,  DeSoto  first  saw  the  Great  West  in  the  New 
World.     He,  however,  penetrated  no  farther  north  than  the  35th  parallel 

17 


18  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

of  latitude.  The  expedition  resulted  in  his  death  and  that  of  more  than 
half  his  army,  the  remainder  of  whom  found 'their  way  to  Cuba,  thence 
to  Spain,  in  a  famished  and  demoralized  condition.  DeSoto  founded  no 
settlements,  produced  no  results,  and  left  no  traces,  unless  it  were  that 
he  awakened  the  hostility  of  the  red  man  against  the  white  man,  and 
disheartened  such  as  might  desire  to  follow  up  the  career  of  discovery 
for  better  purposes.  The  French  nation  were  eager  and  ready  to  seize 
upon  any  news  from  this  extensive  domain,  and  were  the  first  to  profit  by 
DeSoto's  defeat.  Yet  it  was  more  than  a  century  before  any  adventurer 
took  advantage  of  these  discoveries. 

In  1616,  four  years  before  the  pilgrims  "  moored  their  bark  on  the 
wild  New  England  shore,"  Le  Caron,  a  French  Franciscan,  had  pene- 
trated through  the  Iroquois  and  Wyandots  (Hurons)  to  the  streams  which 
run  into  Lake  Huron  ;  and  in  1634,  two  Jesuit  missionaries  founded  the 
first  mission  among  the  lake  tribes.  It  was  just  one  hundred  years  from 
the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  by  DeSoto  (1541)  until  the  Canadian 
envoys  met  the  savage  nations  of  the  Northwest  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary, 
below  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  This  visit  led  to  no  permanent 
result ;  yet  it  was  not  until  1659  that  any  of  the  adventurous  fur  traders 
attempted  to  spend  a  Winter  in  the  frozen  wilds  about  the  great  lakes, 
nor  was  it  until  1660  that  a  station  was  established  upon  their  borders  by 
Mesnard,  who  perished  in  the  woods  a  few  months  after.  In  1665,  Claude 
Allouez  built  the  earliest  lasting  habitation  of  the  white  man  among  the 
Indians  of  the  Northwest.  In  1668,  Claude  Dablon  and  James  Marquette 
founded  the  mission  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary,  and  two 
years  afterward,  Nicholas  Perrot,  as  agent  for  M.  Talon,  Governor  Gen- 
eral of  Canada,  explored  Lake  Illinois  (Michigan)  as  far  south  as  the 
present  City  of  Chicago,  and  invited  the  Indian  nations  to  meet  him  at  a 
grand  council  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  the  following  Spring,  where  they  were 
taken  under  the  protection  of  the  king,  and  formal  possession  was  taken 
of  the  Northwest.  This  same  year  Marquette  established  a  mission  at 
Point  St.  Ignatius,  where  was  founded  the  old  town  of  Michillimackinac. 

During  M.  Talon's  explorations  and  Marquette's  residence  at  St. 
Ignatius,  they  learned  of  a  great  river  away  to  the  west,  and  fancied — 
as  all  others  did  then  —  that  upon  its  fertile  banks  whole  tribes  of  God's 
children  resided,  to  whom  the  sound  of  the  Gospel  had  never  come. 
Filled  with  a  wish  to  go  and  preach  to  them,  and  in  compliance  with  a 
request  of  M.  Talon,  who  earnestly  desired  to  extend  the  domain  of  his 
king,  and  to  ascertain  whether  the  river  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
or  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Marquette  with  Joliet,  as  commander  of  the  expe- 
dition, prepared  for  the  undertaking. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1673,  the  explorers,  accompanied  by  five  assist- 


THE   NOKTHWEST   TERRITORY.  19 

ant  French  Canadians,  set  out  from  Mackinaw  on  their  daring  voyage  of 
discovery.  The  Indians,  who  gathered  to  witness  their  departure,  were 
astonished  at  the  boldness  of  the  undertaking,  and  endeavored  to  dissuade 
them  from  their  purpose  by  representing  the  tribes  on  the  Mississippi  as 
exceedingly  savage  and  cruel,  and  the  river  itself  as  full  of  all  sorts  of 
frightful  monsters  ready  to  swallow  them  and  their  canoes  together.  But, 
nothing  daunted  by  these  terrific  descriptions,  Marquette  told  them  he 
was  willing  not  only  to  encounter  all  the  perils  of  the  unknown  region 
they  were  about  to  explore,  but  to  lay  down  his  life  in  a  cause  in  which 
the  salvation  of  souls  was  involved  ;  and  having  prayed  together  they 
separated.  Coasting  along  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  the 
adventurers  entered  Green  Bay,  and  passed  thence  up  the  Fox  River  and 
Lake  Winnebago  to  a  village  of  the  Miamis  and  Kickapoos.  Here  Mar- 
quette was  delighted  to  find  a  beautiful  cross  planted  in  the  middle  of  the 
town,  ornamented  with  white  skins,  red  girdles  and  bows  and  arrows, 
which  these  good  people  had  offered  to  the  Great  Manitou,  or  God,  to 
thank  him  for  the  pity  he  had  bestowed  on  them  during  the  Winter  in 
giving  them  an  abundantf "  chase."  This  was  the  farthest  outpost  to 
which  Dablon  and  Allouez  had  extended  their  missionary  labors  the 
year  previous.  Here  Marquette  drank  mineral  waters  and  was  instructed 
in  the  secret  of  a  root  which  cures  the  bite  of  the  venomous  rattlesnake. 
He  assembled  the  chiefs  and  old  men  of  the  village,  and,  pointing  to 
Joliet,  said  :  "  My  friend  is  an  envoy  of  France,  to  discover  new  coun- 
tries, and  I  am  an  ambassador  from  God  to  enlighten  them  with  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel."  Two  Miami  guides  were  here  furnished  to  conduct  them 
to  the  Wisconsin  River,  and  they  set  out  from  the  Indian  village  on 
the  10th  of  June,  amidst  a  great  crowd  of  natives  who  had  assembled  to 
witness  their  departure  into  a  region  where  no  white  man  had  ever  yet 
ventured.  The  guides,  having  conducted  them  across  the  portage, 
returned.  The  explorers  launched  their  canoes  upon  the  Wisconsin, 
which  they  descended  to  the  Mississippi  and  proceeded  down  its  unknown 
waters.  What  emotions  must  have  swelled  their  breasts  as  they  struck 
out  into  the  broadening  current  and  became  conscious  that  they  were 
now  upon  the  bosom  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  The  mystery  was  about 
to  be  lifted  from  the  long-sought  river.  The  scenery  in  that  locality  is 
beautiful,  and  on  that  delightful  seventeenth  of  June,  must  have  been 
clad  in  all  its  primeval  loveliness  as  it  had  been  adorned  by  the  hand  of 
Nature.  Drifting  rapidly,  it  is  said  that  the  bold  bluffs  on  either  hand 
"  reminded  them  of  the  castled  shores  of  their  own  beautiful  rivers  of 
France."  By-and-by,  as  they  drifted  along,  great  herds  of  buffalo 
appeared  on  the  banks.  On  going  to  the  heads  of  the  valley  they  could 
see  a  country  of  the  greatest  beauty  and  fertility,  apparently  destitute  of 


20  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

inhabitants,  yet  presenting  the  appearance  of  extensive  manors,  under 
the  fastidious  cultivation  of  lordly  proprietors. 

On  June  25,  they  went  ashore  and  found  some  fresh  traces  of  men 
upon  the  sand,  and  a  path  which  led  to  the  prairie.  The  men  remained  in 
the  boat,  and  Marquette  and  Joliet  followed  the  path  till  they  discovered  a 
village  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  and  two  other  villages  on  a  hill,  within  a 
half  league  of  the  first,  inhabited  by  Indians.  They  were  received  most 
hospitably  by  these  natives,  who  had  never  before  seen  a  white  person. 
After  remaining  a  few  days  they  re-embarked  and  descended  the  river  to 
about  latitude  33°,  where  they  found  a  village  of  the  Arkansas,  and  being 
satisfied  that  the  river  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  turned  their  coarse 
up  the  river,  and  ascending  the  stream  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois, 
rowed  up  that  stream  to  its  source  and  procured  guides  from  that  point 
to  the  lakes.  "  Nowhere  on  this  journey,"  says  Marquette,  "  did  we  see 
such  grounds,  meadows,  woods,  stags,  buffaloes,  deer,  wildcats,  bustards, 
swans,  ducks,  parroquets,  and  even  beavers,  as  on  the  Illinois  River." 
The  party,  without  loss  or  injury,  reached  Green  Bay  in  September,  and 
reported  their  discovery — one  of  the  most  important  of  the  age,  but  of 
which  no  record  was  preserved  save  Marquette's,  Joliet  losing  his  by 
the  upsetting  of  his  canoe  on  his  way  to  Quebec.  Afterward  Marquette 
returned  to  the  Illinois  Indians  by  their  request,  and  ministered  to  them 
until  1675.  On  the  18th  of  May,  in  that  year,  as  he  was  passing  the 
mouth  of  a  stream — going  with  his  boatmen  up  Lake  Michigan — he  asked 
to  land  at  its  mouth  and  celebrate  Mass.  Leaving  his  men  with  the  canoe, 
he  retired  a  short  distance  and  began  his  devotions.  As  much  time 
passed  and  he  did  not  return,  his  men  went  in  search  of  him,  and  found 
him  upon  his  knees,  dead.  He  had  peacefully  passed  away  while  at 
prayer.  He  was  buried  at  this  spot.  Charlevoix,  who  visited  the  place 
fifty  years  after,  found  the  waters  had  retreated  from  the  grave,  leaving 
the  beloved  missionary  to  repose  in  peace.  The  river  has  since  been 
called  Marquette. 

While  Marquette  and  his  companions  were  pursuing  their  labors  in 
the  West,  two  men,  differing  widely  from  him  and  each  other,  were  pre- 
paring to  follow  in  his  footsteps  and  perfect  the  discoveries  so  well  begun 
by  him.     These  were  Robert  de  LaSalle  and  Louis  Hennepin. 

After  LaSalle 's  return  from  the  discovery  of  the  Ohio  River  (see 
the  narrative  elsewhere),  he  established  himself  again  among  the  French 
trading  posts  in  Canada.  Here  he  mused  long  upon  the  pet  project  of 
those  ages — a  short  way  to  China  and  the  East,  and  was  busily  planning  an 
expedition  up  the  great  lakes,  and  so  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific, 
when  Marquette  returned  from  the  Mississippi.  At  once  the  vigorous  mind 
of  LaSalle  received  from  his  and  his  companions'  stories  the  idea  that  by  fol- 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  21 

lowing  the  Great  River  northward,  or  by  turning  up  some  of  the  numerous 
western  tributaries,  the  object  could  easily  be  gained.  He  applied  to 
Frontenac,  Governor  General  of  Canada,  and  laid  before  him  the  plan, 
dim  but  gigantic.  Frontenac  entered  warmly  into  his  plans,  and  saw  that 
LaSalle's  idea  to  connect  the  great  lakes  by  a  chain  of  forts  with  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  would  bind  the  country  so  wonderfully  together,  give  un- 
measured power  to  France,  and  glory  to  himself,  under  whose  adminis- 
tration he  earnestly  hoped  all  would  be  realized. 

LaSalle  now  repaired  to  France,  laid  his  plans  before  the  King,  who 
warmly  approved  of  them,  and  made  him  a  Chevalier.  He  also  received 
from  all  the  noblemen  the  warmest  wishes  for  his  success.  The  Chev- 
alier returned  to  Canada,  and  busily  entered  upon  his  work.  He  at 
once  rebuilt  Fort  Frontenac  and  constructed  the  first  ship  to  sail  on 
these  fresh-water  seas.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1679,  having  been  joined 
by  Hennepin,  he  began  his  voyage  in  the  Griffin  up  Lake  Erie.  He 
passed  over  this  lake,  through  the  straits  beyond,  up  Lake  St.  Clair  and 
into  Huron.  In  this  lake  they  encountered  heavy  storms.  They  were 
some  time  at  Michillimackinac,  where  LaSalle  founded  a  fort,  and  passed 
on  to  Green  Bay,  the  "  Bale  des  Puans  "  of  the  French,  where  he  found 
a  large  quantity  of  furs  collected  for  him.  He  loaded  the  Griffin  with 
these,  and  placing  her  under  the  care  of  a  pilot  and  fourteen  sailors, 
started  her  on  her  return  voyage.  The  vessel  was  never  afterward  heard 
of.  He  remained  about  these  parts  until  early  in  the  Winter,  when,  hear- 
ing nothing  from  the  Griffin,  he  collected  all  the  men — thirty  working 
men  and  three  monks — and  started  again  upon  his  great  undertaking. 

By  a  short  portage  they  passed  to  the  Illinois  or  Kankakee,  called  by 
the  Indians,  "  Theakeke,"  wolf^  because  of  the  tribes  of  Indians  called 
by  that  name,  commonly  known  as  the  Mahingans,  dwelling  there.  The 
French  pronounced  it  Kiakiki,  which  became  corrupted  to  Kankakee. 
*'  Falling  down  the  said  river  by  easy  journeys,  the  better  to  observe  the 
country,"  about  the  last  of  December  they  reached  a  village  of  the  Illi- 
nois Indians,  containing  some  five  hundred  cabins,  but  at  that  moment 
no  inhabitants.  The  Sieur  de  LaSalle  being  in  want  of  some  breadstuffs, 
took  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  Indians  to  help  himself  to  a  suffi- 
ciency of  maize,  large  quantities  of  which  he  found  concealed  in  holes 
under  the  wigwams.  This  village  was  situated  near  the  present  village 
of  Utica  in  LaSalle  County,  Illinois.  The  corn  being  securely  stored, 
the  voyagers  again  betook  themselves  to  the  stream,  and  toward  evening, 
on  the  4th  day  of  January,  1680,  they  came  into  a  lake  which  must  have 
been  the  lake  of  Peoria.  This  was  called  by  the  Indians  Pim-i-te-tvi,  that 
is,  a  place  where  there  are  rtiany  fat  beasts.  Here  the  natives  were  met 
with  in  large  numbers,  but  they  were  gentle  and  kind,  and  having  spent 


22  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

some  time  with  them,  LaSalle  determined  to  erect  another  fort  in  that 
place,  for  he  had  heard  rumors  that  some  of  the  adjoining  tribes  were 
trying  to  disturb  the  good  feeling  which  existed,  and  some  of  his  men 
were  disposed  to  complain,  owing  to  the  hardships  and  perils  of  the  travel. 
He  called  this  fort  "  Crevecoeur  "  (broken-heart),  a  name  expressive  of  the 
very  natural  sorrow  and  anxiety  which  the  pretty  certain  loss  of  his  ship. 
Griffin,  and  his  consequent  impoverishment,  the  danger  of  hostility  on  the 
part  of  the  Indians,  and  of  mutiny  among  his  own  men,  might  well  cause 
him.  His  fears  were  not  entirely  groundless.  At  one  time  poison  was 
placed  in  his  food,  but  fortunately  was  discovered. 

While  building  this  fort,  the  Winter  wore  away,  the  prairies  began  to 
look  green,  and  LaSalle,  despairing  of  any  reinforcements,  concluded  to 
return  to  Canada,  raise  new  means  and  new  men,  and  embark  anew  in 
the  enterprise.  For  this  purpose  he  made  Hennepin  the  leader  of  a  party 
to  explore  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  he  set  out  on  his  jour- 
ney. This  journey  was  accomplished  with  the  aid  of  a  few  persons,  and 
was  successfully  made,  though  over  an  almost  unknown  route,  and  in  a 
bad  season  of  the  year.  He  safely  reached  Canada,  and  set  out  again  for 
the  object  of  his  search. 

Hennepin  and  his  party  left  Fort  Crevecoeur  on  the  last  of  February, 
1680.  When  LaSalle  reached  this  place  on  his  return  expedition,  he 
found  the  fort  entirely  deserted,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  again  to 
Canada.  He  embarked  the  third  time,  and  succeeded.  Seven  days  after 
leaving  the  fort,  Hennepin  reached  the  Mississippi,  and  paddling  up  the 
icy  stream  as  best  he  could,  reached  no  higher  than  the  Wisconsin  River 
by  the  11th  of  April.  Here  he  and  his  followers  were  taken  prisoners  by  a 
band  of  Northern  Indians,  who  treated  them  with  great  kindness.  Hen- 
nepin's comrades  were  Anthony  Auguel  and  Michael  Ako.  On  this  voy- 
age they  found  several  beautiful  lakes,  and  "saw  some  charming  prairies." 
Their  captors  were  the  Isaute  or  Sauteurs,  Chippewas,  a  tribe  of  the  Sioux 
nation,  who  took  them  up  the  river  until  about  the  first  of  May  when 
they  reached  some  falls,  which  Hennepin  christened  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 
in  honor  of  his  patron  saint.  Here  they  took  the  land,  and  traveling 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  to  the  northwest,  brought  them  to  their  villages* 
Here  they  were  kept  about  three  months,  were  treated  kindly  by  their 
captors,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  were  met  by  a  band  of  Frenchmen, 
headed  by  one  Sieur  de  Luth,  who,  in  pursuit  of  trade  and  game,  had  pene- 
trated thus  far  by  the  route  of  Lake  Superior ;  and  with  these  fellow- 
countrymen  Hennepin  and  his  companions  were  allowed  to  return  to  the 
borders  of  civilized  life  in  November,  1680,  just  after  LaSalle  had 
returned  to  the  wilderness  on  his  second  trip.  Hennepin  soon  after  went 
to  France,  where  he  published  an  account  of  his  adventures. 


THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  23 

The  Mississippi  was  first  discovered  by  De  Soto  in  April,  1541,  in  his 
vain  endeavor  to  find  gold  and  precious  gems.  In  the  following  Spring, 
De  Soto,  weary  with  hope  long  deferred,  and  worn  out  with  his  wander- 
ings, fell  a  victim  to  disease,  and  on  the  21st  of  May,  died.  His  followers, 
reduced  by  fatigue  and  disease  to  less  than  three  hundred  men,  wandered 
about  the  country  nearly  a  year,  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  rescue  them- 
selves by  land,  and  finally  constructed  seven  small  vessels,  called  brig- 
antines,  in  which  they  embarked,  and  descending  the  river,  supposing  it 
would  lead  them  to  the  sea,  in  July  they  came  to  the  sea  (Gulf  of 
Mexico),  and  by  September  reached  the  Island  of  Cuba. 

They  were  the  first  to  see  the  great  outlet  of  the  Mississippi ;  but, 
being  so  weary  and  discouraged,  made  no  attempt  to  claim  the  country, 
and  hardly  had  an  intelligent  idea  of  what  they  had  passed  through. 

To  La  Salle,  the  intrepid  explorer,  belongs  the  honor  of  giving  the 
first  account  of  the  mouths  of  the  river.  His  great  desire  was  to  possess 
this  entire  country  for  his  king,  and  in  January,  1682,  he  and  his  band  of 
explorers  left  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  on  their  third  attempt,  crossed 
the  Portage,  passed  down  the  Illinois  River,  and  on  the  6th  of  February 
reached  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

On  the  13th  they  commenced  their  downward  course,  which  they 
pursued  with  but  one  interruption,  until  upon  the  6th  of  March  they  dis- 
covered the  three  great  passages  by  which  the  river  discharges  its  waters 
into  the  gulf.     La  Salle  thus  narrates  the  event : 

"  We  landed  on  the  bank  of  the  most  western  channel,  about  three 
leagues  (nine  miles)  from  its  mouth.  On  the  seventh,  M.  de  La  Salle 
went  to  reconnoiter  the  shore  of  the  neighboring  sea,  and  M.  de  Tonti 
meanwhile  examined  the  great  middle  channel.  They  found  the  main 
outlets  beautiful,  large  and  deep.  On  the  eighth,  we  reascended  the 
river,  a  little  above  its  confluence  with  the  sea,  to  find  a  dry  place  beyond 
the  reach  of  inundations.  The  elevation  of  the  North  Pole  was  here 
about  twenty-seven  degrees.  Here  we  prepared  a  column  and  a  cross, 
and  to  the  column  were  affixed  the  arms  of  France  with  this  inscription  : 

"Louis  Le  Grand,  Roi  de  France  et  de  Navarre,  regne  ;  Le  neuvleme  April,  1682." 

The  whole  party,  under  arms,  chanted  the  Te  Deum,  and  then,  after 
a  salute  and  cries  of  "  Vive  le  Roi,'"  the  column  was  erected  by  M.  de 
La  Salle,  who,  standing  near  it,  proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice  the  authority 
of  the  King  of  France.  La  Salle  returned  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Mississippi  settlements  in  Illinois ;  thence  he  proceeded  to  France,  where 
another  expedition  was  fitted  out,  of  which  he  was  commander,  and  in 
two  succeeding  voyages  failed  to  find  the  outlet  of  the  river  by  sailing 


24  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

along  the  shore  of  the  gulf.  On  the  third  voyage  he  was  killed,  through 
the  treachery  of  his  followers,  and  the  object  of  his  expeditions  was  not 
accomplished  until  1699,  when  D'Iberville,  under  the  authority  of  the 
crown,  discovered,  on  the  second  of  March,  by  way  of  the  sea,  the  mouth 
of  the  "  Hidden  River."  This  majestic  stream  was  called  by  the  natives 
"  Malhouchia,^^  and  by  the  Spaniards,  "  la  Palissade,^^  from  the  great 
number  of  trees  about  its  mouth.  After  traversing  the  several  outlets, 
and  satisfying  himself  as  to  its  certainty,  he  erected  a  fort  near  its  western 
outlet,  and  returned  to  France. 

An  avenue  of  trade  was  now  opened  out  which  was  fully  improved.  In 
1718,  New  Orleans  was  laid  out  and  settled  by  some  European  colonists.  In 
1762,  the  colony  was  made  over  to  Spain,  to  be  regained  by  France  under 
the  consulate  of  Napoleon.  In  1803,  it  was  purchased  by  the  United 
States  for  the  sum  of  fifteen  million  dollars,  and  the  territory  of  Louisiana 
and  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  River  came  under  the  charge  of  the 
United  States.  Although  La  Salle's  labors  ended  in  defeat  and  death, 
he  had  not  worked  and  suffered  in  vain.  He  had  thrown  open  to  France 
and  the  world  an  immense  and  most  valuable  country ;  had  established 
several  ports,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  more  than  one  settlement  there. 
"  Peoria,  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  are  to  this  day  monuments  of  LaSalle's 
labors  ;  for,  though  he  had  founded  neither  of  them  (unless  Peoria, 
which  was  built  nearly  upon  the  site  of  Fort  Crevecceur,)  it  was  by  those 
whom  he  led  into  the  West  that  these  places  were  peopled  and  civilized. 
He  was,  if  not  the  discoverer,  the  first  settler  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
and  as  such  deserves  to  be  known  and  honored." 

The  French  early  improved  the  opening  made  for  them.  Before  the 
year  1698,  the  Rev.  Father  Gravier  began  a  mission  among  the  Illinois, 
and  founded  Kaskaskia.  For  some  time  this  was  merely  a  missionary 
station,  where  none  but  natives  resided,  it  being  one  of  three  such  vil- 
lages, the  other  two  being  Cahokia  and  Peoria.  What  is  known  of  these 
missions  is  learned  from  a  letter  written  by  Father  Gabriel  Marest,  dated 
*'  Aux  Cascaskias,  autrementdit  de  I'lmmaculate  Conception  de  la  Sainte 
Vierge,  le  9  Novembre,  1712."  Soon  after  the  founding  of  Kaskaskia, 
the  missionary,  Pinet,  gathered  a  flock  at  Cahokia,  while  Peoria  arose 
near  the  ruins  of  Fort  Crevecceur.  This  must  have  been  about  the  year 
1700.  The  post  at  Vincennes  on  the  Oubache  river,  (pronounced  Wa-ba, 
meaning  summer  cloud  moving  siviftlyC)  was  established  in  1702,  according 
to  the  best  authorities.*     It  is  altogether  probable  that  on  LaSalle's  last 

*  There  Is  considerable  dispute  about  tliis  date,  some  asserting  it  was  founded  as  late  as  1742.  When  the 
new  court  house  at  Vincennes  was  erected,  all  authorities  on  the  subject  were  carefully  examined,  and  1703  fixed 
upon  as  the  correct  date.    It  was  accordingly  engraved  on  the  corner-stone  of  the  court  house. 


THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY  25 

trip  he  established  the  stations  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia.  In  July, 
1701,  the  foundations  of  Fort  Ponchartrain  were  laid  by  De  la  Motte 
Cadillac  on  the  Detroit  River.  These  stations,  with  those  established 
further  north,  were  the  earliest  attempts  to  occupy  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory. At  the  same  time  efforts  were  being  made  to  occupy  the  Southwest, 
which  finally  culminated  in  the  settlement  and  founding  of  the  City  of  New 
Orleans  by  a  colony  from  England  in  1718.  This  was  mainly  accom- 
plished through  the  efforts  of  the  famous  Mississippi  Company,  established 
by  the  notorious  John  Law,  who  so  quickly  arose  into  prominence  in 
France,  and  who  with  his  scheme  so  quickly  and  so  ignominiously  passed 
away.  , 

From  the  time  of  the  founding  of  these  stations  for  fifty  years  the 
French  nation  were  engrossed  with  the  settlement  of  the  lower  Missis- 
sippi, and  the  war  with  the  Chickasaws,  who  had,  in  revenge  for  repeated 
injuries,  cut  off  the  entire  colony  at  Natchez.  Although  the  company 
did  little  for  Louisiana,  as  the  entire  West  was  then  called,  yet  it  opened 
the  trade  through  the  Mississippi  River,  and  started  the  raising  of  grains 
indigenous  to  that  climate.  Until  the  year  1750,  but  little  is  known  of 
the  settlements  in  the  Northwest,  as  it  was  not  until  this  time  that  the 
attention  of  the  English  was  called  to  the  occupation  of  this  portion  of  the 
New  World,  which  they  then  supposed  they  owned.  Vivier,  a  missionary 
among  the  Illinois,  writing  from  "  Aux  Illinois,"  six  leagues  from  Fort 
Chartres,  June  8,  1750,  says:  "We  have  here  whites,  negroes  and 
Indians,  to  say  nothing  of  cross-breeds.  There  are  five  French  villages, 
and  three  villages  of  the  natives,  within  a  space  of  twenty-one  leagues 
situated  between  the  Mississippi  and  another  river  called  the  Karkadaid 
(Kaskaskias).  In  the  five  French  villages,  are  perhaps,  eleven  hundred 
whites,  three  hundred  blacks  and  some  sixty  red  slaves  or  savages.  The 
three  Illinois  towns  do  not  contain  more  than  eight  hundred  souls  all 
-told.  Most  of  the  French  till  the  soil ;  they  raise  wheat,  cattle,  pigs  and 
horses,  and  live  like  princes.  Three  times  as  much  is  produced  as  can 
be  consumed ;  and  great  quantities  of  grain  and  flour  are  sent  to  New 
Orleans."  This  city  was  now  the  seaport  town  of  the  Northwest,  and 
save  in  the  extreme  northern  part,  where  only  furs  and  copper  ore  were 
found,  almost  all  the  products  of  the  country  found  their  way  to  France 
by  the  mouth  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  In  another  letter,  dated  Novem- 
ber 7,  1750,  this  same  priest  says:  "For  fifteen  leagues  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  one  sees  no  dwellings,  the  ground  being  too  low 
to  be  habitable.  Thence  to  New  Orleans,  the  lauds  are  only  partially 
occupied.  New  Orleans  contains  black,  white  and  red,  not  more,  I 
think,  than  twelve  hundred  persons.  To  this  point  come  all  the  lumber, 
bricks,  salt-beef,  tallow,  tar,  skins  and  bear's  grease  ;  and  above  all,  pork 


26  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

and  flour  from  the  Illinois.  These  things  create  some  commerce,  as  forty 
vessels  and  more  have  come  hither  this  year.  Above  New  Orleans, 
plantations  are  again  met  with  ;  the  most  considerable  is  a  colony  of 
Germans,  some  ten  leagues  up  the  river.  At  Point  Coupee,  thirty-five 
leagues  above  the  German  settlement,  is  a  fort.  Along  here,  within  five 
or  six  leagues,  are  not  less  than  sixty  habitations.  Fifty  leagues  farther 
up  is  the  Natchez  post,  where  we  have  a  garrison,  who  are  kept  prisoners 
through  fear  of  the  Ghickasaws.  Here  and  at  Point  Coupee,  they  raise 
excellent  tobacco.  Another  hundred  leagues  brings  us  to  the  Arkansas, 
where  we  have  also  a  fort  and  a  garrison  for  the  benefit  of  the  river 
traders.  *  *  *  From  the  Arkansas  to  the  Illinois,  nearly  five  hundred 
leagues,  there  is  not  a  settlement.  There  should  be,  hower,  a  fort  at 
the  Oubache  (Ohio),  the  only  path  by  which  the  English  can  reach  the 
Mississippi.  In  the  Illinois  country  are  numberless  mines,  but  no  one  to 
work  them  as  they  deserve."  Father  Marest,  writing  from  the  post  at 
Vincennes  in  1812,  makes  the  same  observation.  Vivier  also  says :  "  Some 
individuals  dig  lead  near  the  surface  and  supply  the  Indians  and  Canada. 
Two  Spaniards  now  here,  who  claim  to  be  adepts,  say  that  our  mines  are 
like  those  of  Mexico,  and  that  if  we  would  dig  deeper,  we  should  find 
silver  under  the  lead  ;  and  at  any  rate  the  lead  is  excellent.  There  is  also 
in  this  country,  beyond  doubt,  copper  ore,  as  from  time  to  time  large 
pieces  are  found  in  the  streams. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1750,  the  French  occupied,  in  addition  to  the 
lower  Mississippi  posts  and  those  in  Illinois,  one  at  Du  Quesne,  one  at 
the  Maumee  in  the  country  of  the  Miamas,  and  one  at  Sandusky  in  what 
may  be  termed  the  Ohio  Valley.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  Northwest 
they  had  stations  at  St.  Joseph's  on  the  St.  Joseph's  of  Lake  Michigan, 
at  Fort  Ponchartrain  (Detroit),  at  Michillimackanac  or  Massillimacanac, 
Fox  River  at  Green  Bay,  and  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  The  fondest  dreams 
of  LaSalle  were  now  fully  realized.  The  French  alone  were  possessors  of 
this  vast  realm,  basing  their  claim  on  discovery  and  settlement.  Another 
nation,  however,  was  now  turning  its  attention  to  this  extensive  country, 
and  hearing  of  its  wealth,  began  to  lay  plans  for  occupying  it  and  for 
securing  the  great  profits  arising  therefrom. 

The  French,  however,  had  another  claim  to  this  country,  namely,'  the 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE   OHIO. 

This  "  Beautiful "  river  was  discovered  by  Robert  Cavalier  de  La- 
Salle in  1669,  four  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  by  Joliet 
and  Marquette. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITOEY.  27 

While  LaSalle  was  at  his  trading  post  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  found 
leisure  to  study  nine  Indian  dialects,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  Iroquois. 
He  not  only  desired  to  facilitate  his  intercourse  in  trade,  but  he  longed 
to  travel  and  explore  the  unknown  regions  of  the  West.  An  incident 
soon  occurred  which  decided  him  to  fit  out  an  exploring  expedition. 

While  conversing  with  some  Senecas,  he  learned  of  a  river  called  the 
Ohio,  which  rose  in  their  country  and  flowed  to  the  sea,  but  at  such  a 
distance  that  it  required  eight  months  to  reach  its  mouth.  In  this  state- 
ment the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  were  considered  as  one  stream. 
LaSalle  believing,  as  most  of  the  French  at  that  period  did,  that  the  great 
rivers  flowing  west  emptied  into  the  Sea  of  California,  was  anxious  to 
embark  in  the  enterprise  of  discovering  a  route  across  the  continent  to 
the  commerce  of  China  and  Japan. 

He  repaired  at  once  to  Quebec  to  obtain  the  approval  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. His  eloquent  appeal  prevailed.  The  Governor  and  the  Intendant, 
Talon,  issued  letters  patent  authorizing  the  enterprise,  but  made  no  pro- 
vision to  defray  the  expenses.  At  this  juncture  the  seminary  of  St.  Sul- 
pice  decided  to  send  out  missionaries  in  connection  with  the  expedition, 
and  LaSalle  offering  to  sell  his  improvements  at  LaChine  to  raise  money, 
the  offer  was  accepted  by  the  Superior,  and  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars  were  raised,  with  which  LaSalle  purchased  four  canoes  and  the 
necessary  supplies  for  the  outfit. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  1669,  the  party,  numbering  twenty-four  persons, 
embarked  in  seven  canoes  on  the  St.  Lawrence ;  two  additional  canoes 
carried  the  Indian  guides.  In  three  days  they  were  gliding  over  the 
bosom  of  Lake  Ontario.  Their  guides  conducted  them  directly  to  the 
Seneca  village  on  the  bank  of  the  Genesee,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present 
City  of  Rochester,  New  York.  Here  they  expected  to  procure  guides  to 
conduct  them  to  the  Ohio,  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed. 

The  Indians  seemed  unfriendly  to  the  enterprise.  LaSalle  suspected 
that  the  Jesuits  had  prejudiced  their  minds  against  his  plans.  After 
waiting  a  month  in  the  hope  of  gaining  their  object,  they  met  an  Indian 
from  the  Iroquois  colony  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  who  assured  them 
that  they  could  there  find  guides,  and  offered  to  conduct  them  thence. 

On  their  way  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  when  they 
heard  for  the  first  time  the  distant  thunder  of  the  cataract.  Arriving 
among  the  Iroquois,  they  met  with  a  friendly  reception,  and  learned 
from  a  Shawanee  prisoner  that  they  could  reach  the  Ohio  in  six  weeks. 
Delighted  with  the  unexpected  good  fortune,  they  made  ready  to  resume 
their  journey  ;  but  just  as  they  were  about  to  start  they  heard  of  the 
arrival  of  two  Frenchmen  in  a  neighboring  village.  One  of  them  proved 
to  be  Louis  Joliet,  afterwards  famous  as  an  explorer  in  the  West.     He 


28  THE  NORTHrWEST   TERRITORY. 

had  been  sent  by  the  Canadian  Government  to  explore  the  copper  mines 
on  Lake  Superior,  but  had  failed,  and  was  on  his  way  back  to  Quebec. 
He  gave  the  missionaries  a  map  of  the  country  he  had  explored  in  the 
lake  region,  together  with  an  account  of  the  condition  of  the  Indians  in 
that  quarter.  This  induced  the  priests  to  determine  on  leaving  the 
expedition  and  going  to  Lake  Superior.  LaSalle  warned  them  that  the 
Jesuits  were  probably  occupying  that  field,  and  that  they  would  meet 
with  a  cold  reception.  Nevertheless  they  persisted  in  their  purpose,  and 
after  worship  on  the  lake  shore,  parted  from  LaSalle.  On  arriving  at 
Lake  Superior,  they  found,  as  LaSalle  had  predicted,  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
Marquette  and  Dablon,  occupying  the  field. 

These  zealous  disciples  of  Loyola  informed  them  that  they  wanted 
no  assistance  from  St.  Sulpice,  nor  from  those  who  made  him  their  patron 
saint ;  and  thus  repulsed,  they  returned  to  Montreal  the  following  June 
without  having  made  a  single  discovery  or  converted  a  single  Indian. 

After  parting  with  the  priests,  LaSalle  went  to  the  chief  Iroquois 
viUage  at  Onondaga,  where  he  obtained  guides,  and  passing  thence  to  a 
tributary  of  the  Ohio  south  of  Lake  Erie,  he  descended  the  latter  as  far 
as  the  falls  at  Louisville.  Thus  was  the  Ohio  discovered  by  LaSalle,  the 
persevering  and  successful  French  explorer  of  the  West,  in  1669. 

The  account  of  the  latter  part  of  his  journey  is  found  in  an  anony- 
mous paper,  which  purports  to  have  been  taken  from  the  lips  of  LaSalle 
himself  during  a  subsequent  visit  to  Paris.  In  a  letter  written  to  Count 
Frontenac  in  1667,  shortly  after  the  discovery,  he  himself  says  that  he 
discovered  the  Ohio  and  descended  it  to  the  falls.  This  was  regarded  as 
an  indisputable  fact  by  the  French  authorities,  who  claimed  the  Ohio 
Valley  upon  another  ground.  When  Washington  was  sent  by  the  colony 
of  Virginia  in  1753,  to  demand  of  Gordeur  de  St.  Pierre  why  the  French 
had  built  a  fort  on  the  Monongahela,  the  haughty  commandant  at  Quebec 
replied :  "  We  claim  the  country  on  the  Ohio  by  virtue  of  the  discoveries 
of  LaSalle,  and  will  not  give  it  up  to  the  English.  Our  orders  are  to 
make  prisoners  of  every  Englishman  found  trading  in  the  Ohio  Valley." 


ENGLISH  EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 

When  the  new  year  of  1750  broke  in  upon  the  Father  of  Waters 
and  the  Great  Northwest,  all  was  still  wild  save  at  the  French  posts 
already  described.  In  1749,  when  the  English  first  began  to  think  seri- 
ously about  sending  men  into  the  West,  the  greater  portion  of  the  States 
of  Indiana,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota  were  yet 
under  the  dominion  of  the  red  men.    The  English  knew,  however,  pretty 


THE   NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  29 

conclusively  of  the  nature  of  the  wealth  of  these  wildg.  As  early  as 
1710,  Governor  Spotswood,  of  Virginia,  had  commenced  movements  to 
secure  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghenies  to  the  EngHsh  crown.  In 
Pennsylvania,  Governor  Keith  and  James  Logan,  secretary  of  the  prov- 
ince, from  1719  to  1731,  represented  to  the  powers  of  England  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  the  Western  lands.  Nothing  was  done,  however,  by  that 
power  save  to  take  some  diplomatic  steps  to  secure  the  claims  of  Britain 
to  this  unexplored  wilderness. 

England  had  from  the  outset  claimed  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
on  the  ground  that  the  discovery  of  the  seacoast  and  its  possession  was  a 
discovery  and  possession  of  the  country,  and,  as  is  well  known,  her  grants 
to  the  colonies  extended  "  from  sea  to  sea."  This  was  not  all  her  claim. 
She  had  purchased  from  the  Indian  tribes  large  tracts  of  land.  This  lat- 
ter was  also  a  strong  argument.  As  early  as  1684,  Lord  H  oward.  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  held  a  treaty  with  the  six  nations.  These  were  the 
great  Northern  Confederacy,  and  comprised  at  first  the  Mohawks,  Onei- 
das,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas.  Afterward  the  Tuscaroras  were 
taken  into  the  confederacy,  and  it  became  known  as  the  Six  Nations. 
They  came  under  the  protection  of  the  mother  country,  and  again  in 
1701,  they  repeated  the  agreement,  and  in  September,  1726,  a  formal  deed 
was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  the  chiefs.  The  validity  of  this  claim  has 
often  been  disputed,  but  never  successfully.  In  1744,  a  purchase  was 
made  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  of  certain  lands  within  the  "  Colony  of 
Virginia,"  for  which  the  Indians  received  £200  in  gold  and  a  like  sum  in 
goods,  with  a  promise  that,  as  settlements  increased,  more  should  be  paid. 
The  Commissioners  from  Virginia  were  Colonel  Thomas  Lee  and  Colonel 
William  Beverly.  As  settlements  extended,  the  promise  of  more  pay  was 
called  to  mind,  and  Mr.  Conrad  Weiser  was  sent  across  the  mountains  with 
presents  to  appease  the  savages.  Col.  Lee,  and  some  Virginians  accompa- 
nied him  with  the  intention  of  sounding  the  Indians  upon  their  feelings 
regarding  the  English.  They  were  not  satisfied  with  their  treatment, 
and  plainly  told  the  Commissioners  why.  The  English  did  not  desire  the 
cultivation  of  the  country,  but  the  monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade.  In 
1748,  the  Ohio  Company  was  formed,  and  petitioned  the  king  for  a  grant 
of  land  beyond  the  Alleghenies.  This  was  granted,  and  the  government 
of  Virginia  was  ordered  to  grant  to  them  a  half  million  acres,  two  hun- 
dred thousand  of  which  were  to  be  located  at  once.  Upon  the  12th  of 
June,  1749,  800,000  acres  from  the  line  of  Canada  north  and  west  was 
made  to  the  Loyal  Company,  and  on  the  29th  of  October,  1751,  100,000 
acres  were  given  to  the  Greenbriar  Company.  All  this  time  the  French 
were  not  idle.  They  saw  that,  should  the  British  gain  a  foothold  in  the 
West,  especially  upon  the  Ohio,  they  might  not  only  prevent  the  French 


30  THE  NOKTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

settling  upon  it,  but  in  time  would  come  to  the  lower  posts  and  so  gain 
possession  of  the  whole  country.  Upon  the  10th  of  May,  1747,  Vaud- 
reuil,  Governor  of  Canada  and  the  French  possessions,  well  knowing  the 
consequences  that  must  arise  from  allowing  the  English  to  build  trading 
posts  in  the  Northwest,  seized  some  of  their  frontier  posts,  and  to  further 
secure  the  claim  of  the  French  to  the  West,  he,  in  1749,  sent  Louis  Cel- 
eron with  a  party  of  soldiers  to  plant  along  the  Ohio  River,  in  the  mounds 
and  at  the  mouths  of  its  principal  tributaries,  plates  of  lead,  on  which 
were  inscribed  the  claims  of  France.  These  were  heard  of  in  1752,  and 
within  the  memory  of  residents  now  living  along  the  "■  Oyo,"  as  the 
beautiful  river  was  called  by  the  French.  One  of  these  plates  was  found 
with  the  inscription  partly  defaced.  It  bears  date  August  16,  1749,  and 
a  copy  of  the  inscription  with  particular  account  of  the  discovery  of  the 
plate,  was  sent  by  DeWitt  Clinton  to  the  American  Antiquarian  Society, 
among  whose  journals  it  may  now  be  found.*  These  measures  did  not, 
however,  deter  the  English  from  going  on  with  their  explorations,  and 
though  neither  party  resorted  to  arms,  yet  the  conflict  was  gathering,  and 
it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  storm  would  burst  upon  the 
frontier  settlements.  In  1750,  Christopher  Gist  was  sent  by  the  Ohio 
Company  to  examine  its  lands.  He  went  to  a  village  of  the  Twigtwees, 
on  the  Miami,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth.  He 
afterward  spoke  of  it  as  very  populous.  From  there  he  went  down 
the  Ohio  River  nearly  to  the  falls  at  the  present  City  of  Louisville, 
and  in  November  he  commenced  a  survey  of  the  Company's  lands.  Dur- 
ing the  Winter,  General  Andrew  Lewis  performed  a  similar  work  for  the 
Greenbriar  Company.  Meanwhile  the  French  were  busy  in  preparing 
their  forts  for  defense,  and  in  opening  roads,  and  also  sent  a  small  party 
of  soldiers  to  keep  the  Ohio  clear.  This  party,  having  heard  of  the  Eng- 
lish post  on  the  Miami  River,  early  in  1652,  assisted  by  the  Ottawas  and 
Chippewas,  attacked  it,  and,  after  a  severe  battle,  in  which  fourteen  of 
the  natives  were  killed  and  others  wounded,  captured  the  garrison. 
(They  were  probably  garrisoned  in  a  block  house).  The  traders  were 
carried  away  to  Canada,  and  one  account  says  several  were  burned.  This 
fort  or  post  was  called  by  the  English  Pickawillany.  A  memorial  of  the 
king's  ministers  refers  to  it  as  '"  Pickawillanes,  in  the  center  of  the  terri- 
tory between  the  Ohio  and  the  Wabash.  The  name  is  probably  some 
variation  of  Pickaway  or  Picqua  in  1773,  written  by  Rev.  David  Jones 
Pickaweke." 

*  The  following  is  a  trailslation  of  the  inscription  on  the  plate:  "In  the  year  1749.  reign  of  Louis  XV.. 
King  of  France,  we,  Celeron,  commandant  of  a  detachment  by  Monsieur  the  Marquis  of  Gallisoniere,  com- 
mander-in-chief of  New  France,  to  establish  tranquility  in  certain  Indian  villages  of  these  cantons,  have 
buried  this  plate  at  the  confluence  of  the  Toradakoin,  this  twenty- ninth  of  July,  near  the  river  Ohio,  otherwise 
Beautiful  River,  as  a  monument  of  renewal  of  possession  which  we  have  taken  of  the  said  river,  and  all  its 
tributaries;  inasmuch  as  the  preceding  Kings  of  France  have  enjoyed  it,  and  maintained  it  by  their  arms  and 
txeaties;  especially  by  those  of  Eyswick,  Utrecht,  and  Aix  La  Cliapelle." 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITOEY.  31 

This  was  the  first  blood  shed  between  the  French  and  English,  and 
occurred  near  the  present  City  of  Piqua,  Ohio,  or  at  least  at  a  point  about 
forty-seven  miles  north  of  Dayton.  Each  nation  became  now  more  inter- 
ested in  the  progress  of  events  in  the  Northwest.  The  English  deter- 
mined to  purchase  from  the  Indians  a  title  to  the  lands  they  wished  to 
occupy,  and  Messrs.  Fry  (afterward  Commander-in-chief  over  Washing- 
ton at  the  commencement  of  the  French  War  of  1775-1763),  Lomax  and 
Pattou  were  sent  in  the  Spring  of  1752  to  hold  a  conference  with  the 
natives  at  Logstown  to  learn  what  they  objected  to  in  the  treaty  of  Lan- 
caster already  noticed,  and  to  settle  all  difficulties.  On  the  9th  of  June, 
these  Commissioners  met  the  red  men  at  Logstown,  a  little  village  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  about  seventeen  miles  below  the  site  of  Pitts- 
burgh. Here  had  been  a  trading  point  for  many  years,  but  it  was  aban- 
doned by  the  Indians  in  1750.  At  first  the  Indians  declined  to  recognize 
the  treaty  of  Lancaster,  but,  the  Commissioners  taking  aside  Montour, 
the  interpreter,  who  was  a  sou  of  the  famous  Catharine  Montour,  and  a 
chief  among  the  six  nations,  induced  him  to  use  his  influence  in  their 
favor.  This  he  did,  and  upon  the  loth  of  June  they  all  united  in  signing 
a  deed,  confirming  the  Lancaster  treaty  in  its  full  extent,  consenting  to  a 
settlement  of  the  southeast  of  the  Ohio,  and  guaranteeing  that  it  should 
not  be  disturbed  by  them.  These  were  the  means  used  to  obtain  the  first 
treaty  with  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Meanwhile  the  powers  beyond  the  sea  were  trying  to  out-manoeuvre 
each  other,  and  were  professing  to  be  at  peace.  The  English  generally 
outwitted  the  Indians,  and  failed  in  many  instances  to  fulfill  their  con- 
tracts. They  thereby  gained  the  ill-will  of  the  red  men,  and  further 
increased  the  feeling  by  failing  to  provide  them  with  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion. Said  an  old  chief,  at  Easton,  in  1758  :  "  The  Indians  on  the  Ohio 
left  you  because  of  your  own  fault.  When  we  heard  the  French  were 
coming,  we  asked  you  for  help  and  arms,  but  we  did  not  get  them.  The 
French  came,  they  treated  us  kindly,  and  gained  our  affections.  The 
Governor  of  Virginia  settled  on  our  lands  for  his  own  benefit,  and,  when 
we  wanted  help,  forsook  us." 

At  the  beginning  of  1653,  the  English  thought  they  had  secured  by 
title  the  lands  in  the  West,  but  the  French  had  quietly  gathered  cannon 
and  military  stores  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  expected  blow.  The  Eng- 
lish made  other  attempts  to  ratify  these  existing  treaties,  but  not  until 
the  Summer  could  the  Indians  be  gathered  together  to  discuss  the  plans 
of  the  French.  They  had  sent  messages  to  the  French,  warning  them 
away  ;  but  they  replied  that  they  intended  to  complete  the  chain  of  forts 
already  begun,  and  would  not  abandon  the  field. 

Soon  after  this,  no  satisfaction  being  obtained  from  the  Ohio  regard- 

2 


32  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

ing  the  positions  and  purposes  of  the  French,  Governor  Dinwiddie  of 
Virginia  determined  to  send  to  them-  another  messenger  and  learn  from 
them,  if  possible,  their  intentions.  For  this  purpose  he  selected  a  young 
man,  a  surveyor,  who,  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen,  had  received  the  rank 
of  major,  and  who  was  thoroughly  posted  regarding  frontier  life.  This 
personage  was  no  other  than  the  illustrious  George  Washington,  who  then 
held  considerable  interest  in  Western  lands.  He  was  at  this  time  just 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  Taking  Gist  as  his  guide,  the  two,  accompanied 
by  four  servitors,  set  out  on  their  perilous  march.  They  left  Will's 
Creek  on  the  10th  of  November,  1753,  and  on  the  22d  reached  the  Monon- 
gahela,  about  ten  miles  above  the  fork.  From  there  they  went  to 
Logstown,  where  Washington  had  a  long  conference  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  Six  Nations.  From  them  he  learned  the  condition  of  the  French,  and 
also  heard  of  their  determination  not  to  come  down  the  river  till  the  fol- 
lowing Spring.  The  Indians  were  non-committal,  as  they  were  afraid  to 
turn  either  way,  and,  as  far  as  they  could,  desired  to  remain  neutral. 
Washington,  finding  nothing  could  be  done  with  them,  went  on  to 
Venango,  an  old  Indian  town  at  the  mouth  of  French  Creek.  Here  the 
French  had  a  fort,  called  Fort  Machault.  Through  the  rum  and  flattery 
of  the  French,  he  nearly  lost  all  his  Indian  followers.  Finding  nothing 
of  importance  here,  he  pursued  his  way  amid  great  privations,  and  on  the 
11th  of  December  reached  the  fort  at  the  head  of  French  Creek.  Here 
he  delivered  Governor  Dinwiddle's  letter,  received  his  answer,  took  his 
observations,  and  on  the  16th  set  out  upon  his  return  journey  with  no  one 
but  Gist,  his  guide,  and  a  few  Indians  who  still  remained  true  to  him, 
notwithstanding  the  endeavors  of  the  French  to  retain  them.  Their 
homeward  journey  was  one  of  great  peril  and  suffering  from  the  cold,  yet 
they  reached  home  in  safety  on  the  6th  of  January,  1754. 

From  the  letter  of  St.  Pierre,  commander  of  the  French  fort,  sent  by 
Washington  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  it  was  learned  that  the  French  would 
not  give  up  without  a  struggle.  Active  preparations  were  at  once  made 
in  all  the  English  colonies  for  the  coming  conflict,  while  the  French 
finished  the  fort  at  Venango  and  strengthened  their  lines  of  fortifications, 
and  gathered  their  forces  to  be  in  readiness. 

The  Okl  Dominion  was  all  alive.  Virginia  was  the  center  of  great 
activities ;  volunteers  were  called  for,  and  from  all  the  neighboring 
colonies  men  rallied  to  the  conflict,  and  everywhere  along  the  Potomac 
men  were  enlisting  under  the  Governor's  proclamation — which  promised 
two  hundred  thousand  acres  on  the  Ohio.  Along  this  river  they  were 
gathering  as  far  as  Will's  Creek,  and  far  beyond  this  point,  whither  Trent 
had  come  for  assistance  for  his  little  band  of  forty-one  men,  who  were 


THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  33 

working  away  in  hunger  and  want,  to  fortify  that  point  at  the  fork  of 
the  Ohio,  to  which  both  parties  were  looking  with  deep  interest. 
^  "  The  first  birds  of '  Spring  filled  the  air  with  their  song ;  the  swift 
river  rolled  by  the  Allegheny  hillsides,  swollen  by  the  melting  snows  of 
Spring  and  the  April  showers.  The  leaves  were  appearing  ;  a  ?ew  Indian 
scouts  were  seen,  but  no  enemy  seemed  near  at  hand  ;  and  all  was  so  quiet, 
that  Frazier,  an  old  Indian  scout  and  trader,  who  had  been  left  by  Tren 
m  command,  ventured  to  his  home  at  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek,  ten 
miles  up  the  Monongahela.  But,  though  all  was  so  quiet  in  that  wilder- 
ness  keen  eyes  had  seen  the  low  intrenchment  rising  at  the  fork,  and 

7llXr}T'^^^^  ^-^  ^^P«-  the  morning 

of  the  1  ah    of  April,  Ensign  Ward,  who  then  had  charge  of  it,  saw 
upon  the  Allegheny  a  ^ght  that  made  his  heart  sink-sixty  tatteaux  and 

^;:  '^f  ;^'  —  ^''^^  .-^^I^   --'  -^  ^-^-^  ^-P  -^^  cannon  and 
T\X  .  ^      u  ^"^'"'"^  ^''  '"PP"^  '^^^^  ^'^  captor,  Contrecoeur, 

and  the  next  day  he  was  bowed  off  by  the  Frenchman,  and  with  his  men 
and  tools,  marched  up  the  Monongahela." 

The   French   and   Indian  war   had  begun.     The  treaty  of  Aix   la 
Chapelle,in    1<48,  had   left  the   boundaries   between   the   French   and 
English  possessions  unsettled,  and  the  events  already  narrated  show  the 
French  were  determined  to  hold  the  country  watered  by  the  Mississippi 
and  Its  tributaries  ;  while  the  English  laid  claims  to  the  country  by  virtue 
of  the  discoveries  of  the  Cabots,  and  claimed  all  the  country  from  New- 
found and  to  Florida,  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.     The 
hrst  decisive  blow  had  now  been  struck,  and  the  first  attempt  of  the 
English,  through  the  Ohio  Company,  to  occupy  these  lands,  had  resulted 
disastrously  to  them.     The  French  and  Indians  immediately  completed 
the  fortifications  begun  at  the  Fork,  which  they  had  so  easily  captured, 
and  when  completed  gave  to  the  fort  the  name  of  DuQuesne.     Washing- 
ton was  at  Will's  Creek  when  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  fort  arrived 
He  at  once  departed  to  recapture  it.     On  his  way  he  entrenched  him- 
self at  a  place  called  the   "Meadows,"  where  he  erected  a  fort  called 
by  him  Fort  Necessity.     From  there  he  surprised  and  captured  a  force  of 
J^rench  and  Indians  marching  against  him,  but  was  soon  after  attacked 
m  his  fort  by  a  much  superior  force,  and  was  obliged  to  yield  on  the 
mornmg  of  July  4th.-    He  was  allowed  to  return  to  Virginia. 

The  English  Government  immediately  planned  fou?  campaigns ;  one 
against  iort  DuQuesne;  one  against  Nova  Scotia;  one  against  Fort 
JNiagara,  and  one  against  Crown  Point.  These  occurred  durino-  1755-6 
and  were  not  successful  in  driving  the  French  from  their  possessions.' 
ihe  expedition  against  Fort  DuQuesne  was  led  by  the  famous  General 
iiraddock,  who,  refusing  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  Washington  and  those 


34  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

acquainted  with  Indian  warfare,  suffered  such  an  inglorious  defeat.  This 
occurred  on  the  morning  of  July  9th,  and  is  generally  known  as  the  battle 
of  Mouongahela,  or  "  Braddock's  Defeat."  The  war  continued  with 
various  vicissitudes  through  the  years  1756-7  ;  when,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  1758,  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  William  Pitt,  then  Secre- 
tary of  State,  afterwards  Lord  Chatham,  active  preparations  were  made  to 
carry  on  the  war.  Three  expeditions  were  planned  for  this  year :  one, 
under  General  Amherst,  against  Louisburg ;  another,  under  Abercrombie, 
against  Fort  Ticonderoga  ;  and  a  third,  under  General  Forbes,  against 
Fort  DuQuesne.  On  the  26th  of  July,  Louisburg  surrendered  after  a 
desperate  resistance  of  more  than  forty  days,  and  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Canadian  possessions  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British.  Abercrombie 
captured  Fort  Frontenac,  and  when  the  expedition  against  Fort  DuQuesne, 
of  which  Washington  had  the  active  command,  arrived  there,  it  was 
found  in  flames  and  deserted.  The  English  at  once  took  possession, 
rebuilt  the  fort,  and  in  honor  of  their  illustrious  statesman,  changed  the 
name  to  Fort  Pitt. 

The  great  object  of  the  campaign  of  1759,  was  the  reduction  of 
Canada.  General  Wolfe  was  to  lay  siege  to  Quebec ;  Amherst  was  to 
reduce  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  and  General  Prideaux  was  to 
capture  Niagara.  This  latter  place  was  taken  in  July,  but  the  gallant 
Prideaux  lost  his  life  in  the  attempt.  Amherst  captured  Ticonderoga 
and  Crown  Point  without  a  blow  ;  and  Wolfe,  after  making  the  memor- 
able ascent  to  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  on  September  13th,  defeated 
Montcalm,  and  on  the  18th,  the  city  capitulated.  In  this  engagement 
Montcolm  and  Wolfe  both  lost  their  lives.  De  Levi,  Montcalm's  successor, 
marched  to  Sillery,  three  miles  above  the  city,  with  the  purpose  of 
defeating  the  English,  and  there,  on  the  28th  of  the  following  April,  was 
fought  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the  French  and  Indian  War.  It 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  French,  and  the  fall  of  the  City  of  Montreal. 
The  Governor  signed  a  capitulation  by  which  the  whole  of  Canada  was 
surrendered  to  the  English.  This  practically  concluded  the  war,  but  it 
was  not  until  1763  that  the  treaties  of  peace  between  France  and  England 
were  signed.  This  was  done  on  the  10th  of  February  of  that  year,  and 
under  its  provisions  all  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of 
the  Iberville  River,  in  Louisiana,  were  ceded  to  England.  At  the  same 
time  Spain  ceded  Florida  to  Great  Britain. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1760,  Major  Robert  Rogers  was  sent 
from  Montreal  to  take  charge  of  Detroit,  the  only  remaining  French  post 
in  the  territory.  He  arrived  there  on  the  19th  of  November,  and  sum- 
moned the  place  to  surrender.  At  first  the  commander  of  the  post, 
Beletre,  refused,  but  on  the  29th,  hearing  of  the  continued  defeat  of  the 


THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  35 

French  arms,  surrendered.  Rogers  remained  there  until  December  23d 
under  the  personal  protection  of  the  celebrated  chief,  Pontiac,  to  whom, 
no  doubt,  he  owed  his  safety.  Pontiac  had  come  here  to  inquire  the 
purposes  of  the  English  in  taking  possession  of  the  country.  He  was 
assured  that  they  came  simply  to  trade  with  the  natives,  and  did  not 
desire  their  country.  This  answer  conciliated  the  savages,  and  did  much 
to  insure  the  safety  of  Rogers  and  his  party  during  their  stay,  and  while 
on  their  journey  home. 

Rogers  set  out  for  Fort  Pitt  on  December  23,  and  was  just  one 
month  on  the  way.  His  route  was  from  Detroit  to  Maumee,  thence 
across  the  present  State  of  Ohio  directly  to  the  fort.  This  was  the  com- 
mon trail  of  the  Indians  in  their  journeys  from  Sandusky  to  the  fork  of 
the  Ohio.  It  went  from  Fort  Sandusky,  where  Sandusky  City  now  is, 
crossed  the  Huron  river,  then  called  Bald  Eagle  Creek,  to  "  Mohickon 
John's  Town "  on  Mohickon  Creek,  the  northern  branch  of  White 
Woman's  River,  and  thence  crossed  to  Beaver's  Town,  a  Delaware  town 
on  what  is  now  Sandy  Creek.  At  Beaver's  Town  were  probably  one 
hundred  and  fifty  warriors,  and  not  less  than  three  thousand  acres  of 
cleared  land.  From  there  the  track  went  up  Sandy  Creek  to  and  across 
Big  Beaver,  and  up  the  Ohio  to  Logstown,  thence  on  to  the  fork. 

The  Northwest  Territory  was  now  entirely  under  the  English  rule. 
New  settlements  began  to  be  rapidly  made,  and  the  promise  of  a  large 
trade  was  speedily  manifested.  Had  the  British  carried  out  their  promises 
with  the  natives  none  of  those  savage  butcheries  would  have  been  perpe- 
trated, and  the  country  would  have  been  spared  their  recital. 

The  renowned  chief,  Pontiac,  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  these 
atrocities.  We  will  now  pause  in  our  narrative,  and  notice  the  leading 
events  in  his  life.  The  earliest  authentic  information  regarding  this 
noted  Indian  chief  is  learned  from  an  account  of  an  Indian  trader  named 
Alexander  Henry,  who,  in  the  Spring  of  1761,  penetrated  his  domains  as 
far  as  Missillimacnac.  Pontiac  was  then  a  great  friend  of  the  French, 
but  a  bitter  foe  of  the  English,  whom  he  considered  as  encroaching  on  his 
hunting  grounds.  Henry  was  obliged  to  disguise  himself  as  a  Canadian 
to  insure  safety,  but  was  discovered  by  Pontiac,  who  bitterly  reproached 
him  and  the  English  for  their  attempted  subjugation  of  the  West.  He 
declared  that  no  treaty  had  been  made  with  them;  no  presents  sent 
them,  and  that  he  would  resent  any  possession  of  the  West  by  that  nation. 
He  was  at  the  time  about  fifty  years  of  age,  tall  and  dignified,  and  was 
civil  and  military  ruler  of  the  Ottawas,  Ojibwas  and  Pottawatamies. 

The  Indians,  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  borders  of  North  Carolina, 
were  united  in  this  feeling,  and  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  Paris,  ratified 
February  10,  1763,  a   general  conspiracy  was  formed  to  fall  suddenly 


36  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

upon  the  frontier  British  posts,  and  with  one  blow  strike  every  man  dead. 
Poutiac  was  the  marked  leader  in  all  this,  and  was  the  commander 
of  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Wyandots,  Miamis,  Shawanese,  Delawares 
and  Mingoes,  who  had,  for  the  time,  laid  aside  their  local  quarrels  to  \imt& 
in  this  enterprise. 

The  blow  came,  as  near  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  on  May  7,  176-'^. 
Nine  British  posts  fell,  and  the  Indians  drank,  "  scooped  up  in  the  hollow 
of  joined  hands,"  the  blood  of  many  a  Briton. 

Pontiac's  immediate  field  of  action  was  the  garrison  at  Detroit. 
Here,  however,  the  plans  were  frustrated  by  an  Indian  woman  disclosing 
the  plot  the  evening  previous  to  his  arrival.  Everything  was  carried  out, 
however,  according  to  Pontiac's  plans  until  the  moment  of  action,  when 
Major  Gladwyn,  the  commander  of  the  post,  stepping  to  one  of  the  Indian 
chiefs,  suddenly  drew  aside  his  blanket  and  disclosed  the  concealed 
musket.  Pontiac,  though  a  brave  man,  turned  pale  and  trembled.  He 
saw  his  plan  was  known,  and  that  the  garrison  were  prepared.  Ke 
endeavored  to  exculpate  himself  from  any  such  intentions  ;  but  the  guilt 
was  evident,  and  he  and  his  followers  were  dismissed  with  a  severe 
reprimand,  and  warned  never  to  again  enter  the  walls  of  the  post. 

Pontiac  at  once  laid  siege  to  the  fort,  and  until  the  treaty  of  peace 
between  the  British  and  the  Western  Indians,  concluded  in  August,  1764, 
continued  to  harass  and  besiege  the  fortress.  He  organized  a  regular 
commissariat  department,  issued  bills  of  credit  written  out  on  bark, 
which,  to  his  credit,  it  may  be  stated,  were  punctually  redeemed.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  in  which  it  seems  he  took  no  part,  he  went 
further  south,  living  many  yeass  among  the  Illinois. 

He  had  given  up  all  hope  of  saving  his  country  and  race.  After  a 
time  he  endeavored  to  unite  the  Illinois  tribe  and  those  about  St.  Louis 
in  a  war  with  the  whites.  His  efforts  were  fruitless,  and  only  ended  in  a 
quarrel  between  himself  and  some  Kaskaskia  Indians,  one  of  whom  soon 
afterwards  killed  him.  His  death  was,  however,  avenged  by  the  northern 
Indians,  who  nearly  exterminated  the  Illinois  in  the  wars  which  followed. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  a  few  of  his  followers,  his  plan 
for  the  extermination  of  the  whites,  a  masterly  one,  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  carried  out. 

It  was  in  the  Spring  of  the  year  following  Rogers'  visit  that  Alex- 
ander Henry  went  to  Missillimacnac,  and  everywhere  found  the  strongest 
feelings  against  the  English,  who  had  not  carried  out  their  promises,  and 
were  doing  nothing  to  conciliate  the  natives.  Here  he  met  the  chief, 
Pontiac,  who,  after  conveying  to  him  in  a  speech  the  idea  that  their 
French  father  would  awake  soon  and  utterly  destroy  his  enemies,  said : 
"  Englishman,  although  you  have  conquered  the  French,  you  have  not 


THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  37 

yet  conquered  us  !  We  are  not  your  slaves!  These  lakes,  these  woods, 
these  mountains,  were  left  us  by  our  ancestors.  They  are  our  inheritance, 
and  we  will  part  with  them  to  none.  Your  nation  supposes  that  we,  like 
the  white  people,  can  not  live  without  bread  and  pork  and  beef.  But  you 
ought  to  know  that  He,  the  Great  Spirit  and  Master  of  Life,  has  provided 
food  for  us  upon  these  broad  lakes  and  in  these  mountains." 

He  then  spoke  of  the  fact  that  no  treaty  had  been  made  with  them, 
no  presents  sent  them,  and  that  he  and  his  people  were  yet  for  war. 
Such  were  the  feelings  of  the  Northwestern  Indians  immediately  after 
the  English  took  possession  of  their  country.  These  feelings  were  no 
doubt  encouraged  by  the  Canadians  and  French,  who  hoped  that  yet  the 
French  arms  might  prevail.  The  treaty  of  Paris,  however,  gave  to  the 
English  the  right  to  this  vast  domain,  and  active  preparations  were  going 
on  to  occupy  it  and  enjoy  its  trade  and  emoluments. 

In  1762,  France,  by  a  secret  treaty,  ceded  Louisiana  to  Spain,  to  pre- 
vent it  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who  were  becoming  masters 
of  the  entire  West.  The  next  year  the  treaty  of  Paris,  signed  at  Fon- 
tainbleau,  gave  to  the  English  the  domain  of  the  country  in  question. 
Twenty  years  after,  by  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States 
and  England,  that  part  of  Canada  lying  south  and  west  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  comprehending  a  large  territory  which  is  the  subject  of  these 
sketches,  was  acknowledged  to  be  a  portion  of  the  United  States  ;  and 
twenty  years  still  later,  in  1803,  Louisiana  was  ceded  by  Spain  back  to 
France,  and  by  France  sold  to  the  United  States. 

In  the  half  centur}^  from  the  building  of  the  Fort  of  Crevecoeur  by 
LaSalle,  in  1680,  up  to  the  erection  of  Fort  Chartres,  many  French  set- 
tlements had  been  made  in  that  quarter.  These  have  already  been 
noticed,  being  those  at  St.  Vincent  (Vincennes),  Kohokia  or  Cahokia, 
Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du  Rocher,  on  the  American  Bottom,  a  large  tract 
of  rich  alluvial  soil  in  Illinois,  on  the  Mississippi,  opposite  the  site  of  St. 
Louis. 

By  the  treaty  of  Paris,  the  regions  east  of  the  Mississippi,  including 
all  these  and  other  towns  of  the  Northwest,  were  given  over  to  England; 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  taken  possession  of  until  1765,  when 
Captain  Stirling,  in  the  name  of  the  Majesty  of  England,  established  him- 
self at  Fort  Chartres  bearing  with  him  the  proclamation  of  General  Gage, 
dated  December  30,  1764,  which  promised  religious  freedom  to  all  Cath- 
olics who  worshiped  here,  and  a  right  to  leave  the  country  with  their 
effects  if  they  wished,  or  to  remain  with  the  privileges  of  Englishmen. 
It  was  shortly  after  the  occupancy  of  the  West  by  the  British  that  the 
war  with  Pontiac  opened.  It  is  already  noticed  in  the  sketch  of  that 
chieftain.     By  it  many  a  Briton  lost  his  life,  and  many  a  frontier  settle- 


38  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

ment  in  its  infancy  ceased  to  exist.  This  was  not  ended  until  the  year 
1764,  when,  failing  to  capture  Detroit,  Niagara  and  Fort  Pitt,  his  confed- 
eracy became  disheartened,  and,  receiving  no  aid  from  the  French,  Pon- 
tiac  abandoned  the  enterprise  and  departed  to  the  Illinois,  among  whom 
he  afterward  lost  his  life. 

As  soon  as  these  difficulties  were  definitely  settled,  settlers  began 
rapidly  to  survey  the  country  and  prepare  for  occupation.  During  the 
year  1770,  a  number  of  persons  from  Virginia  and  other  British  provinces 
explored  and  marked  out  nearly  all  the  valuable  lands  on  the  Mononga- 
hela  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  as  far  as  the  Little  Kanawha.  This 
was  followed  by  another  exploring  expedition,  in  which  George  Washing- 
ton was  a  party.  The  latter,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Craik,  Capt.  Crawford 
and  others,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1770,  descended  the  Ohio  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  ;  ascended  that  stream  about  fourteen 
miles,  marked  out  several  large  tracts  of  land,  shot  several  buffalo,  which 
were  then  abundant  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  returned  to  the  fort. 

Pittsburgh  Avas  at  this  time  a  trading  post,  about  which  was  clus- 
tered a  village  of  some  twenty  houses,  inhabited  by  Indian  traders.  This 
same  year,  Capt.  Pittman  visited  Kaskaskia  and  its  neighboring  villages. 
He  found  there  about  sixty-five  resident  families,  and  at  Cahokia  only 
fortj^-five  dwellings.  At  Fort  Chartres  was  another  small  settlement,  and 
at  Detroit  the  garrison  were  quite  prosperous  and  strong.  For  a  year 
or  two  settlers  continued  to  locate  near  some  of  these  posts,  generally 
Fort  Pitt  or  Detroit,  owing  to  the  fears  of  the  Indians,  who  still  main- 
tained some  feelings  of  hatred  to  the  English.  The  trade  from  the  posts 
was  quite  good,  and  from  those  in  Illinois  large  quantities  of  pork  and 
flour  found  their  way  to  the  New  Orleans  market.  At  this  time  the 
policy  of  the  British  Government  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  the  colonies  west.  In  1763,  the  King  of  England  forbade,  by  roj-al 
proclamation,  his  colonial  subjects  from  making  a  settlement  beyond  the 
sources  of  the  rivers  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  At  the  instance 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  the  settlement 
without  the  limits  prescribed,  and  to  retain  the  commerce  within  easy 
reach  of  Great  Britain. 

The  commander-in-chief  of  the  king's  forces  wrote  in  17G9  :  "  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  necessity  will  compel  the  colonists,  should  they 
extend  their  settlements  west,  to  provide  manufactures  of  some  kind  for 
themselves,  and  when  all  connection  upheld  by  commerce  with  the  mother 
country  ceases,  an  independency  in  their  government  will  soon  follow.'' 

In  accordance  with  this  policy,  Gov.  Gage  issued  a  proclamation 
in  1772,  commanding  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes  to  abandon  their  set- 
tlements and  join  some  of  the  Eastern  English  colonies.     To  this  they 


THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  39 

strenuously  objected,  giving  good  reasons  therefor,  and  were  allowed  to 
remain.  The  strong  opposition  to  this  policy  of  Great  Britain  led  to  its 
change,  and  to  such  a  course  as  to  gain  the  attachment  of  the  French 
population.  In  December,  1773,  influential  citizens  of  Quebec  petitioned 
the  king  for  an  extension  of  the  boundary  lines  of  that  province,  which 
was  granted,  and  Parliament  passed  an  act  on  June  2,  1774,  extend- 
ing the  boundary  so  as  to  include  the  territory  lying  within  the  present 
States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Michigan. 

In  consequence  of  the  liberal  policy  pursued  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment toward  the  French  settlers  in  the  West,  they  were  disposed  to  favor 
that  nation  in  the  war  which  soon  followed  with  the  colonies ;  but  the 
early  alliance  between  France  and  America  soon  brought  them  to  the  side 
of  the  war  for  independence. 

In  1774,  Gov.  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  began  to  encourage  emigration 
to  the  Western  lands.  He  appointed  magistrates  at  Fort  Pitt  under  the 
pretense  that  the  fort  was  under  the  government  of  that  commonwealth. 
One  of  these  justices,  John  Connelly,  who  possessed  a  tract  of  land  in  the 
Ohio  Valley,  gathered  a  force  of  men  and  garrisoned  the  fort,  calling  it 
Fort  Dunmore.  This  and  other  parties  were  formed  to  select  sites  for 
settlements,  and  often  came  in  conflict  with  the  Indians,  who  yet  claimed 
portions  of  the  valley,  and  several  battles  followed.  These  ended  in  the 
famous  battle  of  Kanawha  in  July,  where  the  Indians  were  defeated  and 
driven  across  the  Ohio. 

During  the  years  1775  and  1776,  by  the  operations  of  land  companies 
and  the  perseverance  of  individuals,  several  settlements  were  firmly  estab- 
lished between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Ohio  River,  and  western  land 
speculators  were  busy  in  Illinois  and  on  the  Wabash.  At  a  council  held 
in  Kaskaskia  on  July  5,  1773,  an  association  of  English  traders,  calling 
themselves  the  "Illinois  Land  Company,"  obtained  from  ten  chiefs  of  the 
Kaskaskia,  Cahokia  and  Peoria  tribes  two  large  tracts  of  land  lying  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  River  south  of  the  Illinois.  In  1775,  a  mer- 
chant from  the  Illinois  Country,  named  Viviat,  came  to  Post  Vincennes 
as  the  agent  of  the  association  called  the  "  Wabash  Land  Company."  On 
the  8th  of  October  he  obtained  from  eleven  Piankeshaw  chiefs,  a  deed  for 
37,497,600  acres  of  land.  This  deed  was  signed  by  the  grantors,  attested 
by  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes,  and  afterward  recorded  in 
the  office  of  a  notary  public  at  Kaskaskia.  This  and  other  land  com- 
panies had  extensive  schemes  for  the  colonization  of  the  West ;  but  all 
were  frustrated  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution.  On  the  20th  of 
April,  1780,  the  two  companies  named  consolidated  under  the  name  of  the 
"  United  Illinois  and  Wabash  Land  Company."     They  afterward  made 


40  THE  NORTHWEST  TEERITORY. 

strenuous  efforts  to  have  these  grants  sanctioned  by  Congress,  but  all 
signally  failed. 

When  the  War  of  the  Revolution  commenced,  Kentucky  was  an  unor- 
ganized countr}',  though  there  were  several  settlements  within  her  borders. 

In  Hutchins'  Topography  of  Virginia,  it  is  stated  that  at  that  time 
"  Kaskaskia  contained  80  houses,  and  nearly  1,000  white  and  black  in- 
habitants —  the  whites  being  a  little  the  more  numerous.  Cahokia  con- 
tains 50  houses  and  300  white  inhabitants,  and  80  negroes.  There  were 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  about  the  year  1771  " — when  these  observa- 
tions were  made  — "  300  white  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  230 
negroes." 

From  1775  until  the  expedition  of  Clark,  nothing  is  recorded  and 
nothing  known  of  these  settlements,  save  what  is  contained  in  a  report 
made  by  a  committee  to  Congress  in  June,  1778.  From  it  the  following 
extract  is  made  : 

"  Near  the  mouth  of  the  River  Kaskaskia,  there  is  a  village  which 
appears  to  have  contained  nearly  eighty  families  from  the  beginning  of 
the  late  revolution.  There  are  twelve  families  in  a  small  village  at  la 
Prairie  du  Rochers,  and  near  fifty  families  at  the  Kahokia  Village.  There 
are  also  four  or  five  families  at  Fort  Chartres  and  St.  Philips,  which  is  five 
miles  further  up  the  river." 

St.  Louis  had  been  settled  in  February,  1764,  and  at  this  time  con- 
tained, including  its  neighboring  towns,  over  six  hundred  whites  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  negroes.  It  must  be  remembered  that  all  the  country 
west  of  the  Mississijipi  was  now  under  French  rule,  and  remained  so  until 
ceded  again  to  Spain,  its  original  owner,  who  afterwards  sold  it  and  the 
country  including  New  Orleans  to  the  United  States.  At  Detroit  there 
were,  according  to  Capt.  Carver,  who  was  in  the  Northwest  from  1766  to 
1768,  more  than  one  hundred  houses,  and  the  river  was  settled  for  more 
than  twenty  miles,  although  poorly  cultivated — the  people  being  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade.  This  old  town  has  a  history,  which  we  will  here 
relate. 

It  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  Northwest,  having  been  founded  by 
Antoine  de  Lamotte  Cadillac,  in  1701.  It  was  laid  out  in  the  form  of  an 
oblong  square,  of  two  acres  in  length,  and  an  acre  and  a  half  in  width. 
As  described  by  A.  D.  Frazer,  who  first  visited  it  and  became  a  permanent 
resident  of  the  place,  in  1778,  it  comprised  within  its  limits  that  space 
between  Mr.  Palmer's  store  (Conant  Block)  and  Capt.  Perkins'  house 
(near  the  Arsenal  building),  and  extended  back  as  far  as  the  public  barn, 
and  was  bordered  in  front  by  the  Detroit  River.  It  was  surrounded  by 
oak  and  cedar  pickets,  about  fifteen  feet  long,  set  in  the  ground,  and  had 
four  gates  —  east,  west,  north  and  south.     Over  the  first  three  of  these 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  41 

gates  were  block  houses  provided  with  four  guns  apiece,  each  a  six- 
pounder.  Two  six-gun  batteries  were  planted  fronting  the  river  and  in  a 
parallel  direction  with  the  block  houses.  There  were  four  streets  running 
east  and  west,  the  main  street  being  twenty  feet  wide  and  the  rest  fifteen 
feet,  while  the  four  streets  crossing  these  at  right  angles  were  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  in  width. 

At  the  date  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Frazer,  there  was  no  fort  within  the 
enclosure,  but  a  citadel  on  the  ground  corresponding  to  the  present 
northwest  corner  of  Jefferson  Avenue  and  Wayne  Street.  The  citadel  was 
inclosed  by  pickets,  and  within  it  were  erected  barracks  of  wood,  two 
stories  high,  sufficient  to  contain  ten  officers,  and  also  barracks  sufficient 
to  contain  four  hundred  men,  and  a  provision  store  built  of  brick.  The 
citadel  also  contained  a  hospital  and  guard-house.  The  old  town  of 
Detroit,  in  1778,  contained  about  sixty  houses,  most  of  them  one  story, 
with  a  few  a  story  and  a  half  in  height.  They  were  all  of  logs,  some 
hewn  and  some  round.  There  was  one  building  of  splendid  appearance, 
called  the  "  King's  Palace,"  two  stories  high,  which  stood  near  the  east 
gate.  It  was  built  for  Governor  Hamilton,  the  first  governor  commissioned 
by  the  British.  There  were  two  guard-houses,  one  near  the  west  gate  and 
the  other  near  the  Government  House.  Each  of  the  guards  consisted  of 
twenty-four  men  and  a  subaltern,  who  mounted  regularly  every  morning 
between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  Each  furnished  four  sentinels,  who  were 
relieved  every  two  hours.  There  was  also  an  officer  of  the  day,  who  per- 
formed strict  duty.  Each  of  the  gates  was  shut  regularly  at  sunset, 
even  wicket  gates  were  shut  at  nine  o'clock,  and  all  the  keys  were 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  commanding  officer.  They  were  opened 
in  the  morning  at  sunrise.  No  Indian  or  squaw  was  permitted  to  enter 
town  with  any  weapon,  such  as  a  tomahawk  or  a  knife.  It  was  a  stand- 
ing order  that  the  Indians  should  deliver  their  arms  and  instruments  of 
every  kind  before  they  were  permitted  to  pass  the  sentinel,  and  they  were 
restored  to  them  on  their  return.  No  more  than  twenty-five  Indians  were 
allowed  to  enter  the  town  at  any  one  time,  and  they  were  admitted  only 
at  the  east  and  west  gates.  At  sundown  the  drums  beat,  and  all  the 
Indians  were  required  to  leave  town  instantly.  There  was  a  council  house 
near  the  water  side  for  the  purpose  of  holding  council  with  the  Indians. 
The  population  of  the  town  was  about  sixty  families,  in  all  about  two 
hundred  males  and  one  hundred  females.  This  town  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  all  except  one  dwelling,  in  1805.  After  which  the  present  "  new  " 
town  was  laid  out. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  the  British  held  every  post  of 
importance  in  the  West.  Kentucky  was  formed  as  a  component  part  of 
Virginia,  and  the  sturdy  pioneers  of  the  West,  alive  to  their  interests, 


42  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY, 

and  recognizing  the  great  benefits  of  obtaining  the  control  of  the  trade  in 
this  part  of  the  New  World,  held  steadily  to  their  purposes,  and  those 
within  the  commonwealth  of  Kentucky  proceeded  to  exercise  their 
civil  privileges,  by  electing  John  Todd  and  Richard  Gallaway» 
burgesses  to  represent  them  in  the  Assembly  of  the  parent  state. 
Early  in  September  of  that  year  (1777)  the  first  court  was  held 
in  Harrodsburg,  and  Col.  Bowman,  afterwards  major,  who  had  arrived 
in  August,  was  made  the  commander  of  a  militia  organization  which 
had  been  commenced  the  March  previous.  Thus  the  tree  of  loyalty 
was  growing.  The  chief  spirit  in  this  far-out  colony,  who  had  represented 
her  the  year  previous  east  of  the  mountains,  was  now  meditating  a  move 
unequaled  in  its  boldness.  He  had  been  watching  the  movements  of  the 
British  throughout  the  Northwest,  and  understood  their  whole  plan.  He 
saw  it  was  through  their  possession  of  the  posts  at  Detroit,  Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia,  and  other  places,  which  would  give  them  constant  and  easy 
access  to  the  various  Indian  tribes  in  the  Northwest,  that  the  British 
intended  to  penetrate  the  country  from  the  north  and  soutn,  ana  annihi- 
late the  frontier  fortresses.  This  moving,  energetic  man  was  Colonel, 
afterwards  General,  George  Rogers  Clark.  He  knew  the  Indians  were  not 
unanimously  in  accord  with  the  English,  and  he  was  convinced  that,  could 
the  British  be  defeated  and  expelled  from  the  Northwest,  the  natives 
might  be  easily  awed  into  neutrality ;  and  by  spies  sent  for  the  purpose, 
he  satisfied  himself  that  the  enterprise  against  the  Illinois  settlements 
might  easily  succeed.  Having  convinced  himself  of  the  certainty  of  the 
project,  he  repaired  to  the  Capital  of  Virginia,  which  place  he  reached  on 
November  5th.  While  he  was  on  his  way,  fortunately,  on  October  17th, 
Burgoyne  had  been  defeated,  and  the  spirits  of  the  colonists  greatly 
encouraged  thereby.  Patrick  Henry  was  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  at 
once  entered  heartily  into  Clark's  plans.  The  same  plan  had  before  been 
agitated  in  the  Colonial  Assemblies,  but  there  was  no  one  until  Clark 
came  who  was  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the 
scene  of  action  to  be  able  to  guide  them. 

Clark,  having  satisfied  the  Virginia  leaders  of  the  feasibility  of  his 
plan,  received,  on  the  2d  of  January,  two  sets  of  instructions — one  secret, 
the  other  open  —  the  latter  authorized  him  to  proceed  to  enlist  seven 
companies  to  go  to  Kentucky,  subject  to  his  orders,  and  to  serve  three 
months  from  their  arrival  in  the  West.  The  secret  order  authorized  him 
to  arm  these  troops,  to  procure  his  powder  and  lead  of  General  Hand 
at  Pittsburgh,  and  to  proceed  at  once  to  subjugate  the  country. 

With  these  instructions  Clark  repaired  to  Pittsburgh,  choosing  rather 
to  raise  his  men  west  of  the  mountains,  as  he  well  knew  all  were  needed 
in  the  colonies  in  the  conflict  there.     He  sent  Col.  W.  B.  Smith  to  Hoi- 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  43 

ston  for  the  same  purpose,  but  neither  succeeded  in  raising  the  required 
number  of  men.  The  settlers  in  these  parts  were  afraid  to  leave  their 
own  firesides  exposed  to  a  vigilant  foe,  and  but  few  could  be  induced  to 
join  the  proposed  expedition.  With  three  companies  and  several  private 
volunteers,  Clark  at  length  commenced  his  descent  of  the  Ohio,  which  he 
navigated  as  far  as  the  Falls,  where  he  took  possession  of  and  fortified 
Corn  Island,  a  small  island  between  the  present  Cities  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  New  Albany,  Indiana.  Remains  of  this  fortification  may 
yet  be  found.  At  this  place  he  appointed  Col.  Bowman  to  meet  him 
with  such  recruits  as  had  reached  Kentucky  by  the  southern  route,  and 
as  many  as  could  be  spared  from  the  station.  Here  he  announced  to 
the  men  their  real  destination.  Having  completed  his  arrangements, 
and  chosen  his  party,  he  left  a  small  garrison  upon  the  island,  and  on  the 
2-ith  of  June,  during  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  to  them  augured 
no  good,  and  which  fixes  beyond  dispute  the  date  of  starting,  he  with 
his  chosen  band,  fell  down  the  river.  His  plan  was  to  go  by  water  as 
far  as  Fort  Massac  or  Massacre,  and  thence  march  direct  to  Kaskaskia. 
Here  he  intended  to  surprise  the  garrison,  and  after  its  capture  go  to 
Cahokia,  then  to  Vincennes,  and  lastly  to  Detroit.  Should  he  fail,  he 
intended  to  march  directly  to  the  Mississippi  River  and  cross  it  into  the 
Spanish  country.  Before  his  start  he  received  two  good  items  of  infor- 
mation :  one  that  the  alliance  had  been  formed  between  France  and  the 
United  States ;  and  the  other  that  the  Indians  throughout  the  Illinois 
country  and  the  inhabitants,  at  the  various  frontier  posts,  had  been  led  to 
believe  by  the  British  that  the  "  Long  Knives  "  or  Virginians,  were  the 
most  fierce,  bloodthirsty  and  cruel  savages  that  ever  scalped  a  foe.  With 
this  impression  on  their  minds,  Clark  saw  that  proper  management  would 
cause  them  to  submit  at  once  from  fear,  if  surprised,  and  then  from  grati- 
tude would  become  friendly  if  treated  with  unexpected  leniency. 

The  march  to  Kaskaskia  was  accomplished  through  a  hot  July  sun, 
and  the  town  reached  on  the  evening  of  July  4.  He  captured  the  fort 
near  the  village,  and  soon  after  the  village  itself  by  surprise,  and  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  man  or  by  killing  any  of  the  enemy.  After  sufi&ciently 
working  upon  the  fears  of  the  natives,  Clark  told  them  they  were  at  j)er- 
fect  liberty  to  worship  as  they  pleased,  and  to  take  whichever  side  of  the 
great  conflict  they  would,  also  he  would  protect  them  from  any  barbarity 
from  British  or  Indian  foe.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  inhab- 
itants, so  unexpectedly  and  so  gratefully  surprised  by  the  unlooked 
for  turn  of  affairs,  at  once  swore  allegiance  to  the  American  arms,  and 
when  Clark  desired  to  go  to  Cahokia  on  the  6th  of  July,  they  accom- 
panied him,  and  through  their  influence  the  inhabitants  of  the  place 
surrendered,  and  gladly  placed  themselves  under  his  protection.     Thus 


44  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

the  two  important  posts  in  Illinois  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  English 
into  the  possession  of  Virginia. 

In  the  person  of  the  priest  at  Kaskaskia,  M.  Gibault,  Clark  found  a 
powerful  ally  and  generous  friend.  Clark  saw  that,  to  retain  possession 
of  the  Northwest  and  treat  successfully  with  the  Indians  within  its  boun- 
daries, he  must  establish  a  government  for  the  colonies  he  had  taken. 
St.  Vincent,  the  next  important  post  to  Detroit,remained  yet  to  be  taken 
before  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  conquered.  M.  Gibault  told  him  that 
he  would  alone,  by  persuasion,  lead  Vincennes  to  throw  off  its  connection 
with  England.  Clark  gladly  accepted  his  offer,  and  on  the  14th  of  July, 
in  company  with  a  fellow-townsman,  M.  Gibault  started  on  his  mission  of 
peace,  and  on  the  1st  of  August  returned  with  the  cheerful  intelligence 
that  the  post  on  the  "  Oubache  "  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  Old  Dominion.  During  this  interval,  Clark  established  his  courts, 
placed  garrisons  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  successfully  re-enlisted  his 
men,  sent  word  to  have  a  fort,  which  proved  the  germ  of  Louisville, 
erected  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  dispatched  Mr.  Rocheblave,  who 
had  been  commander  at  Kaskaskia,  as  a  prisoner  of  war  to  Richmond. 
In  October  the  County  of  Illinois  was  established  by  the  Legislature 
of  Virginia,  John  Todd  appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel  and  Civil  Governor, 
and  in  November  General  Clark  and  his  men  received  the  thanks  of 
the  Old  Dominion  through  their  Legislature. 

In  a  speech  a  few  days  afterward,  Clark  made  known  fully  to  the 
natives  his  plans,  and  at  its  close  all  came  forward  and  swore  alle- 
giance to  the  Long  Knives.  While  he  was  doing  this  Governor  Hamilton, 
having  made  his  various  arrangements,  had  left  Detroit  and  moved  down 
the  Wabash  to  Vincennes  intending  to  operate  from  that  point  in  reducing 
the  Illinois  posts,  and  then  proceed  on  down  to  Kentucky  and  drive  the 
rebels  from  the  West.  Gen.  Clark  had,  on  the  return  of  M.  Gibault, 
dispatched  Captain  Helm,  of  Fauquier  County,  Virginia,  with  an  attend- 
ant named  Henry,  across  the  Illinois  prairies  to  command  the  fort. 
Hamilton  knew  nothing  of  the  capitulation  of  the  post,  and  was  greatly 
surprised  on  his  arrival  to  be  confronted  by  Capt.  Helm,  who,  standing  at 
the  entrance  of  the  fort  by  a  loaded  cannon  ready  to  fire  upon  his  assail- 
ants, demanded  upon  what  terms  Hamilton  demanded  possession  of  the 
fort.  Being  granted  the  rights  of  a  prisoner  of  war,  he  surrendered  to 
the  British  General,  who  could  scarcely  believe  his  eyes  when  he  saw  the 
force  in  the  garrison. 

Hamilton,  not  realizing  the  character  of  the  men  with  whom  he  was 
contending,  gave  up  his  intended  campaign  for  the  Winter,  sent  his  four 
Jiundred  Indian  wan'iors  to  prevent  troops  from  coming  down  the  Ohio, 


THE   NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  45 

and  to  annoy  the  Americans  in  all  ways,  and  sat  quietly  down  to  pass  the 
Winter.  Information  of  all  these  proceedings  having  reached  Clark,  he 
saw  that  immediate  and  decisive  action  was  necessary,  and  that  unless 
he  captured  Hamilton,  Hamilton  would  capture  him.  Clark  received  the 
news  on  the  29th  of  January,  1779,  and  on  February  4th,  having  suffi- 
ciently garrisoned  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  he  sent  down  the  Mississippi 
a  "  battoe,"  as  Major  Bowman  writes  it,  in  order  to  ascend  the  Ohio  and 
Wabash,  and  operate  with  the  land  forces  gathering  for  the  fray. 

On  the  next  day,  Clark,  with  his  little  force  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men,  set  out  for  the  post,  and  after  incredible  hard  marching 
through  much  mud,  the  ground  being  thawed  by  the  incessant  spring 
rains,  on  the  22d  reached  the  fort,  and  being  joined  by  his  "battoe,"  at 
once  commenced  the  attack  on  the  post.  The  aim  of  the  American  back- 
woodsman was  unerring,  and  on  the  24th  the  garrison  surrendered  to  the 
intrepid  boldness  of  Clark.  The  French  were  treated  with  great  kind- 
ness, and  gladly  renewed  their  allegiance  to  Virginia.  Hamilton  was 
sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  kept  in  close  confinement. 
During  his  command  of  the  British  frontier  posts,  he  had  offered  prizes 
to  the  Indians  for  all  the  scalps  of  Americans  they  would  bring  to  him, 
and  had  earned  in  consequence  thereof  the  title  "  Hair-buyer  General," 
by  which  he  was  ever  afterward  known. 

Detroit  was  now  without  doubt  within  easy  reach  of  the  enterprising 
Virginian,  could  he  but  raise  the  necessary  force.  Governor  Henry  being 
apprised  of  this,  promised  him  the  needed  reinforcement,  and  Clark  con- 
cluded to  wait  until  he  could  capture  and  sufficiently  garrison  the  posts. 
Had  Clark  failed  in  this  bold  undertaking,  and  Hamilton  succeeded  in 
uniting  the  western  Indians  for  the  next  Spring's  campaign,  the  West 
would  indeed  have  been  swept  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Allegheny 
Mountains,  and  the  great  blow  struck,  which  had  been  contemplated  from 
the  commencement,  by  the  British. 

"But  for  this  small  army  of  dripping,  but  fearless  Virginians,  the 
union  of  all  the  tribes  from  Georgia  to  Maine  against  the  colonies  might 
have  been  effected,  and  the  whole  current  of  our  history  changed." 

•At  this  time  some  fears  were  entertained  by  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ments that  the  Indians  in  the  North  and  Northwest  were  inclining  to  the 
British,  and  under  the  instructions  of  Washington,  now  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Colonial  army,  and  so  bravely  fighting  for  American  inde- 
pendence, armed  forces  were  sent  against  the  Six  Nations,  and  upon  the 
Ohio  frontier,  Col.  Bowman,  acting  under  the  same  general's  orders, 
marched  against  Indians  within  the  present  limits  of  that  State.  These 
expeditions  were  in  the  main  successful,  and  the  Indians  were  compelled 
to  sue  for  peace. 


46  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

During  this  same  year  (1779)  the  famous  "  Land  Laws"  of  Virginia 
were  passed.  The  passage  of  these  laws  was  of  more  consequence  to  the 
pioneers  of  Kentucky  and  the  Northwest  than  the  gaining  of  a  few  Indian 
conflicts.  These  laws  confirmed  in  main  all  grants  made,  and  guaranteed 
to  all  actual  settlers  their  rights  and  privileges.  After  providing  for  the 
settlers,  the  laws  provided  for  selling  the  balance  of  the  public  lands  at 
forty  cents  per  acre.  To  carry  the  Land  Laws  into  effect,  the  Legislature 
sent  four  Virginians  westward  to  attend  to  the  various  claims,  over  many 
of  which  great  confusion  prevailed  concerning  their  validity.  These 
gentlemen  opened  their  court  on  October  13,  1779,  at  St.  Asaphs,  and 
continued  until  April  26,  1780,  when  they  adjourned,  having  decided 
three  ..thousand  claims.  They  were  succeeded  by  the  surveyor,  who 
came  in  the  person  of  Mr.  George  May,  and  assumed  his  duties  on  the 
10th  day  of  the  month  whose  name  he  bore.  With  the  opening  of  the 
next  year  (1780)  the  troubles  concerning  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi commenced.  The  Spanish  Government  exacted  such  measures  in 
relation  to  its  trade  as  to  cause  the  overtures  made  to  the  United  States 
to  be  rejected.  The  American  Government  considered  they  had  a  right 
to  navigate  its  channel.  To  enforce  their  claims,  a  fort  was  erected  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river.  The  settle- 
ments in  Kentucky  were  being  rapidly  filled  by  emigrants.  It  was  dur- 
ing this  year  that  the  first  seminary  of  learning  was  established  in  the 
West  in  this  young  and  enterprising  Commonwealth. 

The  settlers  here  did  not  look  upon  the  building  of  this  fort  in  a 
friendly  manner,  as  it  aroused  the  hostility  of  the  Indians.  Spain  had 
been  friendly  to  the  Colonies  during  their  struggle  for  independence, 
and  though  for  a  while  this  friendship  appeared  in  danger  from  the 
refusal  of  the  free  navigation  of  the  river,  yet  it  was  finally  settled  to  the 
satisfaction  of  both  nations. 

The  Winter  of  1779-80  was  one  of  the  most  unusually  severe  ones 
ever  experienced  in  the  West.  The  Indians  always  referred  to  it  as  the 
"Great  Cold."  Numbers  of  wild  animals  perished,  and  not  a  few 
pioneers  lost  their  lives.  The  following  Summer  a  party  of  Canadians 
and  Indians  attacked  St.  Louis,  and  attempted  to  take  possession  of  it 
in  consequence  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  Spain  to  the  revolting 
colonies.  They  met  with  such  a  determined  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
inhabitants,  even  the  women  taking  part  in  the  battle,  that  they  weie 
compelled  to  abandon  the  contest.  They  also  made  an  attack  on  the 
settlements  in  Kentucky,  but,  becoming  alarmed  in  some  unaccountable 
manner,  they  fled  the  country  in  great  haste. 

About  this  time  arose  the  question  in  the  Colonial  Congress  con- 
cerning the  western  lands  claimed  by  Virginia,  New  York,  Massachusetts 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  49 

and  Connecticut.  The  agitation  concerning  this  subject  finally  led  New 
York,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1780,  to  pass  a  law  giving  to  the  dele- 
gates of  that  State  in  Congress  the  power  to  cede  her  western  lands  for 
the  benefit  of  the  United  States.  This  law  was  laid  before  Congress 
during  the  next  month,  but  no  steps  were  taken  concerning  it  until  Sep- 
tember 6th,  when  a  resolution  passed  that  body  calling  upon  the  States 
claiming  western  lands  to  release  their  claims  in  favor  of  the  whole  body. 
This  basis  formed  the  union,  and  was  the  first  after  all  of  those  legislative 
measures  which  resulted  in  the  creation  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  In  December  of  the  same 
year,  the  plan  of  conquering  Detroit  again  arose.  The  conquest  might 
have  easily  been  effected  by  Clark  had  the  necessary  aid  been  furnished 
him.  Nothing  decisive  was  done,  yet  the  heads  of  the  Government  knew 
that  the  safety  of  the  Northwest  from  British  invasion  lay  in  the  capture 
and  retention  of  that  important  post,  the  only  unconquered  one  in  the 
territory. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year,  Kentucky  was  divided  into  the  Coun- 
ties of  Lincoln,  Fayette  and  Jefferson,  and  the  act  establishing  the  Town 
of  Louisville  was  passed.  This  same  year  is  also  noted  in  the  annals  of 
American  history  as  the  year  in  which  occurred  Arnold's  treason  to  the 
United  States. 

Virginia,  in  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  Congress,  on  the  2d 
day  of  January,  1781,  agreed  to  yield  her  western  lands  to  the  United 
States  upon  certain  conditions,  which  Congress  would  not  accede  to,  and 
the  Act  of  Cession,  on  the  part  of  the  Old  Dominion,  failed,  nor  was 
anything  farther  done  until  1783.  During  all  that  time  the  Colonies 
were  busily  engaged  in  the  struggle  with  the  mother  country,  and  in 
consequence  thereof  but  little  heed  was  given  to  the  western  settlements. 
Upon  the  4th  of  July,  1773,  the  first  birth  north  of  the  Ohio  River  of 
American  parentage  occurred,  being  that  of  John  L.  Roth,  son  of  John 
Roth,  one  of  the  Moravian  missionaries,  whose  band  of  Christian  Indians 
sufi'ered  in  after  years  a  horrible  massacre  by  the  hands  of  the  frontier 
settlers,  who  had  been  exasperated  by  the  murder  of  several  of  their 
neighbors,  and  in  their  rage  committed,  without  regard  to  humanity,  a 
deed  which  forever  afterward  cast  a  shade  of  shame  upon  their  lives. 
For  this  and  kindred  outrages  on  the  part  of  the  whites,  the  Indians 
committed  many  deeds  of  cruelty  which  darken  the  years  of  1771  and 
1772  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 

During  the  year  1782  a  number  of  battles  among  the  Indians  and 
frontiersmen  occurred,  and  between  the  Moravian  Indians  and  the  Wyan- 
dots.  In  these,  horrible  acts  of  cruelty  were  practised  on  the  captives, 
many  of  such  dark  deeds  transpiring  under  the  leadership  of  the  notorious 

3 


50  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

frontier  outlaw,  Simon  Girty,  whose  name,  as  well  as  those  of  his  brothers, 
was  a  terror  to  women  and  children.  These  occurred  chiefly  in  the  Ohio 
valleys.  Cotemporary  with  them  were  several  engagements  in  Kentucky, 
in  which  the  famous  Daniel  Boone  engaged,  and  who,  often  by  his  skill 
and  knowledge  of  Indian  warfare,  saved  the  outposts  from  cruel  destruc- 
tion. By  the  close  of  the  year  victory  had  perched  upon  the  American 
banner,  and  on  the  30th  of  November,  provisional  articles  of  peace  had 
been  arranged  between  the  Commissioners  of  England  and  her  uncon- 
querable colonies.  Cornwallis  had  been  defeated  on  the  19th  of  October 
preceding,  and  the  liberty  of  America  was  assured.  On  the  19th  of 
April  following,  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  peace  was 
proclaimed  to  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  3d  of  the  next 
September,  the  definite  treaty  which  ended  our  revolutionary  struggle 
was  concluded.  By  the  terms  of  that  treaty,  the  boundaries  of  the  West 
were  as  follows :  On  the  north  the  line  was  to  extend  along  the  center  of 
the  Great  Lakes ;  from  the  western  point  of  Lake  Superior  to  Long  Lake ; 
thence  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods ;  thence  to  the  head  of  the  Mississippi 
River  ;  down  its  center  to  the  31st  parallel  of  latitude,  then  on  that  line 
east  to  the  head  of  the  Appalachicola  River  ;  down  its  center  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Flint ;  thence  straight  to  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  River,  and 
thence  down  along  its  center  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Following  the  cessation  of  hostilities  with  England,  several  posts 
were  still  occupied  by  the  British  in  the  North  and  West.  Among  these 
was  Detroit,  still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Numerous  engagements 
with  the  Indians  throughout  Ohio  and  Indiana  occurred,  upon  whose 
lands  adventurous  whites  would  settle  ere  the  title  had  been  acquired  by 
the  proper  treaty. 

To  remedy  this  latter  evil.  Congress  appointed  commissioners  to 
treat  with  the  natives  and  purchase  their  lands,  and  prohibited  the  settle- 
ment of  the  territory  until  this  could  be  done.  Before  the  close  of  the 
3;  ear  another  attempt  was  made  to  capture  Detroit,  which  was,  however, 
not  pushed,  and  Virginia,  no  longer  feeling  the  interest  in  the  Northwest 
she  had  formerly  done,  withdrew  her  troops,  having  on  the  20th  of 
December  preceding  authorized  the  whole  of  her  possessions  to  be  deeded 
to  the  United  States.  This  was  done  on  the  1st  of  March  following,  and 
the  Northwest  Territory  passed  from  the  control  of  the  Old  Dominion. 
To  Gen.  Clark  and  his  soldiers,  however,  she  gave  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land,  to  be  situated  any  where  north  of  the 
Ohio  wherever  they  choose  to  locate  them.  They  selected  the  region 
opposite  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  where  is  now  the  dilapidated  village  of 
Clarksville,  about  midway  between  the  cities  of  New  Albany  and  Jeffer- 
son ville,  Indiana. 


THE   NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  51 

While  the  frontier  remained  thus,  and  Gen.  Haldimand  at  Detroit 
refused  to  evacuate,  alleging  that  he  had  no  orders  from  his  King  to  do 
so,  settlers  were  rapidly  gathering  about  the  inland  forts.  In  the  Spring 
of  1784,  Pittsburgh  was  regularly  laid  out,  and  from  the  journal  of  Arthur 
Lee,  who  passed  through  the  town  soon  after  on  his  way  to  the  Indian 
council  at  Fort  Mcintosh,  we  suppose  it  was  not  very  prepossessing  in 
appearance.     He  says : 

''  Pittsburgh  is  inhabited  almost  entirely  by  Scots  and  Irish,  who 
live  in  paltry  log  houses,  and  are  as  dirty  as  if  in  the  north  of  Ireland  or 
even  Scotland.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  trade  carried  on,  the  goods  being 
brought  at  the  vast  expense  of  forty-five  shillings  per  pound  from  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore.  They  take  in  the  shops  flour,  wheat,  skins  and 
money.  There  are  in  the  town  four  attorneys,  two  doctors,  and  not  a 
priest  of  any  persuasion,  nor  church  nor  chapel." 

Kentucky  at  this  time  contained  thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
was  beginning  to  discuss  measures  for  a  separation  from  Virginia.  A 
land  office  was  opened  at  Louisville,  and  measures  were  adopted  to  take 
defensive  precaution  against  the  Indians,  who  were  yet,  in  some  instances, 
incited  to  deeds  of  violence  by  the  British.  Before  the  close  of  this  year, 
1784,  the  military  claimants  of  land  began  to  occupy  them,  although  no 
entries  were  recorded  until  1787. 

The  Indian  title  to  the  Northwest  was  not  yet  extinguished.  They 
held  large  tracts  of  land,  and  in  order  to  prevent  bloodshed  Congress 
adopted  means  for  treaties  with  the  original  owners  and  provided  for  the 
surveys  of  the  lands  gained  thereby,  as  well  as  for  those  north  of  the 
Ohio,  now  in  its  possession. 

On  January  31,  1786,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Wabash  Indians. 
The  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  had  been  made  in  1784.  That  at  Fort  Mc- 
intosh in  1785,  and  through  these  much  land  was  gained.  The  Wabash 
Indians,  however,  afterward  refused  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  made  with  them,  and  in  order  to  compel  their  adherence  to  its 
provisions,  force  was  used. 

During  the  year  1786,  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  came  up 
in  Congress,  and  caused  various  discussions,  which  resulted  in  no  definite 
action,  only  serving  to  excite  speculation  in  regard  to  the  western  lands. 
Congress  had  promised  bounties  of  land  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
but  owing  to  the  unsettled  condition  of  affairs  along  the  Mississippi 
respecting  its  navigation,  and  the  trade  of  the  Northwest,  that  body  had, 
in  1783,  declared  its  inability  to  fulfill  these  promises  until  a  treaty  could 
be  concluded  between  the  two  Governments. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1786,  however,  it  was  able,  through  the 
treaties   with   the   Indians,  to   allow  some   grants  and   the   settlement 


62  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

thereon,  and  on  the  14th  of  September,  Connecticut  ceded  to  the  General 
Government  the  tract  of  land  known  as  the  "Connecticut  Reserve," 
and  before  the  close  of  the  following  year  a  large  tract  of  land  north 
of  the  Ohio  was  sold  to  a  company,  who  at  once  took  measures  to 
settle  it. 

By  the  provisions  of  this  grant,  the  company  were  to  pay  the  United 
States  one  dollar  per  acre,  subject  to  a  deduction  of  one-third  for  bad 
lands  and  other  contingencies.  They  received  750,000  acres,  bounded 
on  the  south  by  the  Ohio,  on  the  east  by  the  seventh  range  of  townships, 
on  the  west  by  the  sixteenth  range,  and  on  the  north  by  a  line  so  drawn 
as  to  make  the  grant  complete  without  the  reservations.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  Congress  afterward  granted  100,000  acres  to  actual  set- 
tlers, and  214,285  acres  as  army  bounties  under  the  resolutions  of  1789 
and  1790. 

While  Dr.  Cutler,  one  of  the  agents  of  the  company,  was  pressing 
its  claims  before  Congress,  that  body  was  bringing  into  form  an  ordinance 
for  the  political  and  social  organization  of  this  Territory.  When  the 
cession  was  made  by  Virginia,  in  1784,  a  plan  was  offered,  but  rejected. 
A  motion  had  been  made  to  strike  from  the  proposed  plan  the  prohibition 
of  slavery,  which  prevailed.  The  plan  was  then  discussed  and  altered, 
and  finally  passed  unanimously,  with  the  exception  of  South  Carolina. 
By  this  proposition,  the  Territory  was  to  have  been  divided  into  states 
by  parallels  and  meridian  lines.  This,  it  was  thought,  would  make  ten 
states,  which  were  to  have  been  named  as  follows — beginning  at  the 
northwest  corner  and  going  southwardly :  Sylvania,  Michigania,  Cher- 
sonesus,Assenisipia,  Metropotamia,  Illenoia,  Saratoga,  Washington,  Poly- 
potamia  and  Pelisipia. 

There  was  a  more  serious  objection  to  this  plan  than  its  category  of 
names, —  the  boundaries.  The  root  of  the  difficulty  was  in  the  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  passed  in  October,  1780,  which  fixed  the  boundaries 
of  the  ceded  lands  to  be  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
square.  These  resolutions  being  presented  to  the  Legislatures  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Massachusetts,  they  desired  a  change,  and  in  July,  1786,  the 
subject  was  taken  up  in  Congress,  and  changed  to  favor  a  division  into 
not  more  than  five  states,  and  not  less  than  three.  This  was  approved  by 
the  State  Legislature  of  Virginia. 

The  subject  of  the  Government  was  again  taken  up  by  Congress  in 
1786,  and  discussed  throughout  that  year  and  until  July,  1787,  when  the 
famous  "  Compact  of  1787  "  was  passed,  and  the  foundation  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Northwest  laid.  This  compact  is  fully  discussed  and 
explained  in  the  history  of  Ohio  in  this  book,  and  to  it  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  53 

The  passage  of  this  act  and  the  grant  .to  the  New  England  Company 
was  soon  followed  by  an  application  to  the  Government  by  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  of  New  Jersey^  for  a  grant  of  the  land  between  the  Miamis. 
This  gentleman  had  visited  these  lands  soon  after  the  treaty  of  1786,  and, 
being  greatly  pleased  with  them,  offered  similar  terms  to  those  given  to 
the  New  England  Company.  The  petition  was  referred  to  the  Treasury 
Board  with  power  to  act,  and  a  contract  was  concluded  the  following 
year. 

During  the  Autumn  the  directors  of  the  New  England  Company 
were  preparing  to  occupy  their  grant  the  following  Spring,  and  upon  the 
23d  of  November  made  arrangements  for  a  party  of  forty-seven  men, 
under  the  superintendency  of  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  to  set  forward.  Six 
boat-builders  were  to  leave  at  once,  and  on  the  first  of  January  the  sur- 
veyors and  their  assistants,  twenty-six  in  number,  were  to  meet  at  Hart- 
ford and  proceed  on  their  journey  westward ;  the  remainder  to  follow  as 
soon  as  possible.  Congress,  in  the  meantime,  upon  the  3d  of  October, 
had  ordered  seven  hundred  troops  for  defense  of  the  western  settlers,  and 
to  prevent  unauthorized  intrusions  ;  and  two  days  later  appointed  Arthur 
St.  Clair  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  the  Northwest. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  civil  organization  of  the  Northwest  Territory  was  now  com- 
plete, and  notwithstanding  the  uncertainty  of  Indian  affairs,  settlers  from 
the  East  began  to  come  into  the  country  rapidly.  The  New  England 
Company  sent  their  men  during  the  Winter  of  1787-8  pressing  on  over 
the  Alleghenies  by  the  old  Indian  path  which  had  been  opened  into 
Braddock's  road,  and  which  has  since  been  made  a  national  turnpike 
from  Cumberland  westward.  Through  the  weary  winter  days  they  toiled 
on,  and  by  April  were  all  gathered  on  the  Youghiogheny,  where  boats  had 
been  built,  and  at  once  started  for  the  Muskingum.  Here  they  arrived 
on  the  7th  of  that  month,  and  unless  the  Moravian  missionaries  be  regarded 
as  the  pioneers  of  Ohio,  this  little  band  can  justly  claim  that  honor. 

Gen.  St.  Clair,  the  appointed  Governor  of  the  Northwest,  not  having 
yet  arrived,  a  set  of  laws  were  passed,  written  out,  and  published  by 
being  nailed  to  a  tree  in  the  embryo  town,  and  Jonathan  Meigs  appointed 
to  administer  them. 

Washington  in  writing  of  this,  the  first  American  settlement  in  the 
Northwest,  said :  "  No  colony  in  America  was  ever  settled  under  such 
favorable  auspices  as  that  which  has  just  commenced  at  Muskingum. 
Information,  property  and  strength  will  be  its  characteristics.     I  know 


64  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

many  of  its  settlers  personally,  and  there  never  were  men  better  calculated 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  such  a  community." 

On  the  2d  of  July  a  meeting  of  the  director^  and  agents  was  held  on 
the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  "  for  the  purpose  of  naming  the  new-born 
city  and  its  squares."  As  yet  the  settlement  was  known  as  the  "  Mus- 
kingum," but  that  was  now  changed  to  the  name  Marietta,  in  honor 
of  Marie  Antoinette,  The  square  upon  which  the  block-houses  stood 
was  called  '•''Campus  Martins;''^  square  number  19,  ^^  Cajntoliuni ;^^ 
square  number  61,  "  Cecilia;''  and  the  great  road  through  the  covert 
way,  "  Sacra  Via.^'  Two  days  after,  an  oration  was  delivered  by  James 
M.  Varnum,  who  with  S.  H.  Parsons  and  John  Armstrong  had  been 
appointed  to  the  judicial  bench  of  the  territory  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1787.  On  July  9,  Gov.  St.  Clair  arrived,  and  the  colony  began  to  assume 
form.  The  act  of  1787  provided  two  district  grades  of  government  for 
the  Northwest,  under  the  first  of  which  the  whole  power  was  invested  in 
the  hands  of  a  governor  and  three  district  judges.  This  was  immediately 
formed  upon  the  Governor's  arrival,  and  the  first  laws  of  the  colony 
passed  on  the  25th  of  July.  These  provided  for  the  organization  of 
the  militia,  and  on  the  next  day  appeared  the  Governor's  proclamation, 
erecting  all  that  country  that  had  been  ceded  by  the  Indians  east  of  the 
Scioto  River  into  the  County  of  Washington.  From  that  time  forward^ 
notwithstanding  the  doubts  yet  existing  as  to  the  Indians,  all  Marietta 
prospered,  and  on  the  2d  of  September  the  first  court  of  the  territory  was 
held  with  imposing  ceremonies. 

The  emigration  westward  at  this  time  was  very  great.  The  com- 
mander at  Fort  Harmer,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  reported  four 
thousand  five  hundred  persons  as  having  passed  that  post  between  Feb- 
ruary and  June,  1788  —  many  of  whom  would  have  purchased  of  the 
"  Associates,"  as  the  New  England  Company  was  called,  had  they  been 
ready  to  receive  them. 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1787,  Sj^mmes  issued  a  pamphlet  stating 
the  terms  of  his  contract  and  the  plan  of  sale  he  intended  to  adopt.  In 
January,  1788,  Matthias  Denman,  of  New  Jersey,  took  an  active  interest 
in  Symmes'  purchase,  and  located  among  other  tracts  the  sections  upon 
which  Cincinnati  has  been  built.  Retaining  one-third  of  this  locality,  he 
sold  the  other  two-thirds  to  Robert  Patterson  and  John  Filson,  and  the 
three,  about  August,  commenced  to  lay  out  a  town  on  the  spot,  which 
was  designated  as  being  opposite  Licking  River,  to  the  mouth  of  which 
they  proposed  to  have  a  road  cut  from  Lexington.  The  naming  of  the 
town  is  thus  narrated  in  the  "  Western  Annals" : — "  Mr.  Filson,  who  had 
been  a  schoolmaster,  was  appointed  to  name  the  town,  and,  in  respect  to 
its  situation,  and  as  if  with  a  prophetic  perception  of  the  mixed  race  that 


THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  55 

were  to  inhabit  it  in  after  days,  he  named  it  Losantiville,  which,  being 
interpreted,  means :  ville,  the  town  ;  anti^  against  or  opposite  to  ;  os,  the 
mouth  ;  L.  of  Licking." 

Meanwhile,  in  July,  Symmes  got  thirty  persons  and  eight  four-horse 
teams  under  way  from  the  West.  These  reached  Limestone  (now  Mays- 
ville)  in  September,  where  were  several  persons  from  Redstone.  Here 
Mr.  Symmes  tried  to  found  a  settlement,  but  the  great  freshet  of  1789 
caused  the  "  Point,"  as  it  was  and  is  yet  .called,  to  be  fifteen  feet  under 
water,  and  the  settlement  to  be  abandoned.  The  little  band  of  settlers 
removed  to  the  mouth  of  the  Miami.  Before  Symmes  and  his  colony  left 
the  "  Point,"  two  settlements  had  been  made  on  his  purchase.  The  first 
was  by  Mr.  Stiltes,  the  original  projector  of  the  whole  plan,  who,  with  a 
colony  of  Redstone  people,  had  located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Miami, 
whither  Symmes  went  with  his  Maysville  colony.  Here  a  clearing  had 
been  made  by  the  Indians  owing  to  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil.  Mr. 
Stiltes  with  his  colony  came  to  this  place  on  the  18th  of  November,  1788, 
with  twenty-six  persons,  and,  building  a  block-house,  prepared  to  remain 
through  the  Winter.  They  named  the  settlement  Columbia.  Here  they 
were  kindly  treated  by  the  Indians,  but  suffered  greatly  from  the  flood 
of  1789. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
went  into  operation,  and  on  April  30,  George  Washington  was  inau- 
gurated President  of  the  American  people,  and  during  the  next  Summer, 
an  Indian  war  was  commenced  by  the  tribes  north  of  the  Ohio.  The 
President  at  first  used  pacific  means ;  but  these  failing,  he  sent  General 
Harmer  against  the  hostile  tribes.  He  destroyed  several  villages,  but 
was  defeated  in  two  battles,  near  the  present  City  of  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana.  From  this  time  till  the  close  of  1795,  the  principal  events  were 
the  wars  with  the  various  Indian  tribes.  In  1796,  General  St.  Clair 
was  appointed  in  command,  and  marched  against  the  Indians;  but  while 
he  was  encamped  on  a  stream,  the  St.  Mary,  a  branch  of  the  Maumee, 
he  was  attacked  and  defeated  with  the  loss  of  six  hundred  men. 

General  Wayne  was  now  sent  against  the  savages.  In  August,  1794, 
he  met  them  near  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee,  and  gained  a  complete 
victory.  This  success,  followed  by  vigorous  measures,  compelled  the 
Indians  to  sue  for  peace,  and  on  the  30th  of  July,  the  following  year,  the 
treaty  of  Greenville  was  signed  by  the  principal  chiefs,  by  which  a  large 
tract  of  country  was  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

Before  proceeding  in  our  narrative,  we  will  pause  to  notice  Fort 
Washington,  erected  in  the  early  part  of  this  war  on  the  site  of  Cincinnati. 
Nearly  all  of  the  great  cities   of  the   Northwest,   and   indeed   of  the 


56  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

whole  country,  have  had  their  nuclei  in  those  rude  pioneer  structures, 
known  as  forts  or  stockades.  Thus  Forts  Dearborn,  Washington,  Pon- 
chartrain,  mark  the  original  sites  of  the  now  proud  Cities  of  Chicago, 
Cincinnati  and  Detroit.  So  of  most  of  the  flourishing  cities  east  and  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  Fort  Washington,  erected  by  Doughty  in  1790,  was  a 
rude  but  highly  interesting  structure.  It  was  composed  of  a  number  of 
strongly-built  hewed  log  cabins.  Those  designed  for  soldiers'  barracks 
were  a  story  and  a  half  high,  while  those  composing  the  officers  quarters 
were  more  imposing  and  more  conveniently  arranged  and  furnished. 
The  whole  were  so  placed  as  to  form  a  hollow  square,  enclosing  about  an 
acre  of  ground,  with  a  block  house  at  each  of  the  four  angles. 

The  logs  for  the  construction  of  this  fort  were  cut  from  the  ground 
upon  which  it  was  erected.  It  stood  between  Third  and  Fourth  Streets 
of  the  present  city  (Cincinnati)  extending  east  of  Eastern  Row,  now 
Broadway,  which  was  then  a  narrow  alley,  and  the  eastern  boundary  of 
of  the  town  as  it  was  originally  laid  out.  On  the  bank  of  the  river, 
immediately  in  front  of  the  fort,  was  an  appendage  of  the  fort,  called  the 
Artificer's  Yard.  It  contained  about  two  acres  of  ground,  enclosed  by 
small  contiguous  buildings,  occupied  by  workshops  and  quarters  of 
laborers.  Within  this  enclosure  there  was  a  large  two-story  frame  house, 
familiarly  called  the  "  Yellow  House,"  built  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  Quartermaster  General.  For  many  years  this  was  the  best  finished 
and  most  commodious  edifice  in  the  Queen  City.  Fort  Washington  was 
for  some  time  the  headquarters  of  both  the  civil  and  military  governments 
of  the  Northwestern  Territory. 

Following  the  consummation  of  the  treaty  various  gigantic  land  spec- 
ulations were  entered  into  by  different  persons,  who  hoped  to  obtain 
from  the  Indians  in  Michigan  and  northern  Indiana,  large  tracts  of  lands. 
These  were  generally  discovered  in  time  to  prevent  the  outrageous 
schemes  from  being  carried  out,  and  from  involving  the  settlers  in  war. 
On  October  27,  1795,  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Spain 
was  signed,  whereby  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  was  secured. 

No  sooner  had  the  treat}'-  of  1795  been  ratified  than  settlements  began 
to  pour  rapidly  into  the  West.  The  great  event  of  the  year  1796  was  the 
occupation  of  that  part  of  the  Northwest  including  Michigan,  which  was 
this  year,  under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  evacuated  by  the  British 
forces.  The  United  States,  owing  to  certain  conditions,  did  not  feel 
justified  in  addressing  the  authorities  in  Canada  in  relation  to  Detroit 
and  other  frontier  posts.  When  at  last  the  British  authorities  were 
called  to  give  them  up,  they  at  once  complied,  and  General  Wayne,  who 
had  done  so  much  to  preserve  the  frontier  settlements,  and  who,  before 
the    year's    close,  sickened    and  died  near  Erie,  transferred  his  head- 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  57 

quarters  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  lakes,  where  a  county  named  after 
him  was  formed,  which  included  the  northwest  of  Ohio,  all  of  Michigan, 
and  the  northeast  of  Indiana.  During  this  same  year  settlements  were 
formed  at  the  present  City  of  Chillicothe,  along  the  Miami  from  Middle- 
town  to  Piqua,  while  in  the  more  distant  West,  settlers  and  speculators 
began  to  appear  in  great  numbers.  In  September,  the  City  of  Cleveland 
was  laid  out,  and  during  the  Summer  and  Autumn,  Samuel  Jackson  and 
Jonathan  Sharpless  erected  the  first  manufactory  of  paper — the  "  Red- 
stone Paper  Mill" — in  the  West.  St.  Louis  contained  some  seventy 
houses,  and  Detroit  over  three  hundred,  and  along  the  river,  contiguous 
to  it,  were  more  than  three  thousand  inhabitants,  mostly  French  Canadians, 
Indians  and  half-breeds,  scarcely  any  Americans  venturing  yet  into  that 
part  of  the  Northwest. 

The  election  of  representatives  for  the  territory  had  taken  place, 
and  on  the  4th  of  February,  1799,  they  convened  at  Losantiville  —  now 
known  as  Cincinnati,  having  been  named  so  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  and 
considered  the  capital  of  the  Territory — to  nominate  persons  from  whom 
the  members  of  the  Legislature  were  to  be  chosen  in  accordance  with 
a  previous  ordinance.  This  nomination  being  made,  the  Assembly 
adjourned  until  the  16th  of  the  following  September.  From  those  named 
the  President  selected  as  members  of  the  council,  Henry  Vandenburg, 
of  Vincennes,  Robert  Oliver,  of  Marietta,  James  Findlay  and  Jacob 
Burnett,  of  Cincinnati,  and  David  Vance,  of  Vanceville.  On  the  16th 
of  September  the  Territorial  Legislature  met,  and  on  the  24th  the  two 
houses  were  duly  organized,  Henry  Vandenburg  being  elected  President 
of  the  Council. 

The  message  of  Gov.  St.  Clair  was  addressed  to  the  Legislature 
September  20th,  and  on  October  13th  that  body  elected  as  a  delegate  to 
Congress  Gen.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  who  received  eleven  of  the  votes 
cast,  being  a  majority  of  one  over  his  opponent,  Arthur  St.  Clair,  son  of 
Gen.  St.  Clair. 

The  whole  number  of  acts  passed  at  this  session,  and  approved  by 
the  Governor,  were  thirty-seven  —  eleven  others  were  passed,  but  received 
his  veto.  The  most  important  of  those  passed  related  to  the  militia,  to 
the  administration,  and  to  taxation.  On  the  19th  of  December  this  pro- 
tracted session  of  the  first  Legislature  in  the  West  was  closed,  and  on  the 
30th  of  December  the  President  nominated  Charles  Willing  Bryd  to  the 
office  of  Secretary  of  the  Territory  vice  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  elected  to 
Congress.     The  Senate  confirmed  his  nomination  the  next  day. 


58  THE  NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 


DIVISION   OF  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

The  increased  emigration  to  the  Northwest,  the  extent  of  the  domain, 
and  the  inconvenient  modes  of  travel,  made  it  very  difficult  to  conduct 
the  ordinary  operations  of  government,  and  rendered  the  efficient  action 
of  courts  almost  impossible.  To  remedy  this,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
divide  the  territory  for  civil  purposes.  Congress,  in  1800,  appointed  a 
•  committee  to  examine  the  question  and  report  some  means  for  its  solution. 
This  committee,  on  the  3d  of  March,  reported  that : 

"In  the  three  western  countries  there  has  been  but  one  court  having 
cognizance  of  crimes,  in  five  years,  and  the  immunity  which  offenders 
experience  attracts,  as  to  an  asylum,  the  most  vile  and  abandoned  crim- 
inals, and  at  the  same  time  deters  useful  citizens  from  making  settlements 
in  such  society.  The  extreme  necessity  of  judiciary  attention  and  assist- 
ance is  experienced  in  civil  as  well  as  in  criminal  cases.  *  *  *  *  Xo 
minister  a  remedy  to  these  and  other  evils,  it  occurs  to  this  committee 
that  it  is  expedient  that  a  division  of  said  territory  into  two  distinct  and 
separate  governments  should  be  made ;  and  that  such  division  be  made 
by  a  line  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  River,  running 
directly  north  until  it  intersects  the  boundary  between  the  United  States 
and  Canada." 

The  report  was  accepted  by  Congress,  and,  in  accordance  with  its 
suggestions,  that  body  passed  an  Act  extinguishing  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, which  Act  was  approved  May  7.     Among  its  provisions  were  these  : 

"  That  from  and  after  July  4  next,  all  that  part  of  the  Territory  of 
the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  which  lies  to  the  westward 
of  a  line  beginning  at  a  point  on  the  Ohio,  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Kentucky  River,  and  running  thence  to  Fort  Recovery,  and  thence  north 
until  it  shall  intersect  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  temporary  government,  constitute  a 
separate  territory,  and  be  called  the  Indiana  Territory." 

After  providing  for  the  exercise  of  the  civil  and  criminal  powers  of 
the  territories,  and  other  provisions,  the  Act  further  provides : 

"  That  until  it  shall  otherwise  be  ordered  by  the  Legislatures  of  the 
said  Territories,  respectively,  Chillicothe  on  the  Scioto  River  shall  be  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  River ;  and  that  St.  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash  River  shall  be  the 
seat  of  government  for  the  Indiana  Territory." 

Gen.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  about  a  year  later.  Connecticut 
also  about  this  time  released  her  claims  to  the  reserve,  and  in  March  a  law 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  59 

"was  passed  accepting  this  cession.  Settlements  had  been  made  upon 
thirty -five  of  the  townships  in  the  reserve,  mills  had  been  built,  and  seven 
hundred  miles  of  road  cut  in  various  directions.  On  the  3d  of  November 
the  General  Assembly  met  at  Chillicothe.  Near  the  close  of  the  year, 
the  first  missionary  of  the  Connecticut  Reserve  came,  who  found  no 
township  containing  more  than  eleven  families.  It  was  upon  the  first  of 
October  that  the  secret  treaty  had  been  made  between  Napoleon  and  the 
King  of  Spain,  whereby  the  latter  agreed  to  cede  to  France  the  province 
of  Louisiana. 

In  January,  1802,  the  Assembly  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  char- 
tered the  college  at  Athens.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  western 
colonies,  education  was  promptly  provided  for,  and  as  early  as  1787, 
newspapers  were  issued  from  Pittsburgh  and  Kentucky,  and  largely  read 
throughout  the  frontier  settlements.  Before  the  close  of  this  year,  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  granted  to  the  citizens  of  the  Northwestern 
territory  the  formation  of  a  State  government.  One  of  the  provisions  of 
the  "compact  of  1787"  provided  that  whenever  the  number  of  inhabit- 
ants within  prescribed  limits  exceeded  45,000,  they  should  be  entitled  to 
a  separate  government.  The  prescribed  limits  of  Ohio  contained,  from  a 
census  taken  to  ascertain  the  legality  of  the  act,  more  than  that  number, 
and  on  the  30th  of  April,  1802,  Congress  passed  the  act  defining  its  limits, 
and  on  the  29th  of  November  the  Constitution  of  the  new  State  of  Ohio, 
so  named  from  the  beautiful  river  forming  its  southern  boundary,  came 
into  existence.  The  exact  limits  of  Lake  Michigan  were  not  then  known, 
but  the  territory  now  included  within  the  State  of  Michigan  was  wholly 
within  the  territory  of  Indiana. 

Gen.  Harrison,  while  residing  at  Vincennes,  made  several  treaties 
with  the  Indians,  thereby  gaining  large  tracts  of  lands.  The  next  year  is 
memorable  in  the  history  of  the  West  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  from 
France  by  the  United  States  for  815,000,000.  Thus  by  a  peaceful  mode, 
the  domain  of  the  United  States  was  extended  over  a  large  tract  of 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  was  for  a  time  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Northwest  government,  and,  as  has  been  mentioned  in  the  early 
part  of  this  narrative,  was  called  the  "New  Northwest."  The  limits 
of  this  history  will  not  allow  a  description  of  its  territory.  The  same  year 
large  grants  of  land  were  obtained  from  the  Indians,  and  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  new  State  of  Ohio  signed  a  bill  respecting  the 
College  Township  in  the  district  of  Cincinnati. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year,  Gen.  Harrison  obtained  additional 
grants  of  lands  from  the  various  Indian  nations  in  Indiana  and  the  present 
limits  of  Illinois,  and  on  the  18th  of  August,  1804,  completed  a  treaty  at 
St.  Louis,  whereby  over  51,000,000  acres  of  lands  were  obtained  from  the 


60  THE   NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

aborigines.  Measures  were  also  taken  to  learn  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
and  about  Detroit. 

C.  Jouett,  the  Indian  agent  in  Michigan,  still  a  part  of  Indiana  Terri- 
tory, reported  as  follows  upon  the  condition  of  matters  at  that  post  : 

"  The  Town  of  Detroit. — The  charter,  which  is  for  fifteen  miles 
square,  was  granted  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France,  and  is  now, 
from  the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  get,  at  Quebec.  Of  those 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres,  only  four  are  occupied  by  the  town 
and  Fort  Lenault.  The  remainder  is  a  common,  except  twenty-four 
acres,  which  were  added  twenty  years  ago  to  a  farm  belonging  to  Wm. 
Macomb.  *  *  *  A  stockade  incloses  the  town,  fort  and  citadel.  The 
pickets,  as  well  as  the  public  houses,  are  in  a  state  of  gradual  decay.  The 
streets  are  narrow,  straight  and  regular,  and  intersect  each  other  at  right 
angles.     The  houses  are,  for  the  most  part,  low  and  inelegant." 

During  this  year,  Congress  granted  a  township  of  land  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  college,  and  began  to  offer  inducements  for  settlers  in  these 
wilds,  and  the  country  now  comprising  the  State  of  Michigan  began  to 
fill  rapidly  with  settlers  along  its  southern  borders.  This  same  year,  also, 
a  law  was  passed  organizing  the  Southwest  Territory,  dividing  it  into  two 
portions,  the  Territory  of  New  Orleans,  which  city  was  made  the  seat  of 
government,  and  the  District  of  Louisiana,  which  was  annexed  to  the 
domain  of  Gen.  Harrison. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1805,  the  Territory  of  Michigan  was  formed, 
Wm.  Hull  was  appointed  governor,  with  headquarters  at  Detroit,  the 
change  to  take  effect  on  June  30.  On  the  11th  of  that  month,  a  fir& 
occurred  at  Detroit,  which  destro5''ed  almost  every  building  in  the  place. 
When  the  officers  of  the  new  territory  reached  the  post,  they  found  it  in 
ruins,  and  the  inhabitants  scattered  throughout  the  country.  Rebuild- 
ing, however,  soon  commenced,  and  ere  long  the  town  contained  more 
houses  than  before  the  fire,  and  many  of  them  much  better  built. 

While  this  was  being  done,  Indiana  had  passed  to  the  second  grade 
of  government,  and  through  her  General  Assembly  had  obtained  large 
tracts  of  land  from  the  Indian  tribes.  To  all  this  the  celebrated  Indian, 
Tecumthe  or  Tecumseh,  vigorously  protested,  and  it  was  the  main  cause 
of  his  attempts  to  unite  the  various  Indian  tribes  in  a  conflict  with  the 
settlers.  To  obtain  a  full  account  of  these  attempts,  the  workings  of  the 
British,  and  the  signal  failure,  culminating  in  the  death  of  Tecumseh  at 
the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812  in  the  Northwest, 
we  will  step  aside  in  our  story,  and  relate  the  principal  events  of  his  life,, 
and  his  connection  with  this  conflict. 


THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  61 


TECUMSEH,  AND  THE  WAR  OF  1812. 

This  famous  Indian  chief  was  born  about  the  year  1768,  not  far  from 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Springfield,  Ohio.  His  father,  Puckeshinwa, 
was  a  member  of  the  Kisopok  tribe  of  the  Swanoese  nation,  and  his 
mother,  Methontaske,  was  a  member  of  the  Turtle  tribe  of  the  same 
people.  They  removed  from  Florida  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
to  the  birthplace  of  Tecumseh.  In  1774,  his  father,  who  had  risen  to  be 
chief,  was  slain  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  and  not  long  after  Tecum- 
seh, by  his  bravery,  became  the  leader  of  his  tribe.  In  1795  he  was 
declared  chief,  and  then  lived  at  Deer  Creek,  near  the  site  of  the 
present  City  of  Urbana.  He  remained  here  about  one  year,  when  he 
returned  to  Piqua,  and  in  1798,  he  went  to  White  River,  Indiana.  In 
1805,  he  and  his  brother,  Laulewasikan  (Open  Door),  who  had  announced 
himself  as  a  prophet,  went  to  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Wabash  River,  given 
them  by  the  Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos.  From  this  date  the  chief 
comes  into  prominence.  He  was  now  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age, 
was  five  feet  and  ten  inches  in  height,  was  stoutly  built,  and  possessed  of 
enormous  powers  of  endurance.  His  countenance  was  naturally  pleas- 
ing, and  he  was,  in  general,  devoid  of  those  savage  attributes  possessed 
by  most  Indians.  It  is  stated  he  could  read  and  write,  and  had  a  confi- 
dential secretary  and  adviser,  named  Billy  Caldwell,  a  half-breed,  who 
afterward  became  chief  of  the  Pottawatomies.  He  occupied  the  first 
house  built  on  the  site  of  Chicago.  At  this  time,  Tecumseh  entered 
upon  the  great  work  of  his  life.  He  had  long  objected  to  the  grants  of 
land  made  by  the  Indians  to  the  whites,  and  determined  to  unite  all  the 
Indian  tribes  into  a  league,  in  order  that  no  treaties  or  grants  of  land 
could  be  made  save  by  the  consent  of  this  confederation. 

He  traveled  .constantly,  going  from  north  to  south  ;  from  the  south 
to  the  north,  everywhere  urging  the  Indians  to  this  step.  He  was  a 
matchless  orator,  and  his  burning  words  had  their  effect. 

Gen.  Harrison,  then  Governor  of  Indiana,  by  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  Indians,  became  convinced  that  a  grand  conspiracy  was 
forming,  and  made  preparations  to  defend  the  settlements.  Tecumseh's 
plan  was  similar  to  Pontiac's,  elsewhere  described,  and  to  the  cunning 
artifice  of  that  chieftain  was  added  his  own  sagacity. 

During  the  year  1809,  Tecumseh  and  the  prophet  were  actively  pre- 
paring for  the  work.  In  that  year,  Gen.  Harrison  entered  into  a  treaty 
with  the  Delawares,  Kickapoos,  Pottawatomies,  Miamis,  Eel  River  Indians 
and  Weas,  in  which  these  tribes  ceded  to  the  whites  certain  lands  upon 
the  Wabash,  to  all  of  which  Tecumseh  entered  a  bitter  protest,  averring 


62  THE    NORTHWEST    TERRITORY. 

as  one  principal  reason  that  he  did  not  want  the  Indians  to  give  up  any 
lands  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  River. 

Tecumseh,  in  Auf^ust,  1810,  visited  the  General  at  Vincennes  and 
held  a  council  relating  to  the  grievances  of  the  Indians.  Becoming  unduly 
angry  at  this  conference  he  was  dismissed  from  the  village,  and  soon  after 
departed  to  incite  the  southern  Indian  tribes  to  the  conflict. 

Gen.  Harrison  determined  to  move  upon  the  chief's  headquarters  at 
Tippecanoe,  and  for  this  purpose  went  about  sixty-five  miles  up  the 
Wabash,  where  he  built  Fort  Harrison.  From  this  place  he  went  to  the 
Prophet's  town,  where  he  informed  the  Indians  he  had  no  hostile  inten- 
tions, provided  they  were  true  to  the  existing  treaties.  He  encamped 
near  the  village  early  in  October,  and  on  the  morning  of  November  7,  he 
was  attacked  by  a  large  force  of  the  Indians,  and  the  famous  battle  of 
Tippecanoe  occurred.  The  Indians  were  routed  and  their  town  broken 
up.  Tecumseh  returning  not  long  after,  was  greatly  exasperated  at  his 
brother,  the  Prophet,  even  threatening  to  kill  him  for  rashly  precipitating 
the  war,  and  foiling  his  (Tecumseh's)  plans. 

Tecumseh  sent  word  to  Gen.  Harrison  that  he  was  now  returned 
from  the  South,  and  was  ready  to  visit  the  President  as  had  at  one  time 
previously  been  proposed.  Gen.  Harrison  informed  him  he  could  not 
go  as  a  chief,  which  method  Tecumseh  desired,  and  the  visit  was  never 
made.  In  June  of  the  following  year,  he  visited  the  Indian  agent  at 
Fort  Wayne.  Here  he  disavowed  any  intention  to  make  a  war  against 
the  United  States,  and  reproached  Gen.  Harrison  for  marching  against  his 
people.  The  agent  replied  to  this  ;  Tecumseh  listened  with  a  cold  indif- 
ference, and  after  making  a  few  general  remarks,  with  a  haughty  air  drew 
his  blanket  about  him,  left  the  council  house,  and  departed  for  Fort  Mai- 
den, in  Upper  Canada,  where  he  joined  the  British  standard. 

In  the  Summer  of  1813,  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie  occurred,  and 
shortly  after  active  preparations  were  made  to  capture- Maiden.  On  the 
27th  of  September,  the  American  army,  under  Gen.  Harrison,  set  sail  for 
the  shores  of  Canada,  and  in  a  few  hours  stood  around  the  ruins  of  Mai- 
den, from  which  the  British  army,  under  Proctor,  had  retreated  to  Sand- 
wich, intending  to  make  its  way  to  the  heart  of  Canada  by  the  Valley  of 
the  Thames.  On  the  29th  Gen.  Harrison  was  at  Sandwich,  and  Gen. 
Mc Arthur  took  possession  of  Detroit  and  the  territory  of  Michigan. 

The  pursuit  of  Proctor  began  October  2.  He  was  overtaken  on  the 
5th  at  the  Thames.  Tecumseh  fell  *  in  that  battle  and  British  power 
was  forever  broken,  Canada  alone  being  left  them,  as  the  Americans  had 
no  orders  to  follow  up  their  victory  eastward.  Burr's  incipient 
insurrection  of  1805  was  quelled,  and  the  murderer  of  the  eloquent 
Hamilton  driven  from  his  beautiful  island  fortress  in  the  Ohio  River. 

*  Supposed  at  the  hands  of  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson  of  Kentucky. 


THE  NORTHWEST   TEREITORY.  63 

In  January,  1807,  Governor  Hull,  of  Michigan  Territory,  made  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  whereby  all  that  peninsula  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  Before  the  close  of  the  year,  a  stockade  was  built  about 
Detroit.  It  was  also  during  this  year  that  Indiana  and  Illinois  endeavored 
to  obtain  the  repeal  of  that  section  of  the  compact  of  1787,  whereby 
slavery  was  excluded  from  the  Northwest  Territory.  These  attempts, 
however,  all  signally  failed. 

In  1809  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  divide  the  Indiana  Territory. 
This  was  done,  and  the  Territory  of  Illinois  was  formed  from  the  western 
part,  the  seat  of  government  being  fixed  at  Kaskaskia.  The  next  year, 
the  intentions  of  Tecumseh  manifested  themselves  in  open  hostilities,  and 
then  began  the  events  already  narrated. 

While  this  war  was  in  progress,  emigration  to  the  West  went  on  with 
surprising  rapidity.  In  1811,  under  Mr.  Roosevelt  of  New  York,  the 
first  steamboat  trip  was  made  on  the  Ohio,  much  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  natives,  many  of  whom  fled  in  terror  at  the  appearance  of  the 
"  monster."  It  arrived  at  Louisville  on  the  10th  day  of  October.  At  the 
close  of  the  first  week  of  January,  1812,  it  arrived  at  Natchez,  after  being 
nearly  overwhelmed  in  the  great  earthquake  which  occurred  while  on  its 
downward  trip. 

The  battle  of  the  Thames  was  fought  on  October  6,  1813.  It 
effectually  closed  hostilities  in  the  Northwest,  although  peace  was  not 
fully  restored  until  July  22,  1814,  when  a  treaty  was  formed  at  Green- 
ville, under  the  direction  of  General  Harrison,  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Indian  tribes,  in  which  it  was  stipulated  that  the  Indians  should 
cease  hostilities  against  the  Americans  if  the  war  were  continued.  Such, 
happily,  was  not  the  case,  and  on  the  24th  of  December  the  treaty 
of  Ghent  was  signed  by  the  representatives  of  England  and  the  United 
States.  This  treaty  was  followed  the  next  year  by  treaties  with  various 
Indian  tribes  throughout  the  West  and  Northwest,  and  quiet  was  again 
restored  in  this  part  of  the  new  world. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  1816,  Pittsburgh  was  incorporated  as  a  city. 
It  then  had  a  population  of  8,000  people,  and  was  already  noted  for  its 
manufacturing  interests.  On  April  19,  Indiana  Territory  was  allowed 
to  form  a  state  government.  At  that  time  there  were  thirteen  counties 
organized,  containing  about  sixty-three  thousand  inhabitants.  Th«  first 
election  of  state  officers  was  held  in  August,  when  Jonathan  Jennings 
was  chosen  Governor.  The  officers  were  sworn  in  on  November  7,  and 
on  December  11,  the  State  was  formally  admitted  into  the  Union.  For 
some  time  the  seat  of  government  was  at  Corydon,  but  a  more  central 
location  being  desirable,  the  present  capital,  Indianapolis  (City  of  Indiana),, 
was  laid  out  January  1,  1825. 


64  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

On  the  28th  of  December  the  Bank  of  Illinois,  at  Shawneetown,  was 
chartered,  with  a  capital  of  $300,000.  At  this  period  all  banks  were 
under  the  control  of  the  States,  and  were  allowed  to  establish  branches 
at  different  convenient  points. 

Until  this  time  Chillicothe  and  Cincinnati  had  in  turn  enjoyed  the 
privileges  of  being  the  capital  of  Ohio.  But  the  rapid  settlement  of  the 
northern  and  eastern  portions  of  the  State  demanded,  as  in  Indiana,  a 
more  central  location,  and  before  the  close  of  the  year,  the  site  of  Col- 
umbus was  selected  and  surveyed  as  the  future  capital  of  the  State. 
Banking  had  begun  in  Ohio  as  early  as  1808,  when  the  first  bank  was 
chartered  at  Marietta,  but  here  as  elsewhere  it  did  not  bring  to  the  state 
the  hoped-for  assistance.  It  and  other  banks  were  subsequently  unable 
to  redeem  their  currency,  and  were  obliged  to  suspend. 

In  1818,  Illinois  was  made  a  state,  and  all  the  territory  north  of  her 
northern  limits  was  erected  into  a  separate  territory  and  joined  to  Mich- 
igan for  judicial  purposes.  By  the  following  year,  navigation  of  the  lakes 
was  increasing  with  great  rapidity  and  affording  an  immense  source  of 
revenue  to  the  dwellers  in  the  Northwest,  but  it  was  not  until  1826  that 
the  trade  was  extended  to  Lake  Michigan,  or  that  steamships  began  to 
navigate  the  bosom  of  that  inland  sea. 

Until  the  year  1832,  the  commencement  of  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
but  few  hostilities  were  experienced  with  the  Indians.  Roads  were 
opened,  canals  were  dug,  cities  were  built,  common  schools  were  estab- 
lished, universities  were  founded,  many  of  which,  especially  the  Michigan 
University,  have  achieved  a  world  wide-reputation.  The  people  were 
becoming  wealthy.  The  domains  of  the  United  States  had  been  extended, 
and  had  the  sons  of  the  forest  been  treated  with  honesty  and  justice,  the 
record  of  many  years  would  have  been  that  of  peace  and  continuous  pros- 
perity. 

BLACK  HAWK  AND  THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR. 

This  conflict,  though  confined  to  Illinois,  is  an  important  epoch  in 
the  Northwestern  history,  being  the  last  war  with  the  Indians  in  this  part 
of  the  United  States. 

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah,  or  Black  Hawk,  was  born  in  the  principal 
Sac  village,  about  three  miles  from  the  junction  of  Rock  River  with  the 
Mississippi,  in  the  year  1767.  His  father's  name  was  Py-e-sa  or  Pahaes ; 
his  grandfather's,  Na-na-ma-kee,  or  the  Thunderer.  Black  Hawk  early 
distinguished  himself  as  a  warrior,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  was  permitted 
to  paint  and  was  ranked  among  the  braves.  About  the  year  1783,  he 
went  on  an  expedition  against  the  enemies  of  his  nation,  the  Osages,  one 


THE   NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  65 

of  whom  he  killed  and  scalped,  and  for  this  deed  of  Indian  bravery  he  was 
permitted  to  join  in  the  scalp  dance.  Three  or  four  years  after  he,  at  the 
head  of  two  hundred  braves,  went  on  another  expedition  against  the 
Osages,  to  avenge  the  murder  of  some  women  and  children  belonging  to 
his  own  tribe.  Meeting  an  equal  number  of  Osage  warriors,  a  fierce 
battle  ensued,  in  which  the  latter  tribe  lost  one-half  their  number.  The 
Sacs  lost  only  about  nineteen  warriors.  He  next  attacked  the  Cherokees 
for  a  similar  cause.  In  a  severe  battle  with  them,  near  the  present  City 
of  St.  Louis,  his  father  was  slain,  and  Black  Hawk,  taking  possession  of 
the  "  Medicine  Bag,"  at  once  announced  himself  chief  of  the  Sac  nation. 
He  had  now  conquered  the  Cherokees,  and  about  the  year  1800,  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  a  hundred  lowas,  he  waged 
war  against  the  Osage  nation  and  subdued  it.  For  two  years  he  battled 
successfully  with  other  Indian  tribes,  all  of  whom  he  conquered. 

Black  Hawk  does  not  at  any  time  seem  to  have  been  friendly  to 
the  Americans.  When  on  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  to  see  his  "  Spanish 
Father,"  he  declined  to  see  any  of  the  Americans,  alleging,  as  a  reason^ 
he  did  not  want  two  fathers. 

The  treaty  at  St.  Louis  was  consummated  in  1804.  The  next  year  the 
United  States  Government  erected  a  fort  near  the  head  of  the  Des  Moines 
Rapids,  called  Fort  Edwards.  This  seemed  to  enrage  Black  Hawk,  who 
at  once  determined  to  capture  Fort  Madison,  standing  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  The  fort  was 
garrisoned  by  about  fifty  men.  Here  he  was  defeated.  The  difficulties 
with  the  British  Government  arose  about  this  time,  and  the  War  of  1812 
followed.  That  government,  extending  aid  to  the  Western  Indians,  by 
giving  them  arms  and  ammunition,  induced  them  to  remain  hostile  to  the 
Americans.  In  August,  1812,  Black  Hawk,  at  the  head  of  about  five 
hundred  braves,  started  to  join  the  British  forces  at  Detroit,  passing  on 
his  way  the  site  of  Chicago,  where  the  famous  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre 
had  a  few  days  before  occurred.  Of  his  connection  with  the  British 
Government  but  little  is  known.  In  1813  he  with  his  little  band  descended 
the  Mississippi,  and  attacking  some  United  States  troops  at  Fort  Howard 
was  defeated. 

In  the  early  part  of  1815,  the  Indian  tribes  west  of  the  Mississippi 
were  notified  that  peace  had  been  declared  between  the  United  States 
and  England,  and  nearly  all  hostilities  had  ceased.  Black  Hawk  did  not 
sign  any  treaty,  however,  until  May  of  the  following  year.  He  then  recog- 
nized the  validity  of  the  treaty  at  St.  Louis  in  1804.  From  the  time  of 
signing  this  treaty  in  1816,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1832,  he 
and  his  band  passed  their  time  in  the  common  pursuits  of  Indian  life. 

Ten  years  before  the  commencement  of  this  war,  the  Sac  and  Fox 


66  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

Indians  were  urged  to  join  the  lowas  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Father  of 
Waters.  All  were  agreed,  save  the  band  known  as  the  British  Band,  of 
which  Black  Hawk  was  leader.  He  strenuously  objected  to  the  removal, 
and  was  induced  to  comply  only  after  being  threatened  with  the  power  of 
the  Government.  This  and  various  actions  on  the  part  of  the  white  set- 
tlers provoked  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  to  attempt  the  capture  of  hit> 
native  village  now  occupied  by  the  whites.  The  war  followed.  He  and 
his  actions  were  undoubtedly  misunderstood,  and  had  his  wishes  been 
acquiesced  in  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle,  much  bloodshed  would 
have  been  prevented. 

Black  Hawk  was  chief  now  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  nations,  and  a  noted 
warrior.  He  and  his  tribe  inhabited  a  village  on  Rock  River,  nearly  three 
miles  above  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi,  where  the  tribe  had  lived 
many  generations.  When  that  portion  of  Illinois  was  reserved  to  them» 
they  remained  in  peaceable  possession  of  their  reservation,  spending  their 
time  in  the  enjoyment  of  Indian  life.  The  fine  situation  of  their  village 
and  the  quality  of  their  lands  incited  the  more  lawless  white  settlers,  who 
from  time  to  time  began  to  encroach  upon  the  red  men's  domain.  From 
one  pretext  to  another,  and  from  one  step  to  another,  the  crafty  white 
men  gained  a  foothold,  until  through  whisky  and  artifice  they  obtained 
deeds  from  many  of  the  Indians  for  their  possessions.  The  Indians  were 
finally  induced  to  cross  over  the  Father  of  Waters  and  locate  among  the 
lowas.  Black  Hawk  was  strenuously  opposed  to  all  this,  but  as  the 
authorities  of  Illinois  and  the  United  States  thought  this  the  best  move,  he 
was  forced  to  comply.  Moreover  other  tribes  joined  the  whites  and  urged 
the  removal.  Black  Hawk  would  not  agree  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
made  with  his  nation  for  their  lands,  and  as  soon  as  the  military,  called  to 
enforce  his  removal,  had  retired,  he  returned  to  the  Illinois  side  of  the 
river.  A  large  force  was  at  once  raised  and  marched  against  him.  On 
the  evening  of  May  14,  1832,  the  first  engagement  occurred  between  a 
band  from  this  army  and  Black  Hawk's  band,  in  which  the  former  were 
defeated. 

This  attack  and  its  result  aroused  the  whites.  A  large  force  of  men 
was  raised,  and  Gen.  Scott  hastened  from  the  seaboard,  by  way  of  the 
lakes,  with  United  States  troops  and  artillery  to  aid  in  the  subjugation  of 
the  Indians.  On  the  24th  of  June,  Black  Hawk,  with  200  warriors,  was 
repulsed  by  Major  Demont  between  Rock  River  and  Galena,  The  Ameri- 
can army  continued  to  move  up  Rock  River  toward  the  main  body  of 
the  Indians,  and  on  the  21st  of  July  came  upon  Black  Hawk  and  his  band, 
and  defeated  them  near  the  Blue  Mounds. 

Before  this  action,  Gen.  Henry,  in  command,  sent  word  to  the  main 
army  by  whom  he  was  immediately  rejoined,  and  the  v/hole  crossed  the 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY.  67 

Wisconsin  in  pursuit  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  who  were  fleeing  to  the 
Mississippi.  They  were  overtaken  on  the  2d  of  August,  and  in  the  battle 
which  followed  the  power  of  the  Indian  chief  was  completely  broken.  He 
fled,  but  was  seized  by  the  Winnebagoes  and  delivered  to  the  whites. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1832,  Gen.  Scott  and  Gov.  Reynolds  con- 
cluded a  treaty  with  the  Winnebagoes,  Sacs  and  Foxes  by  which  they 
ceded  to  the  United  States  a  vast  tract  of  country,  and  agreed  to  remain 
peaceable  with  the  whites.  For  the  faithful  performance  of  the  provi- 
sions of  this  treaty  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  it  was  stipulated  that 
Black  Hawk,  his  two  sons,  the  prophet  Wabokieshiek,  and  six  other  chiefs 
of  the  hostile  bands  should  be  retained  as  hostages  duriijg  the  pleasure 
of  the  President.    They  were  confined  at  Fort  Barracks  and  put  in  irons. 

The  next  Springy,  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  they  were  taken 
to  Washington.  From  there  they  were  removed  to  Fortress  Monroe, 
"there  to  remain  until  the  conduct  of  their  nation  was  such  as  to  justify 
their  being  set  at  liberty."  They  were  retained  here  until  the  4th  of 
June,  when  the  authorities  directed  them  to  be  taken  to  the  principal 
cities  so  that  they  might  see  the  folly  of  contending  against  the  white 
people.  Everywhere  they  were  observed  by  thousands,  the  name  of  the 
old  chief  being  extensively  known.  By  the  middle  of  August  they 
reached  Fort  Armstrong  on  Rock  Island,  where  Black  Hawk  was  soon 
after  released  to  go  to  his  countrymen.  As  he  passed  the  site  of  his  birth- 
place, now  the  home  of  the  white  man,  he  was  deeply  moved.  His  village 
where  he  was  born,  where  he  had  so  happily  lived,  and  where  he  had 
hoped  to  die,  was  now  another's  dwelling  place,  and  he  was  a  wanderer. 

On  the  next  day  after  his  release,  he  went  at  once  to  his  tribe  and 
his  lodge.  His  wife  was  yet  living,  and  with  her  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  days.  To  his  credit  it  may  be  said  that  Black  Hawk  always  re- 
mained true  to  his  wife,  and  served  her  with  a  devotion  uncommon  among 
the  Indians,  living  with  her  upward  of  forty  years. 

Black  Hawk  now  passed  his  time  hunting  and  fishing.  A  deep  mel- 
ancholy had  settled  over  him  from  which  he  could  not  be  freed.  At  all 
times  when  he  visited  the  whites  he  was  received  with  marked  atten- 
tion. He  was  an  honored  guest  at  the  old  settlers'  reunion  in  Lee  County, 
Illinois,  at  some  of  their  meetings,  and  received  many  tokens  of  esteem. 
In  September,  1838,  while  on  his  way  to  Rock  Island  to  receive  his 
annuity  from  the  Government,  he  contracted  a  severe  cold  which  resulted 
in  a  fatal  attack  of  bilious  fever  which  terminated  his  life  on  October  3. 
His  faithful  wife,  who  was  devotedly  attached  to  him,  mourned  deeply 
during  his  sickness.  After  his  death  he  was  dressed  in  the  uniform  pre- 
sented to  him  by  the  President  while  in  Washington.  He  was  buried  iu 
a  grave  six  feet  in  depth,  isituated  upon  a  beautiful  eminence.     "  The 


68  THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY. 

body  was  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  grave,  in  a  sitting  posture,  upon  a 
seat  constructed  for  the  purpose.  On  his  left  side,  the  cane,  given  him 
by  Henry  Clay,  was  placed  upright,  with  his  right  hand  resting  upon  it. 
Many  of  the  old  warrior's  trophies  were  placed  in  the  grave,  and  some 
Indian  garments,  together  with  his  favorite  weapons." 

No  sooner  was  the  Black  Hawk  war  concluded  than  settlers  began 
rapidly  to  pour  into  the  northern  parts  of  Illinois,  and  into  Wisconsin, 
now  free  from  Indian  depredations.  Chicago,  from  a  trading  post,  had 
grown  to  a  commercial  center,  and  was  rapidly  coming  into  prominence. 
In  1835,  the  formation  of  a  State  Government  in  Michigan  was  discussed, 
but  did  not  take  active  form  until  two  years  later,  when  the  State  became 
a  part  of  the  Federal  Union. 

The  main  attraction  to  that  portion  of  the  Northwest  lying  west  of 
Lake  Michigan,  now  included  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  was  its  alluvial 
wealth.  Copper  ore  was  found  about  Lake  Superior.  For  some  time  this 
region  was  attached  to  Michigan  for  judiciary  purposes,  but  in  1830  was 
made  a  territory,  then  including  Minnesota  and  Iowa.  The  latter  State 
was  detached  two  years  later.  In  1848,  Wisconsin  was  admitted  as  a 
State,  Madison  being  made  the  capital.  We  have  now  traced  the  various 
divisions  of  the  Northwest  Territory  (save  a  little  in  Minnesota)  from 
the  time  it  was  a  unit  comprising  this  vast  territory,  until  circumstances 
compelled  its  present  division. 


69 


POPULATION    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 


STATES  AND 
TERRITORIES. 


STATES. 

Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland  

Massachusetts .... 

Michigan   

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada  

New  Hampshire. 

New  Jersey 

New  York 

North  Carolina... 
Ohio  


AREA  IN 
SQUARE 
MILES. 


POPULATION. 


996,992 
484,471 
560,247 


537,454 

125,015 

187,748 

1,184,109 

2,539,891 

1,680,637 

1,191,792 

364,399 

1,3^,011 

7-.i6,915 

626,915 

760,894 

l,457,.3ol 

1,184,069 

409, 706 

827,922 

1,721,295 

123,993 

42,491 

318,300 

906,096 

4,382,759 

1,071,361 

2,665,260 


MIL'S 

R.  R. 

1882. 


1,262,5051,802 
8u2,ojo  l,o»l 
864,694  2,266 


194,32 

622,700 

146,608 

269,493 
1,542,180 
3,077,871 
1,978,301 
1,624,615 

996,096 
1,648,69011,714 

939,946j    999 

648.936  1,021 

934,943il,047 
1,783,085  1,934 


2,274 

958 

278 

793 

2,581 

8,325 

4,764 

6,112 

3,718 


1,606,93/ 

780,773 
1,131,597 
2,168,380 

452,402 
62,266 

346,991 
1,131,116 
5,082,87i;6,278 
1,399,750  1,619 
3,198,06216,663 


4,2fe3 
3,390 
1,231 
4,211 
2,310 
890 
l,0z5 
1,753 


STATES  AND 
TERRITORIES. 


STATES. 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania  .... 

Khode  Island 

South   Carolina.. 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

Virginia 

West  Virginia.... 
Wisconsin 

Total  States .. 

TERRITORIES. 

Arizona , 

Colorada  

Dakota 

Districtof  Columbia 

Idaho  

Montana 

New  Mexico 

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming 

Total  Territories 


Aggregate  of  U.  S...  2,915,203 


AREA  IN 
SQUARE 
MILES. 


95,244 
46,000 
1,306 
29,385 
45,600 
237,504 
10,212 
40,904 
23,000 
53,924 


1,950,171 


113,916 
104,500 
147,490 
60 
90,932 
143,776 
121,201 
80,056 
69,944 
93,10" 


965,032 


POPULATION. 


90,923 

3,521,791 
217,353 
705,606 

1,258,520 
818,579 
330,551 

1,225,163 
442,014 

1,054,670 


38,113,253 


9,658 
39,864 
14,181 
131,700 
14,999 
20,595 
91,874 
86,786 
23,955 

9,118 


442,730 


174,768 
4,282,891 

276,531 

995,577 
1,542,359 
1,591,749 

332,286 
1,512,565 

618,457 
1,315,497 


MIL'S 
R.  R. 

1882. 


40,440 


135,177 
177,624 
32,610 
39,159 
119,565 
143,963 
75,116 
20,789 


38,555,983  50,155,783 


689 
6,690 

211 
1,483 
1,973 
5,344 

915 
2,193 

711 
3,441 


557 


265 
231 
975 
908 
479 
533 


PRINCIPAL   COUNTRIES   OF   THE  WORLD. 

POPULATION  AND  AREA. 


COUNTRIES. 


POPULATION 


China  

British  India 

Russia 

United  States — with  Alaska 

German  Empire 

Turkey 

Austria  and  Hungary , 

France 

Japan 

Cxreat  Britain  and  Ireland.., 

Italy 

Egypt 

Spain  

Mexico 

Brazil 

Persia 

Sweden  and  Norway 

Belgium < 

Roumania 

Portugal 

Dominion  of  Canada 

Netherlands 

Switzerland 

Peru , 

Bolivia 

Chili 

Venezuela 

Greece 

Denmark 

Argentine  Confederation .... 

Servia 

Guatemala.   

Ecuador  

Liberia 

Hayti 

San  Salvador 

Uruguay 

Nicaragua 

Honduras 

San  Domingo 

Costa  Rica 


380,627,183 

254,899,516 

98,297,407 

50,442,066 

45,234,061 

42,213,400 

37,786,246 

37,405,240 

35,925,313 

35,262,762 

28,452,639 

16,952,000 

16,625,860 

10,025,649 

9,883,622 

7,653,600 

6,497,245 

5,519,844 

5,290,000 

4,348,551 

4,324,810 

4,114,077 

2,846,102 

2,699,945 

2,300,000 

2,223,434 

2,075,245 

1,979,305 

1,969,039 

1,859,685 

1,700,211 

1,252,497 

1,066,137 

1,050,000 

800,000 

554.785 

438,245 

3.50.000 

350,000 

300,000 

180,000 


1881 
1881 
1879 
1880 
1880 
1881 
1880 
1881 
1879 
1881 
1881 
1875 
1877 
1881 
1872 
1881 
1881 
1880 
1878 
1878 
1881 
1881 
1880 
1876 


1881 
1881 
1880 
1869 
1880 
1881 
1875 


1878 
1880 


AREA  OP 
SQUARE 
MILES. 


4,413,788 

1,425,723 

8,387,816 

3,602,990 

212,091 

2,396,692 

240,942 

204,092 

148,700 

120,879 

114,296 

1,406,250 

182,750 

743,948 

3,287,963 

610,000 

293,848 

11,373 

48,307 

36,510 

3,470,392 

12,648 

15,992 

503,718 


207,350 

439,120 

25,041 

13,784 

1,204,486 

20,850 

41,830 

248,372 

14,300 

10,204 

7,225 

73,538 

49,500 

39,600 

18,045 

26,040 


CAPITALS. 


Pekin  

Calcutta 

St   Petersburg  (1881) 

Washington 

Berlin 

Constantinople 

Vienna 

Paris 

Yeddo 

London 

Florence  

Cairo 

Madrid 

Mexico 

Rio  de  Janiero 

Teheran 

Stockholm 

Brussels 

Bucharest 

Lisbon 

Ottawa  

Amsterdam 

Geneva 

Lima 

La  Paz 

Santiago 

Caraccas 

Athens  

Copenhagen  

Buenos  Ayres  (1881)....... 

Belgrade 

Santiago  de  Guatemala. 

Quito 

Monrovia 

Port  au'Prince 

San  Salvador 

Montevideo 

Managua 

Tegucigalpa 

San  Domingo 

San  Jose 


POPU- 
LATION. 


2,000,000 
500,000 
876,575 
147,293 

1,122,360 
800,000 

1,103,857 

2,269,023 
200,000 

4,764,312 
169,000 
250,000 
397,690 
315,996 
274,972 
200,000 
168,775 
350,000 
221,805 
246,343 
27,412 
328,047 
68,320 
101,488 


387,081 

60,000 

63,374 

234,850 

289.925 

27,000 

55,728 

70,000 

13,000 

22,000 

18,500 

73,353 

8,000 

12,000 

10,000 

2,500 


POPULATION  OF  OHIO  BY  COUNTIES. 


The  State 


Adams 

Allen 

Aahland 

As  ti  tabula... 

Athens 

Auglaize   ... 

Belmont 

Brown 

Butler 

Carroll  ...  . 
Champaign  . 

Clark 

Clermont  ... 

CUnton 

Columbiaua 
Coshoctou  .. 
Crawford  . . . 
Cuyahoga    .. 

Darke 

Dertance  

Delaware  ... 

Erie 

Fairfield 

Fayette 

Franklin 

Fulton 

Gallia 

Geauga 

Greene 

Guernsey  ... 
Hamilton  ... 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Harrison 

Henry 

Highland 

Hocking 

Holmes 

Huron 


Jackson  .. 
.Jefferson.. 

Knox 

Lake 

Lawrence 
Licking  .. 

Logan  

Lorain  


Lucas. 

Madison  

Mahoning 

Mirion 

Medina 

Meigs 

.Mercer  

Miami  

Monroe 

Montgomery. 

Morgan  

Morrow 

Muskingum  . 

Noble  

Ottawa 

Paulding 

Perry  

Pickaway    .  . 

Pike 

Portage 

Preble 

Putnam 

Richland 

Koes. 


Sandusky  ... 

Scioto 

Seneca  

Shelby 

Stark 

umniit 

Trumbull  ... 
Tuscarawas  . 

Union 

Van  Wert  . . . 

Vinton  

Warren 

Washington . 

Wayne 

Williams 

Wood 

Wyandot  


7382 
6338 


20329 
13356 
21746 


8479 
9.i33 
15820 

22033 
7086 


6328 
3717 


16633 
6316 

10292 


10529 
9292 
31764 


12308 
2130 


66T5 
3746 
18531 
8326 


3499 
11861 
3181 


3082 
4480 


8851 
4645 
15999 
5297 


17824 


8429 
13149 

4253 
10095 
10237 


9169 

20619 

852 

5750 


2106 
12406 


15546 
8328 
1996 


17837 
10425 
11933 


12281 
578 


14584 
9787 


28827 
17867 
27142 


12131 
13114 
20466 
11436 
35f92 
11161 

4791 
10373 

6204 


11504 


24786 
8182 
14741 


9733 

15813 
14801 
18036 
52317 
813 
210 
20916 
262 
16»45 
4008 
9135 
13.'J41 
5941 
22489 
17085 


5367 
20869 
6440 
5696 


6190 


6551 
7560 
6158 
1110 
12807 
8768 
24362 
11800 


29334 


161 
13970 
16001 
6024 
18826 
16291 

230 
24(Xt6 
24068 
285 1 

5159 
3671 
26588 


26153 

1429'< 

3192 

49 


21468 
11731 
23333 
387 
1102 


13183 
9079 


23724 
19109 


30901 
22715 
28173 
1S108 
16721 
16882 
23106 
15719 
40:i7S 
21590 
13152 
26506 
13282 


22060 
12599 
31924 
10984 
25049 


ViUi 

16297 
175-28 
27748 
60145 

9986 

4598 
20099 

2503 
22269 

9741 
18088 
23933 

9744 
25030 
29579 
13719 

9738 
35096 
14015 
18467 

9382 

9025 


14765 
18352 
11452 
8277 
19688 
18521 
31938 
20852 


38749 


2248 
1034 
19344 
19725 
7626 
22965 
19482 
5189 
44532 
27460 
10182 
11192 
18128 
12154 
34*03 
22560 
38107 
25631 
8422 
1577 


23141 
20823 


4465 
5357 


1980329 


18883 
12109 
23813 
28767 
18215 
11338 
34600 
27332 
30789 
17685 
19782 
22178 
30155 
18838 
33621 
25674 
18177 
48099 
20276 

6966 
21817. 
18568 
30264 
12726 
42909 

7781 
17063 
17827 
21946 
30438 
156844 
16751 

8251 
20157 

3434 
25781 
14119 
20452 
26203 
12719 
29133 
28872 
14654 
15246 
38846 
19162 
26086 
12363 
10015 
23735 
12618 
24441 
17971 

7712 
24999 
28351 
38218 
28585 
20280 
45049 


3308 
1766 
20775 

2vm 

10953 
24419 
21736 
7221 
30879 
32074 
14305 
18428 
27104 
13958 
398;8 
27485 
30490 
31761 
12204 
4793 
9353 
25560 
29540 
32981 
8018 
9157 
11194 


2339511 


2665260 


20309 
19185 
22951 
31814 
21364 
17187 
36398 
29958 
35840 
15738 
22693 
25300 
33034 
21461 
32836 
25032 
23881 
78033 
26009 
11886 
2390-.> 
24474 
30533 
15935 
50361 
14043 
32043 
15817 
26197 
24474 
216410 
22886 
13570 
19110 

8901 
27773 
17057 
20589 
26616 
17941 
26115 
27735 
15576 
2.3249 
37011 
20996 
29744 
25831 
13015 
25894 
15490 
22517 
26534 
14104 
29959 
25741 
52230 
22119 
20445 
44416 
20751 

7016 

4945 
19678 
23469 
131)43 
24208 
21820 
12808 
31158 
35071 
21429 
24297 
30868 
17493 
42978 
27344 
30656 
32463 
16507 
10238 
13631 
2690-2 
36268 
321183 
166a3 

17886 
13,596 


20750 
23623 
21933 
32517 
23768 
20041 
39714 
30802 
39912 
14491 
24188 
32070 
54268 
21914 
38299 
2360U 
25556 

13-2010 
3-2278 
15719 
25175 
28188 
31138 
17170 
63019 
17789 
25545 
14190 
28038 
2.3838 

260370 
23847 
18714 
18682 
14028 
29133 
179-25 
18177 
28532 
21759 
29188 
26333 
15935 
31380 
35756 
230-28 
30308 
46722 
15633 
31001 
16184 
20(»2 
81465 
17254 
3-2740 
25779 
64006 
20363 
18583 
44886 
19949 
13364 
8544 
18453 
24875 
15447 
.24584 
21809 
17081 
32516 
37097 
25503 
29302 
308-27 
20748 
52508 
34674 
38659 
33840 
18730 
15823 
1S027 
26689 
40609 
.351 16 
20991 
24396 
18553 


PART  II 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO, 


GOVERNORS. 


From  the  organization  of  the  first  civil  government  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  of  which  the  State  of  Ohio 
was  a  part,  until  the  year  1884. 

Term,  Two  Years. 


NAME. 


Hamilton. 

Ross 

Adams 


Arthur  St.  Clair  (1) 

Charles  W.  Byrd  (2)..., 

Edward  Tiffin  (3) 

Thomas  Kirker  (4) 

Samuel  Huntington Trumbull . 

Return  Jonathan  Meigs  (5)..}Washington.. 

Othniel  Looker* Hamilton 

Thomas  Worthington jRoss 

Ethan  Allen  Brown  (6) , Hamilton 

Allen  Trimble* JHighland 

Jeremiah  Morrow Warren.. 

Allen  Trimble 

Duncan  McArthur 

Robert  Lucas 

Joseph  Vance , 

Wilson  Shannon 

Thomas  Corwin 

Wilson  Shannon  (7)  ... 
Thomas  W.  Bartley*... 


Highland ... 

Ross 

Pike 

Champaign. 

Belmont 

Warren 

Belmont 

Richland 


1788-1802 

1802-1803 

1803-1807 

1807-1808 

1808-1810 

1810-1814 

1814 

1814-1818 

1818-182.2 

l.<^22 

1822-1826 

1826-1830 

1830-1832 

1832-1836 

1836-1838 

1838-1840 

1840-1842 

1842-1844 

1844 


NAME. 


Mordecai  Bartley Richland 

William  Bebb JButler 

Seabury  Ford  (8) .Geauga 

Reuben  Wood  (9) Cuyahoga 

William  Medill  (10) 'Fairfield 

Salmon  P.  Chase jHamilton 

William  Dennison iFranklin 

David  Tod Mahoning, 

.John  Brough  (11) iCuyahoga 

Charles  Andersonf jMontgomery.... 

Jacob  D.  Co.x Trumbull 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes Hamilton 

Edward  F.  Noyes iHamilton 

William  Allen iRoss 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes  (12)....|Sandusky 

Thomas  L.  Youngf Hamilton 

Richard  M.  Bishop Hamilton 

Charles  Foster jseneca 

George  Hoadly Hamilton 


1844-1846 
1846-1849 
1849-1850 
1850-1853 
1853-1856 
1856-1860 
1860-1862 
1862-1864 
18G4-1865 
1865-1866 
1866-1868 
1868-1872 
1872-1874 
1874-1876 
1876-1877 
1877-1878 
1878-1880 
1880-1884 
1884- 


(1)  Arthur  St.  Clair,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  of  which  Ohio  was  a  part, 
from  July  13,  1788,  when  the  first  civil  government  was  established  in  the  Territory,  until  about  the  close  of 
the  year  1802,  when  he  was  removed  by  the  President. 

(2)  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  and  was  acting  Governor  of  the  Territory  after  the  removal  of  Gov.  St. 
Clair. 

(3)  Resigned  March  3, 1807,  to  accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator. 

(4)  Return  Jonathan  Meigs  was  elected  Governor  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  1807,  over  Nathaniel 
Massie,  who  contested  the  election  of  Meigs  on  the  ground  "  that  he  had  not  been  a  resident  of  this  State  for 
four  years  next  preceding  the  election  as  required  by  the  Constitution,"  and  the  General  Assembly,  in  joint 
convention,  decided  that  he  was  not  eligible.  The  office  was  not  given  to  Massie,  nor  does  it  appear  from  the 
records  that  he  claimed  it,  but  Thomas  Kirker,  Acting  Governor,  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office 
until  December  12,  1808,  when  Samuel  Huntington  was  inaugurated,  he  having  been  elected  on  the  second 
Tuesday  of  October  in  that  year. 

(5)  Resigned  March  25, 1814,  to  accept  the  office  of  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States. 

(6)  Resigned  January  4,  1822,  to  accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator. 

(7)  Resigned  April  13, 1844,  to  accept  the  office  of  Minister  to  Mexico. 

(8)  The  result  of  the  election  in  1848  was  not  finally  determined  in  joint  convention  of  the  two  houses  of 
the  General  Assembly  until  January  19,  1849,  and  the  inauguration  did  not  take  placa  until  the  22d  of  that 
month. 

(9)  Resigned  July  15, 1853,  to  accept  the  office  of  Consul  to  "Valparaiso. 

(10)  Elected  in  October,  1853,  for  the  regular  term,  to  commence  on  the  second  Monday  of  January,  1854. 

(11)  Died  August  29,  1865. 

(12)  Resigned  March  2, 1877,  to  accept  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 
*  Acting  Governor.    Succeeded  to  office,  being  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

t  Acting  Governor.    Succeeded  to  office,  being  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 


72 


HISTOEY  OF    OHIO. 


IT  is  not  our  province  in  a  volume  of  this  description,  to  delineate  the  chronol- 
ogy of  prehistoric  epochs,  or  to  dwell  at  length  upon  those  topics  pertaining 
to  the  scientific  causes  which  tended  to  the  formation  of  a  continent,  undiscov- 
ered for  centuries,  by  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  those  making  a  history  of  the 
Old  World,  by  the  advancement  of  enlightenment  in  tne  Eastern  Hemisphere. 
Naturally,  the  geological  formation  of  the  State  of  Ohio  cannot  be  entirely 
separated  from  facts  relative  to  the  strata,  which,  in  remote  ages  accumulated 
one  layer  above  the  other,  and  finally  constituted  a  "built-up"  America,  from 
a  vast  sea.  The  action  of  this  huge  body  of  water  washed  sediment  and  what- 
ever came  in  its  way  upon  primitive  rocks,  which  were  subjected  to  frequent 
and  repeated  submersions,  emerging  as  the  water  subsided,  thus  leaving  a 
stratum  or  layer  to  solidify  and  mark  its  number  in  the  series — a  system  of 
growth  repeated  in  trees  of  the  forest — in  those  descernible  rings  that  count  so 
many  years.  The  southeastern  part  of  North  America  emerging  a  second 
time  from  the  Silurian  Sea,  which  extended  west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
north  to  the  primitive  hills  of  British  America,  a  succession  of  rock -bound, 
salt-water  lakes  remained.  These  covered  a  large  portion  of  the  continent,  and 
their  water  evaporating,  organic  and  mineral  matter  remained  to  solidify.,  This 
thick  stratum  has  been  designated  by  geologists  as  the  water-lime  layer.  This 
constitutes  the  upper  layer  of  rock  in  the  larger  portion  of  the  west  half  of 
Ohio.     In  other  sections  it  forms  the  bed  rock. 

Following  the  lime-rock  deposit,  must  have  been  more  frequent  sweeps  of 
the  great  sea,  since  the  layers  are  comparatively  thin,  proving  a  more  speedy 
change.  During  this  scientific  rising  and  falling  of  the  sea,  other  actions  were 
taking  place,  such  as  volcanic  and  other  influences  which  displaced  the  regular- 
ity of  the  strata,  and  occasionally  came  out  in  an  upheaval  or  a  regular  perpen- 
dicular dip.  A  disturbance  of  this  character  formed  the  low  mountain  range 
extending  from  the  highlands  of  Canada  to  the  southern  boundary  of  Tennes- 
see. This  "bulge"  is  supposed  to  be  the  consequence  of  the  cooling  of  the 
earth  and  the  pressure  of  the  oceans  on  either  side  of  the  continent.  Geolo- 
gists designate  this  as  the  Cincinnati  arch.  This  forms  a  separation  between 
the  coal  fields  of  the  Alleghanies  and  those  of  Llinois. 

Passing  over  several  periods,  we  reach  the  glacial,  during  which  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  continent  was  considerably  modified,  and  which  is  among  the 
latest  epochs  of  geology,  though  exceedingly  remote  as  compared  with  human 

73 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

history.  Previously,  a  torrid  heat  prevailed  the  entire  Northern  hemisphere. 
Now  the  temperature  of  the  frigid  zone  crept  southward  until  it  reached  Cincin- 
nati. A  vast  field  of  ice,  perhaps  hundreds  of  feet  thick,  extended  from  the 
north  pole  to  this  point.  As  this  glacial  rigor  came  southward,  the  flow  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  River  was  stopped,  and  the  surplus  water  of  the  great  lake 
basin  was  turned  into  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  This  glacial  sea  was  by  no 
means  stationary  even  after  its  southern  limit  had  been  reached.  It  possessed 
the  properties  of  a  solid  and  a  fluid.  Its  action  was  slow  but  powerful,  grind- 
ing mountains  to  powder  and  forming  great  valleys  and  basins.  Separating 
into  two  glacial  portions,  one  moved  toward  the  watershed  north  of  the  Ohio 
River ;  and,  continuing  westerly,  it  hollowed  out  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie  and 
crushed  the  apex  of  the  Cincinnati  arch.  From  this  point,  it  turned  south- 
ward and  swept  with  a  regular  course  through  the  Maumee  and  Miami  Valleys 
to  the  Ohio  River.  The  southern  border  constantly  melting,  and  flowing  toward 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  great  field  was  pressed  forward  by  the  accumulations 
of  ice  in  the  northern  latitudes.  Thus  for  ages,  this  powerful  force  was  fitting 
the  earth  for  the  habitation  of  man.  The  surface  was  leveled,  huge  rocks 
broken  and  reduced  to  pebbles,  sand,  clay,  etc.,  other  soil  and  surface-material — 
■while  the  debris  was  embedded  at  the  bottom.  In  some  sections,  as  the  ice 
melted  and  freed  the  bowlders  and  rocks,  the  lighter  material  was  swept  away. 
The  glacier  moving  forward,  and  the  forces  proving  an  "  equilibrium,"  the 
edge  of  this  ice-field  was  held  in  a  solid  stronghold,  and  the  material  thus  de- 
posited forms  a  ridge,  called  by  geologists  "terminal  moraine,"  first  exemplified 
in  Ohio  by  the  "Black  Swamp,"  in  the  Maumee  Valley. 

The  most  extreme  rigor  of  this  period  beginning  to  wane,  the  ice  of  the 
Maumee  and  Miami  Valleys  began  to  move  slowly  forward,  toward  the  north, 
reaching  the  points  now  termed  Hudson,  Mich.;  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  and  Kenton, 
Ohio — reaching  somewhat  further  south  than  Lima  and  Van  "Wert.  The  edge  of 
the  glacier  was  defined  in  outline  by  the  present  western  border  of  Lake  Erie,  and 
parallel  with  it.  Climatic  influences  "  acting  and  counteracting,"  the  glacial 
force  was  concentrated,  the  Maumee  A^alley  being  subjected  to  a  grinding  proc- 
ess, and  a  deposit  of  material  going  on,  which  now  forms  the  boundary  of  the 
"Black  Swamp."  As  our  readers  are  aware,  the  waters  of  the  St.  Joseph  and 
St.  Mary's  meet  at  Fort  Wayne,  and  their  united  waters  form  the  Maumee ; 
thence  the  turn  is  northwest,  and,  wearing  an  outlet  through  the  ridge,  it 
reaches  the  head  of  Lake  Erie. 

The  torrid  zone  yet  gaining  the  ascendency,  the  ice-fields  continuing  their 
reverse  motion,  and  retreating  toward  the  north,  the  basin  of  the  great  lakes 
was  formed ;  and  the  blocks  of  ice  melting  therein,  a  vast  sea  of  fresh  water  was 
formed,  which  gradually  overflowed  a  portion  of  Canada  and  Michigan,  But 
the  St.  Lawrence,  that  important  outlet,  was  under  the  restraint  of  an  ice 
blockade,  and  the  surplus  water  of  the  fresh  sea  was  turned  into  the  Ohio  and 
and  Mississippi. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  75 

Later,  mountains  of  ice-float  were  drifted  from  the  north  by  winds  and  cur- 
rents, into  temperate  latitudes,  and  melting,  deposited  rocks,  stones  and  general 
debris.  Following  the  iceberg-drift,  came  the  permanent  elevation  above  the  ocean- 
level.  The  St.  Lawrence  outlet  was  formed.  The  inland  sea  was  assuming  its 
division  into  lakes.  The  united  waters  of  Erie  and  Huron  flowed  through  the 
IVabash  Valley  and  into  the  Ohio,  until,  through  some  agency,  that  section  was 
dry,  and  the  lakes  drained  in  another  direction.  The  action  of  the  glacial 
period  in  the  Erie  basin  vicinity  created  what  is  known  as  the  "  Niagara  lime- 
stone," by  grinding  upper  strata  and  drifting  the  debris  elsewhere.  This  seems 
to  have  occurred  at  intervals,  exposures  being  made  in  Seneca,  Sandusky  and 
Wood  Counties,  and  beneath  the  axis  of  the  Cincinnati  arch.  Oriskany  lime- 
stone is  also  available  in  another  stratum,  which  has  been  brought  to  the  surface. 
Again,  there  is  a  carboniferous  stratum  of  limestone,  and  along  the  Maumee  is 
a  thin  exposure  of  the  Hamilton  limestone  and  shale. 

A  glacier  having  both  fluid  and  solid  properties,  it  will  readily  be  compre- 
iended  that  obdurate  projections  of  rock  resisted  its  action,  and  created  currents 
in  other  directions,  for  its  forces.  When  this  specified  epoch  had  ceased  to  be, 
Ohio  was  a  rough,  irregular  and  crude  mixture  of  ridges  and  knobs  and  pinnacles, 
which  were  "  leveled  up  "  and  finished  by  iceberg-drift  and  inland-sea  deposits. 
This  settled  and  accumulated,  and  the  work  of  hundreds  af  years  produced  a 
beautiful  surface,  its  inequalities  overcome,  the  water  having  receded  and  "  terra 
£rma"  remaining.  A  deep  bed  of  clay,  sufficiently  compact  to  hold  the  germs 
of  organic  matter,  and  sufficiently  porous  to  absorb  moisture,  was  especially 
adapted  to  encourage  the  growth  of  vegetation.  These  seeds  had  been  brous^ht 
by  the  winds  and  waves  and  natural  agencies,  and  now  began  to  produce  plants 
and  shrubs,  which  withered  to  enrich  the  soil,  after  scattering  broadcast  seeds 
that  would  again  perpetuate  verdure.  Worms,  land  crabs  and  burrowing  ani- 
mals assisted  in  the  creation  of  soil,  while  the  buffalo,  deer  and  bear  followed, 
as  soon  as  forestry  appeared.  Decomposed  foliage  and  fallen  timber  aided  in 
the  great  work  of  preparing  the  present  State  of  Ohio  for  the  habitation  of  man. 
Prairie,  marsh,  forest,  rivers  and  lakes  were  formed,  which,  in  turn,  were  modi- 
:fied  and  prepared  for  a  grand  destiny  by  other  influences. 

In  glancing  over  the  compiled  histories  of  Ohio,  those  containing  details  of 
her  early  struggles,  afflictions  and  triumphs,  we  are  especially  impressed  with 
its  near  and  sympathetic  relation  with  the  great  Northwest,  and  the  republic  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  From  the  early  years  when  white  men  built 
their  rude  cabins  in  the  then  tangled  wilderness,  to  the  opulent  and  magnificent 
present  of  this  united  nation,  Ohio  has  been  stanch,  loyal  and  earnest,  both 
in  action  and  principle. 

We  shall  endeavor  to  trace  the  history  of  the  State  concisely  and  accurately, 
according  to  the  data  given  by  the  most  reliable  historians.  We  are  obliged  to 
glean  the  prominent  events  only,  our  space  being  limited,  compared  with  the 
multitudinous  interests  connected  with  this  important  part  of  the  United  States. 


76  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

FRENCH    HISTORY. 

All  through  early  French  history,  is  the  fact  especially  prominent,  that  in 
their  explorations  and  expeditions,  they  united  piety  and  business.  They  were 
zealous  in  sending  out  their  missionaries,  but  they  were  always  attended  by 
traders  and  those  who  were  as  skilled  in  the  world's  profit  and  loss,  as  their 
companions  were  in  propagating  Christianity. 

Prior  to  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  upon  Plymouth  Rock,  the 
Upper  Lakes  were  visited  by  the  French,  and  records  prove  that  during  the  first 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  vagabondish  set,  working  in  the  interests  of 
the  fur  company  of  New  France,  understood  the  geographical  position  of  the 
lakes  and  their  tributary  streams.  M.  Perrot,  an  intelligent  explorer,  made 
overtures  of  peace  to  the  Indian  tribes  around  these  bodies  of  water,  and 
efiected  a  treaty,  which,  it  is  claimed,  established  the  right  for  the  French,  in 
the  name  of  their  king,  to  hold  the  place  near  St.  Mary's  Falls.  They  further 
assert  that  the  Mississippi  was  discovered  by  the  French  from  Lake  Superior, 
but  this  is  not  authenticated,  and  Father  jNIarquette  and  ]M.  Joliet  are  accepted 
as  the  first  who  found  this  large  stream,  in  1763.  The  good  missionary  won 
his  way  with  his  patient  and  sympathetic  nature. 

Ohio  was,  like  the  other  portions  of  the  West,  originally  in  the  possession 
of  aborigines  or  Indians.  Of  their  origin,  many  suppositions  are  advanced, 
but  no  certainties  sustained.  From  practical  evidences,  the  Mound-Builders 
were  active  in  Ohio,  and  here  as  elsewhere,  their  work  marked  retrogression 
rather  than  advancement.  The  territory  of  Ohio  was  claimed  by  the  French, 
and  included  in  that  wide  tract  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Rockies,  held 
by  them  under  the  name  of  Louisiana.  Before  the  year  1750,  a  French  trad- 
ing-post was  established  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and  communication  was 
established  between  that  point  and  the  Maumee,  and  Canada.  Between  the 
years  1678  and  1682,  the  intrepid  La  Salle  and  Father  Hennepin,  assisted  by 
Fondi,  an  Italian,  with  a  small  band  of  followers,  inaugurated  a  series  of 
explorations  about  the  great  lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  building  forts  on  their 
way  and  planting  the  French  priority.  In  1680,  La  Salle  erected  a  stockade  at 
the  foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee,  which  was  a  general  rendezvous  for  mission- 
aries, traders  and  explorers,  besides  constituting  a  primitive  "stock  exchange." 

The  English  colonies  were  at  this  time  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  while  the 
French  were  establishing  themselves  west  of  this  range,  gaining  an  entrance 
north  and  south,  the  two  portions  separated  by  hostile  and  barbarous  foes. 
La  Salle's  spirit  of  adventure  led  him  into  new  fields,  but  Father  Hennepin 
was  detailed  to  investigate  that  part  of  the  world  now  known  as  the  State  of 
Ohio.  The  records  assert  that  he  published  a  volume  containing  an  account  of 
his  observations  "in  the  country  between  New  Mexico  and  the  frozen  ocean," 
in  1684,  together  with  maps  of  Lakes  Erie,  Huron  and  Michigan,  and  a  plat 
of  the  larger  streams  in  Ohio. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  77 

Apparently,  the  French  more  speedily  comprehended  the  value  of  their 
advantages  in  the  New  World  than^the  English,  and  vigorously  inaugurated  and 
sustained  commercial  and  religious  projects.  They  were  essentially  benefited 
by  the  mediation  of  the  Catholic  priests  between  settlers  and  Indians,  this 
really  earnest  class  everywhere  ingratiating  themselves  with  the  savages.  The 
Order  of  Jesuits  were  very  vigorous,  and  representatives  were  stationed  at  every 
trading-post,  village  and  settlement.  The  English  colonists  engaged  mostly  in 
agriculture,  while  the  French  toot  a  lively  interest  in  the  fur  trade  with  the 
natives,  probably  from  their  former  settlement  in  Quebec  and  thereabouts,  where 
the  climate  is  advantageous  for  this  business.  This  added  to  the  influence  of 
the  priests,  and  the  natural  assimilation  of  French  and  the  Indians,  through 
the  tact  and  amiability  of  the  former,  the  French  possessions  gained  more 
rapidly  than  the  English  or  Spanish.  They  courted  their  daughters  and 
married  them.  They  engaged  in  feasts  and  trades,  and  took  advantage  of 
those  unimpeded  times  to  extend  their  dominion  with  surprising  celerity.  A 
chain  of  trading,  missionary  and  military  posts  extended  from  New  Orleans  to 
Quebec,  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers,  thence  via  Mackinaw  and 
Detroit  to  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  This  route  was  shortened  thereafter  by 
following  the  Ohio  River  to  the  "Wabash,  following  the  latter  upward,  and 
down  the  Maumee  to  Lake  Erie. 

About  the  same  time,  and  to  check  the  advancement  of  the  French,  the 
Ohio  Company  was  formed  by  the  English.  This  was  an  outgrowth  of  the 
contest  between  these  two  nations  for  the  ascendency,  whether  empire,  settle- 
ment or  individual.  After  thirty  years'  peace  between  these  two  nations, 
"King  George's  War"  opened  the  campaign  in  1744,  but  terminated  in  1748, 
the  treaty  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  unfortunately  omitting  a  settlement  of  any  division 
of  claims  in  America.  The  English,  French  and  Spanish  were  the  first  to 
enter  America,  and  the  right  of  possession  by  each  monarch  or  empire  was 
held  by  right  of  a  first  discovery.  The  only  right  that  England  could  advance 
regarding  Ohio  was  that  the  portion  of  the  Six  Nations  found  in  the  Ohio 
Valley  had  placed  some  of  their  lands  under  British  jurisdiction,  and  that  other 
portions  had  been  purchased  at  Lancaster,  Penn.,  by  means  of  a  treaty  with 
the  same  nations.  All  this  was  strenuously  denied  and  ignored  by  the  French. 
Thus  several  conflicting  influences  swept  carnage  over  fair  Ohio.  The  Indians  were 
allied  to  one  side  and  the  other,  and  were  against  each  other.  The  Indians  and 
French  would  advance  against  the  English,  and  they,  in  retaliation,  would 
make  a  raid  into  the  Indian  territory  and  overcome  a  French  settlement. 
Whenever  they  could  as  well,  Indians  would  take  the  cause  in  their  own  keep- 
ing and  fight  each  other.  The  wide,  verdant  fields  of  Ohio  were  drenched 
ghastly  red  under  a  glowing  sun,  and  the  great  forests  echoed  moans  from  the 
dying  and  distressed.  The  English  colonists  had  partially  overcome  their 
deprivation,  caused  by  a  struggle  for  subsistence,  and  means  to  guard  against 
the  savages — this  distress  augmented  by  campaigns  against  Canada — ^by  their 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

increased  numbers  and  wealth,  but  were  now  alarmed  by  the  French  rule  in 
America,  which  gained  so  rapidly,  unmolested  as  it  was  by  Indian  raids  and 
other  devastating  circumstances.  A  constant  conflict  was  going  on  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Upper  Ohio.  Atrocities  and  massacres  were  committed 
indiscriminately,  which  opened  the  way  for  a  desperate  class  of  marauders  and 
villains  from  the  colonies  and  European  States.  These  people  enlisted  with 
the  Indians  on  either  side  for  the  purpose  of  leadership  and  plunder.  Every 
fortification,  trading-post  and  settlement  was  garrisoned  or  deserted,  and  the 
ground  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Maumee  became  a  conflict  field,  rife 
with  thrilling  deeds,  sacrifice  and  adventures,  the  half  never  having  been 
chronicled,  and  many  heroes  falling  uncrowned  by  even  a  lasting  memory,  since 
during  these  times  the  people  kept  few  annals,  and  cared  less  for  historical 
memories  than  anything  on  earth.  They  were  living,  and  dying,  and  struggling, 
and  that  was  more  than  they  could  carry  through  safely.  The  French  formed 
a  road  from  the  Ohio  River  to  Detroit,  via  the  foot  of  the  Lower  Rapids  of  the 
]\Iaumee,  and  the  foot  of  the  Lower  Rapids  of  the  Sandusky. 

The  Ohio  Company  obtained  a  charter  under  English  views,  from  the 
British  Government,  with  a  grant  of  6,000  acres  of  land  on  the  Ohio.  The 
English  now  reverted  to  the  times  of  the  Cabots,  and  protested  that  by  right 
they  held  the  entire  country  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  bounded 
by  those  parallels  of  latitude  defining  their  Atlantic  coast  settlements.  France 
claimed  the  region  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries,  the  great  lakes 
and  their  tributaries,  the  area  being  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Ohio  was  thus 
included  in  the  disputed  tract. 

The  Ohio  Company  was  formed  in  1748,  by  a  number  of  Virginians  and 
Londoners,  two  brothers  of  George  Washington  taking  conspicuous  parts  in  the 
movement ;  Thomas  Lee  was  especially  active.  When  the  surveys  were  begun, 
the  Governor  of  Canada  entered  vigorous  protests,  and  indicated  his  displeasure 
by  a  prompt  line  of  posts  from  Erie  to  Pittsburgh,  named  respectively,  Presque 
Isle,  Le  Boeuf,  Vedango,  Kittaning  and  Du  Quesne.  The  latter  was  begun 
by  the  English,  captured  by  the  French,  and  by  them  completed. 

The  first  English  settlement  of  which  we  can  find  traces  was  a  block-house 
at  Piqua,  about  the  year  1752.  It  was  attacked,  and  a  bitter  struggle  ensued, 
resulting  in  the  death  of  fourteen  of  the  assailants.  Those  within  the  garrison 
suffered  severely,  many  being  burned,  and  the  remainder  captured  and  dis- 
patched to  Canada. 

In  1753,  the  French  and  Indian  war  actively  began.  It  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  American  continent  until  1756,  when  the  home  governments  took 
an  interest  in  its  progress  beyond  encouraging  their  respective  colonists  to  pur- 
sue the  war-path  to  a  direful  finale  for  their  adversaries.  For  four  years,  the 
French  captured  and  conquered,  spreading  terror  wherever  they  went,  and 
they  followed  every  Englishman  that  set  his  foot  on  Ohio  soil  to  the  death. 
We  may  state  that  these  people  had  not  retained  their   civilized  habits,  and 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  79 

constant  association  with  savages  had  embued  them  with  barbarous  methods  of 
warfare  which  were  sickening  and  revolting  to  the  English,  and  to  which  they 
could  not  resort.  It  is  highly  probable  that  French  success  was  vastly  brought 
about  by  these  means,  together  with  the  assistance  of  their  Indian  allies.  In 
1758,  when  the  English  hope  was  almost  exterminated,  the  elder  Pitt  being 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  administration,  a  new  and  energetic  system  was 
inaugurated,  wise  measures  instituted,  and  military  science  triumphed  over 
savage  cunning  and  French  intrigue.  The  first  brilliant  English  achievement 
was  the  conquest  of  Canada.  When  the  home  governments  interfered,  the 
war  assumed  the  character  of  a  French  and  English  conflict,  regardless  of 
Indian  right,  yet  the  tribes  continued  to  participate  in  the  carnage. 

A  certain  Christian,  Frederick  Post,  a  Moravian  missionary,  located  upon 
the  Muskingum,  near  Beavertown.  Heckewelder  consented  to  become  his 
associate.  The  Indians  receiving  them  kindly,  under  conditions  that  Post 
should  serve  as  tutor,  this  missionary  began  clearing  a  field  for  the  purpose  of 
planting  corn  for  sustenance.  This  did  not  accord  with  Indian  logic.  They 
had  stipulated  that  he  teach  and  he  was  planting  corn,  which  to  them  was  a 
signal  of  the  coming  of  other  whites,  the  building  of  a  fort  and  encroachments 
upon  the  Indians.  They  referred  to  the  French  priests,  who  were  in  good 
physical  condition,  did  not  till  land,  but  were  in  charge  of  the  Great  Spirit 
who  provided  for  them,  a  conclusive  proof  to  them  that  when  divine  work  was 
acceptable  to  the  Great  Spirit,  priests  were  somehow  sustained  by  other  than 
the  plans  which  disturbed  their  great  hunting-grounds.  However,  they 
allowed  him  a  small  space,  and  he  remained  with  them,  preaching  and  teaching 
during  the  summer  of  1762,  when,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  principal  chiefs, 
he  returned  to  Lancaster,  Penn.,  where  a  treaty  was  concluded.  On  his  return 
to  his  post,  he  was  met  by  Heckewelder,  who  imparted  the  tidings  that  friendly 
Indians  had  warned  him  that  the  war  was  about  to  sweep  over  their  section, 
and  destruction  awaited  them  if  they  remained.  The  mission  was  accordingly 
abandoned.  This  failure  was  not  so  bitter  as  the  English  effort  to  sustain  their 
trading-post  in  1749,  on  the  Great  Miami,  afterward  called  Laramie's  store. 
It  pursued  a  feeble  existence  until  1752,  when  a  French  raid  upon  the  Twig- 
twees  and  English  colonists  proved  fatal. 

A  European  treaty  now  excluded  the  French  from  any  rights  to  make 
treaties  with  the  Indians,  and  the  English,  in  their  flush  of  victory  after  Pitt's 
succession,  assumed  the  authority  over  Indians  and  lands.  The  savages  did 
not  accept  the  situation  with  anything  resembling  the  gentle  spirit  of  resigna- 
tion, and  the  Ottawa  chief,  Pontiac,  led  the  several  tribes  into  a  general  war 
against  the  intruders.  It  was  no  longer  Freuch  and  English,  but  Indian  and 
English,  the  former  being  instigated  and  assisted  many  times  by  the  French, 
now  despei-ate  and  unscrupulous  in  a  mad  spirit  for  revenge. 

The  intention  of  the  Indians  was  to  drive  the  whites  east  of  the  mountains, 
destroying  their  numerous  strongholds  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  if  they 


80  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

failed  in  their  hope  of  utteriy  exterminating  them.  Pontiac  had  effected  a 
consolidation  of  the  tribes  ranging  from  Mackinaw  to  North  Carolina,  thus 
being  enabled  to  swoop  down  upon  all  the  settlements  simultaneously.  A 
deadly  beginning  was  made  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  only  two  or  three  English 
traders  escaped  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  located  in  that  vicinity. 
The  forts  at  Presque  Isle,  St.  Joseph  and  Mackinaw,  were  captured  amid  scenes 
of  slaughter  too  terrible  to  perpetuate  in  description.  The  years  1763  and 
1764  were  literally  drenched  in  human  carnage  and  anguish.  Ohio  was  a 
great  field  of  crime,  murder,  pain  and  horror.  The  expeditions  of  Bradstreet 
and  Bouquet  crushed  the  war  in  1764,  and  Pontiac  with  his  Ottawas  removed 
to  the  Maumee  and  settled.  English  settlement  now  progressed  with  great 
rapidity,  but  this  was  destined  to  be  disturbed  in  1774,  by  the  action  of  Lord 
Dunmore,  who  led  an  expedition  against  the  tribes  of  the  Ohio  country,  termi- 
nated by  his  treaty  on  the  Scioto  plains.  At  this  period,  the  colonists  were  not 
in  strict  harmony  with  England,  and  the  spirit  of  revolution  was  spreading 
every  day. 

When  Lord  Dunmore  made  his  treaty,  the  affirmation  was  made  and  gained 
ground  that  he,  being  a  thorough  loyalist,  had  compromised  under  such  terms 
as  held  the  Indians  British  allies  against  the  settlers.  Directly  following  this 
treaty,  was  the  deliberate  murder  of  a  number  of  Indians,  near  Wheeling, 
including  the  family  of  the  great  chief,  Logan — which  inaugurated  retaliating 
atrocities. 

In  the  year  1773,  July  4,  the  first  white  child  was  born  within  the 
present  limits  of  Ohio,  and  was  christened  John  L.  Roth,  son  of  a  Mora- 
vian missionary.  All  the  settlers  of  these  Moravian  towns  on  the  Muskingum 
were  made  prisoners  in  September  of  the  same  year.  Heckwelder  was  tran:- 
ported  to  Detroit,  but  English  tyranny  failed  to  find  any  evidence  against  him 
or  his  colaborers,  and  they  were  reluctantly  released,  and  returned  to  their  fam- 
ilies in  Sandusky.  Poverty  added  to  their  sufferings,  and  in  the  forlorn 
hope  of  finding  a  remnant  of  their  property  at  the  old  settlements,  which  might 
assist  in  mitigating  their  necessities,  they  wearily  went  thitherward.  They 
began  gathering  their  grain,  but  the  Wyandots  attacked  them,  and  many  lives 
were  lost.  Frontiersmen  had  also  grown  jealous  of  them,  and  a  body  of  about 
ninety  marched  out  together,  for  the  fiendish  purpose  of  pillaging,  slaughtering 
and  laying  waste  all  Moravian  towns  and  posts.  With  the  wily  insidiousness  of 
savages,  they  went  about  their  diabolical  plan.  The  Moravians  were  cordial  and 
bade  this  band  welcome,  when  they  reached  their  towns  in  the  guise  of  friend- 
ship. Williamson,  the  leader,  and  the  gleaners,  were  called  from  the  fields, 
when,  to  the  dismay  of  these  trusting  and  frank  people,  they  were  all  bound, 
and  only  fifteen  out  of  the  marauding  band  of  ninety  were  in  favor  of  even 
sparing  the  lives  of  these  hapless  men,  women  and  children.  Forty  men, 
twenty-two  women  and  thirty-four  children  were  then  cruelly  and  heartlessly 
murdered,  their  sufferings  laughed  to  scorn,  and  the  last  sound  that  fell  on  their 


•CpL      PliJ,    C; 


^UX\AAJt-r>-      C^ 


O^, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO.  83 

ears  was  exultant  derision.  Succeeding  this  tragic  event  was  the  expedition 
against  the  Indian  towns  upon  the  Sandusky.  The  hostile  Indians  had  been 
making  frequent  incursions  upon  the  settlements  of  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia,  destroying  both  life  and  property.  There  seemed  to  be  no  bounds 
to  their  bloody  work,  and  it  became  necessary,  for  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
settlers,  to  take  some  measures  to  prevent  their  outrages.  Accordingly,  in 
May,  1782,  Gen.  William  Irvine,  who  was  then  commander  of  the  Western 
Military  Department,  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Pitt,  called  a  council  of  the 
officers  of  his  department  to  meet  at  Fort  Pitt.  At  this  meeting  it  was  de- 
cided to  form  and  equip  a  body  of  men,  and  make  an  expedition  into  the 
Indian  country.  Upper  Sandusky,  then  the  rendezvous  of  the  hostile  Wyan- 
dots,  Delawares,  Shawanese  and  Mingoes,  was  to  be  the  point  of  attack. 

Col.  William  Crawford  led  the  expedition,  which  counted  480  men.  Warn- 
ing had  in  some  manner  reached  the  towns,  and  the  troops  found  them  de- 
serted. But  the  Indians  were  incensed,  and  their  wrath  had  not  driven  them 
to  hiding-places,  but  to  a  preparation  to  meet  their  foes.  They  fought  desper- 
ately, and  Crawford's  troops  were  defeated  and  scattered,  many  being  capt- 
ured, and  among  them  Col.  Crawford  himself.  It  is  hardly  probable  that 
Crawford  could  justly  expect  much  mercy  at  the  hands  of  his  captors.  Ac- 
counts state  that  Crawford  implored  the  aid  of  Girty,  and  at  last  secured  a 
promise  to  use  his  power  to  obtain  the  Colonel's  pardon.  However,  this  was  of 
no  avail,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  Girty  was  disposed  to  intercede.  The 
prisoners  were  tortured  and  put  to  death,  and  Crawford's  agonies  were  pro- 
tracted as  long  as  possible.  Dr.  Knight  managed  to  disable  the  Indian  who 
had  him  in  charge,  and  made  his  escape  to  the  settlements,  where  he  related 
the  result  of  the  expedition  and  the  tortures  of  the  captured. 

On  October  27,  1784,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Fort  Stanwix,  with  the 
sachems  and  warriors  of  the  Mohawks,  Onondagas,  Senecas,  Cayugas,  Onei- 
das  and  Tuscaroras,  and  the  Six  Nations  then  ceded  to  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment all  claims  to  the  country  west  of  a  line  defined  by  the  western  boundary 
to  the  Ohio — thus  rendering  the  Indian  claim  to  a  large  portion  of  Ohio  lands 
practically  extinct. 

Although  the  French  and  Indian  war  was  a  series  of  heart-rending  events, 
it  was  a  serious  and  remarkable  school  of  discipline  for  the  untrained  troops 
which  soon  engaged  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  On  the  fields  of  Ohio,  many 
valuable  officers,  who  earned  distinction  in  the  war  of  independence,  learned 
their  first  lessons  in  intrepid  valor. 

During  the  Revolution,  the  colonial  troops  were  engaged  east  of  the  mount- 
ains, and  western  settlements  and  frontier  people  were  left  alone  to  defend 
themselves  and  their  property  against  encroachments  and  attacks. 

The  Indian  tribes  again  became  belligerent,  and  united  with  the  English 
against  the  "  Americans."  The  latter  held  a  line  of  posts  along  the  Upper 
Ohio,  while  the  British  were  stationed  in  the  old  French  strongholds  on  the 
lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  The  unscrupulous  whites  and  Indians  ranged  at  ran- 
dom between  this  boundary  and  the  Cuyahoga,  thence  southerly  to  the  Ohio, 


84  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

thus  including  the  Scioto  and  Miami  Valleys.  Southeastern  Ohio  constituted 
"the  neutral  ground." 

Gen.  Clarke's  expedition,  although  chiefly  confined  to  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
greatly  influenced  the  settlement  of  Ohio.  His  exploits  and  the  resolution  of 
his  troops  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  holding  the  country  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  insuring  its  possession  by  the  United  States  during  the  Revolution. 
The  British  had  been  emphatic,  in  the  Paris  treaty,  at  the  time  of  the  settlement 
of  the  French  and  English  difficulties,  in  demanding  the  Ohio  River  as  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  United  States.  The  American  Commissioners  relied 
upon  Gen.  Clarke's  valor  and  energy  in  holding  the  country  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  which  he  had  conquered,  and  the  British  Commissioners  were  compelled 
to  give  their  consent,  under  civil  and  military  measures.  In  1783,  by  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  English  relinquished 
all  rights  to  the  fertile  territory  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  United  States  held  undisputed  possession. 

January  10,  1786,  Gens.  Rufus  Putnam  and  Benjamin  Tupper  circulated  a 
pamphlet,  proposing  the  formation  of  a  company  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the 
Ohio  lands,  and  soliciting  the  attention  and  consideration  of  all  those  desiring  a 
future  home  and  prosperity.  A  meeting  was  also  called,  to  assemble  during  the 
following  February,  and  select  delegates  to  represent  each  county  in  Massachu- 
setts. These  dignitaries  should  convene  during  the  month  of  March,  at  the 
"  Bunch  of  Grapes  "  tavern,  in  Boston,  for  the  purpose  of  definitely  forming  the 
association,  and  adopting  such  measures  as  would  benefit  all  directly  interested. 
The  Meeting  and  "  convention  "  followed,  and  the  subscription  books  were  opened. 
One  million  dollars,  chiefly  represented  by  Continental  certificates,  was  the 
price  of  the  land.  The  shares  were  valued  at  $1,000  each,  and  there  was  a 
division  of  a  thousand  shares.  The  first  payment  was  to  be  |10  per  share,  this 
money  to  be  set  aside  for  such  expenses  as  might  accrue.  A  year's  interest  was 
to  be  devoted  to  the  establishment  of  the  settlement,  and  those  families  who 
were  unable  to  incur  the  expense  of  moving  were  to  be  assisted.  Those  who 
purchased  shares  to  the  number  of  twenty  were  entitled  to  a  representation  by 
an  agent,  who  was  permitted  to  vote  for  Directors.  This  plan  matured  and  was 
acted  upon  during  the  following  year.  It  may  be  that  the  action  of  Connecti- 
cut, in  ceding  her  territorial  claims  to  the  General  Government,  with  few  excep- 
tions, greatly  encouraged  this  new  undertaking.  That  tract  was,  until  recently, 
designated  the  "  Western  Reserve  " — an  extent  170  miles  from  the  western 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  and  parallel  thereto,  being  reserved. 

On  October  27,  1787,  a  contract  was  made  between  the  Board  of  the  Treas- 
ury, for  the  United  States,  and  Manasseh  Cutler  and  Winthrop  Sargent,  agents 
for  the  Directors  of  the  New  England  Ohio  Company,  for  the  purchase  of  a  tract 
of  land,  bounded  by  the  Ohio,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  to  the  inter- 
section of  the  western  boundary  of  the  seventh  townships,  then  surveying ; 
thence  by  said  boundary  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  tenth  township  from 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  85 

the  Ohio  ;  thence,  by  a  due  west  line,  to  the  Scioto ;  thence,  by  the  Scioto,  to 
the  beginning. 

However  fertile  and  attractive  Ohio  was  known  to  have  been,  settlement  did 
not  gain  rapidly  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  England,  although  the  United 
States  has  gained  her  freedom.  It  was  more  than  six  years  after  Cornwallis 
laid  down  his  sword,  before  a  white  settlement  was  formed  on  the  Ohio  side  of  the 
river.  The  French  and  Indian  war  had  incited  the  English  to  be  jealous  of  her 
colonial  conquests,  and  mistrusting  their  loyalty,  they  had,  so  soon  as  the  French 
claims  were  annulled,  taken  measures  to  crush  all  colonial  claims  also,  and  a 
royal  proclamation  rescinded  all  colonial  land  grants  and  charters,  holding  all 
the  country  west  of  the  sources  of  the  Atlantic  rivers  under  the  protection  and 
sovereignty  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  use  of  the  Indians.  All  white 
persons  were  forbidden  to  remain  or  settle  within  the  prescribed  limits.  Parlia- 
ment then  attached  this  tract  to  Quebec,  and  the  English  Government  felt  assured 
that  the  thirteen  colonies  were  restricted  and  held  secure  east  of  the  Alleffhanies. 

The  result  of  the  war  between  the  colonies  and  England  did  not  constitute 
an  Indian  treaty.  Although  England  signed  over  her  title  and  right,  the  sava- 
ges held  the  land  and  ignored  all  white  agreements,  one  way  or  the  other. 
Whenever  an  attempt  at  settlement  was  undertaken,  Indian  depredations  proved 
disastrous.  The  tribes  were  encouraged  by  the  English  fur  traders,  and  the 
English  commandant  at  Detroit  incited  them  to  destroy  all  Americans  who 
attempted  to  usurp  the  rights  of  red  men. 

Added  to  this  serious  difficulty  was  the  unsettled  debate  regarding  State 
claims,  which  rendered  a  title  precarious.  A  treaty,  signed  at  Fort  Mcintosh, 
previous  to  the  war,  and  authenticated,  shows  that  during  the  conflict  the  Dela- 
wares  and  Wyandots  occupied  the  Indian  and  British  frontier,  on  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  from  the  Cuyahoga  to  the  Maumee,  and  from  the  lake  to 
the  sources  of  its  tributaries.  Later,  these  two  tribes  ceded  to  the  United 
States  "the  neutral  ground,"  by  warranty  deed,  and  by  quit-claim,  the  terri- 
tory south  and  west  of  the  described  tract,  set  apart  for  their  use. 

By  special  measures,  the  grant  of  Congress  in  the  matter  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany extended  to  nearly  5,000,000  acres,  valued  at  $3,500,000.  The  original 
Ohio  Company  obtained  1,500,000  acres,  the  remaining  being  reserved  by  indi- 
viduals, for  private  speculation. 

The  same  year.  Congress  appointed  Arthur  St.  Clair,  Governor,  and  Win- 
throp  Sargent,  Secretary,  of  the  Territory. 

Fort  Harmar  had  previously  been  built,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum, 
and  in  1788,  a  New  England  colony  attempted  the  "Muskingum  settlement," 
on  the  opposite  side,  which  was  afterward  named  Marietta.  In  July,  1788,  the 
Territorial  officers  were  received  in  this  village,  and  there  established  the  first 
form  of  civil  government,  as  set  forth  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  Three  United 
States  Judges  were  appointed,  and  Courts  of  Common  Pleas,  Probate  and 
Justice  were  established. 


86  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

If  the  stormy  times  were  supposed  to  be  of  the  past,  that  composure  was 
rudely  broken  by  the  utter  disregard  of  the  Shawnee  and  other  Indian  tribes, 
who  soon  induced  the  Delawares  and  Wyandots  to  repudiate  their  consent  in  the 
matter  of  settlement.  The  miseries  of  frontier  horrors  were  repeated.  The 
British  commandant  at  Detroit  instigated  many  of  these  hostilities,  yet  the 
American  Government  took  honorable  action  in  assuring  the  English  represent- 
ative that  American  military  preparations  in  the  West  was  not  an  expedition 
against  Detroit,  or  other  British  possessions,  although  the  possession  of  Detroit 
by  that  nation  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  treaty  of  1783.  Gov.  St.  Clair, 
to  avert  the  direful  consequences  of  a  border  war,  dispatched  a  Frenchman, 
Gameline,  to  the  principal  Indian  towns  of  the  Wabash  and  Maumee  countries, 
to  request  them  to  meet  the  United  States  agents,  and  make  a  compromise  for 
the  benefit  of  both  parties,  at  the  same  time  reiterating  the  desire  of  the  General 
Government  to  adhere  to  the  Fort  Harmar  treaty.  The  Miamis,  Shawnees, 
Ottawas,  Kickapoos  and  Delawares  received  this  representative  kindly,  but 
declined  the  wampum  sent  by  the  Governor,  and  deferred  giving  an  answer 
until  they  had  considered  the  subject  with  the  "  father  at  Detroit." 

Blue  Jacket,  chief  of  the  Shawnees,  informed  the  Frenchman  that  the  Indi- 
ans doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  Americans.  The  new  settlement  on  the  Ohio 
was  a  proof  that  the  whites  intended  to  crowd  further  and  further,  until  the 
Indians  were  again  and  again  robbed  of  their  just  right.  He  then  emphatically 
asserted  that  unless  the  north  side  of  the  river  was  kept  free  from  these  inroads 
there  could  be  no  terms  of  peace  with  the  Shawnees,  and  many  other  tribes. 

Blue  Jacket  was  unusually  intelligent  and  sagacious,  and  expressed  himself 
eloquently.  He  was  persistent  in  his  determination  to  engage  in  the  war  of 
extermination,  should  the  white  settlements  continue  north  of  the  Ohio. 

These  overtures  were  continued,  but  they  failed  in  producing  any  arrange- 
ment that  permitted  the  whites  to  locate  north  of  the  Ohio. 

Congress  called  upon  Kentucky  and  Pennsylvania  to  lend  the  aid  of  their 
militia.  Gen.  Harmar  was  instructed  to  destroy  the  Miami  villages  at  the 
head  of  the  Maumee.     Late  in  the  fall  of  1790,  he  executed  this  order. 

The  Indians  had  stored  a  large  quantity  of  provisions,  in  expectation  of  a 
campaign,  and  this  dependence  was  devastated.  Without  authority,  and  with 
undue  carelessness,  he  divided  his  army  and  attempted  to  achieve  other  victo- 
ries. He  more  than  lost  what  he  had  gained. .  Two  raids  upon  the  Wabash  In- 
dians, thereafter,  proved  successful,  but  the  campaign  under  Gov.  St.  Clair  was 
not  calculated  to  establish  peace  or  obtain  power,  and  was  deemed  but  little  less 
than  a  failure. 

The  year  1792  was  a  series  of  skirmishes,  so  far  as  a  settlement  was  con- 
cerned, but  1793  succeeded  well  enough  to  convene  a  meeting  of  United  States 
Commissioners  and  representatives  of  the  hostile  tribes,  at  the  rapids  of  the 
Maumee.  It  is  highly  probable  that  a  satisfactory  treaty  might  have  been 
arranged,  had  it  not  been  for  the  intervention  and  malicious  influence  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  87 

British  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  Col.  McKee,  his  assistant  Capt. 
Elliott,  and  the  notorious  Capt.  Simon  Girty,  who  instigated  the  savages  to 
deeds  more  horrible  than  their  own  barbarisms. 

It  was  evident  that  a  severe  struggle  must  ensue,  and  Capt.  Wayne,  in 
1792,  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Western  army,  was  called  upon  to  con- 
duct the  campaign.  He  exhibited  his  wisdom  in  the  beginning,  by  preparing 
his  men  in  military  discipline  and  fully  equipping  them  before  marching  to  meet 
a  savage  foe  in  a  wilderness.  Various  causes  detained  the  army,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  fall  of  1793,  that  the  force  marched  from  Fort  Washington  (Cincin- 
nati) to  begin  the  battle. 

It  was  already  late  in  the  season,  and,  before  any  progress  had  been  made, 
the  army  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Greenville,  on  a  branch  of  the  Big 
Miami. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Ohio  Company  had  not  matured  its  practical  "  settle- 
merit  plan,"  although  a  generous  grant  had  been  obtained.  In  1792,  they 
received  a  clear  title  to  750,000  acres  of  land,  for  which  the  full  price  had  pre- 
viously been  paid,  in  Continental  currency.  Congress  set  aside  214,285  acres 
as  army  bounties,  and  100,000  acres  to  actual  settlers.  The  two  latter  appro- 
priations joined  that  of  the  Ohio  Company. 

There  had  been  numerous  conventions,  discussions  and  other  fruitless 
attempts  to  somehow  form  a  plan  for  the  government  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, but  it  was  not  until  July  13,  1787,  that  an  ordinance  was  passed,  and  that 
was  the  result  of  Dr.  Cutler's  efforts.     Every  State  sustained  its  measures. 

This  ordinance  was  the  foundation  of  the  constitution  of  the  future  State  of 
Ohio,  and  indeed,  permeates  the  entire  Northwestern  creed. 

ORDINANCE  OF  1787.— No.  32. 
An  Ordinance  for  the  Government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States,  Northwest  of 
THE  Ohio  River. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  said  Territory,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  government,  be  one  district;  subject,  however,  to  be  divided  into  two  districts,  as  future  cir- 
cumstances may,  in  the  opinion  of  Congress,  make  it  expedient. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  estates  of  both  resident  and  non-resident 
proprietors  in  the  said  Territory,  dying  intestate,  shall  descend  to  and  be  distributed  among  their 
children  and  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child,  in  equal  parts;  the  descendants  of  a  deceased 
child  or  grandchild  to  take  the  share  of  their  deceased  parent  in  equal  parts  among  them.  And 
when  there  shall  be  no  children  or  descendants,  then  in  equal  parts  to  the  next  of  kin  in  equal 
degree ;  and  among  collaterals,  the  children  of  a  deceased  brother  or  sister  of  the  intestate  shall 
have,  in  equal  parts  among  them,  their  deceased  parent's  share;  and  there  shall  in  no  case  be  a 
distribution  between  kindred  of  the  whole  and  half  blood,  saving  in  all  cases  to  the  widow  of 
intestate,  her  third  part  of  the  real  estate,  for  life,  and  one-third  part  of  the  personal  estate ;  and 
this  law  relative  to  descents  and  dower,  shall  remain  in  fall  force  until  altered  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  district.  And  until  the  Governor  and  Judges  shall  adopt  laws  as  hereinafter 
mentioned,  estates  in  said  Territory  may  be  devised  or  bequeathed  by  wills  in  writing,  signed 
and  sealed  by  him  or  her  in  whom  the  estate  may  be  (being  of  full  age),  and  attested  by  three 
witnesses ;  and  real  estate  may  be  conveyed  by  lease  and  release,  or  bargain  and  sale,  signed  and 
sealed,  and  delivered  by  the  person  (being  in  full  age)  in  whom  the  estate  may  be,  and  attested 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

by  two  witnesses,  provided  such  wills  be  duly  proved,  and  such  conveyances  be  acknowledged,  or 
the  execution  thereof  duly  proved  and  be  recorded  within  one  year  after  proper  magistrates, 
courts  and  registers  shall  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  And  personal  property  may  be  trans- 
ferred by  delivery,  saving,  however,  to  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants  and  other  settlers  of 
the  Kaskaskias,  St.  Vincent's  and  the  neighboring  villages,  who  have  heretofore  professed  them- 
selves citizens  of  Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs  now  in  force  among  them,  relative  to  the 
descent  and  conveyance  of  property. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  there  shall  be  appointed  from  time  to  time,  by 
Congress,  a  Governor  whose  commission  shall  continue  in  force  for  a  term  of  three  years,  unless 
sooner  revoked  by  Congress.  He  shall  reside  in  the  district  and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein, 
of  a  thousand  acres  of  land  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  office. 

There  shall  be  appointed  from  time  to  time  by  Congress,  a  Secretary  whose  commission  shall 
continue  in  force  for  two  years,  unless  sooner  revoked.  He  shall  reside  in  the  district,  and  shall 
have  a  freehold  estate  therein  in  500  acres  of  land,  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  office.  It  shall  be 
his  duty  to  keep  and  preserve  the  acts  and  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  the  public  records 
of  the  district,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  Governor  in  his  executive  department,  and  transmit 
authentic  copies  of  such  acts  and  proceedings  every  six  months,  t«  the  Secretary  of  Congress. 
There  shall  also  be  appointed  a  court  to  consist  of  three  Judges,  any  two  of  whom  to  form  a 
court,  who  shall  have  a  common  law  jurisdiction  and  shall  reside  in  the  district  and  have  each 
therein  a  freehold  estate  in  500  acres  of  land,  while  in  the  exercise  of  their  office,  and  their 
commissions  shall  continue  in  force  during  good  behavior. 

The  Governor  and  Judges,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  adopt  and  publish  in  the  district 
such  laws  of  the  original  States,  criminal  and  civil,  as  may  be  necessary  and  best  suited  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  district,  and  report  them  to  Congress  from  time  to  time,  which  laws  shall  be 
in  force  in  the  district  until  the  organization  of  the  General  Assembly  therein,  unless  disapproved 
by  Congress.  But  afterward,  the  Legislature  shall  have  authority  to  alter  them,  as  they  shall 
think  fit. 

The  Governor,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia,  appoint  and 
commission  all  officers  in  the  same,  below  the  rank  of  general  officers.  All  general  officers  shall 
be  appointed  and  commissioned  by  Congress. 

Previous  to  the  organization  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  Governor  shall  appoint  such  mag- 
istrates and  other  civil  officers  in  each  county  or  township,  as  he  shall  find  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  and  good  order  in  the  same.  After  the  General  Assembly  shall  be 
organized,  the  powers  and  duties  of  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  shall  be  regulated  and 
defined  by  the  said  Assembly,  but  all  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  not  herein  otherwise 
directed,  shall,  during  the  continuance  of  this  temporary  government,  be  appointed  by  the 
Governor. 

For  the  prevention  of  crimes  and  injuries,  the  laws  to  be  adopted  or  made  shall  have  force 
in  all  parts  of  the  district,  and  for  the  execution  of  process,  criminal  or  civil,  the  Governor  shall 
make  proper  divisions  thereof,  and  he  shall  proceed  from  time  to  time  as  circumstances  may 
require,  to  lay  out  the  parts  of  the  district  in  which  the  Indian  titles  shall  have  been  extin- 
guished, into  counties  and  townships,  subject,  however,  to  such  alterations  as  may  thereafter  be 
made  by  the  Legislature.  So  soon  as  there  shall  be  5,000  free  male  inhabitants  of  full  age  in  the 
district,  upon  giving  proof  thereof  to  the  Governor,  they  shall  receive  authority  with  time  and 
place,  to  elect  representatives  from  their  counties  or  townships,  to  represent  them  in  the  General 
Assembly.  Provided,  That  for  every  500  free  male  inhabitants,  there  shall  be  one  representative, 
and  so  on  progressively  with  the  number  of  free  male  inhabitants,  shall  the  right  of  representa- 
tion increase,  until  the  number  of  representatives  shall  amount  to  twenty-five.  After  which,  the 
number  shall  be  regulated  by  the  Legislature.  Provided,  That  no  person  be  eligible  or  qualified 
to  act  as  a  representative  unless  he  shall  have  been  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  United  States  three 
years,  and  be  a  resident  in  the  district,  or  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in  the  district  three 
years,  and  in  either  case,  shall  likewise  hold  in  his  own  right  in  fee  simple  200  acres  of  land 
within  the  same. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  89 

Provided,  Also,  that  a  freehold  in  50  acres  of  land  in  the  district,  having  been  a  citizen  of 
one  of  the  States,  and  being  a  resident  in  the  district,  or  the  like  freehold  and  two  years'  resi- 
dence in  the  district,  shall  be  necessary  to  qualify  a  man  as  an  elector  of  a  representative. 

The  representatives  thus  elected,  shall  serve  for  the  term  of  two  years.  And  in  case  of  the 
death  of  a  representative  or  removal  from  office,  the  Governor  shall  issue  a  writ  to  the  county  or 
township  for  which  he  was  a  member,  to  elect  another  in  his  stead,  to  serve  for  the  residue  of  the 
term. 

The  General  Assembly  or  Legislature  shall  consist  of  the  Governor,  Legislative  Council,  and 
a  House  of  Representatives.  The  Legislative  Council  shall  consist  of  five  members,  to  continue 
in  office  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed  by  Congress ;  any  three  of  whom  to  be  a  quorum. 
And  the  members  of  the  Council  shall  be  nominated  and  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit : 

As  soon  as  representatives  shall  be  elected,  the  Governor  shall  appoint  a  time  and  place  for 
them  to  meet  together,  and  when  met,  they  shall  nominate  ten  persons,  residents  in  the  district, 
and  each  person  in  a  freehold  in  500  acres  of  land,  and  return  their  names  to  Congress,  five  of 
whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  as  aforesaid.  And  whenever  a  vacancy  shall  hap- 
pen in  the  Council  by  death  or  removal  from  office,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  nominate 
two  persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  for  each  vacancy,  and  return  their  names  to  Congress,  one  of 
■whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  for  the  residue  of  the  term.  And  every  five  years, 
four  months  at  least  before  the  expiration  of  the  time  of  service  of  the  members  of  the  Council, 
the  said  House  shall  nominate  ten  persons  qualified  as  aforesaid,  and  return  their  names  to 
Congress,  five  of  whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  to  serve  as  members  of  the 
Council  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed.  And  the  Governor,  Legislative  Council  and  House 
of  Representatives  shall  have  authority  to  make  laws  in  all  cases,  for  the  good  government 
of  the  district,  not  repugnant  to  the  principles  and  articles  in  this  Ordinance,  established  and 
declared. 

And  all  bills  having  passed  by  a  majority  in  the  House,  and  by  a  majority  in  the  Council, 
shall  be  referred  to  the  Governor  for  his  assent.  But  no  bill  or  legislative  act  whatever,  shall  be 
of  any  force  without  his  assent.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  convene,  prorogue  and  dis- 
solve the  General  Assembly,  when  in  his  opinion  it  shall  be  expedient. 

The  Governor,  Judges,  Legislative  Council,  Secretary,  and  such  other  officers  as  Congress 
shall  appoint  in  the  district,  shall  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  of  fidelity  and  of  office.  The  Gov- 
ernor before  the  President  of  Congress,  and  all  other  officers  before  the  Governor. 

As  soon  as  a  Legislature  shall  be  formed  in  the  district,  the  Council  and  House  assembled 
in  one  room,  shall  have  authority  by  joint  ballot  to  elect  a  delegate  to  Congress,  who  shall 
have  a  seat  in  Congress,  with  a  right  of  debating,  but  not  of  voting,  during  this  temporary  gov- 
ernment. 

And  for  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  forms 
the  basis  whereon  these  republics,  their  laws  and  constitutions,  are  created  ;  to  fix  and  establish 
those  principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions  and  governments,  which  forever  hereafter 
shall  be  formed  in  said  Territory.  To  provide  for  the  establishment  of  States,  and  permanent 
governments  therein,  and  for  their  admission  to  a  share  in  the  Federal  Council  on  an  equal  footing 
■with  the  original  States,  at  as  early  periods  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  general  interest. 

It  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  following  articles  shall 
be  considered  as  articles  of  compact  between  the  original  States  and  the  people,  and  States  in 
said  Territory,  and  forever  remain  unaltered  unless  by  common  consent,  to  wit: 

Article  II.  The  inhabitants  of  said  Territory  shall  always  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the 
"writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  of  the  trial  by  jury ;  of  a  proportionate  representation  of  the  people 
in  the  Legislature,  and  of  judicial  procedure  according  to  the  course  of  common  law.  All  per- 
sons shall  be  bailable,  except  for  capital  offenses,  where  the  proof  shall  be  evident  or  the  pre- 
sumption great.  All  fines  shall  be  moderate,  and  no  cruel  or  unreasonable  punishment  shall  be 
inflicted.  No  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or  property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers 
or  the  law  of  the  land.  And  should  the  public  exigencies  make  it  necessary  for  the  common 
preservation,  to  take  any  person's  property,  or  to  demand  his  particular  services,  full  compensation 


90  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

shall  be  made  for  the  same.  And  in  the  just  preservation  of  rights  and  property,  it  is  under- 
stood and  declared  that  no  law  aught  ever  to  be  made  or  have  force  in  the  said  Territory, 
that  shall  in  any  manner  whatever  interfere  with  or  effect  private  contracts  or  engagements  bona 
fide  and  without  fraud,  previously  formed. 

Art.  III.  Religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  the 
happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged.  The 
utmost  good  faith  shall  always  be  observed  toward  the  Indians ;  their  lands  and  property  shall 
never  be  taken  from  them  without  their  consent;  and  in  their  property,  rights  and  liberty  they 
shall  never  be  invaded  or  disturbed,  unless  in  just  and  lawful  wars  authorized  by  Congress.  But 
laws  founded  in  justice  and  humanity,  shall  from  time  to  time  be  made  for  preventing  wrongs 
being  done  to  them,  and  for  preserving  peace  and  friendship  with  them. 

Art.  IV.  The  said  Territory  and  the  States  which  may  be  formed  therein,  shall  ever  remain 
a  part  of  the  confederacy  of  the  United  States  of  America,  subject  to  the  articles  of  confedera- 
tion, and  to  such  alterations  therein  as  shall  be  constitutionally  made,  and  to  all  the  acts  and 
ordinances  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  conformable  thereto.  The  inhabitants  and 
settlers  in  said  Territory  shall  be  subject  to  pay  a  part  of  the  federal  debts  contracted  or  to  be 
contracted,  and  a  proportional  part  of  the  expenses  of  the  Government,  to  be  apportioned  on 
them  by  Congress,  according  to  the  same  common  rule  and  measure  by  which  apportionments 
thereof  shall  be  made  on  the  other  States,  and  the  taxes  for  paying  their  proportion  shall  be  laid 
and  levied  by  the  authority  and  directions  of  the  Legislature  of  the  district  or  districts  or  new 
States,  within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled.  The  Legisla- 
tures of  those  districts  or  new  States,  shall  never  interfere  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil 
by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  nor  with  any  regulations  Congress  may  find  neces- 
sary for  securing  the  title  in  such  soil  to  the  bona-fide  purchasers.  No  tax  shall  be  imposed  on 
lands  the  property  of  the  United  States,  and  in  no  case,  shall  non-residents  be  taxed  higher  than 
residents.  The  navigable  waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  St  Lawrence,  and  the  carry- 
ing places  between  the  same,  shall  be  common  highways,  and  forever  free  as  well  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  said  Territory  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  of  any  other  States 
that  may  be  admitted  into  the  confederacy,  without  any  tax,  impost  or  duty  therefor. 

Art.  V,  There  shall  be  formed  in  said  Territory  not  less  than  three,  nor  more  than  five, 
States,  and  the  boundaries  of  the  States,  as  soon  as  Virginia  shall  alter  her  act  of  cession  and 
consent  to  the  same,  shall  become  fixed  and  established  as  follows,  to  wit :  The  western  State  in 
the  said  Territory  shall  be  bounded  by  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash  Rivers ;  a  direct 
line  drawn  from  the  Wabash  and  Post  St.  Vincent,  due  north  to  the  Territorial  line  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada ;  and  by  the  said  Territorial  line  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  Missis- 
sippi. The  middle  State  shall  be  bounded  by  the  said  direct  line,  the  Wabash  from  Post  St.  Vin- 
cent to  the  Ohio,  by  the  Ohio,  by  a  direct  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Miami  to  the  said  Territorial  line.  The  eastern  State  shall  be  bounded  by  the  last-mentioned 
direct  line,  the  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  said  territorial  line.  Provided,  however,  and  it  is  further 
understood  and  declared,  that  the  boundaries  of  those  three  States  shall  be  subject  so  far  to  be 
altered,  that,  if  Congress  shall  hereafter  find  it  expedient,  they  shall  have  authority  to  form  one 
or  two  States  in  that  part  of  the  said  Territory  which  lies  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn 
through  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan.  And  whenever  any  of  the  said  States 
shall  have  60,000  free  inhabitants  therein,  such  State  shall  be  admitted  by  its  delegates  into  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States  in  all  respects  what- 
ever, and  shall  be  at  liberty  to  form  a  permanent  constitution  and  State  government.  Provided, 
The  constitution  and  government  so  to  be  formed,  shall  be  represented,  and  in  conformity  to  the 
principles  contained  in  these  articles ;  and  so  far  as  it  can  be  consistent  with  the  general  interest 
of  the  confederacy,  such  admission  shall  be  allowed  at  an  earlier  period,  and  when  there  may  be 
a  less  number  of  free  inhabitants  than  60,000. 

Art.  VI.  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  Territory, 
otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted. 
Provided  always.  That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully 


HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE  OF  OHIO.  91. 

claimed  in  one  of  the  original  States,  each  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  claimed  and  conveyed  to  the 
person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  services  as  aforesaid. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  resolutions  of  the  23d  of  April,  1784, 
relative  to  the  subject  of  this  ordinance,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed  and  declared  null 
and  void. 

COMMENT  BY  S.  P.  CHASE  1833. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  comprehensive  review  of  the  founda- 
tions of  our  system  of  laws  than  is  given  in  the  "  Preliminary  Sketch  of  the 
History  of  Ohio,"  by  this  distinguished  representative  of  the  bench  and  the 
bar  of  America.  The  work  is  now  out  of  print,  and  is  not  easily  obtained; 
besides,  its  great  author  has  passed  away;  so  these  extracts  are  made  more 
with  a  view  of  preserving  old  historical  literature,  than  of  introducing  new ; 
furthermore,  the  masses  of  the  people  have  never  had  convenient  access  to  the 
volumes,  which,  for  the  most  part,  have  been  in  the  hands  of  professional  men 
only.  The  publication  of  the  work  first  brought  its  compiler  before  the  public, 
and  marked  the  beginning  of  that  career  which,  during  its  course,  shaped  the 
financial  system  of  our  country,  and  ended  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the 
nation. 

"By  the  ordinance  of  1785,  Congress  had  executed  in  part  the  great  national 
trust  confided  to  it,  by  providing  for  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands  for  the 
common  good,  and  by  prescribing  the  manner  and  terms  of  sale.  By  that  of 
1787,  provision  was  made  for  successive  forms  of  Territorial  government, 
adapted  to  successive  steps  of  advancement  in  the  settlement  of  the  Western 
country.  It  comprehended  an  intelligible  system  of  law  on  the  descent  and 
conveyance  of  real  property,  and  the  transfer  of  personal  goods.  It  also  con- 
tained five  articles  of  compact  between  the  original  States,  and  the  people  and 
States  of  the  Territory,  establishing  certain  great  fundamental  principles  of 
governmental  duty  and  private  right,  as  the  basis  of  all  future  constitutions  and 
legislation,  unalterable  and  indestructible,  except  by  that  final  and  common 
ruin,  which,  as  it  has  overtaken  all  former  systems  of  human  polity,  may  yet 
overwhelm  our  American  union.  Never,  probably,  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
did  a  measure  of  legislation  so  accurately  fulfill,  and  yet  so  mightily  exceed 
the  anticipations  of  the  legislators.  The  ordinance  has  been  well  described,  as 
having  been  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night,  in  the  settlement  and 
government  of  the  Northwestern  States.  When  the  settlers  went  into  the 
wilderness,  they  found  the  law  already  there.  It  was  impressed  upon  the  soil 
itself,  while  it  yet  bore  up  nothing  but  the  forest.  The  purchaser  of  land 
became,  by  that  act,  a  party  to  the  compact,  and  bound  by  its  perpetual  cove- 
nants, so  far  as  its  conditions  did  not  conflict  with  the  terms  of  the  cessions  of 

the  States. 

********* 

This  remarkable  instrument  was  the  last  gift  of  the  Congress  of  the  old 
confederation  to  the  country,  and  it  was  a  fit  consummation  of  their  glorious 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO. 

labors.  At  the  time  of  its  promulgation,  the  Federal  Constitution  was  under 
discussion  in  the  convention ;  and  in  a  few  months,  upon  the  organization  of 
the  new  national  government,  that  Congress  was  dissolved,  never  again  to  re-as- 
semble. Some,  and  indeed  most  of  the  principles  established  by  the  articles  of 
compact  are  to  be  found  in  the  plan  of  1784,  and  in  the  various  English  and 
American  bills  of  rights.  Others,  however,  and  these  not  the  least  important, 
are  original.  Of  this  number  are  the  clauses  in  relation  to  contracts,  to  slavery 
and  to  Indians.  On  the  whole,  these  articles  contain  what  they  profess  to  con- 
tain, the  true  theory  of  American  liberty.  The  great  principles  promulgated 
by  it  are  wholly  and  purely  American.  They  are  indeed  the  genuine  princi- 
ples of  freedom,  unadulterated  by  that  compromise  with  circumstances,  the 
effects  of  which  are  visible  in  the  constitution  and  history  of  the  Union. 

The  first  form  of  civil  government,  provided  by  the  ordinance,  was  now 
formally  established  within  the  Territory.  Under  this  form,  the  people  had  no 
concern  in  the  business  of  government.  The  Governor  and  Judges  derived 
their  appointments  at  first  from  Congress,  and  after  the  adoption  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution,  from  the  President-  The  commission  of  the  former  officer 
was  for  the  term  of  three  years,  unless  sooner  revoked ;  those  of  the  latter 
were  during  good  behavior.  It  was  required  that  the  Governor  should  reside 
within  the  Territory,  and  possess  a  freehold  estate  there,  in  one  thousand  acres 
of  land.  He  had  authority  to  appoint  all  officers  of  militia,  below  the  rank  of 
Generals,  and  all  magistrates  and  civil  officers,  except  the  Judges  and  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Territory ;  to  establish  convenient  divisions  of  the  whole  district 
for  the  execution  of  progress,  to  lay  out  those  parts  to  which  the  Indian 
titles  might  be  extinguished  into  counties  and  townships.  The  Judges,  or  any 
two  of  them,  constituted  a  court  with  common  law  jurisdiction.  It  was  neces- 
sary that  each  Judge  should  possess  a  freehold  estate  in  the  territory  of  five 
hundred  acres.  The  whole  legislative  power  which,  however,  extended  only  to 
the  adoption  of  such  laws  of  the  original  States  as  might  be  suited  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  country,  was  vested  in  the  Governor  and  Judges.  The  laws 
adopted  were  to  continue  in  force,  unless  disapproved  by  Congress,  until  re- 
pealed by  the  Legislature,  which  was  afterward  to  be  organized.  It  was  the 
duty  of  the  Secretary  to  preserve  all  acts  and  laws,  public  records  and  executive 
proceedings,  and  to  transmit  authentic  copies  to  the  Secretary  of  Congress 
every  six  months. 

Such  was  the  first  government  devised  for  the  Northwestern  Territory.  It 
is  obvious  that  its  character,  as  beneficent  or  oppressive,  depended  entirely  upon 
the  temper  and  disposition  of  those  who  administrated  it.  All  power,  legisla- 
tive, judicial  and  executive,  was  concentrated  in  the  Governor  and  Judges,  and 
in  its  exercise  they  were  responsible  only  to  the  distant  Federal  head.  The 
expenses  of  the  Government  were  defrayed  in  part  by  the  United  States,  but 
were  principally  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the  people  in  the  shape  of  fees. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO.  93 

This  temporary  system,  however  unfriendly  as  it  seems  to  liberty,  was, 
perhaps,  so  established  upon  sufficient  reasons.  The  Federal  Constitution  had 
not  then  been  adopted,  and  there  were  strong  apprehensions  that  the  people  of 
the  Territory  might  not  be  disposed  to  organize  States  and  apply  for  admission 
into  the  Union.  It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  of  policy  so  to  frame  the  Territorial 
system  as  to  create  some  strong  motives  to  draw  them  into  the  Union,  as  States, 
in  due  time. 

The  first  acts  of  Territorial  legislation  were  passed  at  Marietta,  then  the 
only  American  settlement  northwest  of  the  Ohio.  The  Governor  and  Judges 
did  not  strictly  confine  themselves  within  the  limits  of  their  legislative  author- 
ity, as  prescribed  by  the  ordinance.  When  they  could  not  find  laws  of  the 
original  States  suited  to  the  condition  of  the  country,  they  supplied  the  want 
by  enactments  of  their  own.  The  earliest  laws,  from  1788  to  1795,  were  all 
thus  enacted.  The  laws  of  1788  provided  for  the  organization  of  the  militia ; 
for  the  establishment  of  inferior  courts ;  for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  and  for 
the  limitations  of  actions ;  prescribed  the  duties  of  ministerial  officers  ;  regu- 
lated marriages,  and  appointed  oaths  of  office.  That  the  Governor  and  Judges 
in  the  enactment  of  these  laws,  exceeded  their  authority,  without  the  slightest 
disposition  to  abuse  it,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  except  two,  which 
bad  been  previously  repealed,  they  were  all  confirmed  by  the  first  Territorial 
Legislature. 

********* 

At  this  period  there  was  no  seat  of  government,  properly  called.  The 
Governor  resided  at  Cincinnati,  but  laws  were  passed  whenever  they  seemed  to 
be  needed,  and  promulgated  at  any  place  where  the  Territorial  legislators  hap- 
pened to  be  assembled.  Before  the  year  of  1795,  no  laws  were,  strictly  speak- 
ing, adopted.  Most  of  them  were  framed  by  the  Governor  and  Judges  to 
answer  particular  public  ends  ;  while  in  the  enactment  of  others,  including  all 
the  laws  of  1792,  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory  discharged,  under  the  author- 
ity of  an  act  of  Congress,  the  functions  of  the  Governor.  The  earliest  laws, 
as  has  been  already  stated,  were  published  at  Marietta.  Of  the  remainder,  a 
few  were  published  at  Vincennes,  and  the  rest  at  Cincinnati. 

In  the  year  1789,  the  first  Congress  passed  an  act  recognizing  the  binding 
force  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  adapting  its  provisions  to  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution. This  act  provided  that  the  communications  directed  in  the  ordinance 
to  be  made  to  Congress  or  its  officers,  by  the  Governor,  should  thenceforth  be 
made  to  the  President,  and  that  the  authority  to  appoint  with  the  consent  of 
the  Senate,  and  commission  officers,  before  that  time  appointed  and  commis- 
sioned by  Congress,  should  likewise  be  vested  in  that  officer.  It  also  gave  the 
Territorial  Secretary  the  power  already  mentioned,  of  acting  in  certain  cases, 
in  the  place  of  the  Governor.  In  1792,  Congress  passed  another  act  giving  to 
the  Governor  and  Judges  authority  to  repeal,  at  their  discretion,  the  laws  by 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO. 

them  made  ;  and  enabling  a  single  Judge  of  the  general  court,  in  the  absence 
of  his  brethren,  to  hold  the  terms. 

At  this  time  the  Judges  appointed  by  the  National  Executive  constituted  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory.  They  were  commissioned  during  good 
behavior;  and  their  judicial  jurisdiction  extended  over  the  whole  region  north- 
west of  the  Ohio.  The  court,  thus  constituted,  was  fixed  at  no  certain  place, 
and  its  process,  civil  and  criminal,  was  returnable  wheresoever  it  might  be  in 
the  Territory.  Inferior  to  this  court  were  the  County  Courts  of  Common  Pleas, 
and  the  General  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace.  The  former  consisted  of  any 
number  of  Judges,  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven,  and  had  a  general 
common-law  jurisdiction,  concurrent,  in  the  respective  counties,  with  that  of 
the  Supreme  Court ;  the  latter  consisted  of  a  number  of  Justices  for  each 
county,  to  be  determined  by  the  Governor,  who  were  required  to  hold  three 
terms  in  every  year,  and  had  a  limited  criminal  jurisdiction.  Single  Judges  of 
the  Common  Pleas,  and  single  Justices  of  the  Quarter  Sessions  were  also 
clothed  with  certain  civil  and  criminal  powers  to  be  exercised  out  of  court. 
Besides  these  courts,  each  county  had  a  Judge  of  Probate,  clothed  with  the 
ordinary  jurisdiction  of  a  Probate  Court. 

Such  was  the  original  constitution  of  courts  and  distribution  of  judicial 
power  in  the  Northwestern  Territory.  The  expenses  of  the  system  were 
defrayed  in  part  by  the  National  Government,  and  in  part  by  assessments  upon 
the  counties,  but  principally  by  fees,  which  were  payable  to  every  officer  con- 
cerned in  the  administration  of  justice,  from  the  Judges  of  the  General  Court 
downward. 

In  1795  the  Governor  and  Judges  undertook  to  revise  the  Territorial  laws, 
and  to  establish  a  complete  system  of  statutory  jurisprudence,  by  adoptions 
from  the  laws  of  the  original  States,  in  strict  conformity  to  the  provisions  of 
the  ordinance.  For  this  purpose  they  assembled  at  Cincinnati  in  June,  and 
conti^nued  in  session  until  the  latter  part  of  August.  The  judiciary  system 
underwent  some  changes.  The  General  Court  was  fixed  at  Cincinnati  and  Mari- 
etta, and  a  Circuit  Court  was  established  with  power  to  try  in  the  several  coun- 
ties, issues  in  fact  depending  before  the  superior  tribunal,  where  alone  causes 
could  be  finally  decided.  Orphans'  Courts,  too,  were  established,  with  jurisdic- 
tion analogous  to  but  more  extensive  than  that  of  a  Judge  of  Probate.  Laws  were 
also  adopted  to  regulate  judgments  and  executions,  for  limitation  of  actions, 
for  the  distribution  of  intestate  estates,  and  for  many  other  general  purposes. 
Finally,  as  if  with  a  view  to  create  some  great  reservoir,  from  which,  whatever 
principles  and  powers  had  been  omitted  in  the  particular  acts,  might  be  drawn 
according  to  the  exigency  of  circumstances,  the  Governor  and  Judges  adopted 
a  law,  providing  that  the  common  law  of  England  and  all  general  statutes  in 
aid  of  the  common  law,  prior  to  the  fourth  year  of  James  I,  should  be  in  full 
force  within  the  Territory.  The  law  thus  adopted  was  an  act  of  the  Virginia 
Legislature,  passed  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  when  Virginia  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO.  95 

yet  a  British  colony,  and  at  the  time  of  its  adoption  had  been  repealed  so  far  as 
it  related  to  the  English  statutes. 

The  other  laws  of  1795  were  principally  derived  from  the  statute  book  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  system  thus  adopted  was  not  without  many  imperfections 
and  blemishes,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  colony,  at  so  early  a  period 
after  its  first  establishment,  ever  had  one  so  good. 

And  how  gratifying  is  the  retrospect,  how  cheering  the  prospect  which  even 
this  sketch,  brief  and  partial  as  it  is,  presents  I  On  a  surface  covered  less 
than  half  a  century  ago  by  the  trees  of  the  primeval  forest,  a  State  has  grown 
up  from  Colonial  infancy  to  freedom,  independence  and  strength.  But  thirty 
years  have  elapsed  since  that  State,  with  hardly  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  was 
admitted  into  the  American  Union.  Of  the  twenty-four  States  which  form 
that  Union,  she  is  now  the  fourth  in  respect  to  population.  In  other  respects 
her  rank  is  even  higher.  Already  her  resources  have  been  adequate,  not  only 
to  the  expense  of  government  and  instruction,  but  to  the  construction  of  long 
lines  of  canals.  Her  enterprise  has  realized  the  startling  prediction  of  the 
poet,  who,  in  1787,  when  Ohio  was  yet  a  wilderness,  foretold  the  future  connec- 
tion of  the  Hudson  with  the  Ohio. 

And  these  results  are  attributable  mainly  to  her  institutions.  The  spirit  of 
the  ordinance  of  1787  pervades  them  all.  Who  can  estimate  the  benefits 
which  have  flowed  from  the  interdiction  by  that  instrument  of  slavery  and  of 
legislative  interference  with  private  contracts?  One  consequence  is,  that  the 
soil  of  Ohio  bears  up  none  but  freemen  ;  another,  that  a  stern  and  honorable 
regard  to  private  rights  and  public  morals  characterizes  her  legislation.  There 
is  hardly  a  page  in  the  statute  book  of  which  her  sons  need  be  ashamed.  The 
great  doctrine  of  equal  rights  is 'everywhere  recognized  in  her  constitution  and 
her  laws.  Almost  every  father  of  a  family  in  this  State  has  a  freehold  interest 
in  the  soil,  but  this  interest  is  not  necessary  to  entitle  him  to  a  voice  in  the 
concerns  of  government.  Every  man'may  vote  ;  every  man  is  eligible  to  any 
office.  And  this  unlimited  extension  of  the  elective  franchise,  so  far  from  pro- 
ducing any  evil,  has  ever  constituted  a  safe  and  sufficient  check  upon  injurious 
legislation.  Other  causes  of  her  prosperity  may  be  found  in  her  fertile  soil,  in 
her  felicitous  position,  and  especially  in  her  connection  with  the  union  of  the 
States.  All  these  springs  of  growth  and  advancement  are  permanent,  and 
upon  a  most  gratifying  prospect  of  the  future.  They  promise  an  advance  in 
population,  wealth,  intelligence  and  moral  worth  as  permanent  as  the  existence 
of  the  State  itself.  They  promise  to  the  future  citizens  of  Ohio  the  blessings 
of  good  government,  wise  legislation  and  universal  instruction.  More  than  all, 
they  are  pledges  that  in  all  future,  as  in  all  past  circumstances,  Ohio  will  cleave 
fast  to  the  national  constitution  and  the  .national  Union,  and  that  her  growing 
energies  will  on  no  occasion,  be  more  willingly  or  powerfully  put  forth,  than  in 
the  support  and  maintenance  of  both  in  unimpaired  vigor  and  strength." 


96  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  ORDINANCE  OF  1787. 

The  passage  of  this  ordinance,  since  known  as  the  "  Ordinance  of  1787/' 
was  immediately  followed  by  an  application  to  the  Government,  by  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  of  New  Jersey,  in  behalf  of  the  country,  between  the  Miamis,  and  a 
contract  was  concluded  the  following  year.  The  Ohio  Company  were  exceed- 
ingly energetic  in  inaugurating  settlements.  Gen.  Putman,  with  a  party  of 
forty-seven  men,  set  out  on  an  exploring  expedition,  accompanied  by  six  boat 
builders.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1788,  twenty-six  surveyors  followed,  from 
Hartford,  Conn.  They  arrived  in  Ohio  on  the  7th  of  April,  1788,  and  their 
active  energy  founded  the  permanent  beginning  of  this  great  Western  State* 
When  we  review  the  dangerous  experiments  that  have  been  made,  in  this  land 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  horrors  which  had  overwhelmed  every  attempt,  we 
can  faintly  realize  the  stalwart  courage  that  sent  these  men  on  their  way,  and 
sustained  them  in  their  pioneer  hardships.  With  characteristic  vigor,  they 
began  their  little  town.  Enthusiastic  and  happy,  they  did  not  rest  from  their 
toilsome  march  over  the  old  Indian  roads,  but  kept  busily  at  work  to  estab- 
lish an  oasis  in  this  wide  expanse  of  wilderness,  before  they  should  take  nec- 
essary ease  to  recuperate  their  strength. 

The  wise  men  met  on  the  2d  of  May,  and  the  little  town  was  named 
Marietta.  Situated  as  it  was,  in  the  midst  of  danger,  they  had  used  precaution 
to  build  and  equip  a  fortified  square,  which  was  designated  Campus  Martins  ; 
Square  No.  19  was  Capitolium,  and  Square  No.  61  was  Cecelia,  and  the  main 
street  was  Sacra  Via. 

Marietta  was  especially  fortunate  in  her  actual  "first  families."  Ten  of  the 
forty-eight  men  had  received  a  thorough  college  education  ;  the  remaining  were 
individuals  of  sterling  merit,  honorable,  and  several  had  already  attained  reputations 
for  superior  excellence  of  abilities.  Patriotic  and  brave,  the  settlement  certainly 
possessed  a  foundation  that  promised  well  for  the  future.  The  following  4th  of 
July  was  an  auspicious  event,  and  the  Hon.  James  M.  Varnum  was  the  eloquent 
orator  of  the  occason. 

The  opening  of  the  court,  on  the  2d  of  September,  was  a  solemn  ceremonial, 
the  High  Sheriff  leading  with  drawn  sword,  followed  by  citizens,  with  an  escort 
of  officers  from  Fort  Harmar,  the  members  of  the  bar,  the  Governor  and  Clergy- 
men, the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas — Gen.  Rufus  Putman  and 
Benjamin  Tupper — all  these  constituted  an  imposing  spectacle,  as  they  pro- 
gressed over  a  path  which  had  been  cut  through  the  forest  to  Campus  Martins 
Hall,  the  edifice  of  law  and  order. 

The  Judges  took  their  seats,  a  prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cutler, 
and  immediately  the  Sheriff,  Col.  Ebenezer  Sprout,  proclaimed  the  response, 
and  the  court  of  impartial  justice  was  convened. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  97 

This  ceremonial  was,  perhaps,  made  all  the  more  impressive  by  the  presence 
of  several  powerful  Indian  chiefs,  who  had  journeyed  to  Marietta  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  treaty. 

The  settlement  now  increased  rapidly,  new  cabins  were  erected  constantly. 
On  the  17th  of  December,  a  society  event  occurred,  in  the  form  of  a  grand  ball, 
fifteen  ladies  being  present. 

John  Cleves  Symmes  had  contracted  for  2,000,000  acres  of  land,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  his  grant,  but  circumstances  prevented  him  from  meeting 
his  part  of  the  obligations,  and  the  specification  was  reduced  to  1,000,000. 
After  vain  attempt  to  make  his  payments,  a  settlement  was  finally  effected  for 
248,540  acres,  and  Symmes  was  prepared  to  dispose  of  clear  titles  to  new-com- 
ers. In  1788,  a  town  was  established  within  the  boundaries  of  his  grant,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  little  Miami,  known  as  Columbia,  and  in  the  early  part  of  1787 
another  was  formed  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  by  name  Losanti- 
ville,  analyzed  by  a  frontier  scholar — ville,  the  town  ;  anti,  opposite  to ;  os,  the 
mouth  of;  L,  Licking. 

Judge  Symmes  had  projected  building  his  main  town  at  North  Bend.  This 
plan  was  frustrated  by  reason  of  Ensign  Luce — who  had  been  commissioned  by 
Gen.  Harmar  to  erect  a  fort — deciding  that  North  Bend  was  not  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  He  selected  Losantiville  for  the  purpose,  and  Fort  Washington  was 
the  result.  In  1790,  Gov.  St.  Clair  was  called  to  inspect  the  settlement,  and 
proceeded  to  organize  Hamilton  County,  at  the  same  time  calling  the  town 
Cincinnati. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Connecticut  ceded  most  of  her  western  lands  to 
General  Government,  retaining,  however,  a  minor  portion.  As  the  settlements 
began  to  increase  on  the  "Virginia  Reserve"  and  between  the  Scioto  and  Miami 
Rivers,  all  those  holding  claims  were  not  disposed  to  part  with  them,  while 
others  were  anxious  to  secure  grants  for  the  purpose  of  speculation,  rather  than 
the  advancement  of  civilization.  The  Scioto  Company  was  a  questionable  ad- 
herent of  the  Ohio  Company,  and  began  operations,  which  resulted  well,  what- 
ever their  purpose  may  have  been. 

Gen.  Putnam  cleared  the  land  and  directed  the  building  of  100  dwellings  and 
six  block-houses.  During  1791,  the  colony  arrived,  consisting  of  500  persons. 
Only  ten  of  these  were  tillers  of  the  soil.  Viscount  Malartie  ventured  into  the 
wilderness,  but  instead  of  settling,  joined  Gen.  St.  Clair's  army,  and  was  ulti- 
mately his  aid-de-camp.  Indian  conquests  were  not  to  his  taste,  and  he  soon 
returned  to  France.  This  new  colony  was  essentially  French,  and  its  location 
was  Gallia  County.     The  name  "  Gallipolis  "  was  selected. 

These  settlers,  being  unaccustomed  to  severe  toil,  and  disinclined  to  learn 
its  hard  lesson,  soon  became  demoralized,  through  deprivation  and  absolute 
want.  Congress  came  to  their  aid  with  a  land  grant  of  24,000  acres,  but  few 
of  them  cared  to  enter  claims,  and  soon  all  traces  of  the  old  town  were  lost,  and 
its  inhabitants  scattered. 


98  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Gen.  St.  Clair  having  become  unpopular,  through  repeated  failures  in  Indian 
campaigns,  and  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  having  wintered  at  Fort  Washington, 
the  spring  of  1793  was  opened  by  a  march  of  the  army,  well  disciplined  and 
led  by  "Mad  Anthony,"  on  a  campaign  that  must  crush  the  rapidly  increasing 
depredations  of  the  Indians,  notwithstanding  which  these  new  settlements  had 
been  made.  All  winter,  Gen.  Wayne  had  dispatched  scouts,  spies  and  hardy 
frontiersmen  on  errands  of  discovery,  and  his  plans  were,  therefore,  practically 
matured.  His  army  cut  its  way  through  the  forests,  gathering  horses,  provis- 
ions, etc.,  as  they  marched,  and  finally  came  nearly  up  to  the  enemy  before  dis- 
covery. They  again  returned  to  Fort  Washington,  as  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
under  the  order  of  the  Executive,  had  proclaimed  inaction  until  the  Northern 
or  British  Commissioners  and  Indians  should  convene  and  discuss  the  situation 
and  prospects.  Gen.  Wayne,  meantime,  drilled  his  men  at  "  Hobson's  Choice," 
a  place  near  Fort  Washington. 

The  Commissioners  came  from  Detroit,  and  assembled  at  Capt.  Matthew 
Elliot's  house,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River. 

A  meeting  was  called  at  Sandusky,  and  twenty  Indian  representatives  were 
present,  to  argue  the  grounds  of  a  treaty.  Simon  Girty  acted  as  interpreter, 
and  has  been  vehemently  accused  of  unfaithfulness  in  this  trust,  since  he  did 
not  advocate  the  adjustment  of  matters  on  any  grounds.  The  Indians  reiterated 
their  rights  and  wrongs,  and  offered  to  receive  the  half  of  the  purchase  money, 
provided  the  actual  settlers  would  accept  it  as  the  price  of  the  land,  move  away, 
and  leave  the  original  owners  the  proud  possessors  of  their  lands.  The  Govern- 
ment would  then  expend  less  money  than  they  would  have  done  in  a  full  Indian 
purchase,  or  a  long  and  cruel  war.  This  being  out  of  the  question  and  rejected, 
a  decided  specification  was  made  that  the  Ohio  boundary  was  to  be  obliterated, 
and  a  new  one  adopted,  that  encompassed  a  mere  fraction  of  territory.  This 
was  also  rejected.  The  Indians  indignantly  bade  the  Americans  to  go  back  to 
their  father,  and  they  would  return  to  their  tribes. 

The  council  was  terminated  in  confusion.  It  is  highly  probable  that  some 
settlement  might  have  been  made,  had  it  not  been  for  English  influence  which 
instigated  the  savages,  in  the  hope  of  ultimately  making  conquests  for  them- 
selves. The  commander  at  Detroit  evinced  great  uneasiness  whenever  there 
was  a  shadow  of  an  opportunity  for  a  peaceful  understanding. 

On  Christmas  Day,  1793,  a  detachment  of  the  army  encamped  on  the 
identical  ground  made  memorable  by  St.  Clair's  horrible  defeat.  A  reward  was 
offered  for  every  human  skull  that  was  found,  and  600  were  gathered.  The 
bones  of  the  victims  were  removed  from  the  spot  where  they  built  Fort  Recovery. 
This  point  was  left  in  charge  of  Alexander  Gibson. 

Early  in  the  year  1794,  Lord  Dorchester  addressed  the  Commissioners  in 
behalf  of  the  English.  Even  at  this  time.  Gen.  Wayne,  to  avoid  the  terrors  of 
a  great  war,  again  made  overtures  of  peace,  dispatching  Freeman,  Trueman  and 
Hardin,  all  initiated  in  savage  tactics,  on  errands  of  mercy — and  the  three  men 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  99 

were  inhumanly  murdered.  The  English  went  so  far  as  to  order  Gov.  Simcoe 
to  erect  a  fort,  in  April,  1794,  on  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  thus  rousing  the 
Indians  by  a  bold  proof  that  they  had  espoused  their  cause.  In  May,  the 
Spanish,  who  were  ever  jealous  of  colonial  encroachments,  were  willing  to  aid 
in  a  general  raid  against  the  Americans. 

In  June,  a  scouting  party  from  Fort  Recovery,  fell  into  an  Indian  ambush 
and  suffered  severely,  their  foes  following  them  to  the  very  entrance.  The  siege 
continued  for  two  days.  It  was  plainly  evident  that  white  men  augmented  the 
Indian  force ;  ounce  balls  and  buck-shot  surely  came  from  their  rifles.  Again, 
the  Indians  immediately  began  a  search  beneath  the  logs  where  pieces  of  artillery 
were  hidden  during  the  great  battle  of  St.  Clair,  but  fortunately.  Fort  Recovery 
had  the  use  of  them  and  they  accomplished  much. 

On  July  26,  Scott  joined  Wayne  at  Greenville,  with  1,600  mounted 
Kentuckians,  and  on  the  28th,  the  legion  took  up  its  line  of  deadly  march. 
Halting  at  Girty's  Town,  they  built  Fort  Mary's,  later  on  Fort  Adams.  Throw- 
ing the  enemy  off  their  guard  by  feints  and  counter-marching,  the  troops  surprised 
the  Indians,  and  without  the  slightest  resistance  took  possession  of  their  villages 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  and  Maumee.  They  found  provision  in 
abundance,  and  tarried  a  week  building  Fort  Defiance. 

Again  Gen.  Wayne  would  have  made  terms  of  peace,  on  the  principle  of  the 
Government  to  arrest  bloodshed,  but  the  Indians  were  rendered  cruelly  intent 
on  war  by  an  addition  of  a  body  of  British  militia  from  Detroit,  and  by  regulars 
stationed  at  a  fort  they  had  built  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  below  the  rapids, 
called  Fort  Miami.  The  "Fallen  Timber"  ground  was  selected  as  the  field 
for  a  battle  by  the  savages,  in  the  expectation  that  the  trees  cast  down  by  a 
tornado  and  there  remaining,  would  seriously  impede  American  progress. 

August  15th,  Wayne  marched  down  the  river,  and  at  Roche  de  Boeuf,  erected 
a  fortification  for  their  stores  and  luggage,  naming  it  "  Fort  Deposit."  On  the 
20th,  the  American  army  began  the  attack.  Maj.  Price  and  Maj.  Gen.  Scott 
.were  heroic  in  their  assistance,  and  after  a  sharp,  deadly  conflict,  the  enemy 
was  routed,  fleeing  in  confusion,  and  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded  strewn 
thickly  over  the  field.  The  savages  were  pressed  to  the  front  always,  and  when 
the  carnage  was  painful,  the  British  troops  not  engaged  looked  on  coolly  from  the 
fort  and  offered  no  assistance,  aiding  their  own,  however,  when  possible.  Gen. 
Wayne  being  an  ardent  soldier,  was  apt  to  forget  his  position,  and  impetuously 
place  himself  constantly  in  danger.  Lieut.  Harrison  is  reported  to  have 
requested  the  General  not  to  forget  to  give  him  field  orders,  in  his  own  partici- 
pation in  the  battle,  and  to  have  received  the  reply  that  the  standing  order  was 
always  to  charge  hayonets. 

Notwithstanding  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  the  fact  that  the  British  were  tres- 
passing, they  encroached  upon  the  Ohio  soil,  and  essayed  to  vindicate  their 
action  by  discarding  American  claims  and  recognizing  the  Indian  rights,  whereby 
they  might  seek  their  own  colonization  and  make  treaties. 


100  HISTORY  OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Maj.  Campbell  was  in  command  at  Fort  Miami,  and  when  he  saw  the  sava> 
ges  being  cut  down  almost  mercilessly,  he  not  only  refrained  from  offering  aid, 
but  when,  in  their  desperate  retreat,  they  attempted  to  enter  the  fort  for  pro- 
tection, he  ordered  the  doors  closed  in  their  faces. 

On  the  following  day,  Campbell  sent  a  message  to  Wayne,  demanding  a 
reason  for  hostile  action,  adding  that  Great  Britain  was  not  now  at  war  with  the 
United  States.     He  received  a  characteristic  reply. 

During  the  Revolution,  Detroit  was  an  important  British  point,  and  the 
Maumee  was  its  outlet.  Therefore,  the  English  clung  tenaciously  to  this  pos- 
session, giving,  as  it  did,  the  advantage  of  the  great  fur  trade.  The  English 
Government  evidently  regretted  ceding  so  much  of  her  territory  in  the  West, 
and  were  searching  for  an  excuse  to  quarrel  and  attempt  to  regain  at  least  a  part 
of  what  they  had  lost.  Their  policy  was  to  sustain  the  bitter  hatred  between 
the  Indians  and  the  Americans. 

The  settlement  of  the  Maumee  Valley  had  been  rapid,  but  the  very  name 
was  an  agony  of  remembrance  of  frightful  massacres  and  atrocities.  Col. 
McKee,  the  British  Indian  agent,  and  his  assistant,  Capt.  Elliott,  were  from 
Pennsylvania,  but  being  Tories,  they  had  assimilated  with  the  Indians.  They 
joined  the  Shawnee  tribe  and  married  Indian  wives,  and  made  their  fortunes 
thereby,  through  British  appointments  to  secure  the  savage  interests.  The 
Indians  were  directly  served  by  McKee  and  Elliott,  with  ammunition  and  sup- 
plies, during  the  Wayne  conflict. 

Several  skirmishes  ensued,  but  severe  weather  approaching,  the  troops 
moved  for  quarters,  and  on  the  14th  day  of  September,  they  attacked  the  Miami 
villages,  captured  them  with  provisions  and  stores,  and  erected  a  fort,  leaving 
it  in  charge  of  Lieut.  Col.  Hamtramck.  With  cheers  and  rifle-shooting,  this  post 
was  named  Fort  Wayne.  The  main  army  marched  into  Greenville  and  went  into 
winter  quarters. 

Wayne  had  achieved  a  brilliant  victory,  but  his  success  did  not  overcome  his 
practical  reasoning,  and  he  was  unwilling  to  subject  his  men  to  a  severe  winter's 
campaign  unless  necessity  was  peremptory. 

Gov.  Simcoe,  Col.  McKee  and  a  few  of  the  most  savage  Indian  chiefs 
attempted  to  rally  the  Indians  for  a  new  attack.  Gov.  Simcoe,  of  Detroit,  was 
aware  that  the  mounted  volunteers  under  Wayne  had  been  allowed  to  return 
home,  and  that  the  term  of  service  of  a  portion  of  the  "  Legion  "  was  about  to 
expire. 

The  British  and  Indians  held  a  conference,  but  the  latter  were  weary  with 
fighting  for  the  glory  of  the  Great  Father  at  Detroit,  and  did  not  enter  into  the 
plan.  The  winter  proved  most  poverty  stricken  to  them,  the  English  failing  to 
supply  them,  and  their  crops  and  sustenance  having  been  destroyed  by  Wayne. 
They  were  then  fully  prepared  to  listen  to  the  faintest  signal  from  Wayne  to 
conciliate  affairs,  and  the  Wyandots  and  Delawares  were  the  first  to  confer  with 
him  on  the  subject.     Their  position  was  exposed  and  they  had  suffered  severely. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  101 

They  soon  influenced  other  tribes  to  consider  the  question.  As  a  mass,  they 
were  convinced  of  their  inability  to  overcome  the  Americans,  and  had  become 
impatient  and  disgusted  with  the  duplicity  of  their  British  friends,  who  had  not 
hesitated  to  sacrifice  them  in  every  instance,  and  who  deserted  them  in  their 
hour  of  distress.  United,  they  sued  for  peace.  Terms  were  made,  and  about 
the  1st  of  August,  the  famous  Greenville  treaty  was  ratified  and  established, 
and  the  old  Indian  war  in  Ohio  terminated. 

The  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Shawnees,  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies, 
Miamis,  Eel  Rivers,  Weas,  Kickapoos,  Piankeshaws  and  Kaskaskias  were  thus 
conciliated.  The  old  Indian  boundary  line,  settled  upon  at  the  Fort  Mcintosh 
treaty,  was  retained,  and  the  southwestern  line  was  prolonged  from  old  Fort 
Recovery,  southwest  of  the  Ohio  River. 

"  The  general  boundary  lines  between  the  lands  of  the  United  States  and 
the  lands  of  the  said  Indian  tribes  shall  begin  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga 
River,  and  thence  run  up  the  same  to  the  portage  between  that  and  the  Tus- 
carawas Branch  of  the  Muskingum ;  thence  down  that  branch  to  the  crossing- 
place  above  Fort  Laurens ;  thence  westerly  to  a  fork  of  that  branch  of  the 
Great  Miami  River  (running  into  the  Ohio),  at  or  near  which  fork  stood  Lar- 
amie's store — Mary's  River,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  Miami  that  runs  into  Lake 
Erie  ;  thence  a  westerly  course  to  Fort  Recovery,  which  stands  on  a  branch  of 
the  Wabash  ;  thence  southwesterly  on  a  direct  line  to  the  Ohio,  so  as  to  inter- 
sect that  river  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  or  Cuttawa  River." 

This  boundary  line  has,  ever  since  this  memorable  treaty,  been  a  prominent 
landmark,  and  may  now  be  traced  as  the  southern  boundary  line  of  Stark,  Ash- 
land, Richland  and  Marion  Counties,  and  the  northern  line,  in  part,  of  Tuscar- 
awas and  Knox.  Old  Fort  Recovery  was  located  in  Mercer,  near  the  Indiana 
line.     Laramie's  store  was  in  Shelby. 

Within  the  Indian  Reservation,  the  United  States  held  sixteen  distinct  sec- 
tions of  land,  for  the  purpose  of  military  posts,  so  arranged  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  full  right  of  way  north  and  west. 

The  "Joy  treaty  "  between  England  and  the  United  States  was  ratified  early 
in  1796,  and  the  British  were  obliged  to  vacate  Detroit  and  Fort  Miami,  and  recall 
the  fact  that  they  had  no  claim  or  right  to  either  points.  Gen.  Wayne  received 
them,  and  accompanied  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  proceeded  to  Detroit.  Here  the  lat- 
ter laid  out  a  county,  calling  it  Wayne,  and  designated  Detroit  as  its  seat  of 
justice.  This  was  the  fifth  county  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  north  of  the 
Ohio  River.  Washington  County,  with  Marietta  as  a  seat  of  justice,  was  first 
established ;  next  Hamilton,  with  Cincinnati  as  a  county  seat.  Wayne  County 
was  organized  in  1796,  and  included  about  twenty-six  of  the  present  counties, 
in  the  northwest  part  of  the  State,  covering  about  a  quarter  of  its  area,  besides 
parts  of  Indiana  and  Michigan. 

In  other  parts  of  the  State,  the  population  was  rapidly  increasing.  In  May, 
1795,  the  Legislature  authorized  a  committee  to  institute  measures  for  the 


102  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

disposal  of  their  Western  lands.  The  Virginia  and  Connecticut  Reservations 
required  some  action  on  the  part  of  Government,  inasmuch  as  ceding  a  portion 
and  re-selling  had  in  a  measure  disturbed  free  titles.  Fifty-six  persons  negoti- 
ated and  purchased  lands,  receiving  quit-claim  titles  and  entire  rights.  They 
re-sold  to  John  Morgan  and  John  Caldwell  and  Jonathan  Bruce,  in  trust.  Thus 
3,000,000  acres  were  prepared  for  settlement.  Upon  the  quit-claim  deeds  of 
these  representatives,  the  full  title  of  lands  included  within  the  old  Western 
Reserve  rests. 

Judge  Symmes  began  his  active  operations  in  1796,  and  by  the  close  of 
1797  all  lands  east  of  the  Cuyahoga  were  laid  out  in  townships,  five  miles  square. 
The  agent  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company  was  Gen.  Moses  Cleveland,  and  in 
his  honor  the  leading  city  in  the  Reserve  was  named.  Some  townships  were 
retained  for  private  sale,  and  others  were  disposed  of  by  lottery,  in  1798. 

Wayne's  treaty  led  to  the  formation  of  Dayton,  and  the  peopling  of  that 
section.  A  difficulty  arose  regarding  the  original  Symmes  grant  and  its  modifi- 
cation. Symmes  had  sold  land  titles,  in  good  faith,  beyond  his  vested  power, 
and  Congress  was  now  called  upon  to  adjust  these  claims  and  titles.  Seventeen 
days  after  the  Wayne  or  Greenville  treaty,  St.  Clair,  Wilkinson,  Dayton  and 
Ludlow  contracted  with  Symmes  for  seven  and  eight  ranges,  between  the  Mad 
and  Little  Miami  Rivers.     November  4,  1795,  Mr.   Ludlow  laid  out  Dayton. 

During  the  years  1790  and  1795,  the  Governor  and  Supreme  Judges  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  had  published  sixty-four  statutes.  Thirty-four  of  these 
were  ratified  at  Cincinnati,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  complete  statutory.  It 
was  termed  the  "  Maxwell  Code." 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Massie  founded  a  town  on  the  Scioto,  which  was  called 
Chillicothe.  The  Iroquois  treaty  had  previously  invited  settlement,  and  embryo 
towns  had  begun  as  early  as  1769,  under  the  protection  of  the  Connecticut 
Company.  A  land  company  was  organized  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1795,  sending 
out  forty-three  surveyors  to  divide  the  townships  of  that  part  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  east  of  the  Cuyahoga,  five  miles  square.  The  first  resident  of  the  town 
of  Cleveland  was  Mr.  Job  Stiles  and  family,  and  Mrs,  Stiles  was  the  mother  of 
the  first  white  child  born  on  the  Reserve.  Some  other  parts  of  the  territory 
progressed  more  rapidly  in  population. 

Along  the  Muskingum,  Scioto  and  Miami,  towns  began  to  spring  up,  which 
might  perhaps  better  be  termed  farming  settlements. 

Cincinnati  was  increasing,  and  in  1796,  had  reached  100  cabins,  15  frame 
houses  and  600  persons,  with  prospects  for  a  firm  future. 

The  Virginia  Military  Land  District  was  between  the  Little  Miami  and 
Scioto,  and  was  rapidly  increasing  in  population. 

Mr.  Massie  was  unceasinsr  in  his  efibrts  to  advance  the  West,  and  laid  out 
Manchester,  offering  inducements  that  could  not  fail  to  attract  settlers. 

Ebenezer  Zane  procured  a  grant  in  consideration  of  opening  a  bridle  path 
from  the  Ohio  River  at  Wheeling,  over  the  country  via  Chillicothe,  to  Limestone, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  103 

in  Kentucky.      The   year  following,  the  United  States  mail  was  taken  over 
this  route. 

The  comparatively  tranquil  condition  of  the  country  and  the  inducements  it 
had  to  offer  encouraged  a  rapid  settlement  of  the  Territory.  A  prominent 
feature  of  the  early  growth  of  Ohio  was  the  general  prevalence  of  reliable, 
stanch  principle.      The  people  were  of  the  good  colonial  stock. 

In  1800,  Chillicothe  was  denominated  the  seat  of  the  Territorial  govern- 
ment, and  the  first  stone  edifice  in  the  State  was  begun  in  this  town,  soon  after 
this  appointment.  About  this  time,  a  serious  difficulty  suddenly  occurred  to 
those  individuals  who  had  taken  lands  on  the  Western  Reserve  of  Connecticut. 
That  Eastern  power  had,  it  is  true,  ceded  a  part  of  her  claim  to  the  General 
Government,  and  had  stipulated  for  the  sale  of  certain  other  tracts.  At  the 
same  time,  the  State  had  not  signed  away  her  jurisdiction  over  some  sections  of 
her  claim,  and  those  unfortunate  people  in  and  about  Dayton  found  themselves 
without  any  government  upon  which  they  might  depend  in  a  case  of  emergency. 
The  matter  was,  accordingly,  presented  to  the  Territorial  government,  which 
interceded  with  the  Eastern  State,  and,  sanctioned  by  the  Assembly  at  Congress, 
Connecticut  relinquished  her  jurisdiction  in  1800. 

Cleveland  was  an  important  point,  and  was  growing  in  the  mean  time.  How- 
ever, it  had  suffered  exceedingly  from  the  ravages  of  fever  and  ague.  For  a 
period  of  two  months,  there  was  not  an  individual,  but  a  boy  thirteen  years 
of  age,  able  to  procure  food  for  the  others.  Flour  was  out  of  all  rational  con- 
sideration, and  the  meal  upon  which  they  lived  was  pounded  by  hand.  In 
1799,  Williams  and  Myatt  erected  a  grist-mill  at  the  falls,  near  Newbury. 

A  startling  agitation  occurred  in  1801,  which  in  these  days  would  cause  but  a 
ripple  in  the  political  sea,  but  happening  during  a  time  when  legislative  dignity 
and  state  authority  were  regarded  with  reverential  awe,  it  created  the  most 
intense  feeling.      Great  indignation  was  openly  expressed. 

The  Governor  and  several  legislators  felt  that  they  had  been  insulted  in 
the  performance  of  their  respective  duties,  at  Chillicothe,  while  the  Assembly 
was  in  session  in  1801.  No  measures  being  taken  by  the  authorities  at  the 
capital  to  protect  the  Executive,  a  law  was  passed  removing  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  Cincinnati. 

This  circumstance  led  to  a  general  consideration  of  the  advantages  of  a 
State  government,  and  a  popular  desire  was  expressed  for  a  change  in  this 
respect.  Gov.  St.  Clair  had  fallen  into  disfavor  through  his  failure  as  a  military 
leader  and  his  failures  in  the  Indian  campaigns,  and  from  his  assuming  powers 
which  were  not  vested  in  him,  especially  the  subdivision  of  counties.  He  was 
also  identified  with  the  Federal  party,  which  was  not  popular  in  Ohio.  The 
opposition  was  strong  in  the  Assembly,  but  was  in  the  minority  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  boundary  question  was  agitated  at  the  same  time.  The 
intention  was  to  thus  effect  the  limits  of  Ohio  that  a  State  government  would 
necessarily  have  to  be  postponed.     Against  this  measure,  Tiffin,  Worthington, 


104  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Langham,  Darlington,  Massie,  Dunlavy  and  Morrow  strenuously  objected.  After 
considerable  discussion,  Thomas  Worthington  obtained  leave  of  absence  from 
the  session,  and  journeyed  to  Washington  in  behalf  of  a  State  government.  It 
was  obvious  that  the  Territory,  under  the  ordinance,  was  not  entitled  to  a 
change.  Massie  suggested  the  feasibility  of  appointing  a  committee  to  address 
Conoress  on  the  subject.     This  the  House  refused  to  pass. 

An  effort  was  then  made  to  take  a  census,  but  any  action  on  this  subject 
was  postponed  until  the  next  session. 

During  all  this  ineffectual  struggle,  Worthington  was  doing  his  best  in  Wash- 
ington, and  succeeded  so  well  that  on  March  4,  a  report  was  made  to  the  House 
in  favor  of  the  State  government.  This  report  was  made  on  a  basis  that  the 
census,  in  1800,  summed  up  over  45,000  for  Ohio. 

April  30,  Congress  passed  a  law  carrying  into  effect  the  views  expressed  on 
this  subject.  A  convention  met  on  November  1.  Its  members  were  generally 
Jeffersonian  in  their  views.  Gov.  St.  Clair  proposed  to  address  them  as  their 
chief  executive  magistrate.  Several  members  resolutely  opposed  this  action, 
insisting  upon  a  vote,  which,  through  courtesy  and  not  a  sense  of  right,  resulted 
in  permitting  him  to  address  them.  He  advised  the  postponement  of  the  State 
government  until  the  original  eastern  portion  of  the  State  was  suflBciently  pop- 
ulated to  demand  this  right.  Only  one,  out  of  thirty-three,  voted  to  sustain 
the  Governor  in  these  views. 

The  convention  agreed  to  the  views  of  Congress.  November  29,  the  agree- 
ment was  ratified  and  signed,  as  was  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Ohio. 
The  General  Assembly  was  ordered  to  convene  the  first  Tuesday  of  March,  1803. 

This  was  carried  into  effect.  A  constitution  was  framed  for  the  new  State, 
adhering  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  The  rights  and  duties  of  citizens  were 
plainly  set  forth,  and  general  business  was  transacted.  The  new  State  consti- 
tution was  signed  by  : 

Edward  Tiffin,  President  and  Representative  from  Ross  County. 

Adams  County — Joseph  Darlington,  Israel  Donalson,  Thomas  Vinker. 

Belmont  County — James  Caldwell  and  Elijah  Woods. 

Clermont  County — Philip  Gatch  and  James  Sargent. 

Fairfield  County — Henry  Abrams  and  Emanuel  Carpenter. 

Hamilton  County — John  W.  Brown,  Charles  Willing  Byrd,  Francis  Dun- 
lavy, William  Goforth,  John  Gitchel,  Jeremiah  Morrow,  John  Paul,  John  Riley, 
John  Smith  and  John  Wilson. 

Jefferson  County — Rudolph  Blair,  George  Humphry,  John  Milligan,  Nathan 
Updegraff  and  Bezaleel  Wells. 

Ross  County — Michael  Baldwin,  James  Grubb,  Nathaniel  Massie  and  F. 
Worthington. 

Washington  County — Ephraim  Cutler,  Benjamin  Ives  Gilman,  John  Mc- 
Intyre  and  Rufus  Putnam. 

Thomas  Scott,  Secretary. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  105 

The  first  Legislature  of  the  State,  under  the  new  constitution,  created  eight 
new  counties,  viz.,  Gallia,  Scioto,  Franklin,  Columbiana,  Butler,  Warren, 
Greene  and  Montgomery. 

The  first  State  officers  were  :  Michael  Baldwin,  Speaker  of  the  House  ;  Na- 
thaniel Massie,  President  of  the  Senate ;  William  Creighton,  Secretary  of 
State  ;  Col.  Thomas  Gibson,  Auditor  ;  William  McFarland,  Treasurer  ;  Return 
J.  Meigs,  Jr.,  Samuel  Huntington  and  William  Sprigg,  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  Francis  Dunlavy,  Willis  Silliman  and  Calvin  Pease,  Judges  of  the  Dist- 
rict Court. 

The  General  Assembly  held  a  second  session  in  December,  at  which  time 
the  militia  law  was  revised,  also  giving  aliens  equal  proprietary  rights  with  native 
citizens.  The  revenue  system  was  modified  and  improved.  Acts  authorizing 
the  incorporation  of  townships  were  passed,  and  for  the  establishment  of  coun- 
ties. Furthermore,  Jacob  White,  Jeremiah  Morrow  and  William  Ludlow  were 
authorized  to  locate  a  township  for  collegiate  purposes,  according  to  previous 
specified  terms  of  Congress.  The  Symmes  grant  and  the  college  specification 
collided  materially,  but  the  irregularity  of  the  former  was  not  to  create  any 
inconvenience  for  the  latter.  Mr.  Symmes  had  in  good  faith  marked  ofi"  this 
township,  but  circumstances  preventing  the  perfection  of  his  plans,  that  lapsed 
with  the  others,  and  the  original  township  was  now  entered  by  settlers. 

Accordingly,  thirty-six  sections,  west  of  the  Great  Miami,  were  selected, 
and  are  now  held  by  the  Miami  University. 

Gov.  St.  Clair,  notwithstanding  his  unpopularity,  was  re-appointed. 

Ohio  was  under  a  system  of  government  which  guaranteed  the  best  improve- 
ments ;  her  Legislature  being  composed  of  her  best  statesmen,  and  the  laws 
passed  having  the  general  interest  of  the  people  embodied  in  them. 

A  bill  was  passed,  appropriating  the  net  proceeds  of  the  land  lying  within 
said  State,  sold  by  Congress  after  the  20th  day  of  June,  1802,  after  deducting 
all  expenses  incident  to  the  same,  to  be  applied  to  the  laying-out  of  roads, 
leading  from  the  navigable  waters  emptying  into  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ohio,  to 
the  said  State,  and  through  the  same  ;  such  roads  to  be  laid  out  under  the 
authority  of  Congress,  with  the  consent  of  the  several  States  through  which  the 
road  shall  pass.  In  conformity  with  these  provisions,  steps  were  taken,  in  1805, 
which  resulted  in  the  making  of  the  Cumberland  or  National  road. 

Burr,  at  this  time,  began  an  organization  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of 
making  a  settlement  on  the  Wachita,  but  his  party  being  armed  and  his  plans 
not  being  frankly  disclosed,  an  investigation  proved  that  his  real  design  was  a 
mutinous  revolt  against  Governmental  powers,  and  to  gratify  his  ambition  by 
founding  his  own  kingdom  in  Mexico,  and  defeating  the  Spanish.  If  success 
crowned  his  efforts,  his  ultimate  victory  was  to  rupture  the  Union  by  forcing  the 
Western  States  to  withdraw  from  their  allegiance.  By  gaining  an  influence 
over  the  noble  but  misguided  Blennerhasset,  he  established  his  headquarters  on 
his  island  in  the  Ohio.     The  history  of  Burr's  expedition  is  already  well  known. 


106  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

The  final  capture  by  Gov.  Tiffin,  of  ten  boats  loaded  with  stores,  on  the  Mus- 
kingum, and  four  near  Marietta,  decided  the  fate  of  this  scheme,  and  Burr  was 
finally  arrested  and  put  on  trial  May  22,  1807. 

The  advancement  of  the  settlement  of  the  State  was  in  no  manner  impeded, 
and  towns  sprang  up,  farms  were  laid  out,  and  all  other  improvements  inaugu- 
rated which  tended  to  a  permanent  prosperity. 

In  1808,  Tecumseh  left  Greenville  to  join  the  Prophet  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tippecanoe,  a  tributary  of  the  Upper  Wabash,  on  a  tract  of  land  granted  herein 
by  the  Pottawatomies. 

The  Indians  were  virtually  by  treaty  allowed  but  a  small  proportion  of  land 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  State,  and  were  maintaining  peaceful  attitudes 
toward  the  whites,  with  exceptional  border  depredations,  which  were  settled  by 
mutual  understanding. 

Although  the  United  States  had  gained  independence,  and  was  treating  with 
England  as  with  other  foreign  powers,  the  British  persisted  in  violating  the 
national  rights  of  the  United  States,  impressing  American  seamen  into  the 
British  service,  seizing  American  vessels  engaged  with  France  in  trade,  and 
otherwise  violating  the  rights  of  an  independent  nation,  at  peace  with  the  Brit- 
ish power. 

The  mission  upon  which  Henry  was  sent  by  the  British,  to  create  disturb- 
ance between  the  States,  and  thus  broken,  to  weaken  the  strength  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  added  fuel  to  the  fire,  and  united  indignation  cried  for  war. 

British  agents  again  bargained  with  the  Indians  of  the  Wabash  and  Maumee 
Valleys,  desiring  them  to  inaugurate  another  war  upon  the  western  sections  and 
to  make  a  desperate  attack  upon  the  settlements  south  of  the  lakes.  The  Brit- 
ish agent  at  Maiden  negotiated  in  rifles,  powder,  ball,  merchandise,  lead,  blank- 
ets and  shirts.  The  Indians  were  inspired  again  with  the  hope  that  the  whites 
would  be  driven  back,  and  that  all  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio  would  again 
revert  to  them. 

The  Canadians  in  league  with  the  English,  gave  the  savages  unlimited 
quantities  of  whisky,  which  naturally  aroused  their  fierce  natures  to  acts  of 
violence  and  blood.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  use  of  liquor  was  the  main 
cause  of  the  deterioration  of  the  best  traits  of  the  Indian  character,  after  the 
Revolution.  Again,  many  unscrupulous  men  upon  the  frontier  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  commit  the  most  merciless  crimes  against  the  Indians,  such  was  the 
prejudice  against  them,  and  the  courts  invariably  failed  to  indict  them  for  these 
atrocities.  This  error  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  served  to  influence  the 
savages  against  them. 

At  this  time,  the  seats  of  justice  were  distant  over  a  hundred  miles  each 
from  the  other,  uninhabited  tracts  frequently  extending  between  them  which  were 
absolute  wildernesses.     The  routes  were  in  many  cases  difficult  and  circuitous. 

As  early  as  1808,  there  was  a  mail  communication  for  the  people  on  the 
Lower  Maumee,  many  days  elapsing  between  the  arrivals  and  departures  of 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  107 

the  same,  however.  Horace  Gunn  was  the  carrier.  Benoni  Adams  brought 
the  news  from  Cleveland  to  the  same  point,  his  trip  requiring  a  fortnight.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  this  journey  was  mostly  made  on  foot.  The  Black 
Swamp  could  not  be  traversed  in  any  other  manner. 

THE    WAR    OF    1812. 

The  war  of  1812  can  be  called  a  continuation  of  the  Revolution,  with  all 
justice.  Although  rumors  had  reached  Ohio,  that  active  preparations  were 
being  made  for  general  action,  no  official  tidings  had  been  sent  to  Hull,  com- 
mandea'-in-chief  of  the  Western  forces. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  instead  of  sending  a  special  messenger  directly  to 
Hull,  communicated  with  the  post  adjacent,  depending  upon  a  continuation  of 
the  news  from  that  point.  At  the  same  time,  advices  were  sent  the  British 
post  at  Maiden  and  Detroit.  Hull  sent  out  a  packet  with  official  papers,  stores, 
etc.,  the  day  previous  to  that  on  which  the  official  intelligence  arrived  that  an 
open  rupture  existed  between  the  two  powers,  and  this  was  of  course  captured. 

The  Western  forces  marched  to  Detroit  and  crossed  over  to  Sandwich,  pre- 
paratory to  attacking  Maiden,  a  post  most  favorable  for  the  transportation  of 
stores,  troops,  etc.  which  was  therefore  considered  valuable. 

Peter  Minard  first  gave  the  news  to  the  settlers  of  the  Maumee.  He  had 
heard  from  a  Delaware  chief,  who  assured  him  a  general  massacre  was  to  take 
place  in  the  valley.  Maj.  Spaffijrd  paid  no  heed  to  this  "idle  fear,"  until  a 
few  days  thereafter  a  messenger  came  to  his  quarters,  reporting  a  band  of  fifty 
Pottawatomies  on  the  march  to  join  the  hostile  tribes  near  Maiden.  They  had 
plundered  and  burned  Monclova,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  rapids. 

The  Major,  with  his  family  and  settlers,  immediately  launched  a  barge  on 
the  river  and  were  able  to  reach  old  Fort  Miami  just  as  the  savages  reached 
Maumee  City.  They  could  plainly  witness  the  flames  that  devoured  their  old 
homes.  They  kept  on  their  way  in  their  miserable  craft,  until  they  reached 
Milan,  where  they  learned  that  the  entire  country  was  in  danger. 

Although  the  Indians  were  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  in  the  fall 
of  1811,  they  plotted  vigorously  with  the  English  for  the  invasion  of  Ohio.- 

Gen.  William  Hull  marched  from  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State 
directly  north,  crossing  the  counties  of  Champaign,  Logan,  Hardin,  Hancock 
and  Wood,  establishing  military  posts  along  the  route  and  cutting  a  way 
through  the  wilderness  of  the  unsettled  portions.  He  crossed  the  Maumee  on 
the  1st  of  July,  and  marched  to  Detroit. 

Hull  was  evidently  actuated  in  his  succeeding  disgraceful  failures  by  two 
fears — lack  of  confidence  in  the  ability  of  his  troops,  and  the  belief  that  they 
might  desert  him  in  action.  He  proclaimed  freedom,  and  a  necessity  of  sub- 
mitting to  the  Canadians  under  existing  circumstances.  He  held  out  induce- 
ments to  the  British  regulars  to  desert  their  cause  and  essayed  to  pacify  the 
savages,  but  he  accomplished  nothing  beyond  jeopardizing  the  American  cause 


108  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

and  disgracing  his  army.  His  men  became  restless.  Col.  Miller  and  Col. 
Cass  were  delighted  when  detailed  on  scouting  expeditions,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  attack  advancing  squads  of  the  enemy.  At  last,  an  attack  was  made  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  and  Hull  speedily  abandoned  his  project  and  collected  his 
forces  at  Detroit. 

Meantime,  Col.  Proctor  had  reached  Maiden,  and  quickly  perceiving  the 
advantao-e  of  a  post  at  that  point,  whereby  he  could  cut  off  supplies  and  starve 
Hull  into  subjection,  he  massed  his  forces  about  this  section,  captured  Van 
Horn  and  his  two  hundred  men,  and  withstood  the  attack  of  Miller,  although 
he  gained  nothing  by  so  doing.  Again  Hull  displayed  his  weakness  by  recall- 
ing his  forces  from  further  molestations. 

Gen.  Brock,  however,  reached  Maiden  on  the  13th  of  August,  1812,  and 
began  war  preparations. 

Gen.  Dearborn  placed  a  force  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  but  an  armistice  was 
made  with  the  British.  Hull  dispatched  a  third  party  under  McArthur,  to 
open  communications  to  the  Raisin  River. 

Gen.  Brock  appeared  at  Sandwich  and  began  to  erect  batteries,  which  Hull 
would  not  allow  to  be  molested.  The  result  was,  that  on  the  26th  of  August 
Detroit  was  surrendered  to  the  enemy,  and  not  a  blow  had  been  struck  in  its 
defense. 

By  this  dastardly  act,  1,400  brave  men  who  had  not  been  permitted  to 
make  a  single  effort  to  sustain  the  American  cause,  were  surrendered  to  300 
English  regulars,  400  Canadians  and  their  Indian  allies.  Gen.  Hull  was,  in 
consequence  of  this  series  of  "mistakes,"  accused  of  treason  and  cowardice, 
and  convicted  of  the  latter.  By  the  middle  of  August,  the  British  had  gained 
the  control  over  most  of  the  Northwestern  Territory. 

The  appointment  of  William  Henry  Harrison  to  the  position  of  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  Western  forces,  was  most  opportune.  He  speedily 
raised  a  vigorous  army,  and  advanced  by  three  routes  to  the  foot  of  the  rapids. 

Gen.  Harrison  commanded  the  right  wing,  and  marched  by  the  way  of  Upper 
Sandusky,  where  he  located  his  depot  of  supplies.  Gen.  Tupper  commanded 
the  center.  Fort  McArthur,  in  Hardin  County,  being  his  base,  while  Gen.  Win- 
chester marched  from  Fort  Defiance  down  the  Maumee  to  the  foot  of  the  rapids. 

A  large  force  of  British  and  Indians  moved  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Mau- 
mee toward  Fort  Wayne,  and  Gen.  Harrison,  to  intercept  them,  marched  to 
the  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  with  the  Maumee. 

Harrison  was  aware  that  the  enemy  would  be  also  hemmed  in  by  Win- 
chester. The  weather  was  rainy,  and  the  prospects  were  that  a  most  unfortun- 
ate season  was  to  follow  the  expected  engagements.  Harrison  heard  that 
Winchester  had  reached  Fort  Defiance,  and  that  the  Indians  and  British  were 
retreating  down  the  Maumee.  He  followed,  and  marched  to  Winchester's 
camp,  where  he  arrived  in  season  to  quell  a  mutiny  under  command  of  Col. 
Allen,  of  the  Kentucky  troops. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  109 

In  January,  1813,  Winchester  had  reached  the  rapids,  where  he  received 
tidino-s  that  Frenchtown  was  menaced  and  exposed.  Without  orders,  he  sent  a 
party  to  the  rescue,  which  defeated  the  enemy.  The  weather  was  intensely 
cold,  and  the  company  lay  within  eighteen  miles  of  Maiden,  where  the  enemy 
was  collected  in  full  force,  consequently  re-enforcements  must  be  dispatched 
immediately  or  the  town  again  left  to  its  fate. 

Winchester  then  marched  with  a  force  of  259  men,  and  upon  arriving  at 
nightfall,  insisted  upon  remaining  on  open  ground,  although  warned  repeatedly 
that  this  would  be  a  most  dangerous  experiment. 

In  the  morning,  he  was  surprised  by  the  enemy,  massed  directly  before 
him,  with  a  battery  within  three  hundred  yards  of  his  camp,  and  a  shower  of 
bombs,  balls  and  grape-shot  falling  among  his  exposed  troops,  and  the  yells  of 
Indians  reminding  him  of  his  fatal  error.  Lewis,  who  led  the  party  out  in  the 
beginning  and  had  apprehended  the  danger,  bravely  defended  himself  behind 
garden  pickets,  Winchester  was  defeated  on  the  22d  of  January,  1813,  and 
the  Indians  were  permitted  to  massacre  the  prisoners  and  the  settlers. 

Harrison  fell  back  to  the  foot  of  the  rapids.  On  the  1st  of  February,  he 
began  the  construction  of  Fort  Meigs.  On  the  27th  of  April,  Proctor  and 
Tecumseh  attacked  this  fort,  and  laid  siege  with  the  full  expectation  of  success. 
The  stipulation  was  that  Gen.  Harrison  was  to  be  delivered  to  Tecumseh. 
While  the  balls  and  bombs  were  making  havoc  with  the  fort,  the  Indians  were 
climbing  trees  and  pouring  a  galling  fire  down  upon  the  troops.  Gen.  Proctor 
invited  Harrison  to  surrender,  which  was  politely  declined,  with  the  assurance 
that  the  British  General  would  have  the  opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  as  a 
■soldier  before  such  a  proceeding  was  enacted. 

Gen.  Clay  was  descending  the  Maumee  with  1,200  Kentuckians  in  flat 
boats.  Orders  went  from  Harrison  that  800  men  should  land  on  the  left  bank, 
take  and  spike  the  British  cannon,  and  then  to  enter  the  fort,  from  which 
soldiers  were  to  issue  to  assist  the  re-enforcements. 

Capt.  Hamilton  was  to  pilot  Gen.  Clay  to  the  fort,  cutting  their  way 
through.  All  succeeded,  Col.  Dudley  taking  the  batteries  and  spiking  the 
cannon.  But  his  men,  too  much  elated  by  their  success,  against  orders,  and 
against  the  repeated  expostulations  of  Col.  Dudley,  insisted  on  pursuing  the 
Indians.  Col.  Dudley  would  not  desert  them.  This  act  proved  their  ruin. 
By  a  decoy,  they  were  led  into  a  defile  which  proved  an  ambush,  and  the  men 
found  themselves  surrounded  by  savages,  without  means  of  escape. 

A  most  frightful  massacre  began,  and  every  man  would  have  fallen  had  not 
Tecumseh  sternly  forbidden  the  cowardly  carnage.  One  of  his  principal  chiefs 
ignored  this  order,  and  the  next  instant  the  great  warrior  buried  his  hatchet  in 
his  head.     The  brave  Col.  Dudley  was,  however,  tomahawked  and  scalped. 

There  were  no  immediate  signs  that  the  fort  would  be  surrendered,  and  the 
siege  was  raised  on  the  9th  of  May.  It  was  renewed  on  the  20th  of  July,  and 
abandoned  a  few  days  later.    The  enemy  decided  this  stronghold  was  invulnerable. 


110  HISTORY  OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  the  enemy  proceeded  to  Fort  Stevenson,  at  Lower 
Sandusky,  garrisoned  by  150  men  under  Maj.  Croghan.  The  fort  had  the 
use  of  but  one  piece  of  cannon.  The  enemy  with  Tecumseh's  Indians  num- 
bered 3,300  strong,  with  six  pieces  of  cannon. 

Gen.  Proctor  again  tendered  the  offer  to  surrender,  adding  that  a  refusal 
would  only  bring  about  a  useless  resistance,  and  a  massacre  by  the  Indians. 
The  reply  was,  that  before  the  fort  went  over  to  the  British,  not  an  American 
would  be  left  to  be  massacred,  as  they  should  hold  out  to  the  last  man.  Proc- 
tor opened  fire.  The  first  movement  was  an  assault  upon  the  northwest  angle 
of  the  fort,  as  if  to  make  a  breach  and  thus  carry  the  works.  The  command- 
ant strengthened  that  point  by  bags  of  sand,  and  during  the  night  stealthily 
placing  his  one  cannon  in  a  concealed  position,  he  filled  it  with  slugs. 

The  following  day,  the  fire  again  swept  the  northwest  corner,  and,  evening 
approaching,  a  column  of  350  men  swept  up  within  twenty  yards  of  the  walls. 
They  were  met  by  the  musketry,  which  had  little  effect,  and  the  ditch  was  soon 
filled  with  men..  The  next  instant  the  hidden  cannon,  so  placed  as  to  sweep 
the  ditch,  suddenly  began  action,  and  the  surprised  assailants  quickly  recoiled, 
and  the  fort  was  saved,  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man. 

The  next  morning,  the  enemy  had  disappeared,  evidently  in  haste,  as  guns, 
clothing  and  stores  were  left  behind.  They  had  lost  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  by  this  useless  attempt.  Croghan  had  previously  received  orders  to 
evacuate  the  fort  from  Gen.  Harrison,  and  his  determination  to  hold  the  position 
merited  Harrison's  reprimand  and  remand  of  commission.  Such  was  the  sev- 
erity of  military  law.  However,  the  rank  of  Colonel  was  immediately  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  President,  for  his  gallantry.  The  ladies  of  Chillicothe  pre- 
sented him  with  an  elegant  testimonial  in  the  shape  of  a  sword. 

It  was  decided  to  make  a  naval  warfare  effectual  in  the  recovery  of  the 
Northwestern  Territory,  and  accordingly  vessel-building  began  under  Commo- 
dore Perry's  supervision. 

The  British  looked  upon  this  proceeding  with  derision,  fully  intending  tO' 
use  these  boats  for  their  own  purpose.    They  publicly  proclaimed  their  intention. 

By  the  1st  of  August,  1813,  Commodore  Perry  set  sail  a  flotilla,  the  Law- 
rence and  the  Niagara,  of  twenty  guns  each,  with  smaller  vessels  following. 
Some  difficulty  was  encountered  in  launching  the  larger  vessels,  on  account  of 
the  shallowness  of  the  water. 

Perry's  first  destination  was  Put-in-Bay,  thirty  miles  from  Maiden,  where 
the  British  fleet  lay  under  the  guns  of  the  fort.  On  the  10th  of  September, 
the  British  fleet — exceeding  the  American  by  ten  guns — under  Commodore 
Barclay,  appeared  off  Put-in-Bay,  distant  about  ten  miles.  Perry  immediately 
set  sail.     The  wind  shifting,  the  Americans  had  the  advantage. 

Perry  hoisted  the  Union  Jack.  A  general  preparation  was  made  for  the 
conflict.  An  ominous  silence  settled  over  all  as  the  fleets  approached.  A 
bugle  sounded  on  the  enemy's  ship  Detroit,  and  a  furious  fire  was  opened  upon 


♦HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  Ill 

the  Lawrence.  The  frightful  and  desperate  battle  that  ensued  is  so  familiar 
that  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  repeat  its  details.  It  forever  remains  in  his- 
tory as  a  prominent,  desperate  struggle  that  turned  the  tide  most  decisively  in 
favor  of  the  Americans.  Hand  to  hand,  for  three  hours,  this  furious  struggle 
surged,  resulting  in  a  pronounced  victory  for  the  Americans. 

Commodore  Perry  immediately  requested  parole  for  his  severely  wounded 
antagonist,  Commodore  Barclay.  Capt.  Elliott  was  at  this  engagement  highly 
commended  by  Perry  for  his  bravery. 

Gen.  Harrison  now  made  preparations  to  follow  Proctor,  and  reached  Mai- 
den on  the  27th  of  September. 

Proctor  had  retreated  to  Sandwich,  and  thence  Harrison  followed  him, 
overtaking  the  enemy  on  the  9th  of  October,  on  the  bank  of  the  Thames.  An 
engagement  ensued,  which  was  not  particularly  marked  in  its  events,  but  which 
practically  terminated  the  war  in  the  Northwest. 

Tecumseh  fell  during  this  battle,  and  his  death  disheartened  the  savages  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  were  willing  to  make  terms  of  peace.  Accordingly 
a  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  22d  of  July,  1814,  with  the  Wyandots,  Dela- 
wares,  Shawnees,  Senecas  and  Miamis,  the  tribes  engaged  in  hostilities. 

Again  Ohio  was  able  to  turn  her  attention  to  the  improvements  within  her 
own  boundaries.  Weary  and  disabled  though  she  was,  her  ambition  and 
energy  were  unimpaired.  The  struggle  had  been  severe,  but  a  grand  reward 
had  been  won,  and  peace  and  independence  belonged  to  these  sturdy,  earnest, 
pioneers. 

In  1815,  a  town  was  founded  near  Fort  Meigs,  and,  in  1816,  Gen.  John 
E.  Hunt  and  Judge  Robert  A.  Forsythe  located  at  Maumee. 

BANKING. 

Up  to  the  year  1817,  Ohio  had  no  banking  system,  and  on  the  28th  of 
January  of  that  year,  the  United  States  Bank  opened  a  branch  at  Cincinnati, 
and  yet  another  during  the  following  October  at  Chillicothe.  These  branches 
found  a  large  amount  of  business  to  transact,  and  while  being  of  assistance  in 
various  ways  to  the  State,  also  received  a  fine  revenue  themselves.  The  State 
therefore  resolved  upon  a  tax  levy,  and,  in  1819,  the  branches  were  to  pay 
$50,000  each,  and  the  State  Auditor  was  authorized  to  issue  his  warrant  for 
the  collection  of  the  same. 

The  bank  branches  demurred,  but  the  State  was  decided,  and  the  banks 
accordingly  filed  a  bill  in  chancery,  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  setting 
forth  reasons  whereby  their  prayer  that  Ralph  Osborn,  State  Auditor,  should 
be  restrained  from  making  such  collection,  should  be  seriously  considered. 

Osborn  being  counseled  not  to  appear  on  the  day  designated  in  the  writ,  an 
injunction  was  obtained,  with  the  security  given  in  the  shape  of  bonds  from  the 
bank,  to  the  amount  of  $100,000.  On  the  14th  of  September,  the  bank  sent  a 
commissioner  to  Columbus,  who  served  upon  the  Auditor  a  copy  of  the  petition 


112  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

for  the  injunction,  and  a  subpoena  to  make  an  appearance  before  the  court 
on  the  first  Monday  in  the  following  January.  Osborn  submitted  both  the 
petition  and  the  injunction  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  with  his  warrant  for  col- 
lecting the  tax.     Legally,  the  matter  was  somewhat  complicated. 

The  Auditor  desired  the  Secretary  of  State  to  take  legal  advice,  and  if  the 
papers  did  not  actually  amount  to  an  injunction,  to  give  orders  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  warrant. 

The  decision  was  that  the  papers  did  not  equal  a  valid  injunction.  The  State 
writ  for  collection  was  therefore  given  over  to  John  L,  Harper,  with  directions 
to  enter  the  banking-house  and  demand  the  payment  of  the  tax.  In  case  of  a 
refusal,  the  vault  was  to  be  entered  and  a  levy  made  upon  the  amount  required. 
No  violence  was  to  be  used,  and  if  force  was  used  to  deter  the  act,  the 
same  was  to  be  reported  to  a  proper  magistrate  and  an  afiidavit  made  to  that 
fact. 

On  September  17,  Mr.  Harper  went  about  his  errand,  taking  with  him  T. 
Orr  and  J.  MacCollister.  After  securing  access  to  the  vault,  a  demand  was 
made  for  the  payment  of  the  tax.  This  was  promptly  refused,  and  a  notice 
given  of  the  granting  of  the  injunction.  This  was  disregarded,  and  the  officer 
seized  $98,000  in  gold,  silver  and  notes.  This  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 
State  Treasurer,  Mr.  H.  M.  Curry. 

The  officers  were  arrested  and  imprisoned  by  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  and  the  money  returned  to  the  bank.  The  case  was  reviewed  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  measures  of  the  Circuit  Court  were  sustained.  The 
State,  therefore,  submitted.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Legislature  had  prepared 
and  passed  a  resolution,  as  follows: 

Resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  That  in  respect  to  the  powers  of  the 
Governments  of  the  several  States  that  compose  the  American  Union,  and  the  powers  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  this  General  Assembly  do  recognize  and  approve  the  doctrines  asserted  by  the 
Legislatures  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia  in  their  resolutions  of  November  and  December,  1798, 
and  January,  1800,  and  do  consider  their  principles  have  been  recognized  and  adopted  by  a 
majority  of  the  American  people. 

Resolved  further,  That  this  General  Assembly  do  assert  and  will  maintain  by  all  legal  and 
constitutional  means,  the  rights  of  States  to  tax  the  business  and  property  of  any  private  corpo- 
ration of  trade,  incorporated  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  located  to  transact  its 
corporate  business  within  any  State. 

Resolved  further.  That  the  bank  of  the  United  States  is  a  private  corporation  of  trade,  the 
capital  and  business  of  which  may  be  legally  taxed  in  any  State  where  they  may  be  found. 

Resolved  further.  That  the  General  Assembly  do  protest  against  the  doctrines  that  the  politi- 
cal rights  of  the  separate  States  that  compose  the  American  Union  and  their  powers  as  sovereign 
States,  may  be  settled  and  determined  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  so  as  to  con- 
clude and  bind  them  in  cases  contrived  between  individuals,  and  where  they  are,  no  one  of  them, 
parties  direct. 

The  bank  was  thus  debarred  from  the  aid  of  State  laws  in  the  collection  of 
its  dues  and  in  the  protection  of  its  rights.  An  attempt  was  made  to  effect  a 
change  in  the  Federal  constitution,  which  would  take  the  case  out  of  the 
United  States  Courts.     This,  however,  proved  ineffectual. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  IIS 

The  banking  system  in  Ohio  has,  by  reason  of  State  surveillance,  not  been 
subjected  to  those  whirlwind  speculations  and  questionable  failures  which  have 
marked  many  Western  States,  in  the  establishment  of  a  firm  basis  upon  which 
a  banking  law  could  be  sustained,  with  mutual  benefit  to  the  institution  and  the 
people. 

THE    CANAL    SYSTEM. 

In  the  first  part  of  1817,  the  Legislature  considered  a  resolution  relating 
to  a  canal  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River.  No  action  was  taken  and 
the  subject  was  not  again  agitated  until  1819.  Gov.  Brown  appointed  three 
commissioners  in  1820,  for  the  purpose  of  employing  an  efficient  engineer  and 
such  assistants  as  he  deemed  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  a  practical 
route  for  this  canal.  The  commissioners  were  restricted  in  their  actions  until 
Congress  should  accept  a  proposition  in  behalf  of  the  State,  for  a  donation  and 
sale  of  the  public  lands  lying  upon  and  near  the  route  of  the  proposed  canal. 
A  delay  was  thus  occasioned  for  two  years. 

In  1822,  the  matter  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. This  committee  approved  and  recommended  the  employment  of  the 
engineer.  They  furthermore  added  illustrations  to  prove  the  feasibility  of  the 
project. 

James  Geddes,  a  skillful  engineer  of  New  York,  was  in  due  time  appointed 
to  the  position  and  instructed  to  make  the  necessary  examinations  and  sur- 
veys. 

The  surveys  were  made,  and  estimates  given  of  the  expenses,  which  docu- 
ments were  laid  before  the  Legislature  at  several  sessions. 

In  1825,  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  internal  improvement  of  the 
State  by  navigable  canals.  Directly  thereafter,  the  State  set  vigorously  about 
the  work  of  constructing  two  canals,  one  leading  from  the  Ohio  to  Lake  Erie, 
by  way  of  the  valleys  of  the  Scioto  and  Muskingum,  the  other  from  Cincinnati 
to  Dayton. 

The  first  canal-boat  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton,  reached  her  destination  in 
1829,  on  the  25th  of  January.  This  outlet  of  communication  was  extended 
to  Lake  Erie,  and  was  completed  in  1845.  The  largest  artificial  lake  now 
known  is  on  the  elevation  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lake,  in  Mercer  County, 
and  supplies  the  St.  Mary's  feeder  of  the  Miami  Canal,  about  three  miles  dis- 
tant, eastwardly.  This  reservoir  is  about  nine  miles  long,  and  from  two  to 
four  broad. 

Two  walls  of  earth,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  high,  were  formed,  on  the  east 
and  west,  which  united  with  the  elevations  north  and  south,  surrounded  this 
basin.  When  the  water  was  admitted,  whole  farms  were  submerged,  and  the 
"neighbors"  complained  lest  this  overflow  should  tempt  miasma.  So  great 
was  the  excitement,  that  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  residents  of  the  county 
united,  and  with  shovels  and  spades,  made  a  breach  in  the  embankment. 
Many  holding  prominent  positions  in  the  county  were  engaged  in  this  work. 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

and  all  laid  themselves  liable  to  the  State  laws,  which  made  the  despoiling  of 
public  works  a  penitentiary  offense. 

The  matter  was  taken  up  by  the  courts,  but  a  grand  jury  could  not  be 
found  in  Mercer  County  to  find  a  bill  of  indictment. 

The  oflBcers  who  had  charge  of  the  work,  ignored  the  law  requiring  the  cut- 
ing  and  saving  of  the  timber  on  lands  appropriated,  for  canal  reservoirs.  ■  The 
trees  were  ruthlessly  girdled,  and  thousands  of  acres  of  valuable  timber  that 
might  have  been  highly  desirable  in  the  building  of  bridges,  etc.,  were 
destroyed.  However,  an  adjustment  was  finally  effected,  and  the  work  was 
prosecuted  with  the  entire  approbation  of  the  people,  who  were  convinced  that 
convenient  transportation  was  to  be  desired. 

OHIO   LAND   TRACTS. 

After  the  Indians  relinquished  all  claims  against  the  lands  of  those  States 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  as  they  had  been  obtained  by  conquest,  the  United 
States,  as  a  government,  owned  the  soil.  When  Ohio  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  a  stipulation  was  made  that  the  fee  simple  to  all  the  lands  within  its 
boundaries,  with  the  exception  of  those  previously  sold  or  granted,  should  vest 
in  the  General  Government.  At  the  present  writing,  but  few  tracts  remain 
that  can  be  called  "  public  lands."  In  this,  as  in  other  States,  tracts  are  des- 
ignated by  their  pioneer  signification  or  the  purpose  to  which  they  were  origi- 
nally devoted.     In  Ohio,  these  tracts  are  known  as  : 


1. 

Congress  Lands. 

8. 

Symmes'  Purchase. 

15. 

Maumee  Road. 

2. 

United  States  Military. 

9. 

Refugee  Tract. 

16. 

School  Lands. 

3 

Virginia  Military. 

10. 

French  Grant. 

17. 

College  Lands. 

4. 

Western  Reserve. 

11, 

Dohrman's  Grant. 

18. 

Ministerial  Lands. 

5. 

Fire  Lands. 

12. 

Zane's  Grant. 

19. 

Moravian  Lands. 

6. 

Ohio  Company's  Purchase. 

13. 

Canal  Lands. 

20. 

Salt  Sections. 

7. 

Donation  Tract. 

14. 

Turnpike  Lands. 

The  lands  sold  by  the  direct  officers  of  the  Government,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Congress,  according  to  the  laws,  are  known  as  Congress  lands.  They 
are  properly  surveyed,  and  laid  out  in  townships  six  miles  square,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Government,  and  the  expense  incurred  settled  by  Congress. 
These  townships  are  subdivided  into  sections,  containing  640  acres.  One  sec- 
tion is  reserved,  in  every  township,  for  educational  purposes,  to  be  utilized  in 
any  manner  approved  by  the  State  as  being  the  best  to  aid  the  cause  for  which 
they  are  assigned. 

The  Western  Reserve  will  be  remembered  as  the  tract  originally  belonging  to 
Connecticut.  It  lies  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  State.  A  half-million  acres 
were  donated  by  the  old  Eastern  State,  when  her  claim  was  in  force,  to  sufferers 
from  fire  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  which  created  the  name,  "  fire  lands." 
Many  settled  here  whose  homes  were  destroyed  by  the  British  during  the  war. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  on  account  of  discoveries  by  subjects  of  empires, 
in  the  New  World,  the  "  Old  World  "  kings  laid  claim  to  different  portions 


'^''^  m  Co  ThOoA" 


<=..<^,^^^^^^^5^^^" 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  117 

of  the  young  continent.  At  that  period,  European  knowledge  of  American 
geographical  positions  and  limits  was  exceedingly  meager,  which  occasioned 
several  wars  and  more  discussions.  These  Old-World  sovereigns  also  assumed 
the  authority  to  sell  or  present  tracts  of  land  to  their  subjects,  in  those  terri- 
tories they  deemed  their  own. 

King  Charles  II  of  England  granted  to  his  loyal  subjects  the  colony  of 
Connecticut,  in  1662,  placing  with  them  a  charter  of  right  to  all  lands  within 
certain  prescribed  boundaries.  But  these  "  boundaries  "  frequently  conflicted 
with  those  of  others,  and  sometimes  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  "  South 
Sea,"  as  it  was  then  termed.  Connecticut,  by  her  original  charter  rights,  held 
all  lands  between  the  forty -first  and  forty-second  parallels  of  north  latitude,  and 
from  Providence  Plantation  on  the  east,  to  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west,  except- 
ing the  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  colonies.  As  late  as  the  establishment  of 
the  United  States  as  an  independent  government,  those  colliding  claims  fre- 
quently engendered  confusion  and  warm  discussion  between  the  nation  and 
Connecticut,  regarding  the  original  colony  claim.  This  was  compromised  by 
the  national  claims  being  relinquished  in  regard  to  the  territorial  claim  in  Ohio, 
and  Connecticut  holding  the  3,800,000  acres  described  as  the  "  Western  Reser- 
vation."    The  Government  held  the  right  of  jurisdiction. 

In  1796,  Congress  set  aside  a  certain  division  of  land,  to  satisfy  the  claims 
of  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  includes  the  2,500,000 
acres  between  the  Greenville  treaty  line  and  the  Congress  and  refugee  lands, 
and  "VII  ranges  of  townships,"  on  the  east,  and  the  Scioto  River,  west.  This 
constitutes  the  "  Military  Tract."  The  "  Virginia  Military  Tract  "  lies  between 
the  Scioto  and  Little  Miami  Rivers,  and  extends  south  to  the  Ohio. 

James  I,  in  his  authorized  charter  to  the  Virginia  colony,  in  the  year 
1609,  made  rather  visionary  boundary  lines,  sweeping  over  the  continent,  west 
of  the  Ohio  River,  "  of  the  north  and  south  breadth  of  Virginia."  Virginia 
reconciled  the  matter  by  relinquishing  all  her  claims  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River,  with  the  exception  of  a  tract  for  the  purpose  of  donating  the  same  to  her 
troops  of  the  Revolution — their  claims  demanding  such  a  return  in  some  section. 
Unfortunately,  this  tract  was  not  regularly  surveyed,  and  conflicting  "  lines  " 
have  given  rise  to  litigation  ever  since  that  stipulation  was  made. 

The  Ohio  Company's  Purchase  has  already  been  described — as  has  the 
Symmes  Purchase. 

The  Refugee  Tract  covers  an  area  of  100,000  acres,  extending  eastwardly 
from  the  Scioto  River  forty-eight  miles,  in  a  strip  of  country  four  and  one-half 
miles  broad,  north  to  south.  Columbus,  the  capital  of  the  State,  is  situated  in 
the  western  portion.  This  land  was  donated  by  Congress  to  those  individuals 
who  left  the  British  dominions  and  rule,  during  the  Revolution,  and  espoused 
the  American  cause. 

The  French  Tract  borders  on  the  Ohio  River,  in  the  southeastern  quarter 
of  Scioto  County.     It  includes  24,000  acres,  and  was  ceded  to  those  French. 


118  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

families  that  lost  their  claims  at  Gallipolis,  through  invalid  titles  ;  1,200  acres 
were  added,  after  the  above  grant  of  1795. 

Dohrman's  Grant  includes  a  section,  six  miles  square,  in  the  southeastern 
portion  of  Tuscarawas  County.  It  was  granted  to  Arnold  Henry  Dohrman,  a 
Portuguese  merchant,  as  a  token  of  appreciation  of  the  aid  and  shelter  he  ren- 
dered American  cruisers  and  vessels  of  war,  during  the  Revolution. 

The  Moravian  Lands  were  originally  grants  by  the  old  Continental  Con- 
gress, in  1787,  and  confirmed  by  the  act  of  the  Government  Congress,  in  1796, 
to  the  Moravian  Brethren,  of  Bethlehem,  Penn.,  in  sacred  trust,  and  for  the 
use  of  those  Indians  who  embraced  Christianity  and  civilization,  desiring  to  live 
and  settle  thereon.  These  three  tracts  include  4,000  acres  each,  and  are  situ- 
ated in  Tuscarawas  County.  In  1823,  the  Indians  relinquished  their  rights  to 
the  12,000  acres  in  this  county,  for  24,000  acres,  in  a  territory  designated  by 
the  United  States,  together  with  an  annuity  of  $400. 

Zane's  Tracts  included  a  portion  of  land  on  the  Muskingum,  whereon  Zanes- 
ville  was  built ;  another  at  the  crossing  of  the  Hocking,  on  which  Lancaster  is 
located  ;  and  yet  another  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Scioto  River,  opposite  Chilli- 
cothe.  These  grants  were  made  to  Ebenezer  Zane,  by  Congress,  in  1796,  as  a 
reward  for  opening  a  road  from  Wheeling,  Va.,  to  Maysville,  Ky.  In  1802, 
Mr.  Zane  received  three  additional  tracts,  one  square  mile  each,  m  considera- 
tion of  being  captured  and  held  a  prisoner,  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
when  a  boy,  by  the  Indians.  He  lived  with  these  people  most  of  his  life,  secur- 
ing many  benefits  for  the  Americans.  These  tracts  are  located  in  Champaign 
County. 

The  Maumee  Road  Lands  extend  the  length  of  the  road,  from  the  Maumee 
River,  at  Perrysburg,  to  the  western  limits  of  the  Western  Reserve,  a  distance 
of  forty-six  miles — in  a  strip  two  miles  wide.  This  includes  about  60,000 
acres.  These  lands  were  ceded  by  the  Indians,  at  the  treaty  of  Brownstown,  in 
1808.  The  original  intention  of  Congress  was  to  mark  a  highway  through  this 
strip,  but  no  definite  action  was  taken  until  1823,  whe  a  the  land  was  ceded  to 
the  State  of  Ohio,  under  an  obligation  that  the  State  make  and  sustain  the  pro- 
jected road,  within  four  years  after  the  transfer. 

The  Turnpike  Lands  extended  over  31,360  acres  along  the  western  side  of 
the  Columbus  &  Sandusky  Turnpike,  in  the  eastern  parts  of  Seneca,  Craw- 
ford and  Marion  Counties.  They  were  designed  for  the  transportation  of  mail 
stages,  troops  and  other  United  States  property,  free  from  toll.  The  grant  was 
made  in  1827. 

"  The  Ohio  Canal  Lands  "  comprise  about  1,000,000  acres,  set  aside  for  the 
purpose  of  canal  construction. 

When  Ohio  was  admitted  to  the  LTnion,  a  guarantee  was  given  that  the  State 
should  not  tax  Government  lands  until  they  should  have  been  sold  for  five  years. 
That  the  thirty-sixth  part  of  all  territory  within  the  State  limits  should  be  de- 
voted to  educational  purposes,  for  the  general   benefit  of  the   population.     In 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  119 

order  to  secure  tracts  which  would  prove  available,  and  thus  insure  returns, 
they  were  selected  in  small  lots.  No.  16  was  designated  as  the  sectional  portion, 
in  each  township  of  Congress  lands,  the  Ohio  Company's  and  Symmes  Pur- 
chases, the  United  States  Military  Lands,  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  and  a  num- 
ber of  quarter  townships.  These  school  lands  were  selected  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury. 

The  college  townships  are  thirty-six  miles  square.  A  section,  thirty-six 
miles  square,  in  the  center  of  Jackson  County,  in  the  vicinity  and  containing 
the  Scioto  Salt  Licks,  was  also  reserved  by  Congress,  together  with  a  quarter- 
mile  township  in  Delaware  County.  This  swept  over  27,040  acres.  In  1824, 
Congress  authorized  the  State  to  sell  these  lands.  The  proceeds  were  to  be 
devoted  to  literary  requirements,  such  as  might  be  specified  by  Congress. 

IMPROVEMENTS. 

We  have  heretofore  briefly  alluded  to  the  canal  system  of  Ohio,  which  in 
the  beginning  caused  considerable  anxiety  to  settlers  directly  in  the  course  of 
its  survey.  The  Legislature  passed  the  "  Internal  Improvement  by  Navigable 
Canals  "  act,  in  1825,  and  the  work  was  immediately  inaugurated  and  hastened. 
The  "  Ohio  Canal  "  extends  from  the  lake  to  the  Ohio,  and  the  "  Miami  "  con- 
nects Cincinnati  with  Dayton.  The  latter  was  completed  to  Toledo  in  1844,  a 
length  of  493  miles.  Its  total  cost,  including  reservoir  cutting  and  feeders,  was 
$7,500,000.     The  Ohio  Canal  was  finished  in  1833. 

During  the  construction  of  these  canals,  the  curiosities  which  have  attracted 
antiquarians  and  scientists,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  were  found  in  various  places. 
Relics  were  discovered  that  must  have  belonged  to  a  giant  race.  Nearly  3,000 
graves  were  found,  of  the  "  mound  type."  * 

A  third  canal  was  begun  in  1836,  reaching  from  Walhonding,  in  Coshocton 
County,  to  Roscoe,  its  length  being  twenty-five  miles,  involving  an  expense  of 
$610,000.  This  was  completed  in  1842.  The  Hocking  Canal,  between  Car- 
roll, in  Fairfield  County,  and  Athens,  in  Athens  County,  a  distance  of  fifty- 
six  miles,  was  also  cut,  about  the  same  time,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $1,000,000. 

The  Muskingum  improvements  were  also  being  carried  forward.  Locks  and 
dams  were  requisite  for  the  perfection  of  navigation  in  this  water-course,  from 
Dresden  to  Marietta,  a  distance  of  ninety-one  miles.  This  added  an  expense 
of  $1,630,000  to  the  call  for  improvement  appropriations.  To  the  Miami  Canal 
was  added  a  feeder,  known  as  the  Warren  County  Canal — extending  from 
Franklin  to  Lebanon,  which  was  not  completed,  although  over  $250,000  were 
expended  in  its  construction  as  far  as  it  went. 

Railway  transportation  was  a  subject  which  engrossed  the  attention  of  those  in- 
terested in  State  perpetuity  and  general  prosperity.  About  the  year  1831,  the  Leg- 
islature received  applications  for  railway  charters.  The  first  one  granted  was  the 
"  Cincinnati,  Sandusky  &  Cleveland  Railroad,"  on  June  5, 1832.  The  "  Sandusky, 
Mansfield  &  Newark  Railroad  "  obtained  a  charter  in  1836,  March  11,  followed, 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

three  days  thereafter,  by  the  "  Cleveland,  Columbus  &  Cincinnati  Railroad." 
The  "  Little  Miami"  was  begun  in  1837.  Notwithstanding  these  chartered 
rights,  but  129  miles  were  completed  in  1847,  and  in  operation.  In  1878, 
the  mileage  had  increased  to  6,264.  The  valuation  of  the  operating  roads 
was  estimated  the  same  year,  at  $76,113,500.  Their  taxation  summed  up 
$1,128,116. 

No  State  in  the  Union  has  been  more  zealous  in  her  educational  interests  than 
Ohio.  Public  lands  were  generously  granted  by  Congress,  and  the  State  added 
her  affirmation.  However,  no  practical  and  effectual  system  was  adopted  until 
1825. 

An  act  was  then  passed  to  tax  all  real  property  one-half  mill  per  dollar  for 
the  establishment  of  schools  in  each  township,  and  the  support  of  the  same. 
An  act  of  1829,  increased  the  tax  to  three-fourths  of  a  mill.  Trustees  of 
townships  were  instructed  to  make  divisions  and  locate  convenient  school  dis- 
tricts. Householders  were  to  elect  three  school  directors,  a  clerk  and  treasurer 
annually.  Privileges  and  restrictions  were  enjoined  in  all  cases.  The  house- 
holders were  allowed  their  discretion,  governed  accordingly,  in  imposing  taxes 
for  the  erection  of  school  buildings.  The  Courts  of  the  Common  Pleas 
appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the  qualifications  of  those  individuals  mak- 
ing application  for  the  position  of  teachers.  The  school  extended  equal  privi- 
leges to  all  white  children.  Those  of  colored  parentage  were  excluded,  and  no 
tax  was  levied  for  school  purposes  upon  colored  parents.  An  amendment  has 
admitted  the  children  of  colored  parents.  The  system  has  continued  the  same, 
with  a  few  amendments.  A  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  is  elected 
every  third  year,  who  has  general  charge  of  the  interests  of  public  schools.  A 
State  Board  of  Examiners,  composed  of  three  persons,  appointed  by  the  State 
Commissioner,  for  two  years'  term,  is  authorized  to  issue  life  certificates  of  high 
qualifications,  to  such  teachers  as  it  may  find  to  possess  the  requisite  scholarship, 
character,  experience  and  ability.  These  certificates,  signed  by  the  Commis- 
sioner, are  valid  throughout  the  State.  A  County  Board  of  Examiners,  of 
three  members,  is  formed  in  each  county.  Boards  of  education,  for  cities,  are 
made  up  of  one  or  two  members  from  each  ward.  City  Boards  of  Examiners 
are  also  appointed.  Section  4  of  the  law  of  1873,  was  amended  in  1877,  which 
made  the  territory  annexed  to  an  incorporated  village,'  at  the  option  of  the 
voters  of  the  village  and  tributary  section,  whether  it  be  included  with  the  vil- 
lage as  one  school  district,  or  left  as  two  school  districts.  Section  56  of  the  law  was 
amended,  in  its  bearing  upon  cities  of  30,000  to  75,000  inhabitants,  by  limiting 
to  five  mills  on  the  dollar  of  taxable  property,  the  levies  in  such  cities  for  con- 
tinuing schools,  for  purchasing  sites  for  schoolhouses,  for  leasing,  purchasing, 
erecting  and  furnishing  school  houses,  and  for  all  school  expenses.  The  public 
funds  are  subject  to  the  discretion  of  voters,  and  boards  are  authorized,  under 
instructions,  to  make  the  best  use  of  such  funds.  Taxation  is  subject  to  the 
discretion  of  the  State,  certain  limits  being  prescribed. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  121 

In  1878,  the  number  of  youth  of  the  school  age  numbered  1,041,963. 
On  the  rolls,  740,194  names  were  recorded.  In  the  year  1878,  23,391  teach- 
ers were  employed,  receiving  $4,956,514.46  for  their  services. 

Ohio  not  only  sustains  her  public  schools  on  a  broad,  liberal  basis,  but  she 
encourages  educational  pursuits  in  superior  universities  and  colleges  throughout 
the  State.  These  institutions  are  not  aided  by  State  funds,  but  are  sustained  by 
society  influence,  added  to  their  self-supporting  resources.  Ohio  also  possesses 
a  large  number  of  normal  schools,  academies,  seminaries  and  business  colleges. 
These  are  not  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  school  fund.  Scientific,  profes- 
sional, theological,  legal  and  medical  instructions  are  in  no  manner  limited  in 
their  facilities.  Industrial  and  reformatory  schools  are  especially  thorough. 
Institutions  for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  blind,  and  feeble- 
minded, are  under  the  best  discipline. 

We  may  add,  many  female  seminaries  have  been  established  which  are  entirely 
sustained  by  other  than  State  aid.  Ohio  has,  from  its  inception,  been  solid  and 
vigorous  in  whatever  tended  toward  improvement  and  enlightenment. 

We  have  also  referred  to  the  banking  system  of  this  State,  as  being  first 
established  on  a  basis  through  a  contest  between  the  State  and  the  General 
Government.  Authorities  differ  regarding  the  exact  date  and  location  of  the 
very  first  house  established  in  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  transacting  banking 
business.  It  is  highly  probable  that  Marietta  is  more  directly  associated  with 
that  event  than  any  other  town.  There  are  at  present  over  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  national  banks,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $27,794,468.  It  also 
has  eighteen  banks  of  deposit,  incorporated  under  the  State  banking  laws  of 
1845,  representing  an  aggregate  capital  of  $539,904.  Twenty-three  savings 
banks,  incorporated  under  the  State  act  of  1875,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
$1,277,500.  Of  private  banks  it  has  192,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
$5,663,898.  The  State  represents  in  her  banking  capital  over  $36,275,770. 
The  First  National  of  Cincinnati  has  a  capital  stock  of  over  $1,000,000. 
The  others  fall  below  that  sum,  their  capital  diminishing  from  10,000  shares  of 
$100  each.  The  valuation  for  taxation  is  $850,000 — Merchant's  National  of 
Cincinnati — to  the  valuation  of  a  tax  of  $5,000  on  the  First  National  of 
Beverly. 

BOUNDARY   LINES. 

We  must  not  omit  the  subject  of  the  State  boundaries.  Ohio  was  especially 
the  field  for  most  animated  discussions,  relative  not  only  to  State  limits  but 
county  lines  and  township  rights.  In  1817,  a  severe  controversy  arose,  which 
was  settled  only  after  violent  demonstrations  and  Government  interference. 

In  primitive  times,  the  geographical  position,  extent  and  surface  diversities 
were  but  meagerly  comprehended.  In  truth,  it  may  be  asserted  they  could  not 
have  been  more  at  variance  with  actual  facts  had  they  been  laid  out  ^'  hap- 
hazard." The  ordinance  of  1787  represented  Lake  Michigan  far  north  of  its 
real  position,  and  even  as  late  as  1812,  its  size  and  location  had  not  been 


122  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

definitely  ascertained.  During  that  year,  Amos  Spafford  addressed  a  clear,  com- 
prehensive letter  to  the  Governor  of  Ohio,  on  this  subject,  relative  to  the 
boundary  lines  of  Ohio.  Several  lines  of  survey  were  laid  out  as  the  first 
course,  but  either  Michigan  or  Ohio  expressed  disapproval  in  every  case.  This 
culminated  in  1835,  when  the  party  beginning  a  "permanent"  survey  began 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State,  and  was  attacked  by  a  force  of  Michigan 
settlers  who  sent  them  away  badly  routed  and  beaten.  No  effort  was  made  to 
return  to  the  work  until  the  State  and  various  parties  had  weighed  the  subject, 
and  finally  the  interposition  of  the  Government  became  necessary. 

A  settlement  resulted  in  Ohio  being  bounded  on  the  north  by  Lake  Erie 
and  the  State  of  Michigan,  on  the  east  by  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia,  on 
the  south  by  the  Ohio  River,  and  on  the  west  by  Indiana. 

It  is  situated  between  the  38°  25'  and  42°  north  latitude,  and  84°  50' 
west  longitude  from  Greenwich,  or  3°  30'  and  7°  50'  west  from  Washington. 
From  north  to  south,  it  extends  over  210  miles,  and  from  east  to  west  220 
miles — comprising  39,964  square  miles. 

The  State  is  generally  higher  than  the  Ohio  River.  In  the  southern 
counties,  the  surface  is  greatly  diversified  by  the  inequalities  produced  by  the 
excavating  power  of  the  Ohio  River  and  its  tributaries.  The  greater  portion 
of  the  State  was  originally  covered  with  timber,  although  in  the  central  and 
northwestern  sections  some  prairies  were  found.  The  crest  or  watershed 
between  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  those  of  the  Ohio  is  less  elevated  than 
in  New  York  or  Pennsylvania.  Sailing  upon  the  Ohio  the  country  appears 
to  be  mountainous,  bluffs  rising  to  the  height  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  six 
hundred  feet  above  the  valleys.  Ascending  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  these 
precipitous  hills  gradually  lessen  until  they  are  resolved  into  gentle  undulations, 
and  toward  the  sources  of  the  river  the  land  is  low  and  marshy. 

Although  Ohio  has  no  inland  lakes  of  importance,  she  possesses  a  favorable 
river  system,  which,  aided  by  her  canals,  gives  her  prestige  of  a  convenient 
water  transportation.  The  lake  on  her  northern  boundary,  and  the  Ohio 
River  on  her  southern  limit,  afibrd  most  convenient  outlets  by  water  to  impor- 
tant points.  Her  means  of  communication  and  transportation  are  superior  in 
every  respect,  and  are  constantly  being  increased. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  COUNTIES  AND  EARLY  EVENTS. 

Adams  County  was  named  in  honor  of  John  Adams,  second  President  of 
the  United  States.  Gov.  St.  Clair  proclaimed  it  a  county  on  July  10,  1797. 
The  Virginia  Military  Tract  included  this  section,  and  the  first  settlement  made 
within  its  boundaries  was  in  this  county  in  1790-91,  between  the  Scioto  and  Little 
Miami,  at  Manchester,  by  Gen.  Nathaniel  Massie.  In  this  town  was  held  the 
first  court  of  the  county. 

West  Union,  the  present  county  seat,  was  laid  out  by  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Kirker.     It  occupies  the  summit  of  a  high  ridge.     The  surface  of  this  county  is 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  123 

hilly  and  broken,  and  the  eastern  part  is  not  fertile.  It  produces  corn,  wheat,  oats 
and  pork.  Beds  of  iron  are  found  in  the  eastern  part.  Its  hills  are  composed  of 
aluminous  shale.  The  barren  hills  afford  a  range  for  cattle  and  hogs.  A  sort 
of  vagrant  class  derive  a  support  by  collecting  stones,  hoop-poles  and  tanners' 
barks  from  these  hills. 

Ashland  County  is  one  of  the  finest  agricultural  sections.  It  was  formed 
February  26,  1846.  Wheat  comprises  its  principal  crop,  although  large  quan- 
tities of  oats,  corn,  potatoes,  grass  and  fruit  are  raised.  Ashland  is  its  county 
seat,  and  was  laid  out  by  William  Montgomery  in  1816.  It  was  called  Union- 
town  for  several  years.  Daniel  Carter  raised  the  first  cabin  within  the  county 
limits  in  1811. 

Auglaize  County  was  formed  in  February,  1848,  from  Allen  and  Mercer 
Counties.     Wapakoneta  is  its  county  seat. 

Allen  County  was  formed  from  the  Indian  Territory  April  1,  1820.  Lima 
is  its  county  seat. 

Ashtabula  County  was  formed  June  7,  1807,  and  was  organized  January 
22,  1811.  The  surface  is  level  near  the  lake,  while  the  remainder  is  undulat- 
ing. The  soil  is  mostly  clay.  Very  little  wheat  is  raised,  but  considerable 
corn  and  oats.  Butter  and  cheese  are  the  main  marketable  productions.  This 
was  the  first  county  settled  on  the  Western  Reserve,  and  also  the  earliest  in 
Northern  Ohio.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1796,  the  first  surveying  party  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  Conneaut  Creek.  Judge  James  Kingsbury  was  the  first  who 
■wintered  there  with  his  family.  He  was  the  first  man  to  use  a  sickle  in  the 
first  wheat-field  in  the  Western  Reserve.  Their  child  was  the  first  born  on  the 
Western  Reserve,  and  was  starved  to  death.  The  first  regular  settlement  was 
at  Harpersfield,  in  1798. 

Jefferson  is  the  county  seat.  Ashtabula  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  river, 
with  a  fine  harbor  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  village. 

The  first  church  on  the  Western  Reserve  was  founded  at  Austinburg  in 
1801. 

Athens  County  was  formed  from  Washington  March  1,  1805.  It  produces 
wheat,  corn,  oats  and  tobacco.  The  surface  is  hilly  and  broken,  with  rich  bot- 
tom lands  between.  Coal,  iron  ore  and  salt  add  materially  to  its  commercial 
value.  It  has  the  advantage  of  the  canal,  as  well  as  other  transportation. 
Athens,  its  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Hocking  River.  The  Ohio  Uni- 
versity, the  first  college  founded  in  the  State,  is  located  'here.  We  have 
mentioned  the  ancient  mounds  found  in  this  county,  heretofore.  Yellow  pine  is 
abundant  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Hocking  Valley. 

Brown  County  was  formed  March  1,  1818,  from  Adams  and  Clermont.  It 
produces  wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats  and  pork.  The  southern  part  is  prolific  in 
grain,  while  the  northern  is  adapted  to  grazing  purposes.  The  surface  is  undu- 
lating, with  the  exception  of  the  Ohio  River  hills.  Over  this  county  Tecumseb 
once  held  sway 


124  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Georgetown  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1819.     Ripley  is  the  larg- 
est business  town  in  the  county. 

Belmont  County  was  announced  by  Gov.  St.  Clair  September  1,  1801.  It 
produces  large  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  corn  and  tobacco,  an  annual  crop  of  over 
2,000,000  pounds  of  the  latter  being  the  average.  It  also  trades  largely  in 
wool  and  coal.  It  is  a  picturesque  tract  of  country,  and  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  early  settled  portions. 

In  1790,  Fort  Dillie  was  erected  on  the  west  side  of  the  Ohio.  Baker's 
Fort  was  a  mile  below  the  mouth  of  the  Captina.  Many  desperate  Indian  bat- 
tles were  fought  within  the  limits  of  this  county,  and  the  famous  Indian  scout, 
Lewis  Wetzel,  roamed  over  the  region. 

St.  Clairsville  is  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the  elevation  of  land,  in  a  fer- 
tile district.  Capt.  Kirkwood  and  Elizabeth  Zane,  of  historic  fame,  were  early 
pioneers  here. 

Butler  County  was  formed  in  1803,  from  Hamilton.  It  is  within  the  blue 
limestone  formation,  and  one  of  the  most  fertile  sections  of  Ohio.  It  produces 
more  corn  than  any  other  county  in  the  State,  besides  fine  crops  of  wheat, 
oats  and  large  quantities  of  pork.  Hamilton,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the 
Great  Miami.  Its  hydraulic  works  furnish  superior  water-power.  Rossville, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Miami,  is  a  large  mercantile  town. 

St.  Clair  passed  through  this  county  on  his  Indian  campaigns  in  1791, 
building  Fort  Hamilton  on  the  Miami. 

Champaign  County  was  formed  March  1,  1805,  from  Greene  and  Franklin. 
It  is  drained  by  Mad  River  and  its  tributaries,  which  furnishes  extensive  mill 
privileges.  Nearly  a  half  is  undulating,  a  quarter  rolling,  a  fifth  hilly,  and 
5  per  cent  wet  prairie.  The  soil  is  fertile,  and  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats, 
barley,  hay,  while  beef  and  wool  add  to  the  general  wealth.  Urbana,  the 
county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1805,  by  Col.  William  Ward.  He  was  chief  owner 
of  the  land  and  donated  many  lots  to  the  county,  under  condition  that  their 
proceeds  be  devoted  to  public  improvements.  Joseph  Vance  and  George 
Fithian  were  the  first  settlers.  The  Methodists  built  the  first  church  in  1807. 
The  main  army  of  Hull  concentrated  at  this  point  before  setting  out  for  Detroit. 
Many  Indian  councils  were  called  here,  and  Tecumseh  was  located  for  a  time 
near  Deer  Creek. 

Carroll  County  was  formed  from  Columbiana  in  1832-33.  It  produces 
wheat,  oats  and  corn,  and  valuable  coal  and  iron.  The  surface  is  hilly.  Car- 
rollton  is  its  county  seat.     At  Harlem  is  a  celebrated  chalybeate  spri-ng. 

Clark  County  was  formed  March  1,  1817,  from  Champaign,  Madison  and 
Greene.  Its  second  settlement  was  at  Kreb's  Station,  in  1796.  It  is  highly  culti- 
vated, well  watered  and  very  fertile.  The  Mad  River,  Buck  and  Beaver  Creeks 
furnish  abundant  water-power.      It  produces  principally  wheat,  corn  and  oats. 

Tecumseh,  the  old  Indian  warrior,  was  born  at  the  ancient  Indian  vil- 
lage of  Piqua,  on  the  Mad  River,  on  the  site  of  New  Boston.     Piqua  was 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  125 

destroyed  by  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke.  Skeletons,  beads,  gun  barrels, 
tomahawks,  kettles,  etc.,  have  been  found  in  the  vicinity. 

Springfield,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  National  road.  It  has  con- 
venient transportation  facilities,  is  handsomely  laid  out,  and  is  noted  for  its 
cultured  citizens.     It  is  near  Mad  River,  and  Buck   Creek  runs  through  it. 

Clinton  County  was  formed  in  1810.  It  produces  chiefly  wheat,  oats, 
wool  and  pork.  Its  surface  is  undulating,  in  some  parts  hilly,  and  the  soil  fer- 
tile. Its  streams  furnish  desirable  water-power.  The  county  was  settled  in 
1798—99.  Wilmington  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1810.  The  first 
log  house  was  built  by  William  Hobsin. 

Clermont  County  was  the  eighth  formed  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  by 
proclamation  of  Gov.  St.  Clair,  December  9,  1800.  The  soil  is  exceedingly 
rich,  and  the  surface  is  broken  and,  near  the  Ohio,  hilly.  Wheat,  corn,  oats, 
hay,  potatoes,  tobacco,  barley,  buckwheat  and  rye  form  the  main  crops,  while 
beef,  pork,  flour,  hay  and  whisky  constitute  its  main  exports.  Its  streams 
furnish  good  water-power.  Batavia,  its  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Little 
Miami  River,  and  was  laid  out  in  1820,  by  George  Ely. 

Columbiana  County  was  formed  March  25,  1803,  from  Jeff"erson  and  Wash- 
ington. Its  soil  is  very  fertile,  producing  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  potatoes.  It 
is  wealthy  in  mineral  deposits,  coal,  iron  ore,  lime  and  freestone  being  abun- 
dant. Its  water-lime  stone  is  of  superior  quality.  Salt  water  is  found  on  Yel- 
low and  Beaver  Creeks.  This  is  also  the  great  wool-producing  county  of 
the  State.  It  was  settled  in  1797.  New  Lisbon,  its  county  seat,  is  well 
built. 

The  first  paper-mill  in  Ohio  was  erected  in  this  county,  on  Little  Beaver 
Creek,  by  John  Coulter  and  John  Bever. 

Coshocton  County  was  organized  April  1,  1811.  Its  principal  products  are 
wheat,  corn,  oats  and  wool.  Hills  and  valleys  alternate  along  the  Muskingum 
River.  Abrupt  changes  are  strongly  marked — a  rich  alluvum  being  overhung 
by  a  red  bush  hill,  while  directly  beside  it  may  be  seen  the  poplar  and  sugar 
tree.  Coal  and  iron  ore  add  to  its  general  importance,  while  salt  wells  have 
proven  remunerative. 

Coshocton,  the  county  seat,  is  built  on  four  wide,  natural  terraces,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Tuscarawas  with  the  Walhonding. 

Cuyahoga  County  was  formed  June  7,  1807,  from  Geauga.  Near  the  lake, 
the  soil  is  sandy,  while  a  clayey  loam  may  be  found  elsewhere.  The  valleys 
near  the  streams  produce  Avheat,  barley  and  hay.  Fruit  is  successfully  grown, 
and  cheese,  butter,  beef  and  wool  are  largely  exported.  Bog  iron  is  found  in 
the  western  part,  and  fine  grindstone  quarries  are  in  operation.  The  sandstone 
from  these  quarries  is  now  an  important  article  of  commerce.  As  early  as 
1775,  there  was  a  French  settlement  within  the  boundaries  of  Cuyahoga.  In 
1786,  a  Moravian  missionary  came  to  the  present  site  of  Cleveland,  and  set- 
tled in  an   abandoned  village   of  the    Ottawas.      Circumstances  prevented  a 


126  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

permanent  settlement,  and  the  British  tacitly  took  possession,,  even  remaining 
upon  the  lake  shores  after  the  Revolution. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  at  Cleveland  in  1796.  Mr.  Job 
V.  Stiles  and  family  and  Edward  Paine  passed  the  first  winter  there,  their  log 
cabin  standing  where  the  Commercial  Bank  is  now  located.  Rodolphus 
Edwards  and  Nathaniel  Doane  settled  here.  The  town  was,  in  1813,  a  depot 
of  supplies  and  a  rendezvous  for  troops  engaged  in  the  war. 

Cleveland,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  at  the  northern  termination  of  the 
Ohio  Canal,  on  the  lake  shore.  In  1814,  it  was  incorporated  as  a  village,  and 
in  1836,  as  a  city.  Its  elevation  is  about  a  hundred  feet  above  the  lake.  It 
is  a  lovely  city,  and  has  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  Lake  Erie. 

Ohio  City  is  another  important  town,  nearly  opposite  Cleveland,  on  the 
Cuyahoga.     It  was  incorporated  in  1836. 

Crawford  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  the  old  Indian  territory. 
The  entire  county  is  adapted  to  grazing.  The  soil  is  generally  composed  of 
rich  vegetable  loam,  and  in  some  parts  the  subsoil  is  clay  mixed  with  lime. 
Rich  beds  of  shell  marl  have  been  discovered.  It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats, 
clover,  timothy  seed,  wool  and  cattle.  Fine  limestone  quarries  are  worked  with 
success. 

Bucyrus  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  February  11,  1822,  by  Samuel 
Norton  and  James  Kilbourn,  original  owners  of  the  land.  The  first  settler  in 
the  town  proper  was  Samuel  Norton.  A  gas  well  has  been  dug  in  Bucyrus, 
on  the  land  of  R.  W.  Musgrove,  which  burns  in  a  brilliant  light  Avhen  con- 
ducted to  the  surface  by  means  of  pipes.  Crawford's  Sulphur  Springs  are 
located  nine  miles  from  Bucyrus.  The  water  is  impregnated  with  sulphuretted 
hydrogen.  It  deposits  a  reddish-purple  sediment.  In  its  nature  the  water  is  a 
cathartic,  and  is  diuretic  and  diaphoretic  in  its  effects.  A  few  rods  away  is  a 
burning  spring.  The  Annapolis  Sulphur  Spring  is  clear  and  has  gained  consid- 
erable fame  by  its  curative  qualities.  Opposite  Bucyrus  is  a  chalybeate  spring 
of  tonic  qualities. 

There  are  some  beds  of  peat  in  the  county,  the  most  extensive  one  being  a 
wet  prairie  called  Cranberry  Marsh,  containing  nearly  2,000  acres. 

Darke  County  was  organized  in  March,  1817,  from  Miami  County.  It  is 
abundantly  timbered  with  poplar,  walnut,  blue  ash,  hickory,  beech  and  sugar 
maple.  It  yields  superior  wheat,  and  is  well  adapted  to  grazing.  In  this 
county  occurred  the  lamentable  defeat  of  St.  Clair,  and  the  treaty  of  Greenville. 

Greenville  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  August  10,  1808,  by  Robert 
Gray  and  John  Dover.  In  December,  1793,  Wayne  built  Fort  Greenville  on 
this  spot,  which  covered  about  the  same  extent  as  the  present  town. 

Delaware  County  was  formed  February  10,  1808,  from  Franklin.  It  pro- 
duces mainly  wheat,  corn,  oats,  pork  and  wool. 

Delaware  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  the  spring  of  1808,  by 
Moses  Byxbe.     The  Delaware  Spring  in  the  village  is  of  the  white  sulphur  or 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  127 

<3old  hydro-sulphurous  nature,  valuable  for  medicinal  qualities  in  cases  of  bilious 
derangements,  dyspepsia,  scrofulous  affections,  etc. 

Defiance  County  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1845,  from  Williams,  Henry 
and  Paulding.  The  Maumee,  Tiffin  and  Auglaize  flow  through  it.  The  Black 
Swamp  covers  much  of  its  area. 

Defiance,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Maumee.  It  was  laid  out  in 
1822,  by  B.  Level  and  H.  Phillips.  A  large  Indian  settlement  occupied  its 
gite  in  very  early  times.  Wayne  arrived  here  August  8,  1794,  captured  the 
place,  finding  about  one  thousand  acres  of  corn,  peach  and  apple  orchards,  and 
vegetables  of  all  varieties.     Here  he  built  Fort  Defiance. 

Erie  County  was  formed  in  1838,  from  Huron  and  Sandusky.  The  soil  is 
alluvial,  and  yields  large  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  potatoes.  It  possesses 
inexhaustable  quarries  of  limestone  and  freestone.  Immense  quantities  of  bog 
iron  are  also  found.  The  Erie  tribe  is  said  to  have  once  occupied  the  land,  and 
-were  extirpated  by  the  Iroquois.  As  early  as  1754,  the  French  had  built  set- 
tlements. In  1764,  the  county  was  besieged.  Pontiac  came  here  with  warlike 
•demonstrations,  but  made  peace  with  the  whites.  Erie  was  included  in  the 
"fire  lands"  of  the  Western  Reserve. 

Sandusky  City  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1817,  then  termed 
Portland.  At  that  time  it  contained  two  log  huts.  The  town  is  finely  situated, 
and  is  based  upon  an  inexhaustible  quarry  of  the  finest  limestone.  In  the 
"patriot  war"  with  the  Canadians,  this  city  was  the  rendezvous  for  the 
"patriots." 

Franklin  County  was  formed  April  30,  1803,  from  Ross.  It  contains 
much  low  wet  land,  and  is  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  agricultural  purposes. 
It  was  in  early  times  occupied  by  the  Wyandot  Indians.  Its  first  white  set- 
tlement was  made  in  1797,  by  Robert  Armstrong  and  others.  Franklinton 
was  laid  out  in  1797,  by  Lucas  Sullivan.  Worthington  was  settled  by  the 
Scioto  Company  in  1801.  Col.  Kilbourn,  who  was  interested  in  the  work, 
constructed  the  first  map  of  Ohio  during  his  explorations,  by  uniting  sectional 
diagrams. 

Columbus,  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  is  also  the  county  seat  of 
Franklin  County.  After  the  organization  of  a  State  government,  the  capital 
was  "portable"  until  1816.  In  1810,  the  sessions  were  held  at  Chillicothe, 
in  1811  and  1812  at  Zanesville,  removing  again  to  Chillicothe,  and,  in  1816, 
Iseing  located  at  Columbus.  The  town  was  laid  out  during  the  spring  of  1812. 
A  penitentiary  was  erected  in  1813,  and  the  State  House  was  built  in  1814. 
It  was  incorporated  as  "the  borough  of  Columbus,"  February  10,  1816.  The 
city  charter  was  granted  March  3,  1834. 

It  is  beautifully  located  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Scioto.  The  Columbus 
Institute  is  a  classical  institution.  A  female  and  a  theological  seminary  also 
add  to  its  educational  advantages.  The  Ohio  Lunatic  Asylum  is  also  located 
here — also  the  Ohio  Institution  for  the  Education  of  the  Blind.     East  of  the 


128  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

State   House   is   the   Ohio   Institution   for  the   Education   of  the   Deaf  and 
Dumb. 

Fairfield  County  was  formed  by  proclamation  of  Gov.  St.  Clair,  December 
9,  1800. 

The  soil  is  varied,  being  in  some  parts  exceedingly  rich,  and  in  others  very 
sterile.  It  produces  principally  wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats,  buckwheat,  barley, 
potatoes  and  tobacco. 

Lancaster  is  the  county  seat,  laid  out  by  Ebenezer  Zane  in  1800.  In  1797, 
he  opened  the  road  known  as  "Zane's  Trace,"  from  Wheeling  to  Limestone — 
now  Maysville.  It  passed  through  Lancaster,  at  a  fording  about  three  hundred 
yards  below  the  present  turnpike  bridge.  Near  the  turn  stands  an  imposing 
eminance  called  "  Standing  Stone."    Parties  of  pleasure  frequently  visit  this  spot. 

Fayette  County  was  formed  from  Ross  and  Highland  in  1810.  Wheat, 
corn,  cattle,  hogs,  sheep  and  wool  comprise  its  main  productions.  "  The  bar- 
rens" are  situated  in  the  northeastern  part.  This  tract  is  covered  by  a  growth 
of  grass. 

Washington  is  its  county  seat,  laid  out  in  1810. 

Col.  Stewart  was  active  in  the  interests  of  this  section,  and  his  memory  is 
sacredly  revered.     Jesse  Milliken  was  prominent  in  public  affairs. 

Fulton  County,  bordering  on  Michigan,  was  organized  in  1850.  It  is 
drained  by  Bean  Creek  and  other  small  affluents  of  the  Maumee  River.  The 
surface  is  nearly  level,  and  a  large  part  of  it  is  covered  with  forests  of  ash, 
beech,  elm,  hickory,  white  oak,  black  walnut,  etc.,  furnishing  excellent  timber. 
The  soil  is  fertile.  Wheat,  corn,  oats  and  hay  are  the  staple  products.  Wau- 
seon  is  the  county  seat. 

Guernsey  County  was  organized  in  March,  1810.  Wool  is  a  staple  prod- 
uct, together  with  beef,  horses  and  swine.     It  produces  wheat,  corn  and  oats. 

Cambridge  is  the  county  seat  and  was  laid  out  in  June,  1806.  Mr. 
Graham  was  the  first  settler  on  the  site  of  the  town,  and  his  was  the  only 
dwelling  between  Lancaster  and  Wheeling. 

The  first  cannel  coal  found  in  the  county  was  discovered  near  Mill's  Creek. 

Greene  County  was  formed  May  1,  1803,  from  Hamilton  and  Ross.  It 
produces  wheat,  corn,  rye,  grass-seed,  oats,  barley,  sheep  and  swine.  The 
streams  furnish  good  water-power.  There  are  five  limestone  quarries,  and  a 
marble  quarry  of  variegated  colors.  The  Shawnee  town  was  on  the  Little 
Miami,  and  was  visited  by  Capt.  Thomas  Bullit  in  1773.  When  Daniel  Boone 
was  captured  in  1778,  he  was  brought  to  this  town,  and  escaped  the  following 
year.    Gen.  Clarke  invaded  this  county  and  the  Indians  reduced  the  town  to  ashes. 

Xenia,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  off  in  the  forest  in  1803,  by  Joseph  C. 
Vance.  The  first  cabin  was  erected  in  April,  1804,  by  John  Marshall.  The 
Rev.  James  Fowler  built  the  first  hewed-log  cabin.  David  A.  Sanders  built 
the  first  frame  house.  Nine  miles  north  of  the  town,  on  the  Little  Miami 
River,  are  the  Yellow  Springs,  which  are  impregnated  with  sulphur. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  129 

Greauga  County  was  formed  in  1805  from  Trumbull.  It  exports  sheep, 
€attle,  butter  and  cheese.  It  is  situated  at  the  head  of  Chargrine,  Cuyahoga  and 
a  part  of  Grand  Rivers,  on  high  ground,  and  is  subjected  to  snowstorms  more 
frequently  than  any  other  part  of  the  Reserve.  Its  first  settlement  was  made 
in  1798,  at  Burton.  Chardon  is  fourteen  miles  from  Lake  Erie,  and  is  600 
feet  above  it.     It  was  laid  out  as  the  county  seat  in  1808. 

Gallia  County  was  formed  April  30,  1803,  from  Washington.  Its  princi- 
pal crops  are  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  beans.  The  surface  is  generally  broken. 
Its  first  settlement  was  made  in  1791,  by  a  French  colony,  at  Gallipolis.  This 
colony  was  sent  out  under  the  auspices  of  the  Scioto  Company.  This  town  is 
now  the  county  seat. 

Hamilton  County  was  the  second  established  in  the  Northwestern  Territory 
by  proclamation  of  Gov.  St.  Clair,  January  2,  1790.  Its  surface  is  gen- 
erally rolling.  It  produces  the  ordinary  farm  products,  and  a  great  variety 
of  fruits  and  vegetables  for  the  Cincinnati  market.  Vineyards  thrive  well 
within  its  limits,  and  the  manufacture  of  wine  is  carried  on  to  a  considerable 
extent. 

This  county  was  the  second  settled  in  Ohio,  and  the  first  within  the  Symmes 
purchase.  Settlers  arrived  at  the  spot  now  occupied  by  Cincinnati,  and  three 
or  four  log  cabins  were  erected.  Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair  arrived  here  in  Janu- 
ary, 1790.  The  army  of  Wayne  encamped  here  later,  at  Fort  Washington. 
Mr.  Maxwell  established  in  1793  the  Sentinel  of  the  Northwestern  Territory^ 
the  first  newspaper  printed  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  In  1796,  Edward  Free- 
man became  its  proprietor,  and  changed  the  name  to  Freeman  s  Journal. 
January  11,  1794,  two  keel-boats  sailed  from  Cincinnati  to  Pittsburgh,  making 
regular  trips  every  four  weeks.  In  1801,  the  first  sea  vessel  built  at  Mari- 
etta came  down  the  Ohio. 

Cincinnati,  the  county  seat,  was  incorporated  January  2,  1802.  It  was  char- 
tered as  a  city  in  1819.  The  city  is  beautifully  laid  out  and  delightfully  situ- 
ated. Its  public  buildings  are  elegant  and  substantial,  including  the  court 
house  and  many  literary  and  charitable  institutions. 

The  Cincinnati  College  was  founded  in  1819.  It  stands  in  the  center  of 
the  city.  .  It  is  built  in  Grecian-Doric  style,  with  pilaster  fronts  and  facade  of 
Dayton  marble.     Woodward  College  is  also  popular. 

The  Catholics  have  founded  the  St.  Xavier's  College.  Lane  Seminary,  a 
theological  institution,  is  at  Walnut  Hills,  two  miles  from  the  center  of  the  city. 
It  has  over  10,000  volumes  in  its  libraries.  No  charge  is  made  for  tuition. 
Rooms  are  provided  and  furnished  at  $5  per  year,  and  board  ranges  from  62| 
cents  to  90  cents  a  week.  The  Cincinnati  Law;  School  is  connected  with  Cin- 
cinnati Collecre.  The  Mechanics'  Institute  was  chartered  in  1828,  and  is  in  all 
respects  well  supplied  with  apparatus.  A  college  for  teachers  was  established  in 
1831,  its  object  being  to  perfect  those  contemplating  entering  that  profession  in 
their  studies  and  system. 


130  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

The  Cincinnati  Orphan  Asylum  is  an  elegant  building,  and  has  a  library 
and  well-organized  school  attached.  The  Catholics  of  the  city  have  one  male 
and  female  orphan  asylum.  The  Commercial  Hospital  and  Lunatic  Asylum  of 
Ohio  was  incorporated  in  1821. 

Cincinnati  is  a  large  manufacturing  city,  and  possesses  fine  water-power 
facilities.  It  communicates  with  the  world  by  means  of  its  canal,  river,  turnpikes, 
and  railways.  North  Bend  is  another  prominent  town  in  this  county,  having 
been  the  residence  of  Gen.  William  H.  Harrison,  and  the  site  of  his  burial 
place.  The  town  was  of  considerable  importance  in  the  early  settlement  of  the 
State.  About  thirty  yards  from  Harrison's  tomb  is  the  grave  of  Judge 
Symmes. 

Hancock  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820.  It  produces  wheat,  oats,  corn, 
pork  and  maple  sugar.  The  surface  is  level  and  its  soil  is  fertile.  Blanchard's 
Fork  waters  the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  county.  Findlay,  the  county 
seat,  was  laid  out  by  ex-Gov.  Joseph  Vance  and  Elnathan  Corry,  in  1821.  It 
was  relaid  in  1829.  William  Vance  settled  there  in  the  fall  of  1821.  At  the 
south  end  of  the  town,  are  two  gas  wells.  In  the  eastern  part,  is  a  mineral 
spring,  and  west  of  the  bridge,  is  a  chalybeate  spring. 

Hardin  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  the  old  Indian  Territory. 
It  produces,  principally,  wheat,  corn  and  swine.  A  portion  of  the  surface  is 
level,  and  the  remainder  undulating.  Fort  McArthur  was  built  on  the  Scioto 
River,  but  proved  a  weak  stockade.  Kenton  is  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the 
Scioto  River. 

Harrison  County  was  formed  from  Jefferson  and  Tuscarawas  January  1, 
1814.  The  surface  is  hilly,  abounding  in  coal  and  limestone.  Its  soil  is  clayey. 
It  is  one  of  the  important  wool-growing  counties  in  Ohio.  It  produces  large 
quantities  of  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  hay,  besides  a  considerable  number  of  horses, 
cattle  and  swine. 

In  April,  1799,  Alexander  Henderson  and  family  settled  in  this  county,  and 
at  the  same  time,  Daniel  Peterson  and  his  family  resided  at  the  forks  of  Short 
Creek.  The  early  settlers  were  much  annoyed  by  Indians  and  wild  beasts. 
Cadiz  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1803  and  1804,  by  Messrs.  Briggs 
and  Beatty. 

Henry  County  was  formed  from  the  old  Indian  Territory,  April  1,  1820. 
Indian  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  and  maple  sugar  constitute  the  main  products. 
The  county  is  well  supplied  with  running  streams,  and  the  soil  is  unusually  rich. 

The  greater  portion  of  this  county  is  covered  by  the  "  Black  Swamp." 
Throughout  this  swamp  are  ridges  of  limestone,  covered  with  black  walnut,  red 
elm,  butternut  and  maple.  The  soil  is  superior  for  grain.  Fruit  thrives  and 
all  varieties  of  vegetables  are  produced  in  large  quantities.  Simon  Girty,  noto- 
rious for  his  wicked  career,  resided  in  this  county.  Girty  led  the  attack  on 
Fort  Henry,  in  September,  1777.  He  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  fort,, 
and  menaced  its  inmates   with  an   Indian  massacre,  in  case  of  refusal.     The 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  131 

action  began,  but  the  fort  gained  the  victory.  He  led  a  ferocious  band  of  Indi- 
ans, and  committed  the  most  fiendish  atrocities. 

Napoleon,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Maumee  River. 

Highland  County  was  formed  in  May,  1805,  from  Ross,  Adams  and  Cler- 
mont. It  is  a  wealthy,  productive  county.  Its  wheat  commands  a  high  mar- 
ket price.  The  crops  consist  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  maple  sugar,  wool,  swine 
and  cattle.  Its  first  settlement  began  in  1801,  at  New  Market,  by  Oliver  Ross, 
Robert  Keeston,  George  W.  Barrere,  Bernard  Weyer  and  others.  Simon  Ken- 
ton made  a  trace  through  this  county  in  early  times.  Hillsboro  is  the 
county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1807,  by  David  Hays,  on  the  land  of  Benja- 
min Ellicott.  It  is  situated  on  the  dividing  ridge,  between  the  Miami  and  Sci- 
oto.    The  Hillsboro  Academy  was  founded  in  1827. 

Hocking  County  was  formed  March  1,  1818,  from  Ross,  Athens  and  Fair- 
field. Its  principal  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco  and  maple  sugar.  Its 
surface  is  broken  and  hilly,  but  is  level  and  fertile  beside  the  streams. 

The  Wyandots  once  occupied  this  tract,  and  built  a  large  town  herein.  In 
1798,  a  few  white  families  ventured  to  settle.  Logan  is  its  county  seat,  and  is 
situated  on  the  Hocking  River. 

Holmes  County  was  formed  from  Coshocton,  Tuscarawas  and  Wayne,  Janu- 
ary 20,  1824.  It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  maple  sugar,  swine, 
sheep  and  cattle.  The  southwestern  portion  is  broken.  Thomas  Butler  was 
the  first  settler,  in  1810.  Millersburg  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in 
1830. 

Huron  County  was  organized  in  1815.  It  produces  hay,  wheat,  corn,  oats, 
barley,  buckwheat,  flaxseed,  potatoes,  butter,  cheese,  wool  and  swine.  Nor- 
walk  is  the  county  seat. 

Jackson  County  was  organized  March,  1816.  The  country  is  rich  in  min- 
erals and  abounds  in  coal  and  iron  ore.  The  exports  are  cattle,  wool,  swine, 
horses,  lumber,  millstones,  tobacco  and  iron.  Jackson,  the  county  seat,  was 
laid  out  in  1817.  The  old  Scioto  salt-works  were  among  the  first  worked  in 
Ohio  by  the  whites.  Prior  to  this  period,  the  Indians  came  some  distance  to 
this  section  to  make  salt.  When  Daniel  Boone  was  a  prisoner,  he  spent  some 
time  at  these  works. 

Jeiferson  County  was  proclaimed  by  Gov.  St.  Clair  July  29,  1797,  and 
was  the  fifth  county  established  in  Ohio.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important 
manufacturing  counties  in  the  State.  Its  resources  in  coal  are  also  extended. 
The  surface  is  hilly  and  the  soil  fertile,  producing  wheat,  corn  and  oats.  The 
old  "Mingo"  town  was  on  the  present  farms  of  Jeremiah  Hallock  and  Mr^ 
Daniel  Potter.  The  troops  of  Col.  Williamson  rendezvoused  at  this  point, 
when  they  set  out  in  their  cruel  Moravian  campaign,  and  also  the  troops  of 
Col.  Crawford,  when  they  started  on  the  campaign  against  the  Sandusky 
Indians.  Here  Logan,  the  powerful  and  manly  chief  of  the  Mingo  nation, 
once  resided.     He  took  no  active  part  in  the  old  French  war,  which  closed  in 


132  HISTORY  OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

1760,  except  that  of  a  peacemaker.  He  was  a  stanch  friend  of  the  whites 
until  the  abominable  and  unprovoked  murder  of  his  father,  brother  and  sister, 
which  occurred  in  1774,  near  the  Yellow  Creek.  He  then  raised  the  battle 
cry  and  sought  revenge. 

However,  Logan  was  remarkably  magnanimous  toward  prisoners  who  fell 
into  his  hands.  The  year  1793  was  the  last  spent  in  Indian  warfare  in  Jeffer- 
son County. 

Fort  Steuben  was  erected  on  the  present  site  of  Steuben ville,  the  county  seat, 
in  1789.  It  was  constructed  of  block-houses,  with  palisade  fences,  and  was  dis- 
mantled during  Wayne's  campaign.  Bezaleel  Wells  and  Hon.  James  Ross  laid 
the  town  out  in  1798.  It  was  incorporated  February  14,  1805.  It  is  situated 
upon  an  elevated  plain.  In  1814,  Messrs.  Wells  and  Dickerson  built  a  woolen 
manufactory,  and  introduced  merino  sheep  to  the  county. 

Knox  County  was  formed  March  1,  1808,  from  Fairfield.  It  is  drained  by 
the  Vernon  River.  It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats,  tobacco,  maple  sugar,  pota- 
toes and  wool.  Mount  Vernon  was  laid  out  in  1805.  The  early  settlers  found 
two  wells  on  the  Vernon  River,  built  of  hammered  stone,  neatly  laid,  and  near 
by  was  a  salt-lick.  Their  direct  origin  remains  a  mystery.  Gilman  Bryant, 
in  1807,  opened  the  first  store  in  Mount  Vernon.  The  court  house  was  built 
in  1810.  The  Indians  came  to  Mount  Vernon  in  large  numbers  for  the  pur- 
pose of  trading  in  furs  and  cranberries.  Each  Saturday,  the  settlers  worked 
on  the  streets,  extracting  stumps  and  improving  the  highway.  The  first  settler 
north  of  the  place  was  N.  M.  Young,  who  built  his  cabin  in  1803.  Mount 
Vernon  is  now  the  county  seat,  beautifully  situated  on  Vernon  River.  Kenyon 
College  is  located  at  Gambler.  It  is  richly  endowed  with  8,000  acres,  and  is 
valued  at  $100,000.  This  institution  was  established  under  the  auspices  of 
Bishop  Chase,  in  July,  1826,  in  the  center  of  a  4,000-acre  tract  belonging  to 
Kenyon  College.     It  was  chartered  as  a  theological  seminary. 

Lucas  County  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin.  A  large  portion  is  covered 
by  the  "  Black  Swamp."  It  produces  corn,  wheat,  potatoes  and  oats.  This 
county  is  situated  in  the  Maumee  Valley,  which  was  the  great  arena  of  histori- 
cal events.  The  frightful  battle  of  Wayne's  campaign,  where  the  Indians  found 
the  British  to  be  traitors,  was  fought  near  Fort  Miami,  in  this  county.  Maumee 
City,  once  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1817,  as  Maumee,  by  Maj.  Wm.  Oliver 
and  others.  It  is  situated  on  the  Maumee,  at  the  head  of  navigation.  The 
surface  is  100  feet  above  the  water  level.  This  town,  with  Perrysburg,  its  neighbor, 
is  exceedingly  picturesque,  and  was  in  early  times  frequented  by  the  Indians. 
The  French  had  a  trading  station  at  this  point,  in  1680,  and  in  1794,  the  Brit- 
ish Fort — Miami — was  built.  Toledo  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Maumee,  and 
covers  the  site  of  a  stockade  fort,  known  as  Fort  Industry,  erected  in  1800. 
An  Indian  treaty  was  held  here  July  4,  1805,  by  which  the  Indians  relinquished 
all  rights  to  the  "  fire  lands."  In  1832,  Capt.  Samuel  Allen  gave  an  impetus 
to  the  place,  and  Maj.  Stickney  also  became  interested  in  its  advancement. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  133 

Speculation  in  lots  began  in  1834.  The  Wabash  &  Erie  Canal  interest  arose  in 
1836.  Mr.  Mason  and  Edward  Bissel  added  their  energies  to  assist  the  growth 
of  the  town.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  1836.  It  was  the  center  of  the 
military  operations  in  the  "  Ohio  and  Michigan  war,"  known  as  the  "boundary 
conflict." 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  provided  for  the  division  of  the  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory into  three  or  five  States.  The  three  southern  were  to  be  divided  from  the 
two  northern  by  a  line  drawn  east  and  west  through  the  southern  point  of  Lake 
Michigan,  extending  eastward  to  the  Territorial  line  in  Lake  Erie.  The  consti- 
tution of  Ohio  adds  a  provision  that  if  the  line  should  not  go  so  far  north  as  the 
north  cape  of  Maumee  Bay,  then  the  northern  boundary  of  Ohio  should  be  a 
line  drawn  from  the  southerly  part  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  north  cape  of  the 
Maumee  Bay. 

The  line  of  the  ordinance  was  impossible,  according  to  its  instructions  and 
the  geography  of  the  country. 

When  Michigan  became  a  Territory,  the  people  living  between  the  "  Fulton  " 
and  '•  Harris  "  lines  found  it  more  to  their  wishes  to  be  attached  to  Michigan. 
They  occupied  disputed  ground,  and  were  thus  beyond  the  limits  of  absolute 
law.  In  1835,  the  subject  was  greatly  agitated,  and  J.  Q.  Adams  made  a  warm 
speech  before  Congress  against  the  Ohio  claim.  The  Legislature  of  Ohio  dis- 
cussed the  matter,  and  an  act  was  passed  to  attach  the  disputed  section  to  Ohio, 
according  to  the  constitutional  decree.  An  active  campaign  opened  between 
Michigan  and  Ohio.  Gov.  Lucas  came  out  with  the  Ohio  troops,  in  the  spring 
of  1835,  and  Gov.  Mason,  of  Michigan,  followed  the  example.  He  marched 
into  Toledo,  robbed  melon-patches  and  chicken-houses,  crushed  in  the  front 
door  of  Maj.  Stickney's  house,  and  carried  him  away  prisoner  of  war.  Embas- 
sadors Avere  sent  from  Washington  to  negotiate  matters — Richard  Rush,  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Col.  Howard,  of  Maryland.  At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  the 
matter  was  settled.  Samuel  Vinton  argued  for  Ohio,  in  the  House,  and  Thomas 
Ewing  in  the  Senate.  Michigan  received  an  equivalent  of  the  large  peninsula 
between  Lakes  Huron,  Michigan  and  Superior.  Ohio  received  the  disputed 
strip,  averaging  eight  miles  in  width.  Manhattan,  Waterville  and  Providence 
are  all  flourishing  towns. 

Lorain  County  was  formed  from  Huron,  Cuyahoga  and  Medina,  on  Decem- 
ber 26,  1822.  The  soil  is  generally  fertile,  and  the  surface  level.  Wheat, 
grass,  oats,  corn,  rye  and  potatoes  constitute  the  principal  crops.  Bog-iron  ore 
is  found  in  large  quantities.  A  curious  relic  has  been  found  in  this  county,  bear-, 
ing  the  date  of  1533.  Elyria  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1817. 
The  first  settler  was  Mr.  Heman  Ely.  Oberlin  is  situated  about  eight  miles 
southwest  of  Elyria.  The  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute  has  attained  a  wide 
celebrity. 

Logan  County  was  formed  March  1,  1817.  The  surface  is  broken  and  hilly 
near  the  Mad  River,  but  is  generally  level.     The  soil  is   fertile,  producing 


134  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO 

"wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats,  clover,  flax  and  timothy  seed.  The  Shawnee  Indians 
were  located  here,  and  built  several  villages  on  the  Mad  River.  These  towns 
were  destroyed  in  1786,  by  a  body  of  Kentuckians,  under  Gen.  Benjamin 
Logan.  The  whites  surprised  the  towns.  However,  they  returned  after  the 
work  of  destruction  had  been  completed,  and  for  many  years  frequented  the 
section.  On  the  site  of  Zanes  field  was  a  Wyandot  village.  By  the  treaty  of 
September  29,  1817,  the  Senecas  and  Shawnees  held  a  reservation  around 
Lewistown.  April  6,  1832,  they  vacated  this  right  and  removed  west.  Isaac 
Zane  was  born  about  the  year  1753,  and  was,  while  a  boy,  captured  and  after- 
ward adopted  by  the  Wyandots.  Attaining  the  age  of  manhood,  he  had  no 
desire  to  return  to  his  people.  He  married  a  Wyandot  woman,  w^ho  was  half 
French.  After  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  he  bought  1,800  acres  on  the  site  of 
Zanesville,  where  he  lived  until  the  year  1816,  when  he  died,  lamented  by  all 
his  friends. 

Logan  County  was  settled  about  the  year  1806.  During  the  war  of  1812, 
it  was  a  rendezvous  for  friendly  Indians.  Bellefontaine,  the  county  seat,  was 
laid  out  March  18,  1820,  on  land  owned  by  John  Tulles  and  William  Powell. 
Joseph  Gordon  built  a  cabin,  and  Anthony  Ballard  erected  the  first  frame 
dwelling. 

Gen.  Simon  Kenton  is  buried  at  the  head  of  Mad  River,  five  miles  from 
Bellefontaine.  He  died  April  29,  1836,  aged  eighty-one  years  and  twenty-six 
days.  This  remarkable  man  came  West,  to  Kentucky,  in  1771.  He  probably 
encountered  more  thrilling  escapes  than  any  other  man  of  his  time.  In  1778, 
he  was  captured  and  sufiered  extreme  cruelties,  and  was  ransomed  by  the  British. 
He  soon  recovered  his  robust  health,  and  escaped  from  Detroit  the  following 
spring.  He  settled  in  Urbana  in  1802.  He  was  elected  Brigadier  General  of 
the  militia,  and  in  the  war  of  1812,  joined  Gen.  Harrison's  army.  In  the  year 
1820,  he  removed  to  Mad  River.  Gen.  Vance  and  Judge  Burnet  secured  him 
a  pension,  of  $20  per  month 

Licking  County  was  formed  from  Fairfield  March  1,  1808.  The  surface  is 
generally  level,  diversified  by  slight  hills  in  the  eastern  portion.  The  soil  is 
fertile,  producing  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  grass.  Coal  and  iron  ore  of  good 
quality  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  county.  Wool  and  dairy  productions  are  also 
staples.  Newark  is  the  county  seat,  and  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the 
three  prmcipal  branches  of  the  Licking.  It  was  laid  out  by  Gen.  William  C. 
Schenk,  George  W.  Burnet  and  John  M.  Cummings,  who  owned  this  military 
section  of  4,000  acres,  in  1801.  In  1802,  Samuel  Elliott  and  Samuel  Parr 
built  hewed-log  houses.  The  picturesque  "Narrows  of  the  Licking"  are  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  which  have  elicited  general  praise  from  scenic 
hunters. 

Lawrence  County  was  organized  March  1,  1816.  There  are  many  high 
and  abrupt  hills  in  this  section,  which  abound  in  sand  or  freestone.  It  is  rich 
in  minerals,  and  the  most  important  section  of   Ohio  for  iron  manufacture. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  135 

Coal  is  abundant,  and  white  clay  exists  in  the  western  part  suitable  for  pot- 
tery purposes.     Agricultural  productions  are  not  extensive. 

The  county  was  settled  in  1797  by  the  Dutch  and  Irish.  The  iron  region 
extends  through  the  west  part  of  this  county.  Lawrence  County  produces  a 
superior  quality  of  iron,  highly  esteemed  for  castings,  and  is  equal  to  Scotch 
pig  for  furnace  purposes.     Burlington  is  the  county  seat. 

Lake  County  was  formed  from  Geauga  and  Cuyahoga  March  6,  1840.  The 
soil  is  good  and  the  surface  rolling.  It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats,  buckwheat, 
barley,  hay  and  potatoes.  Dairy  products,  cattle  and  wool  are  also  staples. 
Its  fruits — apples,  peaches,  pears,  plums  and  grapes  are  highly  prized.  As 
early  as  1799,  a  settlement  was  formed  at  Mentor.  Painesville,  the  county 
seat,  is  situated  on  Grand  River,  in  a  beautiful  valley.  The  Painesville  Acad- 
emy is  a  classical  institution  for  the  education  of  both  sexes.  Near  the  town 
is  the  Geauga  furnace.  Painesville  was  laid  out  by  Henry  Champion  in  1805. 
At  Fairport,  the  first  warehouse  in  this  section,  and  probably  the  first  on  the 
lake,  was  built  by  Abraham  Skinner  in  1803.  This  town  has  a  fine  harbor, 
and  has  a  light-house  and  beacon.  Kirtland,  southwest  from  Painesville,  was, 
in  1834,  the  headquarters  of  the  Mormons.  At  that  time,  they  numbered 
about  three  thousand.  The  old  Mormon  temple  is  of  rough  stone,  plastered 
over,  colored  blue,  and  marked  to  imitate  regular  courses  of  masonry.  As  is 
well  known,  the  Mormons  derive  their  name  from  the  book  of  Mormon,  said  to 
have  been  translated  from  gold  plates  found  in  a  hill  in  Palmyra,  N.  Y. 

Madison  County  was  organized  in  March,  1810.  The  surface  is  generally 
level.  It  produces  grass,  corn,  oats  and  cattle — the  latter  forming  a  chief 
staple,  while  wool  and  pork  add  to  the  general  wealth. 

Jonathan  Alder  was  much  interested  in  the  settlement  of  the  county.  He, 
like  some  other  whites,  had  lived  with  the  Indians  many  years,  and  had  formed 
a  lasting  afiection  for  them,  and  had  married  a  squaw,  with  whom  he  became 
dissatisfied,  which  caused  him  to  desire  finding  his  own  family.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  this  through  the  assistance  of  John  Moore.  He  left  his  wife  and 
joined  his  people. 

This  county  was  first  settled  in  1795.  Benjamin  Springer  made  a  clearing 
and  built  a  cabin.  He  settled  near  Alder,  and  taught  him  the  English  lan- 
guage. Mr.  Joshua  Ewing  brought  four  sheep  to  this  place,  and  the  Indians 
exhibited  great  astonishment  over  these  strange  animals.  When  the  hostilities 
of  1812  began,  the  British  offered  inducements  to  the  Indians  to  join  them,  and 
they  consulted  Alder  regarding  the  best  policy  to  adopt.  He  advised  them  to 
preserve  neutrality  until  a  later  period,  which  they  did,  and  eventually  became 
firm  friends  of  the  Americans. 

London  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1810-11,  by  Patrick  McLene. 

Marion  County  was  organized  March  1,  1824.  The  soil  is  fertile,  and  pro- 
duces extensive  farm  crops.  The  Delaware  Indians  once  held  a  reservation 
here,  and  conceded  their  claims  in   1829,  August  3,  and  removed  west  of  the 


136  '  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Mississippi.  Marion,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1821,  by  Eber  Baker 
and  Alexander  Holmes.  Gen.  Harrison  marched  through  this  section  during 
his  campaign. 

Mahoning  County  was  formed  in  1846,  from  Trumbull  and  Columbiana. 
The  surface  is  rolling  and  the  soil  generally  fertile.  The  finer  qualities  of  wood 
are  produced  here.  Bituminous  coal  and  iron  are  found  in  large  quantities. 
Col.  James  Hillman  came  to  the  Western  Reserve  in  1786.  The  settlement 
of  the  county  went  forward.     Canfield  is  the  county  seat. 

Medina  County  was  formed  from  the  Western  Reserve  February  12,  1812. 
The  surface  is  rolling  and  the  soil  is  fertile,  producing  fine  agricultural  prod- 
ucts. The  first  trail  made  through  the  county  was  made  by  George  Poe, 
Joseph  H.  Larwell  and  Roswell  M.  Mason.  The  first  settlement  was  made 
by  Joseph  Harris  in  1811.  He  was  soon  joined  by  the  Burr  brothers.  Me- 
dina is  the  county  seat. 

Meigs  County  was  formed  from  Gallia  and  Athens  April  1,  1819.  The 
general  character  of  the  soil  is  clayey,  producing  large  quantities  of  wheat,  oats, 
corn,  hay  and  potatoes.  Vast  quantities  of  salt  are  made  and  exported.  Pom- 
eroy,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  under  a  lofty  hill,  surrounded  by  picturesque 
scenery.  Mr.  Nathaniel  Clark  was  the  first  settler  of  the  county.  He  arrived  in 
1816.     The  first  coal  mine  opened  in  Pomeroy  was  in  1819,  by  David  Bradshaw. 

Mercer  County  was  formed  from  the  Indian  Territory  in  1820.  The  sur- 
face is  generally  flat,  and  while  covered  with  forests,  inclined  to  be  wet ;  but, 
being  cleared,  it  is  very  fertile,  and  adapted  to  producing  farm  crops.  St. 
Clair's  Battle  was  fought  on  the  boundary  line  between  this  and  Darke  County. 
The  Hon.  Lewis  Cass  and  Duncan  McArthur  made  a  treaty  at  St.  Mary's  with 
the  Wyandots,  Shawnees  and  Ottawas,  in  1818.  The  odious  Simon  Girty  lived 
at  one  time  at  St.  Mary's.  Wayne  built  St.  Mary's  Fort,  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  river.  John  Whistler  was  the  last  commander  of  the  fort.  The  largest 
artificial  lake  in  the  world,  so  it  is  asserted,  is  formed  by  the  reservoir  sup- 
plying the  St.  Mary's  feeder  of  the  Miami  Extension  Canal.  It  is  about  nine 
miles  long,  and  from  two  to  four  broad.     Celina  is  the  county  seat. 

Miami  County  was  formed  January  16,  1807,  from  Montgomery.  It  abounds 
in  excellent  limestone,  and  possesses  remarkable  water-power  facilities.  Its  agri- 
cultural products  rank  highly  in  quality  and  quantity.  John  Knoop  came  into  this 
section  about  the  year  1797,  and  its  first  settlement  began  about  this  time.  Troy, 
the  county  seat,  is  situated  upon  the  Great  Miami.  Piqua  is  another  lovely 
town.     The  Miami  River  aifords  delightful  scenery  at  this  point. 

Monroe  County  was  formed  January  29,  1813,  from  Belmont,  Washington, 
and  Guernsey.  A  portion  of  its  surface  is  abrupt  and  hilly.  Large  quantities' 
of  tobacco  are  raised,  and  much  pork  is  exported.  Wheat  and  corn  grow  well 
in  the  western  portion.  Iron  ore  and  coal  abound.  The  valleys  of  the  streams 
are  very  narrow,  bounded  by  rough  hills.  In  some  places  are  natural  rock 
grottoes.     The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1799,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Sunfish. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  137 

At  this  time,  wolves  were  numerous,  and  caused  much  alarm.  Volney  entered 
this  county,  but  was  not  prepossessed  in  its  favor.  One  township  is  settled  by 
the  Swiss,  who  are  educated  and  refined.     Woodsfield  is  the  county  seat. 

Montgomery  County  was  formed  from  Ross  and  Hamilton  May  1,  1803. 
The  soil  is  fertile,  and  its  agricultural  products  are  most  excellent.  Quarries  of 
grayish-white  limestone  are  found  east  of  the  Miami. 

Dayton  is  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the  Great  Miami,  at  the  mouth  of  Mad 
River.  A  company  was  formed  in  1788,  but  Indian  wars  prevented  settlement. 
After  Wayne's  treaty,  in  1795,  a  new  company  was  formed.  It  advanced 
rapidly  between  the  years  1812  and  1820.  The  beginning  of  the  Miami  Canal 
renewed  its  prosperity,  in  1827.  The  first  canal-boat  from  Cincinnati  arrived 
at  Dayton  on  the  25th  of  January,  1829.  The  first  one  arrived  from  Lake 
Erie  in  June,  1845.  Col.  Robert  Patterson  came  to  Dayton  in  1804.  At  one 
time,  he  owned  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  about  one  third  of  Cincinnati. 

Morgan  County  was  organized  in  1818,  March  1.  The  surface  is  hilly  and 
the  soil  strong  and  fertile,  producing  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  tobacco.  Pork  is  a 
prolific  product,  and  considerable  salt  is  made.  The  first  settlement  was  made 
in  1790,  on  the  Muskingum.  McConnelsville  is  the  county  seat.  Mr.  Ayres 
made  the  first  attempt  to  produce  salt,  in  1817.  This  has  developed  into  a 
large  industry. 

Morrow  County  was  organized  in  1848.  It  is  drained  by  the  Vernon 
River,  Avhich  rises  in  it,  by  the  East  Branch  of  the  Olontangy  or  Whetstone 
River,  and  by  Walnut  Creek.  The  surface  is  undulating,  the  soil  fertile. 
The  staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  hay,  wool  and  butter.  The  sugar 
maple  abounds  in  the  forests,  and  sandstone  or  freestone  in  the  quarries. 
Mount  Gilead,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  East  Branch  of  the  Olen- 
tangy  River. 

Muskingum  County  was  formed  from  Washington  and  Fairfield.  The  sur- 
face is  rolling  or  hilly.  It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  tobacco,  wool 
and  pork.  Large  quantities  of  bituminous  coal  are  found.  Pipe  clay,  buhr- 
stone  or  cellular  quartz  are  also  in  some  portions  of  the  State.  Salt  is  made  in 
large  quantities — the  fine  being  obtained  from  a  stratum  of  whitish  sandstone. 
The  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Senecas  and  Shawanoese  Indians  once  inhabited  this 
section.  An  Indian  town  occupied  the  site  of  Duncan's  Falls.  A  large  Shawan- 
oese town  was  located  near  Dresden. 

Zanesville  is  the  county  seat,  situated  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking. 
It  was  laid  out  in  1799,  by  Mr.  Zane  and  Mr.  Mclntire.  This  is  one  of  the 
principal  towns  in  the  State,  and  is  surrounded  by  charming  scenery. 

Noble  County,  organized  in  1851,  is  drained  by  Seneca,  Duck  and  Wills 
Creeks.  The  surface  is  undulating,  and  a  large  part  of  it  is  covered  with  for- 
ests. The  soil  is  fertile.  Its  staples  are  corn,  tobacco,  wheat,  hay,  oats  and 
wool.  Among  its  mineral  resources  are  limestone,  coal  and  petroleum.  Near 
Caldwell,  the  county  seat,  are  found  iron  ore,  coal  and  salt. 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Ottawa  County  was  formed  from  Erie,  Sandusky  and  Lucas,  March  6, 1840, 
It  is  mostly  within  the  Black  Swamp,  and  considerable  of  its  land  is  prairie  and 
•marsh.  It  was  very  thinly  settled  befere  1830.  Extensive  plaster  beds  exist 
on  the  peninsula,  which  extends  into  Lake  Erie.  It  has  also  large  limestone 
quarries,  which  are  extensively  worked.  The  very  first  trial  at  arms  upon  the 
soil  of  Ohio,  during  the  war  of  1812,  occurred  upon  this  peninsula.  Port  Clin- 
ton, the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1827. 

Perry  County  was  formed  from  Washington,  Fairfield  and  Muskingum, 
March  1,  1817.  Fine  tobacco  is  raised  in  large  quantities.  Wheat,  corn,  oats, 
hay,  cattle,  pork  and  wool  add  to  the  general  wealth.  This  county  was  first  set- 
tled in  1801.  First  settler  was  Christian  Binckley,  who  built  the  first  cabin  in 
the  county,  about  five  miles  west  of  Somerset,  near  the  present  county  line. 
New  Lexington  is  now  the  county  seat. 

Paulding  County  was  formed  from  old  Indian  territory  August  1,  1820. 
It  produces  corn,  wheat  and  oats.     Paulding  is  the  county  seat. 

Pickaway  County  was  formed  from  Fairfield^  Ross  and  Franklin,  January 
12,  1810.  The  county  has  woodland,  barren,  plain  and  prairie.  The  barrens 
were  covered  by  shrub  oaks,  and  when  cleared  are  adapted  to  the  raising  of  corn 
and  oats.  The  Pickaway  plains  are  three  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Circleville, 
and  this  tract  is  said  to  contain  the  richest  land  in  Ohio.  Here,  in  the  olden 
times,  burned  the  great  council  fires  of  the  red  man.  Here  the  allied  tribes  met 
Gen.  Lewis,  who  fought  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant.  Dunmoi-e's  campaign 
was  terminated  on  these  plains.  It  was  at  the  Chillicothe  towns,  after  Dun- 
more's  treaty,  that  Logan  delivered  his  famous  speech.  Circleville,  the  county 
seat,  is  situated  on  the  Scioto  River  and  the  Ohio  Canal.  It  was  laid  out  in 
1810,  by  Daniel  Dresbach.     It  is  situated  on  the  site  of  ancient  fortifications. 

Portage  County  was  formed  June  7,  1807,  from  Trumbull.  It  is  a  wealthy, 
thriving  section.  Over  a  thousand  tons  of  cheese  are  annually  produced.  It 
also  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley,  buckw^heat,  rye,  butter  and  wool. 
Ravenna  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  originally  settled  by  the  Hon.  Benjamin 
Tappen  in  June,  1799.  In  1806,  an  unpleasant  difficulty  arose  between  the 
settlers  and  a  camp  of  Indians  in  Deerfield,  caused  by  a  horse  trade  between  a 
white  man  and  an  Indian.    David  Daniels  settled  on  the  site  of  Palmyra  in  1799. 

Pike  County  was  organized  in  1815.  The  surface  is  generally  hilly,  which 
abound  with  freestone,  which  is  exported  in  large  quantities  for  building  pur- 
poses. Rich  bottom  lands  extend  along  the  Scioto  and  its  tributaries.  John 
Noland  and  the  three  Chenoweth  brothers  settled  on  the  Pee  Pee  prairie  about 
1796.  Piketown,  the  former  county  seat,  was  laid  out  about  1814.  Waverly, 
the  present  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Scioto  River. 

Preble  County  was  formed  March  1,  1808,  from  Montgomery  and  Butler. 
The  soil  is  varied.     Excellent  water-power  facilities  are  furnished. 

Eaton,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1806,  by  William  Bruce,  who  owned 
the  land.  An  overflowing  well  of  strong  sulphur  water  is  near  the  town,  while 
directly  beside  it  is  a  limestone  quarry.     Holderman's  quarry  is  about  two 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  139 

miles  distant,  from  which  is  obtained  a  beautifully  clouded  gray  stone.  Fort  St. 
Clair  was  built  near  Eaton,  in  the  winter  of  1791-92.  Gen.  Harrison  was  an  En- 
sign at  the  time,  and  commanded  a  guard  every  other  night  for  three  weeks,  during 
the  building.  The  severe  battle  of  November  6,  1792,  was  fought  under  its  very 
guns.  Little  Turtle,  a  distinguished  chief  of  the  Miamis,  roamed  over  this  county 
for  a  time.  He  was  witty,  brave  and  earnest,  and,  although  engaged  in  several 
severe  contests  with  the  whites,  he  was  inclined  toward  peace.  But  when  his 
warriors  cried  for  war  he  led  them  bravely. 

Putnam  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  old  Indian  territory.  The 
soil  is  fertile,  its  principal  productions  being  wheat,  corn,  potatoes  and  oats. 
Large  quantities  of  pork  are  exported.  Kalida,  once  the  county  seat,  was  laid 
out  in  1834.     Ottawa  is  the  county  seat. 

Ross  County  was  formed  August  20,  1798,  by  the  proclamation  of  Gov.  St. 
Clair,  and  was  the  sixth  county  formed  in  the  Northwestern  Territory.  The 
Scioto  River  and  Paint  Creek  run  through  it,  bordered  with  fertile  lands. 
Much  water-power  is  obtained  from  the  many  streams  watering  it.  The  main 
crops  are  wheat,  corn  and  oats.     It  exports  cattle  and  hogs. 

The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Finley,  in  1794,  addressed  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  Col. 
Nathaniel  Massie,  as  many  of  his  associates  had  designed  settling  in  the  new 
State.  This  resulted  in  packing  their  several  eifects  and  setting  out.  A  triv- 
ial Indian  encounter  was  the  only  interruption  they  met  with  on  their  way. 
After  Wayne's  treaty,  Col.  Massie  and  many  of  these  early  explorers  met 
again  and  formed  a  settlement — in  1796 — at  the  mouth  of  Paint  Creek.  In 
August  of  this  year,  Chillicothe  was  laid  out  by  Col.  Massie,  in  a  dense  forest. 
He  donated  lots  to  the  early  settlers.  A  ferry  was  established  over  the  Scioto, 
and  the  opening  of  Zane's  trace  assisted  the  progress  of  settlement. 

Chillicothe,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Scioto.  Its  site  is  thirty 
feet  above  the  river.  In  1800,  it  was  the  seat  of  the  Northwestern  Territorial 
Government.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  January,  1802.  During  the  war 
of  1812,  the  city  was  a  rendezvous  for  the  United  States  troops.  A  large  num- 
ber of  British  were  at  one  time  guarded  here.  Adena  is  a  beautiful  place,  and 
the  seat  of  Gov.  Worthington's  mansion,  which  was  built  in  1806.  Near  this 
is  Fruit  Hill,  the  residence  of  the  late  Gen.  McArthur,  and  latterly  the  home 
of  his  son-in-law,  the  Hon.  William  Allen.  Eleven  miles  from  Chillicothe,  on 
the  road  to  Portsmouth,  is  the  home  of  the  hermit  of  the  Scioto. 

Richland  was  organized  March  1,  1813.  It  produces  wheat,  com,  oats,  hay, 
potatoes,  rye,  hemp  and  barley.  It  was  settled  about  1809,  on  branches  of  the 
Mohican.  Two  block-houses  were  built  in  1812.  Mansfield,  the  county  seat, 
is  charmingly  situated,  and  was  laid  out  in  1808,  by  Jacob  Newman,  James 
Hedges  and  Joseph  H.  Larwell.  The  county  was  at  that  period  a  vast  wilder- 
ness, destitute  of  roads.     From  this  year,  the  settlement  progressed  rapidly. 

Sandusky  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  the  old  Indian  Territory. 
The  soil  is  fertile,  and  country  generally  level.     It  mainly  produces  corn,  wheat, 


140  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

oats,  potatoes  and  pork.  The  Indians  were  especially  delighted  with  this  tract. 
Near  Lower  Sandusky  lived  a  band  of  Wyandots,  called  the  Neutral  Nation. 
These  two  cities  never  failed  to  render  refuge  to  any  who  sought  their  protec- 
tion. They  preserved  their  peacemaking  attributes  through  the  Iroquois 
conflicts.  Fremont,  formerly  called  Lower  Sandusky,  the  county  seat,  is 
situated  at  the  head  of  navigation,  on  the  Sandusky,  on  the  site  of  the  old 
reservation  grant  to  the  Indians,  at  the  Greenville  treaty  council.  Fort 
Stephenson  was  erected  in  August,  1813,  and  was  gallantly  defended  by  Col. 
Croghan. 

Summit  County  was  formed  March  3,  1840,  from  Medina,  Portage  and 
Stark.  The  soil  is  fertile  and  produces  excellent  fruit,  besides  large  crops  of 
corn,  wheat,  hay,  oats  and  potatoes.  Cheese  and  butter  may  be  added  as 
products. 

The  first  settlement  made  in  the  county  was  at  Hudson,  in  1800.  The  old 
Indian  portage-path,  exter ding  through  this  county,  between  the  Cuyahoga,  and 
Tuscarawas  Branch  of  the  Muskingum.  This  was  a  part  of  the  ancient  boundary 
between  the  Six  Nations  and  the  Western  Indians.  Akron,  the  county  seat,  is 
situated  on  the  portage  summit.  It  was  laid  out  in  1825.  In  1811,  Paul 
Williams  and  Amos  and  Minor  Spicer  settled  in  this  vicinity.  Middlebury  was 
laid  out  in  1818,  by  Norton  &  Hart. 

Stark  County  was  formed  February  13,  1808.  It  is  a  rich  agricultural 
county.  It  has  large  quantities  of  mineral  coal,  iron  ore,  flocks  of  the  finest 
sheep  and  great  water  power.  Limestone  and  extensive  beds  of  lime-marl  exist. 
The  manufacture  of  silk  has  been  extensively  carried  on.  Frederick  Post,  the 
first  Moravian  missionary  in  Ohio,  settled  here  in  1761. 

Canton  is  the  county  seat,  situated  in  the  forks  of  the  Nimishillen,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Muskingum.  It  was  laid  out  in  1806,  by  Bezaleel  Wells,  who 
owned  the  land.     Massillon  was  laid  out  in  March,  1826,  by  John  Duncan. 

Shelby  County  was  formed  in  1819,  from  Miami.  The  southern  portion  is 
undulating,  arising  in  some  places  to  hills.  Through  the  north,  it  is  a  flat  table- 
land. It  produces  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  grass.  The  first  point  of  English  set- 
tlement in  Ohio  was  at  the  mouth  of  Laramie's  Creek,  in  this  county,  as  early 
as  1752.  Fort  Laramie  was  built  in  1794,  by  Wayne.  The  first  white  family 
that  settled  in  this  county  was  that  of  James  Thatcher,  in  1804.  Sidney,  the 
county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1819,  on  the  farm  of  Charles  Starrett. 

Seneca  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  the  old  Indian  territory. 
Its  principal  products  are  corn,  wheat,  grass,  oats,  potatoes  and  pork. 

Fort  Seneca  was  built  durins;  the  war  of  1812,  The  Senecas  owned 
40,000  acres  of  land  on  the  Sandusky  River,  mostly  in  Seneca  County. 
Thirty  thousand  acres  of  this  land  was  granted  to  them  in  1817,  at  the  treaty 
held  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids.  The  remaining  10,000  was  granted 
the  following  year.  These  Indians  ceded  this  tract,  however,  to  the  Govern- 
ment in  1831.     It  was  asserted  by  an  old  chief,  that  this  band  was  the  remnant 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  141 

of  Logan's  tribe.  Tiffin,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  by  Josiah  Hedges  in 
the  year  1821. 

Scioto  County  was  formed  May  1,  1803.  It  is  a  good  agricultural  section, 
besides  producing  iron  ore,  coal  and  freestone.  It  is  said  that  a  French  fort 
stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  old  Scioto,  as  early  as  1740.  In  1785,  four  families 
settled  where  Portsmouth  now  stands.  Thomas  McDonald  built  the  first  cabin  in 
the  county.  The  "French  grant"  was  located  in  this  section — a  tract  com- 
prising 24,000  acres.  The  grant  was  made  in  March,  1795.  Portsmouth,  the 
county  seat,  is  located  upon  the  Ohio. 

Trumbull  County  was  formed  in  1800.  The  original  Connecticut  Western 
Reserve  was  Avithin  its  limits.  The  county  is  well  cultivated  and  very  wealthy. 
Coal  is  found  in  its  northern  portion.  We  have,  in  our  previous  outline,  given 
a  history  of  this  section,  and  it  is  not,  therefore,  necessary  to  repeat  its  details. 
Warren,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  the  Mahoning  River.  It  was  laid  out 
by  Ephraim  Quinby  in  1801.  Mr.  Quinby  owned  the  soil.  His  cabin  was  built 
here  in  1799.  In  August,  1800,  while  Mr.  McMahon  was  away  from  home, 
a  party  of  drunken  Indians  called  at  the  house,  abused  the  family,  struck  a 
child  a  severe  blow  with  a  tomahawk  and  threatened  to  kill  the  family.  Mrs. 
McMahon  could  not  send  tidings  which  could  reach  her  husband  before  noon 
the  following  day.  The  following  Sunday  morning,  fourteen  men  and  two 
boys  armed  themselves  and  went  to  the  Indian  camp  to  settle  the  difficulty. 
Quinby  advanced  alone,  leaving  the  remainder  in  concealment,  as  he  was  better 
acquainted  with  these  people,  to  make  inquiries  and  ascertain  their  intentions. 
He  did  not  return  at  once,  and  the  party  set  out,  marched  into  camp,  and  found 
Quinby  arguing  with  Capt.  George,  the  chief.  Capt.  George  snatched  his 
tomahawk  and  declared  war,  rushing  forward  to  kill  McMahon.  But  a  bullet 
from  the  frontierman's  gun  killed  him  instantly,  while  Storey  shot  "  Spotted 
John"  at  the  same  time.  The  Indians  then  fled.  They  joined  the  council  at 
Sandusky.  Quinby  garrisoned  his  house.  Fourteen  days  thereafter,  the 
Indians  returned  with  overtures  of  peace,  which  were,  that  McMahon  and 
Storey  be  taken  to  Sandusky,  tried  by  Indian  laws,  and  if  found  guilty,  pun- 
ished by  them.  This  could  not  be  done.  McMahon  was  tried  by  Gen.  St. 
Clair,  and  the  matter  was  settled.  The  first  missionary  on  the  Reserve  was  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Badger. 

Tuscarawas  County  was  formed  February  15,  1808,  from  Muskingum.  It 
is  well  cultivated  with  abundant  supplies  of  coal  and  iron. 

The  first  white  settlers  were  Moravian  missionaries,  their  first  visits  dating 
back  to  1761.  The  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  in  1798.  Miss  Mary 
Heckewelder,  the  daughter  of  a  missionary,  was  born  in  this  county  April  16, 
1781.  Fort  Laurens  was  built  during  the  Revolution.  It  was  the  scene  of  a 
fearful  carnage.  It  was  established  in  the  fall  of  1778,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Mcintosh.  New  Philadelphia  is  the  county  seat,  situated  on 
the   Tuscarawas.     It  was  laid  out  in   1804  by  John  Knisely.     A   German 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

colony  settled  in  this  county  in  1817,  driven  from  their  native  land  by  religious 
dictation  they  could  not  espouse.  They  called  themselves  Separatists.  They 
are  a  simple-minded  people,  strictly  moral  and  honest. 

Union  County  was  formed  from  Franklin,  Delaware,  Logan  and  Madison  in 
1820.  It  produces  corn,  grass,  wheat,  oats,  potatoes,  butter  and  cheese. 
Extensive  limestone  quarries  are  also  valuable.  The  Ewing  brothers  made  the 
first  white  settlement  in  1798.  Col.  James  Curry,  a  member  of  the  State  Leg- 
islature, was  the  chief  instigator  in  the  progress  of  this  section.  He  located 
within  its  limits  and  remained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1834.  Marys- 
ville  is  the  county  seat. 

Van  Wert  County  was  formed  from  the  old  Indian  territory  April  1,  1820. 
A  great  deal  of  timber  is  within  the  limits  of  this  county,  but  the  soil  is  so 
tenacious  that  water  will  not  sink  through  it,  and  crops  are  poor  during  wet 
seasons.  The  main  product  is  corn.  Van  Wert,  the  county  seat,  was  founded 
by  James  W.  Riley  in  1837.  An  Indian  town  had  formerly  occupied  its  site. 
Capt.  Riley  was  the  first  white  man  who  settled  in  the  county,  arriving  in  1821. 
He  founded  Willshire  in  1822. 

Vinton  County  was  organized  in  ]  850.  It  is  drained  by  Raccoon  and  Salt 
Creeks.  The  surface  is  undulating  or  hilly,  and  is  extensively  covered  with 
forests  in  which  the  oak,  buckeye  and  sugar  maple  are  found.  Corn,  hay,  but- 
ter and  wool  are  staple  products.  Bituminous  coal  and  iron  ore  are  found. 
McArthur  is  the  county  seat. 

Washington  County  was  formed  by  proclamation  of  Gov.  St.  Clair  July  27, 
1788,  and  was  the  first  county  founded  within  the  limits  of  Ohio.  The  surface 
is  broken  with  extensive  tracts  of  level,  fertile  land.  It  was  the  first  county 
settled  in  the  State  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ohio  Company.  A  detachment 
of  United  States  troops,  under  command  of  Maj.  John  Doughty,  built  Fort 
Harmar  in  1785,  and  it  was  the  first  military  post  established  in  Ohio  by 
Americans,  with  the  exception  of  Fort  Laurens,  which  was  erected  in  3778. 
It  was  occupied  by  United  States  troops  until  1790,  when  they  were  ordered 
to  Connecticut.  A  company  under  Capt.  Haskell  remained.  In  1785,  the 
Directors  of  the  Ohio  Company  began  practical  operations,  and  settlement 
went  forward  rapidly.  Campus  Martins,  a  stockade  fort,  was  completed  in 
1791.  This  formed  a  sturdy  stronghold  during  the  war.  During  the  Indian 
war  there  was  much  suffering  in  the  county.  Many  settlers  were  killed  and 
captured. 

Marietta  is  the  county  seat,  and  the  oldest  town  in  Ohio.  Marietta  College 
was  chartered  in  1835.  Herman  Blannerhassett,  whose  unfortunate  association 
with  Aaron  Burr  proved  fatal  to  himself,  was  a  resident  of  Marietta  in  1796. 
About  the  year  1798,  he  began  to  beautify  and  improve  his  island. 

Warren  County  was  formed  May  1,  1803,  from  Hamilton.  The  soil  is 
very  fertile,  and  considerable  water-power  is  furnished  by  its  streams.  Mr. 
Bedell  made  the  first  settlement  in  1795.     Lebanon  is  the  eounty  seat.     Henry 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO.  14B 

Taylor  settled   in   this   vicinity   in   1796.     Union  Village  is  a  settlement  of 
Shakers.     They  came  here  about  1805. 

Wayne  County  was  proclaimed  by  Gov.  St.  Clair  August  15,  1796,  and 
was  the  third  county  in  the  Northwest  Territory.  The  settlement  of  this  sec- 
tion has  already  been  briefly  delineated.  Wooster  is  the  county  seat.  It  was 
laid  out  during  the  fall  of  1808,  by  John  Beaver,  William  Henry  and  Joseph 
H.  Larwell,  owners  of  the  land.  Its  site  is  337  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  The 
first  mill  was  built  by  Joseph  Stibbs,  in  1809,  on  Apple  Creek.  In  1812,  a 
block- house  was  erected  in  Wooster, 

Wood  County  was  formed  from  the  old  Indian  territory  in  1820.  The  soil 
is  rich,  and  large  crops  are  produced.  The  county  is  situated  within  the  Mau- 
mee  Valley.  It  was  the  arena  of  brilliant  military  exploits  during  early  times. 
Bowling  Green  is  the  county  seat. 

Williams  County  was  formed  April  1,  1820,  from  the  old  Indian  territory. 
Bryan  is  the  county  seat.     It  was  laid  out  in  1840. 

Wyandot  County  was  formed  February  3,  1845,  from  Marion,  Hardin,  Han- 
cock and  Crawford.  The  surface  is  level,  and  the  soil  exceedingly  fertile. 
The  Wyandot  Indians  occupied  this  section,  especially  the  reservation,  from 
time  immemorial  until  1843.  The  treaty  of  1817,  by  Hon.  Lewis  Cass  and 
Hon.  Duncan  McArthur,  United  States  Commissioners,  granted  to  the  Indians 
a  reservation  twelve  miles  square,  the  central  point  being  Fort  Ferree,  now 
within  the  corporate  limits  of  Upper  Sandusky.  The  Delaware  Reserve  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1829.  The  Wyandots  ceded  theirs  March  17, 
1842.  Col.  John  Johnston,  the  United  States  Commissioner,  conducted  the 
negotiations,  and  thus  made  the  Indian  treaty  in  Ohio.  It  was  the  scene  of 
Col.  Crawford's  defeat  and  tragic  death,  June  11,  1782.  The  Wyandots  were 
exceedingly  brave,  and  several  of  their  chiefs  were  distinguished  orators  and 
men  of  exalted  moral  principles. 

Upper  Sandusky  is  the  county  seat,  and  was  laid  out  in  1843.  Gen.  Har- 
rison had  built  Fort  Ferree  on  this  spot  during  the  war  of  1812.  Gov.  Meigs, 
in  1813,  encamped   on  this  river  with  several   thousand  of  the  Ohio  militia. 

The  Indian  village  of  Crane  Town  was  originally  called  Upper  Sandusky. 
The  Indians,  after  the  death  of  Tarhe,  or  "  the  Crane,"  transferred  their  town 
to  Upper  Sandusky. 

GOVERNORS    OF    OHIO. 

The  Territorial  Governors  we  have  already  mentioned  in  the  course  of  our 
brief  review  of  the  prominent  events  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  After  the  Terri- 
tory was  admitted  as  a  State,  in  1802,  Edward  Tiffin  was  elected  to  that  posi- 
tion, and  again  received  the  same  honor  in  1804  and  1806.  In  1807,  circum- 
stances led  him  to  resign,  and  Thomas  Kirker,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  acted  as 
Governor  until  the  close  of  the  term. 

Edward  Tiffin  was  born  in  Carlisle,  England,  coming  to  this  country  in 
1784,  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine,  graduating  and  beginning  his  practice 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  in  the  State  of  Virginia.      In  1789,   he  married  Mary, 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

daughter  of  Col.  Worthington,  and  sister  of  Thomas  Worthington,  who  subse- 
quently became  Governor  of  Ohio.  In  his  profession,  Gov.  Tiffin  was  highly 
esteemed,  and  his  public  labors  were  carried  forward  Avith  a  zealous  earnestness; 
which  marked  his  career  as  one  of  usefulness.  He  settled  in  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
in  1796,  where  he  died,  in  1829. 

Samuel  Huntington,  the  recipient  of  the  honor  of  third  Governor,  was 
inaugurated  in  1808.  He  was  an  American  by  birth,  Norwich,  Conn.^ 
being  his  native  place.  He  was  a  diligent  student  in  Yale  College,  graduating 
in  1785.  He  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1801.  He  attained  a  reputation 
for  integrity,  ability  and  rare  discretion.  As  a  scholar,  he  was  eminently  supe- 
rior.    He  resided  in  Cleveland  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1817. 

Return  Jonathan  Meigs  followed  Gov.  Huntington.  He  was  born  in  Mid- 
dletown.  Conn.,  in  1765.  He  was  also  a  student  in  Yale  College,  graduating 
in  1785,  with  the  highest  honors.  He  immediately  entered  the  study  of  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  his  twenty-third  year.  He  married  Miss  Sophia 
Wright,  and  settled  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  in  1788.  He  took  his  seat  as  Gover- 
nor in  1810,  and  was  re-elected  in  1812.  In  1813,  President  Madison  appointed 
him  to  the  position  of  Postmaster  General,  which  occasioned  his  resignation  as 
Governor.  Othniel  Looker,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  acted  as  Governor  during 
the  remainder  of  the  term.  Mr.  Meigs  died  in  1825,  leaving  as  a  memento  of 
his  usefulness,  a  revered  memory. 

Thomas  Worthington,  the  sixth  Governor,  was  born  in  Jefferson  County, 
Va.,  in  1769.  He  gained  an  education  in  William  and  Mary's  College. 
In  1788,  he  located  at  Chillicothe,  and  was  the  first  Senator  from  the  new 
State.  He  was  also  the  first  man  to  erect  the  first  saw-mill  in  Ohio.  He 
served  two  terms  as  Senator,  from  1803  to  1815,  resigning  in  1814,  to  take  his 
position  as  Governor.  In  1816,  he  was  re-elected.  He  was  exceedingly  active 
in  paving  the  way  for  the  future  prosperity  of  Ohio.  His  measures  were  famous 
for  practical  worth  and  honesty.  Chief  Justice  Chase  designated  him  as  "  a 
gentleman  of  distinguished  ability  and  great  influence."     He  died  in  1827. 

Ethan  Allen  Brown  followed  Mr.  Worthington.  His  birthplace  w^as  on  the 
shore  of  Long  Island  Sound,  in  Fairfield  County,  Conn.,  July  4,  1766.  His 
education  was  derived  under  the  most  judicious  instruction  of  a  private  tutor. 
In  classics,  he  became  proficient.  Directly  he  had  reached  the  required  stand- 
ard in  general  education,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  at  home.  After  becoming 
conversant  with  preliminary  requirements,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  who  at  that  time  was  a  national  pride,  as  a  scholar,  lawyer  and 
statesman.  Opportunities  coming  in  his  way,  which  promised  a  fortune,  he 
abandoned  the  law,  and  achieved  success  and  a  fortune.  He  then  decided  to 
return  to  his  study,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1802.  Thereafter,  he  was 
seized  with  an  exploring  enthusiasm,  and  with  his  cousin  as  a  companion,  set 
out  upon  a  horseback  tour,  following  the  Indian  trails  from  east  to  west,  through 
Pennsylvania,  until  they  reached  Brownsville,  on  the  Monongahela  River.  Here 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  145 

they  purchased  two  flatboats,  and  fully  stocking  them  with  provisions  and 
obtaining  efficient  crews,  started  for  New  Orleans.  Reaching  that  city,  they 
found  they  could  not  dispose  of  their  cargoes  to  any  advantage,  and  shipped  the 
flour  to  Liverpool,  England,  taking  passage  in  the  same  vessel.  They  succeeded 
in  obtaining  good  prices  for  their  stock,  and  set  sail  for  America,  arriving  in  Bal- 
timore nine  months  after  first  leaving  "  home,"  on  this  adventure.  Mr.  Brown's 
father  decided  to  secure  a  large  and  valuable  tract  of  Western  land,  as  a  per- 
manent home,  and  authorized  his  son  to  select  and  purchase  the  same  for  him. 
He  found  what  he  desired,  near  Rising  Sun,  Ind.  After  this,  he  settled  in 
Cincinnati,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  speedily  achieving  prominency 
and  distinction.  Financially,  he  was  most  fortunate.  In  1810,  he  was  elected 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  position  he  filled  with  honor,  until  he  was 
chosen  Governor,  in  1818.  He  was  re-elected  in  1820.  In  1821,  he  received 
the  honor  of  Senator,  and  served  one  term.  Allen  Trimble,  Speaker  of  the 
Senate,  acted  as  Governor  the  remainder  of  the  term.  In  1830  he  was 
appointed  Minister  to  Brazil.  He  remained  there  four  years,  and  returning, 
was  appointed  Commissioner  of  Public  Lands,  by  President  Jackson,  holding 
this  position  two  years.  At  this  time,  he  decided  to  retire  from  public  life. 
Since  he  never  married,  he  was  much  with  his  relatives,  at  Rising  Sun,  Ind., 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  His  death  was  sudden  and  unexpected,  occur- 
ring in  February,  1852,  while  attending  a  Democratic  Convention,  at  Indianap- 
olis, Ind.     He  was  interred  near  his  father,  at  Rising  Sun. 

Jeremiah  Morrow,  the  ninth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  at  Gettysburg, 
Penn.,  in  October,  1771.  His  people  were  of  the  "  Scotch-Irish  "  class,  and  his 
early  life  was  one  of  manual  labor  upon  his  father's  farm.  During  the  winter, 
he  had  the  privilege  of  a  private  school.  With  a  view  of  establishing  himself 
and  securing  a  competency,  he  bade  the  old  home  farewell,  in  1795,  and  set  out 
for  the  "  Far  West."  A  flatboat  carried  him  to  a  little  cluster  of  cabins,  known 
by  the  name  of  Columbia,  six  miles  from  Fort  Washington — Cincinnati.  He 
devoted  himself  to  whatever  came  in  his  way,  that  seemed  best  and  most  worthy 
— teaching  school,  surveying  and  working  on  farms  between  times.  Having 
accumulated  a  small  capital,  he  ascended  the  Little  Miami,  as  far  as  Warren 
County,  and  there  purchased  an  extensive  farm,  and  erected  an  excellent  log 
house.  In  the  spring  of  1799,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Packtrell,  of  Columbia. 
The  young  couple  set  out  upon  pioneer  farming.  Gaining  popularity  as  well  as 
a  desirable  property,  he  was  deputized  to  the  Territorial  Legislature,  which  met 
at  Chillicothe,  at  which  time  measures  were  inaugurated  to  call  a  Constitutional 
Convention,  during  the  following  year,  to  organize  the  State  of  Ohio.  Mr. 
Morrow  was  one  of  the  Delegates  to  this  convention,  and  steadfastly  worked  in  the 
interests  of  those  who  sent  him,  until  its  close  in  1802.  The  following  year, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Ohio,  and  in  June  of  the  same  year,  he  was 
appointed  the  first  Representative  to  the  United  States  Congress  from  the  new 
State, 


14G  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Ohio  was  then  entitled  to  but  one  Representative  in  Congress,  and  could  not 
add  to  that  number  for  ten  years  thereafter.  During  these  years,  Mr.  Morrow 
represented  the  State.  In  1813,  he  was  sent  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
in  1822,  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio,  almost  unanimously,  being  re-elected  in 
1824.  It  was  during  his  administration  that  work  was  begun  on  the  Ohio 
Canal.  Mr.  Morrow  received  the  national  guest.  La  Fayette,  with  an  earnest 
and  touching  emotion,  which  aifected  the  emotions  of  the  generous  Frenchman 
more  profoundly  than  any  of  the  elaborate  receptions  which  paved  his  way 
through  America.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1839,  Gov.  Morrow  was  appointed  to 
lay  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  State  capitol,  at  Columbus,  and  to  deliver  the 
address  on  this  occasion.  Again,  in  1840,  he  was  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, filling  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin. 
He  was  elected  for  the  following  term  also.  He  died  at  his  own  homestead,  in 
Warren  County,  March  22,  1853. 

Allen  Trimble  was  a  native  of  Augusta  County,  Va.  The  date  of  his  birth 
was  November  24,  1783.  His  ancestors  were  of  Scotch-Irish  origin,  and  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Virginia.  His  father  moved  to  Ohio  in  1804,  pur- 
chasing a  tract  of  land  in  Highland  County.  His  cabin  was  remarkably  spa- 
cious, and  elicited  the  admiration  of  his  neighbors.  He  cleared  six  acres  of 
land  for  an  orchard,  and  brought  the  trees  on  horseback,  from  Kentucky.  Be- 
fore this  new  home  was  completed,  Allen,  then  a  young  man  of  twenty,  took 
possession.  This  was  in  the  year  1805.  Four  years  thereafter,  he  occupied 
the  position  of  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  Recorder  of  High- 
land County.  He  was  serving  in  the  latter  capacity  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  of  1812.  Naturally  enthusiastic  and  patriotic,  he  engaged  a  competent 
person  to  perform  his  civil  duties,  while  he  went  into  active  service  as  Colonel 
of  a  regiment  he  had  summoned  and  enlisted.  He  was  always  eager  to  be  in 
the  front,  and  led  his  men  with  such  valor  that  they  Avere  termed  soldiers  who 
did  not  know  the  art  of  flinching.  His  commanding  General  lavished  praises 
upon  him.  In  1816,  he  was  in  the  State  Senate,  representing  Highland 
County.  He  occupied  the  same  position  for  four  terms,  two  years  each.  In 
1818,  he  was  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  over  Gen.  Robert  Lucas.  He  remained 
in  this  office  until  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
by  the  death  of  his  brother,  Col.  William  A.  Trimble.  When  Governor  Brown 
resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator  in  1822,  he  succeeded  to 
the  office,  acting  as  Governor  the  remainder  of  the  term.  In  October,  1826, 
he  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio,  by  an  astonishing  majority.  The  united  vote 
of  his  three  competitors  was  but  one-sixth  of  the  vote  polled.  Gov.  Trimble 
was  an  earnest  Henry  Clay  Whig.  In  1828  he  was  re-elected.  Gov.  Trimble 
was  married  in  1806  to  Miss  Margaret  McDowell.  Three  years  thereafter 
she  died,  leaving  two  children.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Rachel 
Woodrow,  and  they  lived  together  sixty  years,  when  he  died,  at  home,  in  Hills- 
boro,  Highland  County,  Feb.  3,  1870.  His  wife  survived  him  but  a  few  months. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  147 

Duncan  Mc Arthur,  the  tenth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1772.  While  yet  a  child,  his  parents  removed  to  the  west- 
ern part  of  Pennsylvania,  where  they  entered  upon  the  hard  life  of  pioneers. 
While  there,  young  Duncan  had  the  meager  advantages  of  a  backwoods  school. 
His  life  was  a  general  routine  until  his  eighteenth  year,  when  he  enlisted  under 
Gen.  Harmer  for  the  Indian  campaign.  His  conduct  and  bravery  won  worthy 
laurels,  and  upon  the  death  of  the  commander  of  his  company,  he  was  elected 
to  that  position,  although  the  youngest  man  in  the  company.  When  his  days 
of  service  had  expired,  he  found  employment  at  salt-making  in  Maysville,  Ky., 
until  he  was  engaged  as  chain-bearer  in  Gen.  Massie's  survey  of  the  Scioto 
Valley.  At  this  time,  Indian  atrocities  alarmed  the  settlers  occasionally,  and 
his  reputation  for  bravery  caused  him  to  be  appointed  one  of  the  three  patrols 
of  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  Ohio,  to  give  the  alarm  to  scattered  cabins  in  case 
of  danger.  This  was  during  the  summer  of  1793.  Gen.  Massie  again  secured 
his  services,  this  time  as  assistant  surveyor.  He  was  thus  engaged  for  several 
years,  during  which  time  he  assisted  in  platting  Chillicothe.  He  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  just  north  of  town,  and  under  his  vigorous  and  practical 
management,  it  became  one  of  the  finest  estates  of  Ohio,  which  reputation  it 
sustains  at  the  present  time.  He  amassed  wealth  rapidly,  his  investments 
always  being  judicious.  In  1805,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature. 
He  was  a  Colonel  of  an  Ohio  regiment,  and  accompanied  Gen.  Hull  to  Detroit 
in  1813.  At  Hull's  surrender  he  was  a  prisoner,  but  released  on  parole, 
returned  to  Ohio  in  a  state  of  indignation  over  his  commander's  stupidity. 
Soon  thereafter  he  was  sent  to  Congress  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  Soon  there- 
after he  was  released  from  parole  by  exchange,  and,  greatly  rejoiced,  h& 
resigned  his  seat,  entered  the  army  as  a  Brigadier  General  under  Gen.  Harri- 
son, and  the  following  year  succeeded  him  as  commander  of  the  Northwestern 
forces.  At  the  termination  of  the  war,  he  was  immediately  returned  to  the 
State  Legislature.  He  occupied  State  offices  until  1822,  when  he  was  again 
sent  to  Congress.  Serving  one  term,  he  declined  re-election.  In  1830,  he 
was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio.  When  his  term  expired,  he  decided  to  enjoy 
life  as  a  citizen  on  his  farm,  "  Fruit  Hill,"  and  lived  there  in  contentment  until 
1840,  when  he  died. 

Robert  Lucas  Avas  another  Virginian,  having  been  born  in  1781,  in  Jeffer- 
son County  of  that  State.  While  a  boy,  his  father  liberated  his  slaves,  moving 
to  Chillicothe  as  one  of  the  early  settlers.  He  procured  a  proficient  tutor  for 
his  children.  Robert  became  an  expert  in  mathematics  and  surveying.  Before 
he  reached  his  majority,  he  was  employed  as  surveyor,  earning  liberal  compen- 
sation. At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  was  appointed  Surveyor  of  Scioto 
County.  At  twenty-five,  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Union  Township, 
Scioto  County.  He  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Brown  in  1810,  who  died  two 
years  thereafter,  leaving  a  young  daughter.  In  1816,  he  married  Miss  Sum- 
ner.    The  same  year  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature-     For 


148  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

nineteen  consecutive  years  he  served  in  the  House  or  Senate.  In  1820  and 
1828,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  Presidential  electors  of  Ohio.  In  1832, 
he  was  Chairman  of  the  National  Convention  at  Baltimore,  which  nom- 
inated Gen.  Jackson  as  President  of  the  United  States.  In  1832,  he 
became  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  was  re-elected  in  1834.  He  declined  a  third 
nomination,  and  was  appointed  by  President  Van  Buren  Territorial  Governor 
of  Iowa  and  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  On  the '  16th  of  August, 
1838,  he  reached  Burlington,  the  seat  of  government.  He  remained  in  Iowa 
until  his  death,  in  1853. 

Joseph  Vance,  the  twelfth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Penn.,  March  21,  1781.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  his 
father  emigrated  to  the  new  Territory  when  Joseph  was  two  years  of  age.  He 
located  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Ohio,  building  a  solid  block  house.  This 
formed  a  stronghold  for  his  neighbors  in  case  of  danger.  In  1801,  this  pioneer 
decided  to  remove  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  eventually  settled  in  Urbana. 
Joseph  had  the  primitive  advantages  of  the  common  schools,  and  became  pro- 
ficient in  handling  those  useful  implements — the  plow,  ax  and  rifle.  The  first 
money  he  earned  he  invested  in  a  yoke  of  oxen.  He  obtained  several  barrels 
of  salt,  and  set  out  on  a  speculative  tour  through  the  settlements.  He  traveled 
through  a  wilderness,  over  swamps,  and  surmounted  serious  difficulties.  At 
night  he  built  a  huge  fire  to  terrify  the  wolves  and  panthers,  and  laid  down  to 
sleep  beside  his  oxen,  frequently  being  obliged  to  stand  guard  to  protect 
them  from  these  ferocious  creatures.  Occasionally  he  found  a  stream  so  swol- 
len that  necessarily  he  waited  hours  and  even  days  in  the  tangled  forest,  before 
he  could  cross.  He  often  suffered  from  hunger,  yet  he  sturdily  persevered  and 
sold  his  salt,  though  a  lad  of  only  fifteen  years.  When  he  attained  his  major- 
ity, he  married  Miss  Mary  Lemen,  of  Urbana.  At  twenty-three,  he  was 
elected  Captain  of  a  rifle  company,  and  frequently  led  his  men  to  the  front  to 
fight  the  Indians  prior  to  the  war  of  1812.  During  that  year,  he  and  his 
brother  piloted  Hull's  army  through  the  dense  forests  to  Fort  Meigs.  In  1817, 
with  Samuel  McCullough  and  Henry  Van  Meter,  he  made  a  contract  to  supply 
the  Northwestern  army  with  provisions.  They  drove  their  cattle  and  hogs 
many  miles,  dead  weight  being  transported  on  sleds  and  in  wagons.  He 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Urbana  and  Fort  Meigs — now  Perrysburg. 

While  thus  employed,  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  there  remained 
four  years.  He  then  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  on  Blanchard's  Fork, 
and  laid  out  the  town  of  Findlay.  He  was  sent  to  Congress  in  1821,  and  was 
a  member  of  that  body  for  fifteen  years.  In  1836,  he  was  chosen  Governor  of 
Ohio.  Again  he  was  sent  to  Congress  in  1842.  While  attending  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention  in  1850,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and  suffered 
extremely  until  1852,  when  he  died  at  his  home  in  Urbana. 

Wilson  Shannon  was  a  native  of  Belmont  County,  Ohio.  He  was  born 
during  1803.     At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  was  sent  to  the  university  at  Athens, 


^     >% 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  151 

where  he  remained  a  year,  and  then  changed  to  the  Transylvania  University, 
at  Lexington,  Ky.  He  continued  his  studies  tjvo  years,  then  returning  home 
and  entering  upon  reading  law.  He  completed  his  course  at  St.  Clairsville, 
Belmont  County,  and  was  admitted  to  practice.  He  was  engaged  in  the  courts 
of  the  county  for  eight  years.  In  1832,  the  Democrats  nominated  him  to  Con- 
gress, but  he  was  not  elected.  He  received  the  position  of  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney in  1834,  in  which  position  his  abilities  were  so  marked  that  in  1838  he  was 
elected  Governor  by  a  majority  of  3,600.  He  was  re-nominated  in  1840,  but 
Tom  Corwin  won  the  ticket.  Two  years  thereafter  he  was  again  nominated  and 
elected.  In  1843  he  was  appointed  Minister  to  Mexico,  Thomas  W.  Bartley, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate,  acting  as  Governor  the  remainder  of  the  term.  When 
Texas  was  admitted  as  a  State,  Mexico  renounced  all  diplomatic  relations  with  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Shannon  returned  horn  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  He 
was  sent  to  Congress  in  1852.  President  Pierce  conferred  upon  him  the  posi- 
tion of  Territorial  Governor  of  Kansas,  which  duty  he  did  not  perform  satis- 
factorily, and  was  superseded  after  fourteen  months  of  service.  He  settled  in 
Lecompton,  Kan.,  and  there  practiced  law  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1877. 

Thomas  Corwin,  the  fourteenth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  Bourbon 
County,  Ky.,  July  29,  1794.  His  father  settled  at  Lebanon  in  1798.  ■  The 
country  was  crude,  and  advantages  meager.  When  Thomas  was  seventeen 
years  of  age,  the  war  of  1812  was  inaugurated,  and  this  young  man  was 
engaged  to  drive  a  wagon  through  the  wilderness,  loaded  with  provisions,  to 
Gen.  Harrison's  headquarters.  In  1816,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and 
achieved  knowledge  so  rapidly  that  in  1817  he  passed  examination  and  was 
admitted  to  practice.  He  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  his  county,  in 
1818,  which  position  he  held  until  1830.  He  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of 
Ohio  in  1822.  Again,  in  1829,  he  was  a  member  of  the  same  body.  He  was 
sent  to  Congress  in  1830,  and  continued  to  be  re-elected  for  the  space  of  ten 
years.  He  became  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1840.  In  1845,  he  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  remained  until  called  to  the  cabinet  of  Mr. 
Fillmore,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He  was  again  sent  to  Congress  in 
1858,  and  re-elected  in  1860.  He  was  appointed  Minister  to  Mexico,  by  Pres- 
ident Lincoln.  After  his  return,  he  practiced  law  in  Washington,  D.  0  , 
where  he  died  in  1866. 

Mordecai  Bartley  was  born  in  1783,  in  Fayette  County,  Penn.  There  he 
remained,  on  his  father's  farm,  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Wells  in  1804,  and  removed  to  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  where  he 
purchased  a  farm,  near  Cross  Creek.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  of  1812,  he 
enlisted  in  a  company,  and  was  elected  its  Captain.  He  entered  the  field  under 
Harrison.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  removed  to  Richland  County,  and  opened 
a  clearing  and  set  up  a  cabin,  a  short  distance  from  Mansfield.  He  remained 
on  his  farm  twenty  years,  then  removing  to  Mansfield,  entered  the  mercantile 

9 


152  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

business.  In  1817,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate.  He  was  sent  to  Con- 
gress in  1823,  and  served  four  terms.  In  1844,  he  became  Governor  of  Ohio, 
on  the  Whig  ticket.  He  declined  a  re-nomination,  preferring  to  retire  to  his 
home  in  Mansfield,  where  he  died  in  1870. 

William  Bebb,  the  seventeenth  Governor,  was  from  Hamilton  County,  Ohio. 
He  was  born  in  1804.  His  early  instructions  were  limited,  but  thorough.  He 
opened  a  school  himself,  when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  at  North  Bend, 
residing  in  the  house  of  Gen.  Harrison.  He  remained  thus  employed  a  year, 
during  which  time  he  married  Shuck.  He  very  soon  began  the  study  of  law, 
continuing  his  school.  He  was  successful  in  his  undertakings,  and  many  pupils 
were  sent  him  from  the  best  families  in  Cincinnati.  In  1831,  he  was  admitted 
to  practice,  and  opened  an  office  in  Hamilton,  Butler  County,  remaining  thus- 
engaged  for  fourteen  years.  In  1845,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio.  In 
1847,  he  purchased  5,000  acres  of  land  in  the  Rock  River  country,  111.,  and 
removed  there  three  years  later.  On  the  inauguration  of  President  Lincoln,  he 
was  appointed  Pension  Examiner,  at  Washington,  and  remained  in  that  position 
until  1866,  when  he  returned  to  his  Illinois  farm.  He  died  at  Rockford,  111., 
in  1873. 

Seabury  Ford,  the  eighteenth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  the  year  1802, 
at  Cheshire,  Conn.  His  parents  settled  in  Burton  Township.  He  attended 
the  common  schools,  prepared  for  college  at  an  academy  in  Burton,  and  entered 
Yale  College,  in  1821,  graduating  in  1825.  He  then  began  the  study  of  law, 
in  the  law  office  of  Samuel  W.  Phelps,  of  Painesville,  completing  his  course 
with  Judge  Hitchcock.  He  began  practice  in  1827,  in  Burton.  He  married 
Miss  Harriet  E.  Cook,  of  Burton,  in  1828.  He  was  elected  by  the  Whigs  to 
the  Legislature,  in  1835,  and  served  six  sessions,  during  one  of  which  he  was 
Speaker  of  the  House.  He  entered  the  State  Senate  in  1841,  and  there 
remained  until  1844,  when  he  was  again  elected  Representative.  In  1846,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  Senate,  and  in  1848,  he  became  Governor  of  Ohio.  On 
the  first  Sunday  after  his  retirement,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  from  which 
he  never  recovered.     He  died  at  his  home  in  Burton  in  1855. 

Reuben  Wood,  the  nineteenth  Governor,  was  a  Vermonter.  Born  in  1792, 
in  Middleton,  Rutland  County,  he  was  a  sturdy  son  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State.  He  was  a  thorough  scholar,  and  obtained  a  classical  education  in  Upper 
Canada.  In  1812,  he  was  drafted  by  the  Canadian  authorities  to  serve  against 
the  Americans,  but  being  determined  not  to  oppose  his  own  land,  he  escaped 
one  stormy  night,  accompanied  by  Bill  Johnson,  who  was  afterward  an  Ameri- 
can spy.  In  a  birchbark  canoe  they  attempted  to  cross  Lake  Ontario.  A 
heavy  storm  of  wind  and  rain  set  in.  The  night  was  intensely  dark,  and  they 
were  in  great  danger.  They  fortunately  found  refuge  on  a  small  island,  where 
they  were  storm-bound  three  days,  suffering  from  hunger  and  exposure.  They 
reached  Sacket's  Harbor  at  last,  in  a  deplorable  condition.  Here  they  were 
arrested  as  spies  by  the  patrol  boats  of  the  American  fleet.     They  were  prisoners 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  153 

four  days,  when  an  uncle  of  Mr.  Wood's,  residing  not  far  distant,  came  to 
their  rescue,  vouched  for  their  loyalty,  and  they  were  released.  Mr.  Wood 
then  went  to  Woodville,  N.  Y.,  where  he  raised  a  company,  of  which  he  was 
elected  Captain.  They  marched  to  the  northern  frontier.  The  battles  of 
Plattsburg  and  Lake  Champlain  were  fought,  the  enemy  defeated,  and  the  com- 
pany returned  to  Woodville  and  was  disbanded. 

Young  Wood  then  entered  the  law  office  of  Gen.  Jonas  Clark,  at  Middle- 
bury,  Vt.  He  was  married  in  1816,  and  two  years  later,  settled  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  When  he  first  established  himself  in  the  village,  he  possessed  his  wife, 
infant  daughter  and  a  silver  quarter  of  a  dollar.  He  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  in  1825,  and  filled  the  office  three  consecutive  terms.  He  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  was  promoted  to  the  Bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  serving  there  fourteen  years,  the  latter  portion  of  the  term  as 
Chief  Justice.  He  was  termed  the  "Cayuga  Chief,"  from  his  tall  form  and 
courtly  bearing.  He  was  elected  Governor  in  1850,  by  a  majority  of  11,000. 
The  new  constitution,  which  went  into  effect  in  March,  1851,  vacated  the  office 
of  Governor,  and  he  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  26,000.  The  Democrats 
holding  a  national  convention  in  Baltimore  in  1852,  party  division  caused  fifty 
unavailing  votes.  The  Virginia  delegation  offered  the  entire  vote  to  Gov. 
Wood,  if  Ohio  would  bring  him  forward.  The  opposition  of  one  man  pre- 
ve'nted  this.  The  offer  was  accepted  by  New  Hampshire,  and  Frank  Pierce 
became  President.  Mr.  Wood  was  appointed  Consul  to  Valparaiso,  South 
America,  and  resigned  his  office  of  Governor.  He  resigned  his  consulship  and 
returned  to  his  fine  farm  near  Cleveland,  called  "Evergreen  Place."  He 
expected  to  address  a  Union  meeting  on  the  5th  of  October,  1864,  but  on  the 
1st  he  died,  mourned  by  all  who  knew  him. 

William  Medill,  the  twentieth  Governor,  was  born  in  New  Castle  County, 
Del.,  in  1801.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Delaware  College  in  1825.  He  began 
the  study  of  law  under  Judge  Black,  of  New  Castle,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1832.  He  removed  to  Lancaster,  Ohio,  in  1830.  He  was  elected  Rep- 
resentative from  Fairfield  County  in  1835.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  in 
1838,  and  was  re-elected  in  1840.  He  was  appointed  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  by  President  Polk.  During  the  same  year,  he  was  appointed  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs.  In  1851,  he  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor,  and, 
in  1853,  he  became  Governor.  He  occupied  the  position  of  First  Comptroller 
of  the  United  States  Treasury  in  1857,  under  President  Buchanan,  retaining  the 
office  until  1861,  when  he  retired  from  public  life.  His  death  occurred  in 
1865. 

Salmon  P.  Chase  was  a  native  of  Cornish,  N.  H.  He  was  born  in  1803. 
He  entered  Dartmouth  College  in  1822,  graduating  in  1826.  He  was  there- 
after successful  in  establishing  a  classical  school  in  Washington,  but  finan- 
cially it  did  not  succeed.  He  continued  to  teach  the  sons  of  Henry  Clay, 
William  Wirt  and  S.  L.  Southard,  at  the  same  time  reading  law  when  not  busy 


154  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

as  tutor.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1829,  and  opened  a  law  office  in  Cin- 
cinnati. He  succeeded  but  moderately,  and  during  his  leisure  hours  prepared 
a  new  edition  of  the  "Statutes  of  Ohio."  He  added  annotations  and  a  well- 
written  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  the  State.  This  was  a  thorough  success, 
and  gave  the  earnest  worker  popularity  and  a  stepping-stone  for  the  future. 
He  was  solicitor  for  the  banks  of  the  United  States  in  1834,  and  soon  there- 
after, for  the  city  banks.  He  achieved  considerable  distinction  in  1837,  in  the 
case  of  a  colored  woman  brought  into  the  State  by  her  master,  and  escaping 
his  possession.  He  was  thus  brought  out  as  an  Abolitionist,  which  was  further 
sustained  by  his  defense  of  James  G.  Birney,  who  had  suffered  indictment  for 
harboring  a  fugitive  slave.  In  1846,  associated  with  William  H.  Seward,  he 
defended  Van  Zandt  before  the  Supreme  Oburt  of  the  United  States.  His 
thrilling  denunciations  and  startling  conjectures  alarmed  the  slaveholding 
States,  and  subsequently  led  to  the  enactment  of  the  fugitive-slave  law  of  1850. 
Mr.  Chase  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  in  1849,  through  the 
coalition  of  the  Democrats  and  Free-Soilers.  In  1855,  he  was  elected  Gover- 
nor of  Ohio  by  the  opponents  of  Pierce's  administration.  He  was  re-elected 
in  1859.  President  Lincoln,  in  1861,  tendered  him  the  position  of  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  To  his  ability  and  official  management  we  are  indebted  for 
the  present  national  bank  system.  In  1864,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of 
the  United  States.  He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1873,  after  a  useful 
career. 

William  Dennison  was  born  in  Cincinnati  in  1815.  He  gained  an  educa- 
tion at  Miami  University,  graduating  in  1835.  He  began  the  study  of  law  in 
the  office  of  the  father  of  George  H.  Pendleton,  and  was  qualified  and  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1840.  The  same  year,  he  married  a  daughter  of  William  Neil, 
of  Columbus.  The  Whigs  of  the  Franklin  and  Delaware  District  sent  him  to 
the  State  Senate,  in  1848.  He  was  President  of  the  Exchange  Bank  in  Cin- 
cinnati, in  1852,  and  was  also  President  of  Columbus  &  Xenia  Railway.  He  was 
elected  the  twenty-second  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1859.  By  his  promptness  and 
activity  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion,  Ohio  was  placed  in  the  front  rank  of 
loyalty.  At  the  beginning  of  Lincoln's  second  term,  he  was  appointed  Post- 
master General,  retiring  upon  the  accession  of  Johnson.  He  then  made  his 
home  at  Columbus. 

David  Tod,  twenty-third  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  at  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
in  1805.  His  education  was  principally  obtained  through  his  own  exertions. 
He  set  about  the  study  of  law  most  vigorously,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
1827.  He  soon  acquired  popularity  through  his  ability,  and  consequently  was 
financially  successful.  He  purchased  the  Briar  Hill  homestead.  Under  Jack- 
son's administration,  he  was  Postmaster  at  Warren,  and  held  the  position  until 
1838,  when  he  was  elected  State  Senator  by  the  Whigs  of  Trumbull  District,  by 
the  Democrats.  In  1844,  he  retired  to  Briar  Hill,  and  opened  the  Briar  Hill 
Coal  Mines.     He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  coal  business  of  Ohio.     In  the  Cleveland 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  155 

&  Mahoning  Railroad,  he  was  largely  interested,  and  was  its  President,  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Perkins.  He  was  nominated,  in  1844,  for  Governor,  by  the  Dem- 
ocrats, but  was  defeated.  In  1847,  he  went  to  Brazil  as  Minister,  where  he 
resided  for  four  and  a  half  years.  The  Emperor  presented  him  with  a  special 
commendation  to  the  President,  as  a  testimonial  of  his  esteem.  He  was  also  the 
recipient  of  an  elegant  silver  tray,  as  a  memorial  from  the .  resident  citizens  of 
Rio  Janeiro.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  National  Convention,  which 
met  at  Charleston  in  1860.  He  was  Vice  President  of  this  Convention.  He 
was  an  earnest  advocate  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  When  the  Southern  members 
withdrew,  the  President,  Caleb  Cashing,  going  with  them,  the  convention 
adjourned  to  Baltimore,  when  Mr.  Tod  assumed  the  chair  and  Douglas  was  nom- 
inated. He  was  an  earnest  worker  in  the  cause,  but  not  disheartened  by  its 
defeat.  When  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon,  he  was  one  of  the  most  vigorous 
prosecutors  of  the  war,  not  relaxing  his  active  earnestness  until  its  close.  He 
donated  full  uniforms  to  Company  B,  of  the  Nineteenth  Regiment,  and  contrib- 
uted largely  to  the  war  fund  of  his  township.  Fifty-five  thousand  majority 
elected  him  Governor  in  1861.  His  term  was  burdened  with  war  duties, 
and  he  carried  them  so  bravely  as  Governor  that  the  President  said  of  him : 
"  Governor  Tod  of  Ohio  aids  me  more  and  troubles  me  less  than  any  other  Gov- 
ernor."    His  death  occurred  at  Briar  Hill  during  the  year  1868. 

John  Brough  was  a  native  of  Marietta,  Ohio.  He  was  born  in  1811.  The  death 
of  his  father  left  him  in  precarious  circumstances,  which  may  have  been  a  discipline 
for  future  usefulness.  He  entered  a  printing  office,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  in 
Marietta,  and  after  serving  a  few  months,  began  his  studies  in  the  Ohio  Uni- 
versity, setting  type  mornings  and  evenings,  to  earn  sufficient  for  support.  He 
occupied  the  leading  position  in  classes,  and  at  the  same  time  excelled  as  a 
type-setter.  He  was  also  admired  for  his  athletic  feats  in  field  amusements. 
He  completed  his  studies  and  began  reading  law,  which  pursuit  was  interrupted 
by  an  opportunity  to  edit  a  paper  in  Petersburg,  Va.  He  returned  to  Marietta 
in  1831,  and  became  editor  and  proprietor  of  a  leading  Democratic  newspaper 
— the  Washington  County  Republican.  He  achieved  distinction  rapidly, 
and  in  1833,  sold  his  interest,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  a  more  extended  field 
of  journalism.  He  purchased  the  Ohio  Eagle,  at  Lancaster,  and  as  its  editor, 
held  a  deep  influence  over  local  and  State  politics.  He  occupied  the  position 
of  Clerk  of  the  Ohio  Senate,  between  the  years  1835  and  1838,  and  relinquished  his 
paper.  He  then  represented  the  counties  of  Fairfield  and  Hocking  in  the  Leg- 
islature. He  was  then  appointed  Auditor  of  State  by  the  General  Assembly, 
in  which  position  he  served  six  years.  He  then  purchased  the  Phcenix  news- 
paper in  Cincinnati,  changed  its  name  to  the  Enquirer,  placing  it  in  the  care 
of  his  brother,  Charles,  while  he  opened  a  law  office  in  the  city.  His  editorials 
in  the  Enquirer,  and  his  activity  in  political  afiairs,  were  brilliant  and  strong. 
He  retired  from  politics  in  1848,  sold  a  half-interest  in  the  Enquirer  and  carried 
on  a  prosperous  business,  but  was  brought  forward  again  by  leaders  of  both 


156  HISTORY  OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

political  parties  in  1863,  through  the  Vallandigham  contest,  and  was  elected 
Governor  the  same  year,  by  a  majority  of  101,099  votes  in  a  total  of  471,643. 
He  was  three  times  married.  His  death  occurred  in  1865 — Charles  Anderson 
serving  out  his  term. 

Jacob  Dolson  Cox,  the  twenty-sixth  Governor,  was  born  in  1828,  in  Mon- 
treal, Canada,  where  his  parents  were  temporarily.  He  became  a  student  of 
Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  in  1846,  graduating  in  1851,  and  beginning  the  practice 
of  law  in  Warren  in  1852.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  in  1859, 
from  the  Trumbull  and  Mahoning  Districts.  He  was  termed  a  radical.  He 
was  a  commissioned  Brigadier  General  of  Ohio  in  1861,  and,  in  1862,  was  pro- 
moted to  Major  General  for  gallantry  in  battle.  While  in  the  service  he  was 
nominated  for  Governor,  and  took  that  position  in  1865.  He  was  a  member  of 
Grant's  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  but  resigned.  He  went  to  Con- 
gress in  1875,  from  the  Toledo  District. 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  the  nineteenth  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  twenty-seventh  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  at  Delaware,  Ohio,  in  1822.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Kenyon  College  in  1842.  He  began  the  study  of  law,  and, 
in  1843,  pursued  that  course  in  the  Cambridge  University,  graduating  in  1845. 
He  began  his  practice  at  Fremont.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy  Webb  in 
1852,  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  Major  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry  in  1861,  and  in  1862,  was  promoted  to  Colonel  on  account  of  bravery 
in  the  field,  and  eventually  became  Major  General.  In  1864,  he  was  elected  to 
Congress,  and  retired  from  the  service.  He  remained  in  Congress  tAvo  terms, 
and  was  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1867,  being  re-elected  in  1869.  He  was  again 
elected  in  1875,  but  resigned  in  1877,  to  accept  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  Thomas  L.  Young  acting  as  Governor  the  remander  of  the  term. 

Edward  F.  Noyes  was  born  in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  in  1832.  While  a  lad  of 
fourteen,  he  entered  the  office  of  the  Morning  Star,  published  at  Dover,  N.  H., 
in  order  to  learn  the  business  of  printing.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered 
the  academy  at  Kingston,  N.  H.  He  prepared  for  college,  and  entered 
Dartmouth  in  1853,  graduating  with  high  honors  in  1857.  He  had  begun  the 
study  of  law,  and  continued  the  course  in  the  Cincinnati  Law  School,  and  began 
to  practice  in  1858.  He  was  an  enthusiast  at  the  opening  of  the  rebellion  and 
was  interested  in  raising  the  Twentieth  Regiment,  of  which  he  was  made  Major. 
He  was  promoted  to  Colonel  in  1862.  At  the  conflict  at  Ruff"'s  Mills,  in 
Georgia,  in  1864,  he  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  a  leg.  At  the  time,  amputa- 
tion was  necessary,  but  was  unskillfully  performed.  He  was  brought  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  the  operation  was  repeated,  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  He  reported 
three  months  later,  to  Gen.  Hooker  for  duty,  on  crutches.  He  was  assigned  to 
command  of  Camp  Dennison.  He  was  promoted  to  the  full  rank  of  Brigadier 
General,  and  while  in  discharge  of  his  duty  at  that  place,  he  was  elected  City 
Solicitor  of  Cincinnati.  He  occupied  the  position  until  1871,  when  he  was 
elected  Governor,  by  a  majority  of  20,000. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO.  157 

William  Allen,  the  twenty-ninth  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  1807,  in 
Chowan  County,  N.  C.  While  an  infant,  he  was  left  an  orphan,  and  his  sister 
superintended  his  education.  He  was  placed  in  a  private  school  at  Lynchburg, 
Va.,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Two  years  later  he  joined  his  family  at  Chilli- 
cothe,  and  attended  the  academy  a  year,  when  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
Edward  King.  Before  he  was  twenty-five  he  was  sent  to  Congress  by  a  strong 
Whig  district.  He  was  elected  United  States  Senator  in  1837  and  served 
until  1849.  In  1845  he  married  Effie  McArthur,  who  died  soon  after  the 
birth  of  their  daughter.  In  1873  he  was  elected  Governor.  His  administra- 
tion gave  general  satisfaction.     He  died  at  his  home  at  "  Fruit  Hill,"  in  1879. 

Richard  M.  Bishop,  the  thirty-first  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  November 
4,  1812,  in  Fleming  County,  Ky.  For  several  years  he  devoted  himself  to 
mercantile  business  in  his  native  State.  In  1848  he  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
grocery  business  at  Cincinnati,  and  subsequently  admitted  his  three  sons  part- 
ners, under  the  firm  name  of  R.  M.  Bishop  &  Sons.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  Cincinnati,  and  in  1859  was  its  Mayor,  holding  that  office  until  1861. 
In  1877  he  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats  and  elected  Governor  of  Ohio. 

Charles  Foster,  the  thirty-second  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  Seneca 
County,  Ohio,  April  12,  1828.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  and 
the  academy  at  Norwalk,  Ohio.  Engaged  in  mercantile  and  banking  business 
at  Fostoria,  and  never  held  any  public  office  until  he  was  elected  to  the  Forty- 
second  Congress ;  was  re-elected  to  the  Forty-third  Congress,  and  again  to  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress  as  a  Republican.  In  1879  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Republicans  and  elected  Governor  of  the  State,  was  re-elected  in  1881,  and 
served  through  both  terms  winning  the  esteem  of  all  political  parties. 

George  Hoadly,  the  thirty-third  Governor  of  Ohio,  was  born  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  July  31,  1826.  His  parents,  George  and  Mary  Ann  (Woolsey) 
Hoadly,  names  well  known  in  the  educational  circles  of  Connecticut,  were  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  commercial  and  social  progress  of  that  State.  Gov. 
Hoadly  completed  his  education  at  what  is  now  known  as  Adelbert  College,  of 
which  he  is  a  LL.  D.,  while  in  1884  he  received  the  same  honor  from  Yale.  In 
1844  he  entered  the  law  school  of  Cambridge,  Mass.;  in  1846  entered  the 
office  of  Chase  &  Ball,  Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  August 
following ;  elected  Judge  of  the  Cincinnati  Superior  Court  in  1851,  succeeded 
Judge  Gholson  on  the  bench  of  the  present  Superior  Court  in  1859,  and  was 
re-elected  in  1864 ;  refused  a  seat  on  the  Supreme  bench  in  1856  and  again  in 
1862 ;  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  1873-74.  He 
was  nominated  by  the  Democrats  for  Governor  in  1883  and  elected. 

ANCIENT    WORKS. 

Ohio  has  furnished  a  prolific  field  for  antiquarians  and  those  interested  in 
scientific  explorations,  either  for  their  own  amusement  and  knowledge,  or  for 
the  records  of  "facts  and  formations." 


158  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  "  Mound  Builders  "  had  a  wide  sweep  through  this 
continent,  but  absolute  facts  regarding  their  era  have  been  most  difficult  to 
obtain.  Numerous  theories  and  suppositions  have  been  advanced,  yet  they  are 
emphatic  evidences  that  they  have  traced  the  origin  and  time  of  this  primeval  race. 

However,  they  have  left  their  works  behind  them,  and  no  exercise  of  faith 
is  necessary  to  have  confidence  in  that  part  of  the  story.  That  these  works  are 
of  human  origin  is  self-evident.  Temples  and  military  works  have  been  found 
which  required  a  considerable  degree  of  scientific  skill  on  the  part  of  those  early 
architects  and  builders. 

Evidently  the  Indians  had  no  knowledge  of  these  works  of  predecessors, 
which  differed  in  all  respects  from  those  of  the  red  men.  An  ancient  cemetery 
has  been  found,  covering  an  area  of  four  acres,  which  had  evidently  been  laid 
out  into  lots,  from  north  to  south.  Nearly  3,000  graves  have  been  discovered, 
containing  bones  which  at  some  time  must  have  constituted  the  framework  of 
veritable  giants,  while  others  are  of  no  unusual  size.  In  1815,  a  jaw-bone  was 
exhumed,  containing  an  artificial  tooth  of  silver. 

Mounds  and  fortifications  are  plentiful  in  Athens  County,  some  of  them 
being  of  solid  stone.  One,  differing  in  the  quality  of  stone  from  the  others,  is 
supposed  to  be  a  dam  across  the  Hocking.  Over  a  thousand  pieces  of  stone 
were  used  in-  its  construction.  Copper  rings,  bracelets  and  ornaments  are 
numerous.  It  is  also  evident  that  these  people  possessed  the  knowledge  of 
hardening  copper  and  giving  it  an  edge  equal  to  our  steel  of  to-day. 

In  the  branch  formed  by  a  branch  of  the  Licking  River  and  Raccoon  Creek, 
in  Licking  County,  ancient  works  extend  over  an  area  of  several  miles.  Again, 
three  miles  northwest  of  this  locality,  near  the  road  between  Newark  and  Gran- 
ville, another  field  of  these  relics  may  be  found.  On  the  summit  of  a  high  hill 
is  a  fortification,  formed  to  represent  an  alligator.  The  head  and  neck  includes 
32  feet ;  the  length  of  the  body  is  73  feet ;  the  tail  was  105  feet ;  from  the  termini  of 
the  fore  feet,  over  the  shoulders,  the  width  is  100  feet ;  from  the  termini  of 
the  hind  feet,  over  the  hips,  is  92  feet ;  its  highest  point  is  7  feet.  It  is  composed 
of  clay,  which  must  have  been  conveyed  hither,  as  it  is  not  similar  to  the  clay 
found  in  the  vicinity. 

Near  Miamisburg,  Montgomery  County,  are  other  specimens.  Near  the 
village  is  a  mound,  equaled  in  size  by  very  few  of  these  antiquities.  It  meas- 
ures 800  feet  around  the  base,  and  rises  to  a  height  of  sixty-seven  feet.  Others 
are  found  in  Miami  County,  while  at  Circleville,  Pickaway  County,  no  traces 
remain. 

Two  forts  have  been  discovered,  one  forming  an  exact  square,  and  the  other 
describing  a  circle.  The  square  is  flanked  by  two  walls,  on  all  sides,  these 
being  divided  by  a  deep  ditch.  The  circle  has  one  wall  and  no  ditch.  This  is 
sixty-nine  rods  in  diameter,  its  walls  being  twenty  feet  high.  The  square  fort 
measures  fifty-five  rods  across,  with  walls  twelve  feet  high.  Twelve  gateways 
lead  into  the  square  fort,  while  the  circle  has  but  one,  which  led  to  the  other,  at 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  159 

the  point  where  the  walls  of  the  two  came  together.  Before  each  of  these 
entrances  were  mounds  of  earth,  from  four  to  five  feet  high  and  nearly  forty 
feet  in  diameter.  Evidently  these  were  designed  for  defenses  for  the  openings, 
in  cases  of  emergency. 

A  short  distance  from  Piketon,  the  turnpike  runs,  for  several  hundred  feet, 
between  two  parallel  artificial  walls  of  earth,  fifteen  feet  high,  and  six  rods 
apart.  In  Scioto  County,  on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio,  are  extensive  ancient 
works. 

"  Fort  Ancient  "  is  near  Lebanon  in  Warren  County.  Its  direct  measure- 
ment is  a  mile,  but  in  tracing  its  angles,  retreating  and  salient,  its  length  would 
be  nearly  six  miles.  Its  site  is  a  level  plain,  240  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
river.  The  interior  wall  varies  in  height  to  conform  with  the  nature  of  the 
ground  without — ranging  from  8  to  10  feet.  On  the  plain  it  reaches  100  feet. 
This  fort  has  58  gateways,  through  one  of  which  the  State  road  runs,  passing 
between  two  mounds  12  feet  high.  Northeast  from  these  mounds,  situated  on 
the  plain,  are  two  roads,  about  a  rod  wide  each,  made  upon  an  elevation  about 
three  feet  high.  They  run  parallel  to  each  other  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
when  they  each  form  a  semicircle  around  a  mound,  joining  in  the  circle.  It  is 
probable  this  was  at  some  time  a  military  defense,  or,  on  the  contrary,  it  may 
have  been  a  general  rendezvous  for  games  and  high  holiday  festivities. 

Near  Marietta,  are  the  celebrated  Muskingum  River  works,  being  a  half- 
mile  from  its  juncture  with  the  Ohio.  They  consist  of  mounds  and  walls  of 
earth  in  circular  and  square  forms,  also  tracing  direct  lines. 

The  largest  square  fort  covers  an  area  of  40  acres,  and  is  inclosed  by  a  wall 
of  earth,  6  to  10  feet  in  height,  and  from  25  to  30  feet  at  its  base.  On  each 
side  are  three  gateways.  The  center  gateways  exceed  the  others  in  size,  more 
especially  on  the  side  toward  the  Muskingum.  From  this  outlet  runs  a  covered 
means  of  egress,  between  two  parallel  walls  of  earth,  231  feet  distant  from  each 
other,  measuring  from  the  centers.  The  walls  in  the  interior  are  21  feet  high 
at  the  most  elevated  points,  measuring  42  feet  at  the  base,  grading  on  the  exte- 
rior to  about  five  feet  in  heigth.  This  passage-way  is  360  feet  in  length,  lead- 
ing to  the  low  grounds,  which,  at  the  period  of  its  construction,  probably  reached 
the  river. 

At  the  northwest  corner,  within  the  in  closure,  is  a  plateau  188  feet  long, 
132  feet  broad  and  9  feet  high.  Its  sides  are  perpendicular  and  its  surface 
level.  At  the  center  of  each  side  is  a  graded  pathway  leading  to  the  top,  six 
feet  wide.  Another  elevated  square  is  near  the  south  wall,  150x120  feet  square, 
and  8  feet  high,  similar  to  the  other,  with  the  exception  of  the  graded  walk. 
Outside  and  next  the  wall  to  ascend  to  the  top,  it  has  central  hollow  ways,  10 
feet  wide,  leading  20  feet  toward  the  center,  then  arising  with  a  gradual  slope  to 
the  top.  A  third  elevated  square  is  situated  at  the  southeast  corner,  108x54 
feet  square,  with  ascents  at  the  ends.  This  is  neither  as  high  or  as  perfect  as 
the  others. 


160  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  \ 

Another  ancient  work  is  found  to  the  southeast,  covering  an  area  of  20  acres 
with  a  gateway  in  the  center  of  each  side,  and  others  at  the  corners — each  of 
these  having  the  mound  defense. 

On  the  outside  of  the  smaller  fort,  a  mound  resembling  a  sugar  loaf  was 
formed  in  the  shape  of  a  circle  115  feet  in  diameter,  its  height  being  30  feet. 
A  ditch  surrounds  it,  15  feet  wide  and  4  feet  deep.  These  earthworks  have 
contributed  greatly  to  the  satisfactory  results  of  scientific  researches.  Their 
builders  were  evidently  composed  of  large  bands  that  have  succumbed  to  the 
advance  of  enlightened  humanity.  The  relics  found  consists  of  ornaments, 
utensils  and  implements  of  war.  The  bones  left  in  the  numerous  graves  convey 
an  idea  of  a  stalwart,  vigorous  people,  and  the  conquests  which  swept  them  away 
from  the  face  of  the  country  must  have  been  fierce  and  cruel. 

Other  mounds  and  fortifications  are  found  in  difierent  parts  of  the  State,  of 
which  our  limited  space  will  not  permit  a  description. 

Many  sculptured  rocks  are  found,  and  others  with  plainly  discernible 
tracery  in  emblematical  designs  upon  their  surface.  The  rock  on  which  the 
inscriptions  occur  is  the  grindstone  grit  of  the  Ohio  exports — a  stratum  found 
in  Northern  Ohio.  Arrow-points  of  flint  or  chert  have  been  frequently  found. 
From  all  investigations,  it  is  evident  that  an  extensive  flint  bed  existed  in  Lick- 
ing County,  near  Newark.  The  old  pits  can  now  be  recognized.  They 
extended  over  a  hundred  acres.  They  are  partially  filled  with  water,  and  sur- 
rounded by  piles  of  broken  and  rejected  fragments.  The  flint  is  a  grayish- 
white,  with  cavities  of  a  brilliant  quartz  crystal.  Evidently  these  stones  were 
chipped  into  shape  and  the  material  sorted  on  the  ground.  Only  clear,  homo- 
genous pieces  can  be  wrought  into  arrow-heads  and  spear-points.  Flint  chips 
extend  over  many  acres  of  ground  in  this  vicinity.  Flint  beds  are  also  found 
in  Stark  and  Tuscarawas  Counties.  In  color  it  varies,  being  red,  white,  black 
and  mottled.     The  black  is  found  in  Coshocton  County. 

SOME   GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS. 

Ohio,  as  a  State,  is  renowned  as  an  agricultural  section.  Its  variety,  quality 
and  quantity  of  productions  cannot  be  surpassed  by  any  State  in  the  Union.  Its 
commercial  importance  ranks  proudly  in  the  galaxy  of  opulent  and  industrious 
States  composing  this  Union.  Her  natural  resources  are  prolific,  and  all  improve- 
ments which  could  be  instituted  by  the  ingenuity  of  mankind  have  been  added. 

From  a  quarter  to  a  third  of  its  area  is  hilly  and  broken.  About  the  head- 
waters of  the  Muskingum  and  Scioto,  and  between  the  Scioto  and  the  two 
Miami  Rivers,  are  wide  prairies ;  some  of  them  are  elevated  and  dry,  with  fertile 
soil,  although  they  are  frequently  termed  "barrens."  In  other  parts,  they  are 
low  and  marshy,  producing  coarse,  rank  grass,  which  grows  to  a  height  of  five 
feet  in  some  places. 

The  State  is  most  fortunate  in  timber  wealth,  having  large  quantities  of 
black  walnut,  oak  of  difierent  varieties,  maple,  hickory,  birch,  several  kinds  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  161 

"beech,  poplar,  sycamore,  papaw,  several  kinds  of  ash,  cherry,  whitewood  and 
buckeye. 

The  summers  are  usually  warm,  and  the  winters  are  mild,  considering  the 
latitude  of  the  State.  Near  Lake  Erie,  the  winters  are  severe,  corresponding 
with  sections  in  a  line  with  that  locality.  Snow  falls  in  sufficient  quantities 
in  the  northern  part  to  afford  several  weeks  of  fine  sleighing.  In  the  southern 
portion,  the  snowstorms  are  not  frequent,  and  the  fall  rarely  remains  long  on 
the  ground. 

The  climate  is  generally  healthy,  with  the  exception  of  small  tracts  lying 
near  the  marshes  and  stagnant  waters. 

The  Ohio  River  washes  the  southern  border  of  the  State,  and  is  navigable 
for  steamboats  of  a  large  size,  the  entire  length  of  its  course.  From  Pitts- 
burgh to  its  mouth,  measuring  it  meanderings,  it  is  908  miles  long.  Its  current 
is  gentle,  having  no  falls  except  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  the  descent  is  twenty- 
two  and  a  half  feet  in  two  miles.     A  canal  obviates  this  obstruction. 

The  Muskingum  is  the  largest  river  that  flows  entirely  within  the  State.  It 
is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Tuscarawas  and  Walhonding  Rivers,  and  enters 
the  Ohio  at  Marietta     One  hundred  miles  of  its  length  is  navigable. 

The  Scioto  is  the  second  river  in  magnitude,  is  about  200  miles  long,  and 
flows  into  the  Ohio  at  Portsmouth.  It  affords  navigation  130  miles  of  its  length. 
The  Great  Miami  is  a  rapid  river,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  is  100 
miles  long.  The  Little  Miami  is  seventy  miles  in  length,  and  enters  the  Ohio 
.seven  miles  from  Cincinnati. 

The  Maumee  rises  in  Indiana,  flows  through  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
State,  and  enters  Lake  Erie  at  Maumee  Bay.  It  affords  navigation  as  far  as 
Perrysburg,  eighteen  miles  from  the  lake,  and  above  the  rapids,  it  is  again  nav- 
igable. 

The  Sandusky  rises  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  is  eighty  miles  long, 
and  flows  into  Lake  Erie,  via  Sandusky  Bay. 

Lake  Erie  washes  150  miles  of  the  northern  boundary.  The  State  has  sev- 
eral fine  harbors,  the  Maumee  and  Sandusky  Bays  being  the  largest. 

"We  have,  in  tracing  the  record  of  the  earlier  counties,  given  the  educational  inter- 
ests as  exemplified  by  different  institutions.  "VVe  have  also  given  the  canal  system 
of  the  State,  in  previous  pages.  The  Governor  is  elected  every  two  years,  by 
the  people.  The  Senators  are  chosen  biennially,  and  are  apportioned  according 
to  the  male  population  over  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  and  other  courts  are  elected  by  the  joint  ballot  of  the  Legislature,  for 
the  term  of  seven  years. 

During  the  early  settlement  of  Ohio,  perfect  social  equality  existed  among  the 
settlers.  The  line  of  demarkation  that  was  drawn  was  a  separation  of  the  good 
from  the  bad.  Log-rollings  and  cabin-raisings  were  mutual  affairs.  Their 
:sport  usually  consisted  of  shooting,  rowing  and  hunting.  Hunting  shirts  and 
buckskin  pants  were  in  the  fashion,  while  the  women  dressed  in  coarse  material, 


162  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

woven  by  their  own  hands.  A  common  American  cotton  check  was  con- 
sidered a  magnificent  addition  to  one's  toilet.  In  those  times,  however,  the 
material  was  $1  per  yard,  instead  of  the  shilling  of  to-day.  But  five  yards 
was  then  a  large  "pattern,"  instead  of  the  twenty-five  of  1880.  In  cooking 
utensils,  the  pot,  pan  and  frying-pan  constituted  an  elegant  outfit.  A  few  plain 
dishes  were  added  for  table  use.  Stools  and  benches  were  the  rule,  although  a 
few  wealthy  families  indulged  in  splmt-bottom  chairs.  The  cabin  floors  were 
rough,  and  in  many  cases  the  green  sward  formed  the  carpet.  Goods  were  very 
expensive,  and  flour  was  considered  a  great  luxury.  Goods  were  brought  by 
horses  and  mules  from  Detroit,  or  by  wagon  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh, 
and  then  down  the  Ohio.  Coarse  calicoes  were  $1  per  yard  ;  tea  $2  to  $3  per 
pound ;  cofiee  75  cents  ;  whisky,  from  $1  to  $2  per  gallon,  and  salt,  $5  to  ^6 
per  barrel.  In  those  towns  where  Indian  trade  constituted  a  desirable  interest, 
a  bottle  was  set  at  each  end  of  the  counter — a  gratuitous  offering  to  their  red 
friends. 

OUTLINE   GEOLOGY   OF   OHIO. 

Should  we  group  the  rocks  of  Ohio,  according  to  their  lithological  characters, 
we  should  give  five  distinct  divisions.  They  are  marked  by  difference  in  appear- 
ance, hardness,  color  and  composition : 

1 — Limestone. 

2 — Black  shale. 

3 — Fine-grained  sandstone. 

4 — Conglomerate. 

5 — Coal  series. 

They  are  all  stratified  and  sedimentary.  They  are  nearly  horizontal.  The 
lowest  one  visible,  in  a  physical  as  well  as  a  geological  sense,  is  "  blue  lime- 
stone." 

The  bed  of  the  Ohio  River  near  Cincinnati  is  133  feet  below  the  level  of 
Lake  Erie.  The  strata  incline  in  all  directions  from  the  southwestern  angle  of 
the  State.  In  Scioto  County  may  be  seen  the  outcropping  edges  of  all  these 
rocks.  They  sink  at  this  point  in  the  direction  south  80J°  east ;  easterly  at  the 
rate  of  37^  feet  per  mile.  The  cliff"  limestone,  the  upper  stratum  of  the  lime- 
stone deposit,  is  600  feet  above  the  river  at  Cincinnati ;  at  West  Union,  in 
Adams  County,  it  is  only  350  feet  above  the  same  level. 

The  finely  grained  sandstone  found  on  the  summit  of  the  hills  east  of  Brush 
Creek  and  west  of  the  Scioto  sinks  to  the  base  of  the  hills,  and  appears  beneath 
the  conglomerate,  near  the  Little  Scioto.  Although  the  rock  formations  are  the 
same  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  in  the  same  order,  their  thickness,  mass  and  dip, 
are  quite  different. 

Chillicothe,  Reynoldsburg,  Mansfield,  Newburg,  Waverly  and  Rockville,  are 
situated  near  the  western  border  of  the  "  fine-grained  limestone."  Its  outcrop 
forms  a  continuous  and  crooked  line  from  the  Ohio  River  to  Lake  Erie.  In  the 
southwest  portion  of  the  State  is  the  "blue  limestone,"  occupying  a  circular 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  163 

space  from  West  Union  via  Dayton,  to  the  State  line.  The  conglomerate  is  to 
the  east  of  the  given  towns,  bending  around  from  Cuyahoga  Falls  to  Burton,  in 
Geauga  County,  and  then  eastward  into  Pennsylvania.  Near  this  outcrop  are 
the  coal-bearing  rocks  which  occupy  the  east  and  southeastern  portions  of  Ohio. 
From  Rockville  to  Chillicothe,  the  course  is  north,  about  10°  east,  and  nearly 
corresponds  with  the  line  of  outcrop  of  the  fine-grained  sandstone  for  an  equal 
distance.  The  dip  at  Rockville,  given  by  Charles  Whittlesey,  is  80|°,  almost 
at  a  right  angle,  and  at  the  rate  of  37  feet  per  mile. 

At  Chillicothe,  the  other  end  of  the  line,  the  general  dip  is  south  70°  east, 
30  feet  to  the  mile,  the  line  curving  eastward  and  the  dip  line  to  the  southward. 
This  is  the  universal  law. 

The  northern  boundary  of  the  great  coal  fields  passes  through  Meadville,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  turning  south  arrives  at  Portage  Summit,  on  the  summit  of 
the  Alleghanies,  2,500  feet  above  the  ocean  level.  It  then  plunges  rapidly  to 
the  westward.  From  the  Alleghanies  to  the  southwest,  through  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia  and  Tennessee,  sweeps  this  great  coal  basin. 

Much  of  the  county  of  Medina  is  conglomerate  upon  the  surface,  but  the 
streams,  especially  the  South  Branch  of  the  Rocky  River,  set  through  this  sur- 
face stratum,  and  reach  the  fine-grained  sandstone.  This  is  the  case  with 
Rocky,  Chagrin,  Cuyahoga  and  Grand  Rivers — also  Conneaut  and  Ashtabula 
Creeks.  This  sandstone  and  the  shale  extend  up  the  narrow  valleys  of  these 
streams  and  their  tributaries.  Between  these  strata  is  a  mass  of  coarse-grained 
sandstone,  without  pebbles,  which  furnishes  the  grindstones  for  which  Ohio  is 
noted.  In  Lorain  County,  the  coarse  sandstone  grit  nearly  displaces  the  fine- 
grained sandstone  and  red  shale,  thickening  at  Elyria  to  the  black  shale.  South 
of  this  point,  the  grindstone  grit,  red  shale  and  ash-colored  shale  vary  in  thick- 
ness. The  town  of  Chillicothe,  the  village  of  Newburg,  and  a  point  in  the  west 
line  of  Crawford  County,  are  all  situated  on  the  "black  shale." 

Dr.  Locke  gives  the  dip,  at  Montgomery  and  Miami  Counties,  at  north  14°, 
east,  six  feet  to  the  mile;  at  Columbus,  Whitelesey  gives  it,  81°  52'  east,  22 ^^^ 
feet  to  the  mile.  The  fine-grained  sandstone  at  Newburg  is  not  over  eighty 
feet  in  thickness ;  at  Jacktown  and  Reynoldsburg,  500 ;  at  Waverly  250  to 
300  feet,  and  at  Brush  Creek,  Adams  County,  343  feet.  The  black  shale  is 
251  feet  thick  at  Brush  Creek  ;  at  Alum  Creek,  250  to  300  feet  thick  ;  in  Craw- 
ford County,  about  250  feet  thick.  The  conglomerate  in  Jackson  County  is 
200  feet  thick  ;  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  100  to  120  feet ;  at  Burton,  Geauga  County, 
300  feet.  The  great  limestone  formation  is  divided  into  several  numbers.  At 
Cincinnati,  at  the  bed  of  the  river,  there  is : 

1 — A  blue  limestone  and  slaty  marlite. 

2 — Dun-colored  marl  and  layers  of  lime  rock. 

3 — Blue  marl  and  layers  of  blue  limestone. 

4 — Marl  and  bands  of  limestone,  with  immense  numbers  of  shells  at  the 
surface. 


164  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

In  Adams  County,  the  detailed  section  is  thus : 

1 — Blue  limestone  and  marl. 

2 — Blue  marl. 

3 — Flinty  limestone. 

4 — Blue  marl. 

5 — Cliff  limestone. 

The  coal-fields  of  Ohio  are  composed  of  alternate  beds  of  coarse-grained 
sandstone,  clay  shales,  layers  of  ironstone,  thin  beds  of  limestone  and  numer- 
ous strata  of  coal.  The  coal  region  abounds  in  iron.  From  Jacktown  to  Con- 
cord, in  Muskingum  County,  there  are  eight  beds  of  coal,  and  seven  strata  of 
limestone.  The  distance  between  these  two  points  is  forty-two  miles.  From 
Freedom,  in  Portage  County,  to  Poland,  in  Trumbull  County,  a  distance  of 
thirty-five  miles,  there  are  five  distinct  strata.  Among  them  are  distributed 
thin  beds  of  limestone,  and  many  beds  of  iron  ore.  The  greater  mass  of  coal 
and  iron  measures  is  composed  of  sandstone  and  shale.  The  beds  of  sandstone 
are  from  ten  to  twenty  or  eighty  feet  thick.  Of  shale,  five  to  fifty  feet  thick. 
The  strata  of  coal  and  iron  are  comparatively  thin.  A  stratum  of  coal  three 
feet  thick  can  be  worked  to  advantage.  One  four  feet  thick  is  called  a  good 
mine,  few  of  them  averaging  five.  Coal  strata  are  found  from  six  to  ten  and 
eleven  feet.  There  are  four  beds  of  coal,  and  three  of  limestone,  in  Lawrence 
and  Scioto  Counties.  There  are  also  eight  beds  of  ore,  and  new  ones  are  con- 
stantly being  discovered.  The  ore  is  from  four  to  twelve  inches  thick,  occasion- 
ally being  two  feet.  The  calcareous  ore  rests  upon  the  second  bed  of  limestone, 
from  the  bottom,  and  is  very  rich. 

The  most  prominent  fossils  are  trees,  plants  and  stems  of  the  coal-bearing 
rocks,  shells  and  corals  and  crustacese  of  the  limestone,  and  the  timber,  leaves 
and  dirt-beds  of  the  "drift" — the  earthy  covering  of  the  rocks,  which  varies 
from  nothing  to  200  feet.  Bowlders,  or  "  lost  rocks,"  are  strewn  over  the  State. 
They  are  evidently  transported  from  some  remote  section,  being  fragments  of 
primitive  rock,  granite,  gneiss  and  hornblende  rock,  which  do  not  exist  in 
Ohio,  nor  within  400  miles  of  the  State,  in  any  direction.  In  the  Lake  Supe- 
rior region  we  find  similar  specimens. 

The  superficial  deposits  of  Ohio  are  arranged  into  four  geological  formations : 

1 — The  ancient  drift,  resting  upon  the  rocks  of  the  State. 

2 — The  Lake  Erie  marl  and  sand  deposits. 

3 — The  drift  occupying  the  valleys  of  large  streams,  such  as  the  Great  Miami, 
the  Ohio  and  Scioto. 

4 — The  bowlders. 

The  ancient  drift  of  Ohio  is  meager  in  shell  deposits.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
decided  whether  it  be  of  salt-water  origin  or  fresh  water. 

It  has,  at  the  bottom,  blue  clay,  with  gravel-stones  of  primitive  or  sedimen- 
tary rocks,  containing  carbonate  of  lime.  The  yellow  clay  is  found  second. 
Above  that,  sand  and  gravel,  less  stratified,  containing  more  pebbles  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  165- 

sedimentary  rocks,  such  as  limestone  and  stone,  iron  ore,  coal  and  shale.  The 
lower  layer  contains  logs,  trees,  leaves,  sticks  and  vines. 

The  Lake  Erie  section,  or  "Lake  Erie  deposits,"  may  be  classed  in  the 
following  order : 

1 — From  the  lake  level  upward,  fine,  blue,  marly  sand — forty-five  to  sixty 
feet. 

2 — Coarse,  gray,  water-washed  sand — ten  to  twenty  feet. 

3 — Coarse  sand  and  gravel,  not  well  stratified,  to  surface — twenty  to  fifty  feet. 

Stratum  first  dissolves  in  water.  It  contains  carbonate  of  lime,  magnesia, 
iron,  alumina,  silex,  sulphur,  and  some  decomposed  leaves,  plants  and  sticks. 
Some  pebbles  are  found.     In  contact  with  the  water,  quicksand  is  formed. 

The  Hickory  Plains,  at  the  forks  of  the  Great  Miami  and  White  Water,  and 
also  between  Kilgore's  Mill  and  New  Richmond,  are  the  results  of  heavy  dilu- 
vial currents. 

In  presenting  these  formations  of  the  State,  we  have  quoted  from  the  experi- 
ence and  conclusions  of  Charles  Whittlesey,  eminent  as  a  geologist,  and  who 
was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Geological  Corps. 

Ohio's  rank  during  the  war. 

The  patriotism  of  this  State  has  been  stanch,  unswerving  and  bold,  ever 
since  a  first  settlement  laid  its  corner-stone  in  the  great  Western  wilder- 
ness. Its  decisive  measures,  its  earnest  action,  its  noble  constancy,  have  earned 
the  laurels  that  designate  it  "a  watchword  for  the  nation."  In  the  year  1860, 
Ohio  had  a  population  of  2,343,739.  Its  contribution  of  soldiers  to  the  great 
conflict  that  was  soon  to  surge  over  the  land  in  scarlet  terror,  was  apportioned 
310,000  men.  In  less  than  twenty-four  hours  after  the  President's  proclama- 
tion and  call  for  troops,  the  Senate  had  matured  and  carried  a  bill  through, 
appropriating  $1,000,000  for  the  purpose  of  placing  the  State  on  a  war  footing. 
The  influences  of  party  sentiments  were  forgotten,  and  united,  the  State 
unfurled  the  flag  of  patriotism.  Before  the  bombardment  of  old  Fort  Sumter 
has  fairly  ceased  its  echoes,  twenty  companies  were  offered  the  Governor  for 
immediate  service.  When  the  surrender  was  verified,  the  excitement  was 
tumultuous.  Militia  officers  telegraphed  their  willingness  to  receive  prompt 
orders,  all  over  the  State.  The  President  of  Kenyon  College — President 
Andrews — tendered  his  services  by  enlisting  in  the  ranks.  Indeed,  three 
months  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  he  had  expressed  his  readiness  to  the 
Governor  to  engage  in  service  should  there  be  occasion.  He  was  the  first  citi- 
zen to  make  this  offer. 

The  Cleveland  Grays,  the  Rover  Guards,  the  State  Fencibles,  the  Dayton 
Light  Guards,  the  Governor's  Guards,  the  Columbus  Videttes  and  the  Guthrie 
Grays — the  best  drilled  and  celebrated  militia  in  the  State — telegraphed  to 
Columbus  for  orders.  Chillicothe,  Portsmouth  and  Circleville  offered  money 
and   troops.       Canton,    Xenia,    Lebanon,    Lancaster,   Springfield,  Cincinnati,, 


166  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Dayton,  Cleveland,  Toledo  and  other  towns  urged  their  assistance  upon  the  State. 
Columbus  began  to  look  like  a  great  army  field.  The  troops  were  stationed 
wherever  they  could  find  quarters,  and  food  in  sufficient  quantities  was  hard  to 
procure.  The  Governor  soon  established  a  camp  at  Miamiville,  convenient  to 
Cincinnati.  He  intended  to  appoint  Irvin  McDowell,  of  the  staff  of  Lieut. 
Gen.  Scott,  to  the  leading  command,  but  the  friends  of  Capt.  McClellan  became 
enthusiastic  and  appealed  to  the  Governor,  who  decided  to  investigate  his  case. 
Being  satisfied,  he  desired  Capt.  McClellan  to  come  up  to  Columbus.  But  that 
officer  was  busy  and  sent  Capt.  Pope,  of  the  regular  army,  in  his  stead.  This 
gentleman  did  not  suit  Gov.  Dennison.  The  friends  of  McClellan  again  set 
forth  the  high  qualities  of  this  officer,  and  Gov.  Dennison  sent  an  earnest 
request  for  an  interview,  which  was  granted,  and  resulted  in  the  appointment 
of  the  officer  as  Major  General  of  the  Ohio  militia.  Directly  thereafter,  he 
received  an  invitation  to  take  command  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  but  Ohio 
could  not  spare  so  valuable  a  leader. 

For  three-years  troops  were  soon  called  out,  and  their  Generals  were  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President.  Gov.  Dennison  advised  at  once  with  the  War 
Department  at  Washington,  and  McClellan  received  his  appointment  as  Major 
General  in  the  regular  army. 

Cincinnati  and  Louisville  became  alarmed  lest  Kentucky  should  espouse  the 
Confederate  cause,  and  those  cities  thus  be  left  insecure  against  the  inroads  of  a 
cruel  foe.  Four  hundred  and  thirty-six  miles  of  Ohio  bordered  Slave  States. 
Kentucky  and  West  Virginia  were  to  be  kept  in  check,  but  the  Governor  pro- 
claimed that  not  only  should  the  border  of  Ohio  be  protected,  but  even  beyond 
that  would  the  State  press  the  enemy.  Marietta  was  garrisoned,  and  other  river 
points  rendered  impregnable.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1861,  official  dispatches 
affirmed  that  troops  were  approaching  Wheeling  under  the  proclamation  of 
Letcher.     Their  intention  was  to  route  the  convention  at  Wheeling. 

Military  orders  were  instantly  given.  Col.  Steedman  and  his  troops  crossed 
at  Marietta  and  crushed  the  disturbance  at  Parkersburg — swept  into  the  country 
along  the  railroad,  built  bridges,  etc.  Col.  Irvine  crossed  at  Wheeling  and 
united  with  a  regiment  of  loyal  Virginians.  At  the  juncture  of  the  two  tracks 
at  Grafton,  the  columns  met,  but  the  rebels  had  retreated  in  mad  haste.  The 
loyal  troops  followed,  and,  at  Philippi,  fought  the  first  little  skirmish  of  the  war. 
The  great  railway  lines  were  secured,  and  the  Wheeling  convention  protected, 
and  West  Virginia  partially  secured  for  the  Union. 

After  preliminary  arrangements,  McClellan's  forces  moved  in  two  columns 
upon  the  enemy  at  Laurel  Hill.  One  remained  in  front,  under  Gen.  Morris, 
while  the  other,  under  his  own  command,  pushed  around  to  Huttonsville,  in 
their  rear.  Gen.  Morris  carried  his  orders  through  promptly,  but  McClellan 
was  late.  Rosecrans  was  left  with  McClellan's  advance  to  fight  the  battle  of 
Rich  Mountain,  unaided.  Garnett  being  alarmed  at  the  defeat  of  his  outpost, 
retreated.     McClellan  was  not  in  time  to  intercept  him,  but  Morris  continued 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  167 

the  chase.  Steedman  overtook  the  rear-guard  of  Garnett's  army  at  Carrick's 
Ford,  where  a  sharp  skirmish  ensued,  Garnett  himself  falling.  The  scattered 
portions  of  the  rebel  army  escaped,  and  West  Virginia  was  again  free  from 
armed  rebels — and  was  the  gift  of  Ohio  through  her  State  militia  to  the  nation 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

At  this  period.  Gen.  McClellan  was  called  to  Washington.  Gen.  Rose- 
crans  succeeded  him,  and  the  three-years  troops  left  in  the  field  after  the  dis- 
banding of  the  three-months  men,  barely  sufficed  to  hold  the  country.  He 
telegraphed  Gov.  Dennison  to  supply  him  immediately  with  re-enforcements,  the 
request  being  made  on  the  8th  of  August.  Already  had  the  Confederate  lead- 
ers realized  the  loss  they  had  sustained  in  Western  Virginia,  and  had  dispatched 
their  most  valued  General,  Robert  E.  Lee,  to  regain  the  territory.  Rosecrans 
again  wrote :  "  If  you,  Governor  of  Indiana  and  Governor  of  Michigan,  will 
lend  your  efforts  to  get  me  quickly  50,000  men,  in  addition  to  my  present 
force,  I  think  a  blow  can  be  struck  which  will  save  fighting  the  rifled-cannon 
batteries  at  Manassas.  Lee  is  certainly  at  Cheat  Mountain.  Send  all  troops 
you  can  to  Grafton."  Five  days  thereafter,  all  the  available  troops  in  the 
West  were  dispatched  to  Fremont,  Mo.,  and  the  plans  of  Rosecrans  were 
foiled. 

Heavy  re-enforcements  had  been  sent  to  the  column  in  Kanawha  Valley 
under  Gen.  Cox.  He  became  alarmed,  and  telegraphed  to  Gov.  Dennison. 
Rosecrans  again  appealed  to  Gov.  Dennison,  that  he  might  be  aided  in  march- 
ing across  the  country  against  Floyd  and  Wise  to  Cox's  relief,  "I  want  to 
catch  Floyd  while  Cox  holds  him  in  front." 

The  response  was  immediate  and  effective.  He  was  enabled  to  employ 
twenty-three  Ohio  regiments  in  clearing  his  department  from  rebels,  securing 
the  country  and  guarding  the  exposed  railroads.  With  this  achievement,  the 
direct  relation  of  the  State  administrations  with  the  conduct  and  methods  of 
campaigns  terminated.  The  General  Government  had  settled  down  to  a  sys- 
tem. Ohio  was  busy  organizing  and  equipping  regiments,  caring  for  the  sick 
and  wounded,  and  sustaining  her  home  strength. 

Gov.  Dennison's  staff  officers  were  tendered  better  positions  in  the  national 
service.  Camps  Dennison  and  Chase,  one  at  Cincinnati  and  the  ather  at 
Columbus,  were  controlled  by  the  United  States  authorities.  A  laboratory  was 
established  at  Columbus  for  the  supply  of  ammunition.  During  the  fall  and 
early  winter,  the  Ohio  troops  suffered  in  Western  Virginia.  The  people  of 
their  native  State  responded  with  blankets,  clothing  and  other  supplies. 

In  January,  1862,  David  A.  Tod  entered  upon  the  duties  of  Governor. 
The  first  feature  of  his  administration  was  to  care  for  the  wounded  at  home, 
sent  from  Pittsburg  Landing.  A  regular  system  was  inaugurated  to  supply 
stores  and  clothing  to  the  suffering  at  home  and  in  the  field.  Agencies  were 
established,  and  the  great  and  good  work  was  found  to  be  most  efficacious  in 
alleviating  the  wretchedness  consequent  upon  fearful  battles.     A.  B.  Lyman 

10 


168  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

had  charge  of  aifairs  in  Cincinnati,  and  Royal  Taylor  held  the  same  position 
in  Louisville.  J.  C.  Wetmore  was  stationed  at  Washington,  F.  W,  Bingham 
at  Memphis,  Weston  Flint  at  Cairo  and  St.  Louis.  Thus  the  care  which  Ohia 
extended  over  her  troops  at  home  and  in  the  hattle-field,  furnished  a  practical 
example  to  other  States,  and  was  the  foundation  of  that  commendable  system 
all  over  the  Union.  Stonewall  Jackson's  sudden  advent  in  the  valley  created 
the  greatest  consternation  lest  the  safety  of  the  capital  be  jeopardized,  and  the 
War  Department  called  for  more  troops.  Gov.  Tod  immediately  issued  a 
proclamation,  and  the  people,  never  shrinking,  responded  heartily.  At  Cleve- 
land a  large  meeting  was  held,  and  250  men  enlisted,  including  27  out  of  32. 
students  attending  the  law  school.  Fire  bells  rang  out  the  alarm  at  Zanesville, 
a  meeting  was  convened  at  10  in  the  morning,  and  by  3  in  the  afternoon,  300' 
men  had  enlisted.  Court  was  adjourned  sine  die,  and  the  Judge  announced 
that  he  and  the  lawyers  were  about  to  enter  into  military  ranks.  Only  three 
unmarried  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty-three  were  left  in  the 
town  of  Putnam.  Five  thousand  volunteers  reported  at  Camp  Chase  within 
two  days  after  the  proclamation. 

Again  in  June,  the  President  called  for  troops,  followed  by  yet  another  call. 
Under  these  calls,  Ohio  was  to  raise  74,000  men.  The  draft  system  was. 
advised  to  hasten  and  facilitate  filling  regiments.  It  has  always  been  a  repul- 
sive measure.  To  save  sections  from  this  proceeding,  enormous  sums  were 
ofiered  to  induce  men  to  volunteer,  and  thus  fill  the  quota. 

Counties,  townships,  towns  and  individuals,  all  made  bids  and  urged  the 
rapid  enlistment  of  troops.  The  result  was,  that  the  regiments  were  filled  rap- 
idly, but  not  in  sufficient  numbers  to  prevent  the  draft.  Twenty  thousand  four 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  men  were  yet  lacking,  and  the  draft  was  ordered, 
September  15.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  Ohio  was  ahead  of  her  calls.  Late 
in  the  fall,  the  prospect  was  disheartening.  The  peninsula  campaign  had  failed. 
The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  been  hurled  back  nearly  to  Washington. 
The  rebels  had  invaded  Maryland  ;  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  were  threatened,, 
and  the  President  had  declared  his  intention  to  abolish  slavery,  as  a  war  meas- 
ure. During  the  first  part  of  1862,  artillery,  stores  and  supplies  were  carried 
away  mysteriously,  from  the  Ohio  border  ;  then  little  squads  ventured  over  the 
river  to  plunder  more  openly,  or  to  burn  a  bridge  or  two.  The  rebel  bands 
came  swooping  down  upon  isolated  supply  trains,  sending  insolent  roundabout 
messages  regarding  their  next  day's  intentions.  Then  came  invasions  of  our 
lines  near  Nashville,  capture  of  squads  of  guards  within  sight  of  camp,  the  seizure 
of  Gallatin.  After  Mitchell  had  entered  Northern  Alabama,  all  manner  of  depre- 
dations were  committed  before  his  very  eyes.  These  were  attributed  to  John 
Morgan's  Kentucky  cavalry.  He  and  his  men,  by  the  middle  of  1862,  were 
as  active  and  dangerous  as  Lee  or  Beauregard  and  their  troops.  Morgan  was  a 
native  of  Alabama,  but  had  lived  in  Kentucky  since  boyhood.  His  father  was 
large  slave-owner,  who  lived  in  the  center  of  the  "Blue  Grass  Country."     His 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  169 

life  had  been  one  of  wild  dissipation,  adventure  and  recklessness,  although  in 
his  own  family  he  had  the  name  of  being  most  considerate.  The  men  who  fol- 
lowed him  were  accustomed  to  a  dare-devil  life.  They  formed  and  independent 
band,  and  dashed  madly  into  the  conflict,  wherever  and  whenever  inclination 
prompted.  Ohio  had  just  raised  troops  to  send  East,  to  assist  in  the  overthrow 
of  Stonewell  Jackson.  She  had  overcome  her  discouragements  over  failures, 
for  the  prospects  were  brightening.  Beauregard  had  evacuated  Corinth  ;  Mem- 
phis had  fallen  ;  Buell  was  moving  toward  Chattanooga ;  Mitchell's  troops  held 
Northern  Tennessee  and  Northern  Alabama ;  Kentucky  was  virtually  in  the 
keeping  of  the  home  guards  and  State  military  board.  And  now,  here  was 
Morgan,  creating  confusion  in  Kentucky  by  his  furious  raids  !  On  the  11th  of 
July,  the  little  post  of  Tompkinsville  fell.  He  issued  a  call  for  the  Kentuckians 
to  rise  in  a  body.  He  marched  toward  Lexington,  and  the  southern  border  of 
Ohio  was  again  in  danger.  Cincinnati  was  greatly  excited.  Aid  was  sent  to 
Lexington  and  home  guards  were  ready  for  duty.  Morgan  was  not  prominent 
for  a  day  or  so,  but  he  was  not  idle.  By  the  9th  of  July,  he  held  possession  of 
Tompkinsville  and  Glasgow ;  by  the  11th,  of  Lebanon.  On  the  13th,  he 
entered  Harraldsburg ;  Monday  morning  he  was  within  fifteen  miles  of  Frank- 
fort. He  had  marched  nearly  400  miles  in  eight  days.  Going  on,  toward 
Lexington,  he  captured  the  telegraph  operator  at  Midway,  and  his  messages 
also  I  He  was  now  aware  of  the  plans  of  the  Union  armies  at  Lexington, 
Louisville,  Cincinnati  and  Frankfort.  In  the  name  of  the  operator,  he  sent 
word  that  Morgan  was  driving  in  the  pickets  at  Frankfort !  Now  that  he 
had  thrown  his  foes  off  guard,  he  rested  his  men  a  couple  of  days.  He 
decided  to  let  Lexington  alone,  and  swept  down  on  Cynthiana,  routing  a  few 
hundred  loyal  Kentucky  cavalrymen,  capturing  the  gun  and  420  prisoners,  and 
nearly  300  horses.  Then  he  was  off  to  Paris ;  he  marched  through  Winchester, 
Richmond,  Crab  Orchard  and  Somerset,  and  again  crossed  the  Cumberland  River. 
He  started  with  900  men  and  returned  with  1,200,  having  captured  and  paroled 
nearly  as  many,  besides  destroying  all  the  Government  arms  and  stores  in  seven- 
teen towns.  The  excitement  continued  in  Cincinnati.  Two  regiments  were 
hastily  formed,  for  emergencies,-  known  as  Cincinnati  Reserves.  Morgan's  raid 
did  not  reach  the  city,  but  it  demonstrated  to  the  rebel  forces  what  might  be 
accomplished  in  the  "  Blue  Grass  "  region.  July  and  August  were  passed  in 
gloom.  Bragg  and  Buell  were  both  watchful,  and  Chattanooga  had  not  been 
taken.  Lexington  was  again  menaced,  a  battle  fought,  and  was  finally  deserted 
because  it  could  not  be  held. 

Louisville  was  now  in  danger.  The  banks  sent  their  specie  away.  Railroad 
companies  added  new  guards. 

September  1,  Gen.  Kirby  Smith  entered  Lexington,  and  dispatched  Heath 
with  about  six  thousand  men  against  Cincinnati  and  Covington.  John  Morgan 
joined  him.  The  rebels  rushed  upon  the  borders  of  Ohio.  The  failure  at  Rich- 
mond only  added  deeper  apprehension.     Soon  Kirby  Smith  and  his  regiments 


170  HISTORY  OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

occupied  a  position  where  only  a  few  unmanned  siege  guns  and  the  Ohio 
prevented  his  entrance  through  Covington  into  the  Queen  City.  The  city  was 
fully  armed,  and  Lew.  Wallace's  arrival  to  take  command  inspired  all  with 
fresh  courage.  And  before  the  people  were  hardly  aware  that  danger  was  so 
near,  the  city  was  proclaimed  under  strict  martial  law.  "  Citizens  for  labor, 
soldiers  for  battle." 

There  was  no  panic,  because  the  leaders  were  confident.  Back  of  Newport 
and  Covington  breastworks,  riflepits  and  redoubts  had  been  hastily  thrown  up, 
and  pickets  were  thrown  out.  From  Cincinnati  to  Covington  extended  a  pon- 
ton bridge.  Volunteers  marched  into  the  city  and  those  already  in  service 
were  sent  to  the  rescue.  Strict  military  law  was  now  modified,  and  the  city 
being  secured,  some  inconsiderate  ones  expressed  themselves  as  being  outraged 
with  "  much  ado  about  nothing."  But  Gen.  Wallacedid  not  cease  his  vigilance. 
And  Smith's  force  began  to  move  up.  One  or  two  skirmishes  ensued.  The 
city  was  again  excited.  September  11  was  one  of  intense  suspense.  But 
Smith  did  not  attack  in  force.  He  was  ordered  to  join  Bragg.  On  the  Mon- 
day following,  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati  returned  to  their  avocations.  In  the 
spring  of  1863,  the  State  was  a  trifle  discouraged.  Her  burdens  had  been 
heavy,  and  she  was  weary.  Vicksburg  was  yet  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
Rosecrans  had  not  moved  since  his  victory  at  Stone  River.  There  had  been 
fearful  slaughter  about  Fredericksburg. 

But  during  July,  1863,  Ohio  was  aroused  again  by  Bragg's  command  to 
Morgan,  to  raid  Kentucky  and  capture  Louisville.  On  the  3d  of  July,  he  was 
in  a  position  to  invade  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Kentucky.  He  continued  his  depre- 
dations, bewildering  the  militia  with  his  movements.  His  avowed  intention 
was  to  burn  Indianapolis  and  "  take  Cincinnati  alive."  Morgan's  purposes 
were  never  clear.  It  was  his  audacious  and  sudden  dashes,  here  and  there, 
which  gave  him  success.  Before  Cincinnati  was  aware,  he  was  at  Harrison — 
13th  of  July.  He  expected  to  meet  the  forces  of  Burnside  and  Judah,  and  to 
cut  his  way  through.  His  plans  here,  as  everywhere,  were  indefinable,  and  he 
succeeded  in  deceiving  everybody.  While  printers  in  Cincinnati  were  setting 
up  "  reports  "  as  to  his  whereabouts,  he  was  actually  marching  through  the  sub- 
urbs, near  troops  enough  to  devour  them,  and  yet  not  encountered  by  a  single 
picket !  They  fed  their  horses  within  sight  of  Camp  Dennison.  At  4 
o'clock  that  day,  they  were  within  twenty-eight  miles  of  Cincinnati — having 
marched  more  than  ninety  miles  in  thirty-five  hours. 

The  greatest  chagrin  was  expressed,  that  Morgan  had  so  easily  eluded  the 
great  military  forces.  A  sudden  dash  was  made  to  follow  him.  There  was  a 
universal  bolting  of  doors,  burying  of  valuables,  hiding  of  horses,  etc.,  all  along 
the  route  of  the  mad  cavalryman  and  his  2,000  mounted  men.  They  plundered 
beyond  all  comparison.  They  made  a  principle  of  it.  On  the  14th  of  July, 
he  was  feeding  his  horses  near  Dennison  ;  he  reached  the  ford  at  Bufiington 
Island  on  the  evening  of  the  18th  ;  he  had  encountered  several  little  skirmishes, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  171 

but  he  had  marched  through  at  his  own  will,  mostly ;  all  the  troops  of  Kentucky 
had  been  outwitted.  The  Indiana  forces  had  been  laughed  to  scorn.  The 
50,000  Ohio  militia  had  been  as  straws  in  his  way.  The  intrepid  band  would 
soon  be  upon  friendly  soil,  leaving  a  blackened  trail  behind.  But  Judah  was 
up  and  marching  after  him,  Hobson  followed  and  Col.  Runkle  was  north  of 
him.  The  local  militia  in  his  advance  began  to  impede  the  way.  Near  Pome- 
roy,  a  stand  was  made.  Morgan  found  militia  posted  everywhere,  but  he  suc- 
ceeded in  running  the  gantlet,  so  far  as  to  reach  Chester.  He  should  have 
hastened  to  cross  the  ford.  Fortunately,  he  paused  to  breathe  his  horses  and 
secure  a  guide.  The  hour  and  a  half  thus  lost  was  the  first  mistake  Morgan  is 
known  to  have  made  in  his  military  career.  They  reached  Portland,  and  only 
a  little  earthwork,  guarded  by  about  300  men,  stood  between  him  and  safety. 
His  men  were  exhausted,  and  he  feared  to  lead  them  to  a  night  attack  upon  a 
position  not  understood  perfectly ;  he  would  not  abandon  his  wagon  train,  nor 
his  wounded ;  he  would  save  or  lose  all.  As  Morgan  was  preparing  next 
morning,  having  found  the  earthworks  deserted  through  the  night,  Judah  came 
up.  He  repulsed  the  attack  at  first,  capturing  Judah's  Adjutant  General,  and 
ordering  him  to  hold  the  force  on  his  front  in  check.  He  was  not  able  to  join 
his  own  company,  until  it  was  in  full  retreat.  Here  Lieut.  O'Neil,  of  the  Fifth 
Indiana,  made  an  impulsive  charge,  the  lines  were  reformed,  and  up  the  Chester 
road  were  Hobson's  gallant  cavalrymen,  who  had  been  galloping  over  three 
States  to  capture  this  very  Morgan  !  And  now  the  tin-clad  gunboats  steamed 
up  and  opened  fire.  The  route  was  complete,  but  Morgan  escaped  with  1,200 
men !  Seven  hundred  men  were  taken  prisoners,  among  them  Morgan's  brother, 
Cols.  Ward,  Duke  and  Hufiman.  The  prisoners  were  brought  to  Cincinnati, 
while  the  troops  went  after  the  fugitive.  He  was  surrounded  by  dangers  ;  his 
men  were  exhausted,  hunted  down  ;  skirmishes  and  thrilling  escapes  marked  a 
series  of  methods  to  escape — his  wonderful  sagacity  absolutely  brilliant  to  the 
very  last — which  was  his  capture,  on  the  26th,  with  346  prisoners  and 
400  horses  and  arms.  It  may  be  added,  that  after  several  months  of  con- 
finement, Morgan  and  six  prisoners  escaped,  on  the  27th  of  November.  Again 
was  he  free  to  raid  in  the  "  Blue  Grass  "  country. 

John  Brough  succeeded  Gov.  Tod  January  11,  1864.  His  first  prominent 
work  was  with  the  Sanitary  Commission.  In  February,  of  the  same  year,  the 
President  called  for  more  troops.  The  quota  of  Ohio  was  51,465  men.  The 
call  of  March  added  20,995.  And  in  July  was  a  third  demand  for  50,792.  In 
December,  the  State  was  ordered  to  raise  26,027.  The  critical  period  of  the 
war  was  evidently  approaching.  Gov.  Brough  instituted  a  reformation  in  the 
"promotion  system  "  of  the  Ohio  troops.  He  was,  in  many  cases,  severe  in  his 
measures.  He  ignored  "  local  great  men  "  and  refused  distinction  as  a  bribe. 
The  consequence  was  that  he  had  many  friends  and  some  enemies.  The  acute- 
ness  of  his  policy  was  so  strong,  and  his  policy  so  just,  that,  after  all  his  severe 
administration,  he  was  second  to  no  statesman  in  the  nation  during  the  struggle. 


172  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

Ohio  during  the  war  was  most  active  in  her  relief  and  aid  societies.  The  most 
noted  and  extensive  organization  was  the  Cincinnati  Branch  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission.  The  most  efficient  organization  was  the  Soldiers' 
Aid  Society  of  Northern  Ohio. 

When  the  happy  tidings  swept  over  the  land  that  peace  was  proclaimed,  an 
echo  of  thanksgiving  followed  the  proclamation.  The  brave  sons  of  Ohio 
returned  to  their  own  soil — those  who  escaped  the  carnage.  But  'mid  the 
rejoicing  there  was  deepest  sadness,  for  a  fragment  only  remained  of  that  brave 
army  which  had  set  out  sturdily  inspired  with  patriotism. 

A    BRIEF    MENTION    OF    PROMINENT    OHIO    GENERALS. 

George  Briton  McClellan,  the  first  General  appointed  in  Ohio,  was  born 
December  3,  1826,  in  Philadelphia.  His  father  was  a  physician  of  high  stand- 
ing and  Scottish  descent.  Young  George  was  in  school  in  Philadelphia,  and 
entered  West  Point  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  was  a  bre- 
vet Second  Lieutenant,  tracing  lines  of  investment  before  Vera  Cruz,  under  the 
supervision  of  Capt.  R.  E.  Lee,  First  Lieut.  P.  G.  T.  Beauregard,  Second  Lieut. 
G.  W.  Smith.  At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  old  Col.  Totten  reported  in 
favor  of  them  all  to  Winfield  Scott.  He  had  charge  of  an  exploring  expedition 
to  the  mountains  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  beginning  with  the  Cascade  Range. 
This  was  one  of  a  series  of  Pacific  Railway  explorations.  Returning  to  Wash- 
ington, he  was  detailed  to  visit  the  West  Indies  and  secretly  select  a  coaling  sta- 
tion for  the  United  States  Navy.  He  was  dispatched  by  Jefferson  Davis, 
Secretary  of  War,  to  Europe,  with  instructions  to  take  full  reports  of  the  organ- 
ization of  military  forces  connected  with  the  Crimean  war.  This  work  elicited 
entire  satisfaction.  He  returned  in  January,  1857,  resigned  as  regular  army 
officer,  and  was  soon  installed  as  engineer  of  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  In  1860, 
he  was  President  of  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi.  He  removed  to  Cincinnati,  where 
he  was  at  the  opening  of  the  war. 

William  Starke  Rosecrans  was  born  September  6, 1819,  in  Delaware  County, 
Ohio.  His  people  were  from  Amsterdam.  He  was  educated  at  West  Point. 
When  the  war  opened,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Union  with  enthusiastic 
zeal,  and  was  appointed  by  McClellan  on  his  staff"  as  Engineer.  June  9,  he 
was  Chief  Engineer  of  the  State  under  special  law.  Soon  thereafter,  he  was 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  Camp 
Chase,  Columbus.  On  May  16,  his  commission  was  out  as  Brigadier  General 
in  the  United  States  Army.  This  reached  him  and  he  was  speedily  sum- 
moned to  active  service,  under  Gen.  McClellan.  After  the  battle  of  Rich  Moun- 
tain, he  was  promoted  to  the  head  of  the  department. 

In  April,  1862,  he  was  succeeded  by  Fremont,  and  ordered  to  Wash- 
ington to  engage  in  immediate  service  for  the  Secretary  of  War.  About  the 
15th  of  May,  he  was  ordered  to  Gen.  Halleck,  before  Corinth.  He  was 
relieved  from  his  command  December  9,  1864. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  173 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  whose  history  we  cannot  attempt  to  give  in  these  pages, 
was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  at  Point  Pleasant,  Clermont  Co.,  Ohio, 
April  27,  1822.     He  entered  West  Point  in  1839. 

"  That  the  son  of  a  tanner,  poor  and  unpretending,  without  influential  friends 
until  his  performance  had  won  them,  ill-used  to  the  world  and  its  ways,  should 
rise — not  suddenly,  in  the  first  blind  worship  of  helpless  ignorance  which  made 
any  one  who  understood  regimental  tactics  illustrious  in  advance  for  what  he 
was  going  to  do,  not  at  all  for  what  he  had  done — but  slowly,  grade  by  grade, 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  constant  service  and  mingled  blunders  and  suc- 
cess, till,  at  the  end  of  four  years'  war  he  stood  at  the  head  of  our  armies, 
orowned  by  popular  acclaim  our  greatest  soldier,  is  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
criticism  and  a  sufiicient  vindication  of  greatness.     Success  succeeds." 

"  We  may  reason  on  the  man's  career ;  we  may  prove  that  at  few  stages  has 
he  shown  personal  evidence  of  marked  ability ;  we  may  demonstrate  his  mis- 
takes ;  we  may  swell  the  praises  of  his  subordinates.  But  after  all,  the  career 
stands  wonderful,  unique,  worthy  of  study  so  long  as  the  nation  honors  her 
henefactors,  or  the  State  cherishes  the  good  fame  of  the  sons  who  contributed 
most  to  her  honor." 

Lieut.  Gen.  William  Tecumseh  Sherman  was  another  Ohio  contribution  to 
the  great  Union  war.  He  was  born  at  Lancaster  February  8,  1820.  He 
entered  West  Point  in  June,  1836.  His  "  march  to  the  sea  "  has  fully  brought 
out  the  details  of  his  life,  since  they  were  rendered  interesting  to  all,  and  we 
refrain  from  repeating  the  well-known  story. 

Philip  H.  Sheridan  was  born  on  the  6th  of  March,  1831,  in  Somerset, 
Perry  Co.,  Ohio.  He  entered  West  Point  in  1848.  During  the  war,  his 
career  was  brilliant.  His  presence  meant  victory.  Troops  fighting  under  his 
command  were  inspired.  Gen.  Rosecrans  said  of  him,  "He  fights,  he  fights." 
A  staff  officer  once  said,  "He  is  an  emphatic  human  syllable." 

Maj.  Gen.  James  B.  McPherson  was  born  in  Sandusky  County,  town  of 
Clyde,  November  14,  1828. 

Maj.  Gen.  Q.  A.  Gillmore  was  born  February  28,  1825,  at  Black  River, 
Lorain  Co.,  Ohio. 

Maj.  Gen.  Irvin  McDowell  was  born  at  Franklinton,  Ohio,  October  15, 
1818. 

Maj.  Gen.  Don  Carlos  Buell  was  born  near  Marietta  on  the  23d  of  March, 
1818.  His  grandfather  on  the  maternal  side  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
Cincinnati. 

Maj.  Gen.  0.  M.  Mitchell  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  but  a  resident  of 
Ohio  from  the  age  of  four  years. 

Maj.  Gen.  Robert  C.  Schenck  was  born  October  4,  1809,  in  Franklin, 
Warren  Co.,  Ohio. 

Maj.  Gen.  James  A.'  Garfield,  was  born  in  Orange,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio, 
November  19,  1881. 


174  ISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO, 

Maj.  Gen.  Jacob  D.  Cox  was  born  in  Canada  in  1828,  and  removed  to 
Ohio  in  1846. 

Maj.  Gen,  James  B.  Steedman  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  July  30,  1818, 
and  removed  to  Toledo  in  1861. 

Maj.  Gen.  David  S.  Stanley  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  June  1, 
1828. 

Maj.  Gen.  George  Crook  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  Septem- 
ber 8,  1828. 

Maj.  Gen.  Mortimer  D.  Leggett  was  born  in  New  York  April  19,  1831, 
and  emigrated  to  Ohio,  in  1847. 

Brevet  Maj.  Gen.  John  C.  Tidball  was  born  in  Virginia,  but  removed  while 
a  mere  lad  to  Ohio  with  his  parents. 

Brevet  Maj.  Gen.  John  W.  Fuller  was  born  in  England  in  1827.  He 
removed  to  Toledo  in  1858. 

Brevet  Maj.  Gen.  Manning  F.  Force  was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C,  on 
the  17th  of  December,  1824.     He  became  a  citizen  of  Cincinnati. 

Brevet  Maj.  Gen.  Henry  B.  Banning  was  born  in  Knox  County,  Ohio, 
November  10,  1834. 

We  add  the  names  of  Brevet  Maj.  Gens.  Erastus  B.  Tyler,  Thomas  H. 
Ewing,  Charles  R.  Woods,  August  V.  Kautz,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  Charles 
C.  Walcutt,  Kenner  Garrard,  Hugh  Ewing,  Samuel  Beatty,  James  S.  Robinson, 
Joseph  W.  Keifer,  Eli  Long,  William  B.  Woods,  John  W.  Sprague,  Benjamin 
P.  Runkle,  August  Willich,  Charles  Griffin,  Henry  J.  Hunt,  B.  W.  Brice. 

Brig.  Gens.  Robert  L.  McCook,  William  H.  Lytle,  William  Leroy 
Smith,  C.  P.  Buckingham,  Ferdinand  Van  Derveer,  George  P.  Este,  Joel  A. 
Dewey,  Benjamin  F.  Potts,  Jacob  Ammen,  Daniel  McCook,  J.  W.  Forsyth, 
Ralph  P.  Buckland,  William  H.  Powell,  John  G.  Mitchell,  Eliakim  P.  Scam- 
mon,  Charles  G  Harker,  J.  W.  Reilly,  Joshua  W.  Sill,  N.  C.  McLean,  Will- 
iam T.  H.  Brooks,  George  W.  Morgan,  John  Beatty,  William  W.  Burns,  John 
S.  Mason,  S.  S.  Carroll,  Henry  B.  Carrington,  M.  S.  Wade,  John  P.  Slough, 
T.  K.  Smith. 

Brevet  Brig.  Gens.  C.  B.  Ludlow,  Andrew  Hickenlooper,  B.  D. 
Fearing,  Henry  F.  Devol,  Israel  Garrard,  Daniel  McCoy,  W,  P.  Richardson, 
G.  F.  Wiles,  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  J.  S.  Jones,  Stephen  B.  Yeoman,  F.  W. 
Moore,  Thomas  F.  Wilder,  Isaac  Sherwood,  C.  H.  Grosvenor,  Moses  E. 
Walker,  R.  N.  Adams,  E.  B.  Eggleston,  I.  M.  Kirby. 

We  find  numerous  other  names  of  Brevet  Brigadier  Generals,  mostly  of  late 
appointments,  and  not  exercising  commands  in  accordance  with  their  brevet 
rank,  which  we  omit  quoting  through  lack  of  space.  They  are  the  names  of 
men  of  rare  abilities,  and  in  many  cases  of  brilliant  achievements. 

In  looking  over  the  "War  Record  of  Ohio,"  we  find  the  State  a  great 
leader  in  men  of  valor  and  heroic  deeds.  It  was  the  prolific  field  of  military 
geniuses. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  175 

Ohio  was  draped  with  the  garb  of  mourning  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Her 
human  sacrifice  in  behalf  of  the  nation  had  been  bitter.  There  were  tears  and 
heart-aches  all  over  the  land.  Her  ranks  were  swept  by  a  murderous  fire,  from 
which  they  never  flinched,  and  many  ofiicers  fell. 

Col.  John  H.  Patrick  will  be  remembered  as  opening  the  battle  of  Lookout 
Mountain.  He  fell  mortally  wounded,  during  the  Atlanta  campaign,  May 
15,  1862,  while  actively  engaged.  He  was  struck  by  a  canister  shot,  and 
expired  half  a  hour  thereafter. 

Col.  John  T.  Toland,  in  July,  1863,  was  placed  in  command  of  a  mounted 
brigade,  including  his  regiment,  and  was  instructed  to  destroy  the  Virginia  & 
Tennessee  Railroad.  He  reached  Wytheville,  Va.,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
18th  of  July.  The  rebels  were  safely  intrenched  in  the  house,  and  poured  a 
galling  fire  into  the  national  troops.  Col.  Toland  was  on  horseback,  at  the 
head  of  his  command.  A  sharpshooter  sent  a  bullet  with  fatal  certainty,  and 
he  fell  on  the  neck  of  his  horse,  but  was  instantly  caught  by  his  Orderly 
Sergeant,  who  heard  the  fervent  words  :  "  My  horse  and  my  sword  to  my 
mother." 

Lieut.  Col.  Barton  S.  Kyle  accompanied  his  regiment  to  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg Landing.  The  regiment  was  forced  back,  though  resisting  bravely. 
Lieut.  Col.  Kyle  was  at  his  post  of  duty,  encouraging  his  men,  when  he  received 
a  bullet  in  his  right  breast.     He  survived  five  hours. 

Col.  William  G.  Jones  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  June, 
1863.  His  regiment,  the  Thirty-sixth  Ohio,  was  included  in  Turchin's  Brigade 
of  the  Fourteenth  Corps.  He  wrote  in  his  pocket  memoranda  :  "  Off  to  the 
left ;  merciful  Father,  have  mercy  on  me  and  my  regiment,  and  protect  us  from 
injury  and  death  " — at  12  o'clock.  At  5  that  afternoon,  he  was  fatally  wounded 
and  expired  at  7  that  same  evening,  on  the  battle-field  His  remains  were 
taken  by  the  rebels,  but  in  December,  1863,  they  were  exhumed  and  interred 
in  Spring  Grove  Cemetery,  Cincinnati. 

Col.  Fred.  C.  Jones  held  command  of  the  Tenth  Brigade,  in  October,  1862, 
marching  from  Wild  Cat,  Ky.,  to  Nashville,  through  a  perpetual  skirmish, 
During  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  Col.  Jones'  regiment,  the  Twenty-fourth,  was 
on  the  front  and  left  of  the  line.  During  the  afternoon,  when  the  rebel  assault 
upon  the  left  became  furious.  Col.  Jones  ordered  his  men  to  lie  down  and  hold 
fire,  which  was  obeyed.  They  rose  to  pour  a  deadly  volley  into  the  rebel  ranks, 
and  rush  forward  in  a  fierce  charge.  The  capture  of  an  entire  rebel  regiment  was 
thus  effected,  but  Col.  Jones  was  shot  in  the  right  side.  He  was  carried  to  the 
rear.  "  I  know  it ;  I  am  dying  now  ;  pay  no  attention  to  me,  but  look  after 
my  wounded  men."  He  survived  about  ten  hours.  His  remains  are  buried  in 
Spring  Grove,  Cincinnati. 

Col.  Lorin  Andrews  went  with  his  command  to  Western  Virginia,  where 
he  succumbed  to  exposure  and  severe  duty.  He  was  removed  to  his  home, 
Gambler,  Ohio,  where  he  died  surrounded  by  friends  September  18,  1861. 


17 G  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO 

Col.  Minor  Milliken  was  sent  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the  rebels  at  the  rear. 
He  led  a  superb  cavalry  charge  against  the  enemy,  vastly  superior  in  numbers, 
and  was  cut  off  with  a  small  portion  of  his  regiment.  He  disdained  to  sur-  . 
render,  and  ordered  his  men  to  cut  their  way  out.  A  hand-to-hand  conflict 
ensued.  Col.  Milliken,  being  an  expert  swordsman,  was  able  to  protect  himself 
with  his  saber.  While  parrying  the  strokes  of  his  assailant,  another  shot  him. 
The  regiment,  again  charging,  recovered  his  body,  stripped  of  sword,  purse  and 
watch. 

Col.  George  P.  Webster,  with  his  regiment,  the  Ninety-eighth,  left  Steu- 
benville  for  Covington,  Ky.,  August  23,  1862,  marching  from  that  point  to  Lex- 
ington and  Louisville.  He  was  placed  at  the  command  of  the  Thirty-fourth 
Brigade,  Jackson's  division,  Cooke's  corps.  He  fell  in  the  battle  of  Perryville, 
and  died  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Col.  Leander  Stem  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  One  Hundred  and  First 
Ohio  Infantry  August  30,  1862.  His  premonitions  that  he  should  fall  during 
his  first  regular  engagement  proved  too  true.  As  the  army  was  advancing  on 
Murfreesboro,  the  engagement  of  Knob  Gap  occurred,  when  Col.  Stem's  regi- 
ment charged  and  took  a  rebel  battery,  with  several  prisoners.  The  army 
closed  around  Murfreesboro,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  30th,  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  First  was  engaged  in  demonstrations  against  the  enemy.  Next 
morning,  the  battle  of  Stone  River  began  in  earnest.  When  Col.  Stem's  regi- 
ment began  to  waver,  he  called  out:  "  Stand  by  the  flag  now,  for  the  good 
old  State  of  Ohio  !  "  and  instantly  fell,  fatally  wounded. 

Lieut.  Col.  Jonas  D.  Elliott  held  his  position  in  May,  1863.  During  the 
summer  of  1864,  he  commanded  the  left  wing  of  the  regiment  at  Dodsonville, 
Ala.;  in  September,  he  was  sent  after  Wheeler,  and  was  ordered  into  camp  at 
Decatur.  On  the  23d,  he  was  dispatched  to  Athens,  to  participate  in  the  attack 
of  Gen.  Forrest,  of  the  rebels.  Col.  Elliott  was  sent  out,  with  300  men,  and 
being  surrounded  by  Gen.  Forrest,  with  vastly  superior  numbers,  a  forced  resist- 
ance enabled  them  to  sustain  their  own  ground,  until  a  fresh  brigade  of  rebels 
arrived,  under  Gen,  Warren.  This  officer  instructed  one  of  his  men  to  shoot 
Lieut.  Col.  Elliott,  and  a  moment  later  he  fell.     He  lingered  nineteen  days. 

Col.  Joseph  L.  Kirby  Smith  took  command  of  the  Forty-third  Ohio  Regi- 
ment.    He  fell  at  the  battle  of  Corinth,  under  Rosecrans. 

Lieut.  Col.  James  W.  Shane  fell,  June  27,  1864,  in  an  assault  upon  the 
enemy's  works  at  Kenesaw.     He  survived  but  forty  minutes. 

Col.  Augustus  H.  Coleman  displayed  the  abilities  of  a  successful  commander. 
He  was  in  the  first  charge  on  the  bridge  across  Antietaf  Creek.  He  was 
fatally  wounded.     His  last  words  were  inquiries  regarding  his  men. 

Col.  J.  W.  Lowe  commanded  the  Twelfth  Ohio,  and  was  ordered  to  assist 
the  Tenth  in  the  battle  of  Carnifex  Ferry.  Cheering  his  men,  in  the  thickest 
of  the  fight,  a  rifle  ball  pierced  his  forehead,  and  he  fell  dead — the  first  field 
officer  from  Ohio  killed  in  battle  in  the  war  for  the  Union. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  177 

Lieut.  Col.  Moses  F.  Wooster  was  engaged  with  his  regiment,  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  First  Ohio,  at  Perryville.  He  was  mortally  wounded  on  the  31st 
of  December,  1862,  in  the  grand  effort  to  stem  the  tide  of  defeat  at  Stone 
River. 

The  list  of  staff  officers  we  refrain  from  giving,  through  lack  of  space. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war,  William  Dennison  was  Governor  of  Ohio.  David 
Tod  succeeded  him.     John  Brough  was  the  third  War  Governor. 

Secretary  Edwin  M.  Stanton  was  one  of  the  most  popular  war  Ministers. 
He  was  born  in  Steubenville,  Ohio,  in  1815  ;  he  was  engaged  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  in  1860,  in  a  leading  law  suit,  at  Cincinnati,  known  as  the 
Manny  and  McCormick  reaper  trial ;  on  the  20th  of  January,  1862,  he  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  War  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 

Ex-Secretary  Salmon  P.  Chase's  public  services  in  Ohio  have  already  been 
mentioned  in  these  pages.  In  1861,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, in  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet. 

United  States  Senator  B.  F.  Wade  made  his  reputation  in  Ohio.  This 
Senator  of  the  State  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  throughout  its  duration. 

United  States  Senator  John  Sherman  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Finance 
•Committee,  during  the  war.     For  some  time  he  was  its  Chairman. 

Jay  Cooke  was  the  financial  agent  of  the  Government,  furnishing  money  for 
the  payment  of  the  troops.     He  was  born  in  Portland,  Huron  Co.,  Ohio. 

In  our  brief  review  of  the  war  record  of  Ohio,  we  have  omitted  a  vast 
amount  of  detail  information  that  would  prove  interesting  to  our  readers.  We 
believe  we  have  been  accurate  in  whatever  we  have  given,  taking  as  our  authority, 
that  accepted  "encyclopedia"  of  Ohio  war  facts — Whitelaw  Reid,  who  has  pub- 
lished a  valuable  volume  on  the  subject. 

SOME   DISCUSSED   SUBJECTS. 

It  may  be  well  in  glancing  over  the  achievements  of  Ohio,  her  momentous 
labors  and  grand  successes,  to  refer  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  more  minutely 
than  we  have  done,  in  relation  to  many  events,  since  its  inherent  principles  are 
not  only  perpetuated  in  the  laws  of  the  entire  Northwest,  but  have  since  been 
woven  into  the  general  Constitution  of  the  L^nited  States.  It  made  permanent 
the  standard  and  character  of  immigration,  social  culture  and  political  and  edu- 
cational institutions.  It  was  thoroughly  antislavery  and  denounced  involuntary 
servitude,  which  was  sanctioned  in  every  other  State  at  that  time,  with  the 
exception  of  Massachusetts.  It  protected  religion  and  property.  As  late  as 
1862,  Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison,  Governor  of  Indiana,  called  a  convention 
for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  slavery  question,  and  the  feasibility  of  intro- 
ducing the  system  in  the  new  States  and  Territories  being  formed.  There 
was  at  this  time  a  spirited  contest,  and  Illinois,  Indiana  and  possibly  Ohio, 
barely  escaped  a  decision  that  a  full  support  should  be  given  its  introduction 


178  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

into  these  States.  Its  adoption  was  based  upon  certain  specifications  and 
limits  of  time,  which  upon  a  deeper  consideration  was  deemed  perplexing  and 
impractical. 

An  animated  discussion  arose  not  long  since,  regarding  the  correct  author- 
ship of  this  important  ordinance,  and  its  chief  worker  in  gaining  its  sanction 
by  Congress. 

Mr.  Webster  ascribed  its  authorship  to  Mathew  Dane,  of  Massachusetts, 
which  statement  was  immediately  refuted  by  Mr.  Benton,  of  Mississippi,  who 
laid  claim  to  it  as  the  birthright  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia. 

It  has  been  almost  impossible  to  obtain  accurate  reports  of  the  actions  of  the 
old  Continental  Congress,  from  the  fact  that  its  meetings  were  held  in  secret, 
and  any  reports  either  narrated  or  shown  in  schedules  or  lists,  were  deemed  a 
striking  lack  of  trust  on  the  part  of  the  person  who  furnished  the  information. 
It  was  sufl&cient  that  its  acts  and  conclusions  be  proclaimed  without  any  prelude 
or  reasoning  process.  Hence  it  has  been  difficult  to  obtain  early  Congressional 
documents.  But  it  has  been  conclusively  proven  that  the  great  motive  power 
in  gaining  the  approbation  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  Avas  neither  Dane  nor 
Jefferson,  but  Dr.  Cutler. 

He  arrived  at  New  York,  July  5  of  that  year,  after  a  journey  from  Ipswich, 
Mass.,  in  his  sulky.  He  obtained  lodgings  at  the  "Plow  and  Harrow,"  and 
saw  that  his  good  horse  was  properly  cared  for  and  fed  at  the  same  place. 
Congress  was  then  in  session,  and  he  had  come  on  a  mission  for  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany, to  negotiate  their  grant  and  its  privileges  in  the  new  Territory  of  Ohio. 
He  remained  in  New  York  three  weeks,  constantly  engaged  in  the  work  vital  to 
the  interests  of  the  future  great  State.  But  he  secured  the  installment  of  the 
principles  deemed  the  corner-stone  of  a  future  powerful  State  constitution.  Mr. 
Poole,  Librarian  of  the  Chicago  Public  Library,  searched  assiduously  for  con- 
clusive proof  of  Dr.  Cutler's  right  to  this  honor,  and  in  the  North  American 
Review,  Vol.  122,  this  is  emphatically  set  forth  with  substantiating  proof  under 
his  signature. 

Other  facts  have  been  discussed  and  proven  at  a  very  recent  date,  relative 
to  the  State  of  Ohio,  which  heretofore  have  been  omitted,  and  nearly  lost  from 
the  historic  thread  which  unites  the  present  with  the  past. 

The  first  settlement  of  the  lands  of  the  Northwest  is  necessarily  surrounded 
with  interest.  But  those  were  exciting,  troublesome  times,  and  a  few  links 
were  passed  over  lightly.  However,  the  years  are  not  so  far  removed  in  the 
past  but  the  line  may  be  traced. 

Mr.  Francis  W.  Miller,  of  Cincinnati,  has  supplied  some  missing  chapters. 
The  earliest  documentary  trace  extant,  regarding  the  southern  settlement  at 
Cincinnati,  is  an  agreement  of  partnership  between  Denman,  Filson  and  Pat- 
terson, in  the  fractional  section  of  land  to  which  the  city  of  Cincinnati  was 
originally  limited.  It  bears  the  date  August  25,  1788.  This  was  entered  ou 
the  records  of  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  October  6,  1803. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  179 

A  letter  from  Jonathan  Dayton  to  the  Hon.  Judge  Symmes,  dated  Septem- 
"ber  26,  1789,  says:  "You  have  been  selling  your  lands,  I  am  told,  for  two 
shillings  specie,  the  acre.  The  price  at  this  moment  is,  and  seems  to  be,  and 
undoubtedly  is,  a  good  one ;  but  as  much  cannot  be  said  of  it  when  you  find 
hereafter  that  in  consequence  of  the  rise  of  certificates,  another  acre,  in  another 
payment,  may  cost  you  in  specie  two  shillings  and  sixpence." 

A  letter  from  John  C.  Symmes  to  Capt.  Dayton,  dated  April  30,  1790, 
says:  "The  land  in  the  reserved  township  is  held  at  much  too  high  a  price. 
Not  a  foot  of  land  beyond  the  five-acre  lots  will  sell.  Five  shillings,  specie, 
or  two  dollars  in  certificates,  is  the  utmost  they  will  bring,  and  they  will  rarely 
sell  at  that." 

This  state  of  affairs  was  in  a  large  degree  brought  about  by  the  breaking-up 
of  North  Bend  and  a  removal  of  the  town  to  Fort  Washington,  or  Cincinnati, 
later.  A  search  through  the  old  letters  and  other  preserved  documents  prove 
that  North  Bend  was  at  one  time  the  beginning  of  the  great  city  on  the  Ohio, 
rather  than  Cincinnati.  Judge  Symmes  wrote.  May  18,  1789:  "  I  have  not  as 
yet  been  able  to  make  a  decisive  choice  of  a  plat  for  the  city,  though  I  have 
found  two  pieces  of  ground,  both  eligible,  but  not  upon  the  present  plan  of  a 
regular  square.  It  is  a  question  of  no  little  moment  and  difiiculty  to  deter- 
mine which  of  these  spots  is  preferable,  in  point  of  local  situation.  I  know 
that  at  first  thought  men  will  decide  in  favor  of  that  on  the  Ohio,  from  the 
supposition  that  the  Ohio  will  command  more  trade  and  business  than  the 
Miami.  *  *  *  ;g^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^e  built  on  the  Miami,  the  settlers 
throughout  the  purchase  would  find  it  very  convenient." 

Another  of  the  earliest  selections  of  town  sites  was  adjacent  to  the  most 
southerly  point  of  what  is  now  Delhi  Township.  To  this  the  name  of  South 
Bend  was  given.  Judge  Symmes  reports  November  4,  1790,  of  this  place, 
over  forty  framed  and  hewed-log  two-story  houses,  since  the  preceding  spring. 
Ensign  Luce  is  said  to  have  taken  his  troops  to  Nor.th  Bend,  but  decided  to 
remove  to  Cincinnati,  on  account  of  the  object  of  his  affections  having  settled 
there — the  wife  of  a  settler.  But  this  story  is  refuted  by  contradictory  evi- 
dence from  Judge  Symmes'  letters,  which  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  post  of 
North  Bend  was  abandoned  by  Ensign  Luce  and  his  men  in  consequence  of  a 
panic,  caused  by  Indian  attacks.  The  removal  of  the  troops  caused  a  general 
decline  of  the  town.  Again,  history  and  letters  from  the  same  eminent  Judge, 
assert  that  Fort  Washington  was  completed  and  garrisoned  by  Maj.  Doughty 
before  the  close  of  that  same  year,  and  was  begun  by  him  during  the  summer, 
that  Ensign  Luce  must  have  still  been  at  his  post  at  the  bend  at  that  time.  It 
has  been,  therefore,  recently  accepted  that  the  traditional  "black  eyes"  and 
the  "Indian  panic,"  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  founding  of  Cincinnati,  and 
that  the  advantages  of  the  position  gained  the  victory. 

Cincinnati  has  advanced,  not  only  in  prosperity  and  culture,  but  in  national 
significance.     Our  readers  must  have  observed,  in  perusing  these  pages,  that 


180  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

from  this  city  and  the  State  which  it  represents,  have  emanated  some  of  the 
superior  intellects  which  have  used  their  wise  faculties  and  talents,  tempered  by 
a  wise  judgment,  in  behalf  of  the  American  Union. 

The  originality  of  the  Senecas  and  Wyandots  have  been  debated  at  some 
length,  while  others  have  called  the  tribes  the  same,  having  two  branches.  We 
have  searched  the  earlier  records  and  have  found  an  authenticated  account  of 
these  two  tribes. 

The  Indian  tribes  of  Ohio  were  originally  bold,  fierce  and  stalwart.  The 
country  watered  by  the  Sandusky  and  its  tributaries  was  frequented  by  the 
Wyandot  tribe,  who  came  from  the  north  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  The 
Senecas  were  blood  relatives  of  this  tribe.  Both  tribes  were  numbered  by  the 
thousands.  A  war  originated  between  them,  in  this  manner :  A  Wyandot 
chief  desired  to  wed  the  object  of  his  afi'ections,  who  laughed  him  to  scorn, 
because  he  had  taken  no  scalps,  and  was  no  warrior  "  to  speak  of."  To  change 
her  opinion,  he  led  out  a  party,  and  falling  upon  a  number  of  Senecas,  slaugh- 
tered them  mercilessly,  that  he  might  hasten  to  the  side  of  his  dusky  belle,  with 
his  trophies.  This  act  inaugurated  hostilities,  which  extended  through  a  century. 
The  Wyandots  began  to  fear  extermination,  and,  gathering  their  entire  effects^ 
the  natives  escaped  to  Green  Bay,  and  settled  in  several  villages.  But  the  Sen- 
ecas made  up  a  war  party  and  followed  them,  killing  many  Wyandots  and  burn- 
ing some  of  their  villages.  They  then  returned  to  Canada.  Soon  thereafter, 
they  secured  fire-arms  from  the  French.  Again  they  followed  the  Wyandots, 
firing  their  guns  into  their  huts,  and  frightening  them  severely.  They  did  not 
succeed  as  well  as  they  expected.  But  the  third  party  nearly  exterminated  the 
villages,  because  the  young  warriors  Avere  nearly  all  gone  to  war  with  the  Foxes. 
The  few  at  home  escaping,  promised  to  return  with  the  Senecas,  but  desired 
two  days  for  preparation.  The  Wyandots  sent  word  to  the  two  villages  left 
undisturbed,  and  held  a  consultation.  They  decided  to  go  as  near  the  Senecas 
as  possible,  unobserved,  and  discover  their  real  motive.  They  found  them  feast- 
ing on  two  roasted  Wyandots,  shouting  over  their  victory.  They  danced  nearly 
all  night,  and  then  fell  asleep.  A  little  before  daylight,  the  Wyandots  fell  on 
them,  leaving  not  one  to  carry  back  the  news. 

The  Wyandots  then  procured  guns,  and  began  to  grow  formidable.  They 
set  out  to  return  to  their  own  country,  and  proceeded  on  their  way  as  far  as 
Detroit,  where  they  met  a  party  of  Senecas,  on  the  lake.  A  fierce  conflict 
ensued,  and  the  Wyandots  beheld  the  Senecas  fall,  to  the  last  man,  suffering 
fearful  carnage  themselves.  They  soon  settled  in  this  part  of  the  world,  their 
principal  village  being  on  the  Sandusky.  Northwestern  Ohio  was  particularly 
dangerous  with  new  Indian  tribes,  and  the  Wyandots  were  cruelly  aggressive. 
The  death  of  their  chief,  and  their  total  defeat  by  Harrison,  destroyed  their 
power  forever. 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1817,  a  treaty  was  held,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids 
of  the  Miami  of   Lake  Erie,  between  Lewis  Cass  and   Duncan  McArthur, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  181 

Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  and  the  sachems,  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the 
Wyandot,  Seneca,  Delaware,  Shawnee,  Potawattomie,  Ottawa  and  Chippewa 
nations.     All  their  lands  in  Ohio  were  ceded  to  the  United  States  forever. 

There  was  really  not  a  Seneca  in  the  Seneca  nation.  They  were  chiefly 
Cayugas,  Mohawks,  Onondagas,  Tuscarawas,  Wyandots  and  Oneidas.  But  the 
Mingoes  were  originally  Cayugas,  and  their  chief  was  the  celebrated  Logan. 
After  the  murder  of  his  family  by  the  whites,  the  Mingoes  were  scattered  over 
the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio. 

The  notorious  Simon  Girty  was  adopted  by  the  Senecas.  Girty's  name  was 
a  terror  and  fiendish  horror  for  many  years.  He  not  only  led  the  Indians  in 
their  atrocities,  but  he  added  barbarism  to  their  native  wickedness. 

CONCLUSION. 

When  peace  was  proclaimed,  after  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  to 
Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  the  volunteer  troops  disbanded,  and  a  return  to  home  indus- 
tries instituted,  Ohio,  like  many  other  States,  gave  direct  attention  to  the  inter- 
ests of  returned  soldiers.  The  thrift  of  the  State  was  augmented  by  a  spasmodic, 
and  thereafter  recognized  as  a  fictitious,  demand  for  products,  commercial  and 
industrial  pursuits  redoubled  their  forces.  But  the  great  wave  of  stagnation 
swept  over  this  fair  land — the  re-action  of  a  war  excitement.  Laborers  were 
many,  but  wages  were  inadequate.  Deeper  and  deeper  settled  this  lethargy — 
called  by  many  "hard  times" — until  the  wheels  of  commercial  life  revolved 
slowly,  and  from  the  workshops  and  the  factories  went  up  the  echoes  of  priva- 
tion and  distress.  There  was  no  famine,  no  fever,  no  epidemic,  it  was  simply 
exhaustion.  In  the  larger  cities  there  was  much  suffering.  Idle  people  loitered 
about,  barely  seeking  employment,  the  task  seeming  worse  than  hopeless. 

During  the  years  1870,  1871  and  1872,  the  stringent  measures  brought 
about  by  the  depressed  state  of  business  retarded  any  material  advancement  in 
general  matters.  The  years  1873-74  were  marked  by  a  preceptible  improve- 
ment, and  a  few  factories  were  established,  while  larger  numbers  were  employed 
in  those  already  founded.  The  year  1875  was  under  the  direction  of  a  Demo- 
cratic Legislature.  It  was  marked  in  many  respects  by  a  "reverse  motion  "  in 
many  laws  and  regulations. 

The  Legislature  which  convened  in  1876,  January  3,  was  Republican  in  the 
main.  It  repealed  the  "  Geghan  Law  "  passed  by  the  preceding  body.  At 
the  time  of  its  adoption,  there  was  the  most  intense  feeling  throughout  the  State, 
the  charge  being  made  that  it  was  in  the  interests  of  the  Catholics.  Among 
the  general  enactments  were  laws  re-organizing  the  government  of  the  State  insti- 
tutions, which  the  previous  Legislature  had  ordered  according  to  their  own  belief 
to  follow  new  doctrines.  The  oflBce  of  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  was  abolished. 
The  powers  of  municipal  corporations  to  levy  taxes  was  limited,  and  their 
authority  to  incur  debts  was  limited.  Furthermore,  this  body  prohibited  any 
municipal  appropriations,  unless  the  actual  money  was  in  the  Treasury  to  meet 


182  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 

the  same  in  full.     A  law  was  passed  for  the  protection  of  children  under  fourteen 
years  of  age,  exhibited  in  public  shows. 

The  temperance  cause  received  more  vigorous  and  solid  support  than  was 
ever  rendered  by  the "  State  previously.  A  common-sense,  highly  moral  and 
exalted  platform  was  formed  and  supported  by  many  leading  men. 

This  year  witnessed  the  serious  "strikes"  among  the  miners  in  Stark  and 
Wayne  Counties.  The  consequences  were  painful — distress,  riots  and  distruc- 
tion  of  property. 

The  State  Mine  Inspector  reported  300  coal  mines  in  the  State,  with  only 
twenty-five  in  operation.  Not  over  3,000,000  tons  of  coal  were  raised  during 
the  year,  owing  to  the  dullness  of  the  times. 

The  State  charities  reported  the  aggregate  number  under  public  care  to  be 
29,508.  The  taxation  for  the  maintenance  of  these  classes  was  one  and  one 
six-hundredth  of  a  mill  on  each  dollar  of  taxable  property. 

The  reports  given  of  the  year  1877  indicated  a  revival  of  business  interests 
and  prosperity.  The  State  produced  of  wheat,  27,306,566  bushels ;  rye, 
914,106  bushels;  buckwheat,  225,822  bushels;  oats,  29,325,611;  barley, 
1,629,817  bushels ;  corn,  101,884,305  bushels  ;  timothy,  tons  of  hay,  2,160,334 ; 
clover,  tons  of  hay,  286,265;  flax,  pounds  of  fiber,  7,343,294;  potatoes, 
,10,504,278  bushels;  sweet  potatoes,  126,354^  bushels;  tobacco,  24,214,950 
pounds;  sorghum,  sugar,  7,507^  pounds;  syrup,  1,180,255  gallons;  maple 
sugar,  1,625,215  pounds ;  maple  syrup,  324,036  gallons ;  honey,  1,534,902 
pounds. 

The  growth  of  manufacturing  industries,  the  remarkable  annual  increase 
in  stock  and  in  agricultural  products  since  1877,  leave  no  room  to  doubt  the 
rapid  advancement  of  Ohio  in  general  wealth. 


WEstarr-     B.onl,   Pot    Ga 


'/yT^-x/'T^'-v^J 


PART  III. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY, 


^ 


:Bizr  :r.  o.  BiRO'wisr.* 


CHAPTER   I. 

Primitive  Appearance  of  the  Country— The  Claims  of  Virginia  and  Con- 
necticut—The Connecticut  Western  Reserve— Donation  of  Fire 
Lands,  and  Sale  of  the  Balance  to  the  Connecticut  Land  Company- 
Indian  Titles  Extinguished— Ordinance  of  1787— Arrival  of  the  First 
Surveying  Corps  at  Conneaut— The  Reserve  Surveyed  into  Townships 
— Trials  and  Sufferings  of  the  Surveyors— Erection  of  Jefferson  and 
Trumbull  Counties— Organization  of  Franklin  Township— Portage 
County  Erected,  and  Selection  of  its  Seat  of  Justice— First  Election, 
AND  Organization  of  the  County— Minutes  of  the  First  Meeting  of 
THE  Commissioners— Original  Townships— Tax  Levies  and  Collectors 
OF  1808— First  Year's  Receipts  and  Expenditures— Changes  in  the 
Western  Boundary  Line— Present  Boundaries— Origin  of  the  Name  of 
THE  County— The  Portage  Path — Areas  and  Townships — Population 
Statistics. 

WHAT  is  now  known  as  Portage  County  was,  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  white  men,  one  vast,  unbroken  forest.  The  soil,  by  the 
annual  accumulations  of  leaves  and  abundant  growths  of  forest  vegetation, 
was  luxuriant,  and  the  trees  stood  close,  and  were  of  gigantic  size.  The 
streams  and  small  lakes  swarmed  with  fish,  and  the  forest  abounded  with 
game.  Where  now  are  towns  and  hamlets  filled  with  busy  populations  intent 
upon  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  the  mastery  of  knowledge,  and  the  pursuits 
of  pleasure,  the  deer  browsed  and  the  pheasant  drummed  his  monotonous  note. 
Where  now  stands  the  glowing  furnace  from  which,  day  and  night,  tongues  of 
flame  are  bursting,  and  where  the  busy  water-wheel  now  furnishes  power  for  num- 
erous mills  and  factories,  half  naked,  dusky  warriors  fashioned  their  spears  with 
rude  implements  of  stoxie,  and  made  themselves  hooks  out  of  the  bones  of  ani- 
mals, for  alluring  the  tinny  tribe.  Where  now  are  fertile  fields,  upon  which  the 
thrifty  farmer  turns  his  furrow,  which  his  neighbor  takes  up  and  runs  on  until 
it  reaches  from  one  end  of  the  broad  State  to  the  other,  and  where  are  flocks 
and  herds  rejoicing  in  rich  meadows,  gladdened  by  abundant  streams  and 
fountains,  or  reposing  at  the  heated  noon-tide  beneath  ample  shade,  not  a 
blow  had  been  struck  against  the  giants  of  the  forest,  the  soil  rested  in  virgin 
purity,  the  streams  glided  on  in  majesty,  unvexed  by  wheel  and  unchoked  by 
device  of  man. 

Where  now  the  long  train  rushes  on  with  the  speed  of  the  wind  over  plain 
and  mead,  across  brook  and  river,  awakening  the  echoes  of  the  hills  the  long 
day  through,  and  at  the  midnight  hour  screaming  out  its  shrill   whistle  in 

♦Chapters  I  to  XIII  inclusive. 


188  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

fiery  defiance,  the  wild  native,  issuing  from  his  rude  hut,  trotted  on  in  his 
forest  path,  pointed  his  bark  canoe  across  the  deep  stream,  knowing  the  prog- 
ress of  time  only  by  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  troiibled  by  no  meridians 
for  its  index,  starting  on  his  way  when  his  nap  was  ended,  and  stopping  for 
rest  when  a  spot  was  reached  that  pleased  his  fancy.  Where  now  a  swarthy 
population  toils  ceaselessly  deep  down  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  shut  out  from 
the  light  of  day  in  digging  the  material  that  feeds  the  tires  upon  the  forge,  and' 
gives  genial  warmth  to  the  poor  man's  happy  home,  and  to  the  lovers  as  they 
chat  merrily  in  the  luxurious  drawing-room,  not  a  mine  had  been  opened, 
and  the  vast  beds  of  the  black  diamond  rested  unsunned  beneath  the  superin- 
cumbent strata  where  they  had  been  fashioned  by  the  Creator's  hand.  Civili- 
zation had  not  yet  come  to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  the  red  man  as  he 
smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  at  the  council  fire,  and  many  a  bitter  struggle  was  to 
ensue  before  he  would  surrender  to  his  white  foe  his  goodly  heritage  by  the 
forest  stream  and  deep  flowing  river,  and  seek  for  himself  new  hunting-grounds 
in  less  favored  regions. 

The  first  authentic  record  we  find  of  the  white  man's  claim  to  this  portion 
of  the  red  man's  domain  is  the  Virginia  title  to  the  great  Northwest  Territory, 
acquired  through  its  several  charters  granted  by  James  I  in  1606,  1609  and 
1611,  without  any  recognition  of  the  original  owners  and  occupants  of  the 
soil.  That  colony  first  attempted  to  exercise  au.thority  over  its  extensive 
dominions  lying  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  when,  in  1769,  the  House  of 
Burgesses  passed  the  following  act; 

Whereas,  The  people  situated  on  the  Mississippi,  in  the  said  County  of  Botetourt, 
will  be  very  remote  from  the  Court  House  and  must  necessarily  become  a  separate  county 
as  soon  as  their  numbers  are  sulEcient,  which  probably  will  happen  in  a  short  time,  be  it 
therefore  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  said 
County  of  Botetourt  which  lies  on  the  said  waters,  shall  be  exempted  from  the  payment 
of  any  levies  to  be  laid  by  the  said  County  Court  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  Court 
House  and  prison  for  said  county. 

Civil  government  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  existed  only  in 
name  until  1778,  when,  after  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  Gen.  George 
Rogers  Clark,  the  Virginia  Legislature  organized  the  County  of  Illinois, 
embracing  within  its  limits  all  of  the  lands  lying  west  of  the  Ohio  River  to 
which  Virginia  had  any  claim.  Col.  John  Todd  received  appointment  from 
the  Governor  of  Virginia  as  Civil  Commandant  and  Lieutenant  of  the 
county.  He  served  until  his  death,  at  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks  in  1782,  and 
Timothy  de  Montbrun  was  his  successor.  In  1783  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia  passed  an  act  authorizing  her  delegates  in  Congress  to  convey  to  the 
United  States  all  the  rights  of  Virginia  to  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River.  Pursuant  to  this  act,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Samuel  Hardy,  Arthur  Lee 
and  James  Monroe,  the  Virginia  delegates,  ceded  to  the  general  Government, 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1784,  all  right,  title  and  claim  of  soil  and  jurisdiction 
to  said  tei'ritory  previously  held  by  Virginia.  The  deed  of  cession  was 
accepted  by  Congress  on  the  same  day,  and  the  United  States  thus  secured  the 
title  of  that  State  to  the  soil  of  Ohio. 

Another  claim,  however,  still  remained  to  be  satisfied,  which  was  more 
closely  connected  with  the  portion  of  Ohio  known  as  the  Western  Reserve  than 
the  preceding  one.  "  This  claim  reaches  back  to  the  founding  of  Connecticut, 
the  original  charter  of  which  was  granted  by  Charles  II  in  1662.  It  defined 
the  limits  of  the  grant  to  be  "  from  the  south  line  of  Massachusetts  on  the 
north  to  Long  Island  Sound  on  the  south,  and  from  the  Narragansett  River  on 
the  east  to  the  Pacific  Ocean   on  the    west,"  which    embraced   all  the  country 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  189 

lying  between  the  41st  and  42d  degrees  north  latitude.  These  boundaries 
included  not  only  what  is  now  Connecticut,  but  also  portions  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  nearly  half  of  Pennsylvania,  the  northern  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  and  a  strip  oflf  the  southern  part  of  Michigan,  besides  portions  of 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah,  Nevada  and  California.  There 
was  a  clause,  however,  in  the  charter,  which  excepted  from  it  such  territory  as 
was  then  occupijed  by  prior  settlers. 

A  dispute  soon  arose  between  New  York  and  Connecticut  as  to  their  bound- 
aries, when  the  King,  in  1664,  appointed  Commissioners  to  settle  it.  They 
decided  that  the  Maronee  Kiver  should  be  the  western  boundary  of  Connecti- 
cut. With  this  decision  against  her,  Connecticut  neglected  for  nearly  a  century 
to  assert  her  claim  to  any  territory  west  of  New  York.  In  1681  a  charter  was 
granted  to  William  Penn  of  the  territory  embraced  in  the  limits  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. This,  of  course,  embraced  a  large  part  of  the  territory  included  in  the 
charter  of  Connecticut,  and  bitter  quarrels  now  sprung  up  between  the  two 
colonies  as  to  their  respective  rights.  In  1753  a  company  was  formed  in  Con- 
necticut to  plant  a  colony  on  the  Susquehanna  River,  on  lands  they  claimed  as 
included  in  her  Charter.  A  purchase  was  made  of  the  sachems  of  the  Six 
Nations  by  this  company  in  1754,  at  Wyoming,  and  in  1774  a  township  was 
formed  there,  called  Westmoreland,  which  sent  a  Representative  to  the  Legis- 
lature of  Connecticut.  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut  both  sold  the  same  lands, 
and  both  agreed  to  give  possession,  which  caused  constant  quarrels,  and  resort 
was  often  had  to  arms  to  expel  those  in  possession.  In  1770  the  Legislature 
of  Connecticut  sent  to  England  certain  questions  respecting  her  title  to  the 
lands  west  of  New  York.  The  answers  were  favorable  to  her  claims,  and  she 
determined  to  enforce  them,  but  the  Revolutionary  war  coming  on  suspended 
the  controversy. 

In  1781  the  two  States  appointed  Commissioners  to  determine  the  dispute, 
and  an  act  of  Congress  was  passed  granting  to  these  Commissioners  full  power 
to  act  in  the  tinal  settlement  of  the  conflicting  claims.  The  Commissioners  met 
at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  in  1782,  and  after  a  full  hearing  decided  that  Connecticut  had 
no  right  to  the  lands  in  dispute,  but  that  they  belonged  to  Pennsylvania.  The 
State  of  Connecticut  acquiesced  in  the  decision,  but  still  claimed  all  the  lands 
lying  west  of  Pennsylvania,  extending  to  the  Mississippi  River.  To  avoid  all 
future  trouble,  Connecticut,  in  1786,  ceded  all  her  lands  west  of  Pennsylvania 
to  Congress,  excepting  only  120  miles  from  the  Pennsylvania  line  west,  and 
north  of  latitude  41°,  over  which,  however,  the  United  States  retained  full 
jurisdiction.     This  cession  was  accepted,  and  the  controversy  finally  settled. 

The  territory  thus  confirmed  to  Connecticut  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Western  Reserve,  and  lies  between  Lake  Erie  on  the  north,  Pennsylvania  on 
the  east,  the  parallel  of  the  41st  degree  north  latitude  on  the  south,  and  the 
eastern  line  of  Seneca  and  Sandusky  Counties  on  the  west.  It  extends  120 
miles  from  east  to  west,  and  averages  about  fifty  miles  from  north  to  south, 
although  on  the  Pennsylvania  line  its  width  is  sixty-eight  miles.  The  Reserve 
contains  about  3,800,000  acres,  and  is  surveyed  into  townships,  each  five 
miles  square.  Half  a  million  acres  from  off  the  west  end  of  the  Reserve  were 
granted  by  Connecticut  in  1792  to  the  residents  of  Greenwich,  New  London, 
Norwalk,  Fairfield,  Danbury,  New  Haven,  and  other  villages  of  that  State, 
whose  property  was  burned  by  the  English  during  the  Revolutionary  war. 
This  grant  is  called  the  Fire  Lands,  because  of  being  donated  to  compensate 
for  the  property  destroyed  by  fire,  and  includes  the  five  western  ranges  of 
townships  in  the  Reserve.  Excepting  one  township  in  Ashland  County,  and  a 
small  strip  at  the  eastern   end  of   Ottawa,  the  Fire  Lands  are  embraced  in 


190  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Huron  find  Erie  Counties.  The  entire  Western  Reserve  embraces  the  present 
counties  of  Ashtabula,  Cuyahoga,  Erie,  Geauga,  Huron,  Lake,  Lorain,  Medi- 
na, Portage  and  Trumbull;  also  the  greater  portion  of  Mahoning  and  Sum- 
mit, and  very  limited  portions  of  Ashland  and  Ottaw^a. 

After  the  donation  of  the  Fire  Lands,  the  remaining  3,300,000  acres  were 
put  upon  the  market,  and  in  1795  sold  by  the  State  to  the  Connecticut  Land 
Company  for  $1,200,000.  This  money  was  invested  as  a  permanent  fund, 
called  the  Connecticut  School  Fund,  the  interest  of  which  goes  toward  the 
support  of  common  schools  in  that  State.  The  land  company  divided  the 
amount  into  400  shares  of  $3,000  each,  on  payment  of  which  a  certificate  was 
issued  entitling  the  holder  to  one  four-hundredth  part  of  the  lands  purchased. 
The  company  conveyed  it  by  deed  of  trust  to  Jonathan  Bran,  John  Caldwell 
and  John  Mayan,  to  hold  and  sell  for  the  proprietors.  The  certificates  were 
all  numbered,  and  then  the  proprietors  drew  for  their  land,  similar  to  draw- 
ing a  lottery. 

Before  the  whites,  however,  could  take  peaceable  possession  of  their  lands 
lying  in  the  Western  Reserve,  a  title  from  the  Indians  was  necessary,  and  this 
was  finally  accomplished.  Through  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  consummated 
with  the  Six  Nations  October  22,  1784,  the  indefinite  claim  of  that  confederacy 
to  the  soil  of  Ohio  was  extinguished.  This  was  followed  in  January,  1785, 
by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  by  which  the  Delawai-es,  Wyandots,  Ottawas 
and  Chippewas  relinquished  all  claim  to  the  territory  lying  east  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga River,  Portage  Path  and  Tuscarawas  River,  and  south  of  a  line  running 
southwest  from  Fort  Laurens,  on  the  Tuscarawas  (the  town  of  Bolivar),  to  the 
portage  between  the  Big  Miami  and  Maumee  Rivers,  near  the  western  bound- 
ary of  the  State.  A  similar  relinquishment  was  effected  with  the  Shawnees 
by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Finney,  January  31,  1786.  The  treaty  of  Fort  Har- 
mar,  January  9,  1789,  and  that  of  Greenville,  August  3,  1795,  re-established 
and  extended  the  southern  boundary  line  through  Ohio  laid  down  by  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh.  All  of  the  Western  Reserve  lying  west  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga River  and  the  Portage  Path  was  secured  by  a  treaty  made  at  Fort  Industry 
(Toledo),  July  4,  1805,  and  thus  the  last  vestige  of  Indian  title  to  the  lands  in 
the  Reserve  was  forever  extinguished. 

When  the  United  States  had  obtained  possession  of  the  country  north  and 
west  of  the  Ohio  River,  Congress  took  the  great  step  which  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  a  wise  and  salutary  civil  government.  On  the  13th  of  July, 
1787,  after  a  prolonged  discussion  of  the  principles  and  issues  involved,  there 
was  issued  "An  Ordinance  for  the  Government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United 
States  Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio, "  which  has  since  been  known  as  "the 
ordinance  of  1787,"  or  the  "ordinance  of  freedom."  By  this  great  and  states- 
manlike ordinance,  provision  was  made  for  successive  forms  of  territorial  gov- 
ernment, adapted  to  successive  steps  of  advancement  in  the  settlement  and 
development  of  the  Western  country.  "  This  remarkable  instrument," 
says  Chief  Justice  Chase,  "  was  the  last  gift  of  the  Congress  of  the  old  con- 
federation to  the  country,  and  it  was  a  fit  consummation  of  their  glorious 
labors."  Up  to  this  time  the  Government,  to  avoid  infringements  upon 
the  rights  of  the  Indians,  had  discouraged  and  prevented  the  settlement  of  the 
lands  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  but  on  the  passage  of  the  ordinance  emigration 
was  fostered  and  encouraged  in  every  way,  and  when  the  settlers  went  into  the 
wilderness  they  found  the  law  already  there.  "It  was  impressed  upon  the 
soil  itself,  while  it  yet  bore  up  nothing  but  the  forest." 

In  June,  1796,  the  Connecticut  Land  Company  sent  out  a  surveying  party 
to  divide  the   Reserve  into  townships.      It  was  under  the  charge  of    Moses 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  191 

Cleveland,  from  whom  the  city  of  Cleveland  takes  its  name.  On  the  4th  of 
July  the  pai'ty  arrived  at  the  site  of  Conneaut,  Ashtabula  County,  where  they 
celebrated  our  great  national  holiday,  being  the  first  celebration  on  the 
Reserve.  The  expedition  consisted  of  forty-five  men,  two  women  and  one 
child.  The  work  was  begun  and  vigorously  prosecuted  during  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1796,  and  the  following  spring  a  second  expedition  came  out  to 
finish  the  survey.  Wareham  Shepherd,  the  last  survivor  of  that  surveying 
corps,  and  Amzi  Atwater,  who  subsequently  became  Associate  Judge  of  Por- 
tage County,  were  leading  members  of  this  party.  When  surveying  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Palmyra  Township,  Portage  County,  July  5,  1797,  Shep- 
herd was  taken  sick  with  dysentery,  and  Miner  Bickweil,  one  of  their  assist- 
ants, with  a  violent  fever.  They  kept  on,  however,  till  they  got  the  line  run 
between  Braceville  Township,  Trumbull  County,  and  Windham  Township,  in 
this  county,  when  Bickweil  became  too  sick  to  proceed  further.  Here  was  a 
trying  time.  In  a  wilderness,  without  medicine,  and  without  skill  to  use  it 
if  they  had  it,  and  with  no  guide  but  their  compass — under  such  difficulties 
the  bravest  heart  might  well  grow  discouraged.  But  "necessity  is  the  mother 
of  invention,"  and  Atwater  cut  two  poles  and  fastened  bark  to  them  so  they 
would  hang  beside  a  horse  like  the  shafts  of  a  wagou — one  horse  following 
the  other  so  far  apart  that  the  sick  man  could  lie  lengthwise  between  them. 
With  bark  and  blankets  they  made  his  bed  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  by 
twisted  bark  ropes  fastened  it  to  their  pack  saddles. 

Shepherd  becoming  somewhat  better,  Atwater  left  him  with  one  assistant 
to  run  the  east  line  of  Range  0  to  the  lake  as  best  he  could,  and  started 
for  Cleveland  with  the  sick  man.  They  returned  back  to  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Palmyra  Township,  and  then  started  west  on  the  line  between  Palmp'a 
and  Paris.  In  this  litter  Atwater  carried  Bickweil  five  days — and  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles.  He  had  a  high  fever  all  the  time,  and  his  reason  but  a  part  of 
the  time.  On  the  fifth  day  they  arrived  at  the  south  line  of  Independence, 
Cuyahoga  County,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1797,  and  Bickweil  died  about  two 
hours  after  their  arrival.  He  was  buried  near  the  luver,  on  the  south  line  of 
that  town,  on  the  farm  subsequently  owned  by  Squire  Frazer.  He  was  the  sec- 
ond white  person  that  died  on  the  Reserve,  David  Eldridge,  one  of  the  party, 
being  drowned  the  May  previous  in  swimming  Grand  River.  Upon  Atwater's 
return  he  found  Shepherd  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Nelson  Township, 
and  they  then  ran  the  east  line  of  Range  6  northward  to  the  lake.  This  fin- 
ished the  township  lines  of  the  Reserve,  the  eastern  line  of  Portage  County 
being  the  last  one  surveyed.  The  men  were  nearly  all  worn  out,  and  sickness 
prevailed  to  an  alarming  extent.  Peleg  Washburn  and  William  Andrews,  two 
of  the  company,  died  in  Cleveland,  in  August,  and  nearly  every  man  was  sick. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Tinker,  the  principal  boatman,  and  from  whom  Tin- 
ker's Creek  took  its  name,  in  going  down  the  lake  in  the  fall  was  drowned, 
together  with  two  others,  by  the  capsizing  of  their  boat.  One  or  two  boat- 
loads of  sick  were  sent  off  early  in  the  fall,  and  the  last  of  the  surveying 
party  left  the  Reserve  the  fore  part  of  November,  1797,  a  sorry,  sickly-looking 
set  of  beings,  the  very  reverse  of  what  they  were  in  the  spring. 

Such  were  the  sufferings  and  trials  of  those  hardy  bands  of  surveyors  who 
prepared  the  way  for  the  coming  of  the  pioneers,  and  whose  descendants,  while 
enjoying  the  blessings  of  the  present,  can  scarcely  realize  that  only  eighty- 
eight  years  ago  such  was  the  conditioD  of  this  beautiful  country.  So  suddenly 
and  so  strangely  has  the  genius  of  change  and  alteration  waved  its  charmed 
wand  over  the  land,  that  the  unwritten  history  of  those  early  days  is  recalled 
as  one  remembers  a  fading  dream.     We  are  living  in  an  age  of    invention  and 


192  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

machinery.  These  have  lai'gely  destroyed  the  romance  of  frontier  life,  and 
much  of  the  strange,  eventful  realities  of  the  past  are  rapidly  becoming  myth- 
ical, and  the  narratives  of  the  generation  that  settled  the  Western  Reserve, 
abounding  in  rich  treasure  of  incidents  and  character,  are  being  swallowed  up 
and  forgotten  in  the  surging,  eventful  present. 

At  the  time  the  iirst  settlement  was  made  within  the  present  limits  of  Por- 
tage County,  it  formed  a  part  of  Jefferson,  erected  July  29,  1797,  and  which 
then  embraced  all  of  the  territory  inside  the  following  boundaries,  with  the 
seat  of  justice  at  Steubenville: 

Beginning  upon  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  where  the  western  boundary  of  Pennsyl- 
vania crosses  it,  and  down  the  said  river  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  fourth  township 
in  the  third  range  (of  those  seven  ranges  of  townships  that  were  surveyed  in  conformity  to 
the  ordinance  of  Congress  of  the  20th  of  May,  1785),  and  with  the  said  southern  boundary 
west,  to  the  southwest  corner  of  the  sixth  township  of  the  fifth  range;  thence  north  along 
the  western  boundary  of  the  said  fifth  range  to  the  termination  thereof;  thence  due  west 
to  the  Muskingum  River,  and  up  the  Muskingum  and  Tuscarawas  Rivers  to  and  with  the 
Portage,  between  the  latter  and  the  Cuyahoga  River;  thence  down  the  Cuyahoga  to  Lake 
Erie;  thence  easterly  along  the  shore  of  the  lake  to  the  western  boundar}^  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  south  with  the  same  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

Three  years  passed  by,  and  on  the  10th  of  July,  1800,  Trumbull  County 
was  erected,  partly  from  territory  previously  embraced  in  Jefferson,  and 
included  all  of  the  lands  constituting  the  Western  Reserve.  Its  official  bound- 
aries were  established  as  follows: 

Beginning  at  the  completion  of  the  41st°  of  north  latitude,  120  miles  west  of  the  western 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania.'and  running  from  thence  by  aline  to  be  drawn  north,  parallel  to 
and  120  miles  west  of  the  said  west  line  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  continue  north  until  it  comes 
to  42°,  2'  north  latitude;  thence  with  a  line  to  be  drawn  east  until  it  intersects  the  said  west- 
ern boundary  of  Pennsylvania;  thence  with  the  said  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania 
south,  to  the  completion  of  the  41st°  of  north  latitude;  and  from  thence  west  to  the  place 
of  beginning. 

In  1802  all  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Portage  County,  besides  a  portion 
of  that  in  Trumbull  and  Summit,  was  organized  under  the  name  of  Franklin 
Township;  but  soon  afterward  other  townships  were  cut  off  from  Franklin, 
and  when  Portage  County  was  erected  it  contained  six  townships  in  good  run- 
ning order.  It  remained  a  portion  of  Trumbull  until  the  10th  of  February, 
1807,  on  which  date  the  Legislature  passed  the  following  act,  to  take  effect 
and  be  in  force  from  and  after  the  7th  of  June  succeeding  its  passage: 

1.  Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  all  that  part  of  the  county  of  Trumbull  which  lies  west  of 
the  fifth  range  of  townships  be  erected  into  a  separate  county  by  the  name  of  Portage, 
and  shall  be  vested  with  all  the  powers,  privileges  and  immunities  of  a  separate  and  dis- 
tinct county:  Provided,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Coroners,  Sheriffs,  Constables  and 
Collectors  of  the  County  of  Trumbull  to  do  and  perform  all  the  duties  which  they  are  or 
may  be  required  to  do,  within  the  bounds  of  the  said  County  of  Portage,  before  the  said 
division  shall  take  place;  and  all  suits  and  actions,  whether  of  a  civil  or  criminal  nature, 
which  shall  be  pending,  and  all  crimes  which  shall  have  been  committed  therein  at  the 
time  of  said  division,  shall  be  prosecuted  to  final  judgment  and  execution  in  the  County 
of  Trumbull,  as  though  no  division  Iwid  taken  place. 

2.  Tiiat  the  courts  for  the  said  County  of  Portage  shall  be  holden  at  the  house  of 
Benjamin  Tappan,  until  a  permanent  seat  of  justice  shall  be  established. 

3.  That  all  that  part  of  the  Connecticut  Western  Reserve  that  lies  west  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga River  and  south  of  the  township  numbered  five,  shall  be  annexed  to  and  become  a  part 
of  the  county  of  Portage:  Provided,  That  the  money  arising  to  the  county  from  a  tax 
on  land,  within  the  said  district,  shall  be  appropriated  by  the  Commissioners  of  Portage 
County,  and  expended  in  laying  out  and  making  roads  and  erecting  bridges,  within  the 
boundaries  of  said  district,  west  of  the  Cuyahoga. 

The  act  also  authorized  the  appointing  of  Commissioners,  under  the  law 
establishing  seats  of  justice,  to  fix  upon  the  place  for  the  county  seat  of  Port- 
age County.  The  Legislature  appointed  Robert  Simison,  Samuel  Hunter 
and  Rezin   Beall,  who  made  their  i-eport   to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 


<--l'OJ'     /^ 


(_y;^6^x^t/c7-^       H 


^^-^^^^^ 


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&-/' 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  195 

Portage  County  at  its  first  session,  August  23,  1808,  having  selected  Ravenna, 
which  had  been  laid  out  by  Benjamin  Tappan  the  previous  spring,  as  the  seat 
of  justice  for  the  new  county.  There  is  a  well  authenticated  tradition  that 
Aaron  Olmstead,  the  original  proprietor  of  the  present  township  of  Franklin, 
was  very  desirous  of  having  the  county  seat  located  on  his  land,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1807  came  out  from  the  East,  and  with  John  Campbell,  of  Camp- 
bellsport,  selected  a  site  for  public  buildings  a  little  north  of  the  upper  ceme- 
tery in  the  city  of  Kent.  Olmstead  made  arrangements  with  Campbell 
for  the  latter  to  use  his  influence  with  the  State  Commissioners  in  favor  of 
this  location,  and  to  promise  that  he  (Olmstead)  would  donate  the  land  and 
erect  a  Court  House  at  his  own  expense,  if  the  Commissioners  selected  that 
site  for  the  county  seat  of  Portage  County.  He  then  returned  to  the  East, 
where  he  soon  afterward  died,  leaving  no  provision  for  carrying  out  his 
promises;  and  under  a  will  previously  executed  bequeathing  all  the  unsold 
lands  to  his  grandchildren,  the  proposed  site  could  not  be  donated  for  county 
purposes.  It  is  generally  believed  that  had  it  not  been  for  Olmstead's  death, 
the  seat  of  justice  would  undoubtedly  have  been  located  on  the  Cuyahoga 
River,  at  Kent,  instead  of  Ravenna,  and  consequently  the  boundary  lines 
of  Portage  County  would  be  much  different  from  what  they  are  to-day. 

Though  the  act  erecting  Portage  County  was  passed  and  went  into  effect 
in  1807,  the  new  county  remained  attached  to  Trumbull  for  one  year  longer. 
On  the  8th  of  June,  1808,  an  election  was  held,  and  Abel  Sabin,  Joel  Gaylord 
and  Lewis  Day  elected  Commissioners;  Alva  Day,  Sheriff;  and  Lewis  Day, 
Coroner  of  Portage  County.  On  the  same  date  the  Commissioners  met  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  and  putting  the  wheels  of  local  government  in 
motion.  On  the  first  page  of  the  Commissioners'  Journal  the  following  record 
is  made  of  this  important  event  in  the  county's  history: 

In  conformity  to  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  entitled  "An 
Act  establisliing  Boards  of  County  Commissioners,"  the  Commissioners  in  and  lor  the 
County  of  Portage  met  at  the  house  of  Robert  Eaton*,  in  Ravenna,  on  Monday,  the  eighth 
day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight.  Persons 
present,  Lewis  Day,  Joel  Gaylord  and  Abel  Sabin,  Esquires,  Commissioners  of  said  county, 
who,  having  produced  certificates  of  their  being  duly  elected  as  such,  and  having  taken 
the  necessary  oaths  required  by  law,  proceeded  to  discharge  the  duties  of  their  said  offices, 
in  pursuance  to  the  above  recited  act. 

The  Board  of  Commissioners  proceeded  to  fix  and  determine  on  a  suitable  person  to 
do  and  perform  the  duties  of  Clerk  to  the  said  Board.  Whereupon  it  was  considered  that 
Abel  Sabin,  Esquire,  one  of  the  Commissioners,  was  a  suitable  person  to  discharge  the  said 
duties  of  Clerk,  and  accordingly  was  appointed  thereto,  and  accepted  tiie  same. 

The  Board  of  Commissioners  in  and  for  said  county  appointed  Elias  Harmon,  Esquire, 
Treasurer  of  the  county  aforesaid,  for  the  year  ensuing;  who,  having  accepted  the  said 

appointment,  entered  into  bonds  in  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars,  with 

for  his  sureties,  conditioned  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  took 
the  oath  prescribed  by  law. 

Ordered  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  in  and  for  the  County  of  Portage,  that  the 
sum  of  two  doilars  be  allowed  as  a  bounty  for  each  and  every  wolf  or  panther  killed,  over 
the  age  of  six  months,  within  said  county,  and  the  sum  of  one  dollar  for  each  wolf  or 
panther,  under  the  age  of  six  months,  killed  within  the  term  of  one  year,  in  the  county 
aforesaid,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  County  Treasury,  on  the  order  of  the  Commissioners,  in 
conformity  to  the  statute  in  such  cases  made  and  provided. 

Portage  County  at  that  time  possessed  but  six  organized  townships,  viz. : 
Franklin,  Deertield,  Aurora,  Hiram,  Springfield  and  Hudson.  The  two  last 
mentioned  then  included  the  ten  townships  taken  from  Portage  in  the  erection 
of  Summit  County,  in  1840,  also  the  present  townships  of  Randolph  and  Suf- 
field  in  this  county.  Franklin  Township  embraced  the  present  townships  of 
Franklin,  Rcivenna,  Charlestown,  Brimfield  and  Rootstown.      Deerfield  Town- 

*This  house  stands  about  two  and  a  half  miles  southeast  of  Ravenna,  and  since  1815  has  been  the  Thomp- 
son homestead. 


196  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ship  then  included  Deerfield,  Atwater,  Palmyra,  Paris  and  Edinburg.  Aurora 
Township  embraced  Aurora  and  Streetsboro;  and  Hiram  Township  covered  the 
territory  now  known  as  Hiram,  Mantua,  Nelson,  Shalersville,  Freedom,  Wind- 
ham and  Garrettsville. 

The  resident  land  tax  levied  August  23,  1808,  was  as  follows:  Franklin 
Township,  $46.83;  Deerlield_,  $48.78;  Aurora,  $38.17;  Hiram,  $36.31;  Spring- 
field, $34.97;  Hudson,  $81.  il.  The  personal  property  tax  levied  on  the  same 
date  was;  Franklin  Township,  $35;  Deerfield,  $48.90;  Aurora,  $12.30;  Hiram, 
$23.40;  Springfield,  $26.60;  Hudson,  $55.60.  The  following  Tax  Collectors 
were  also  appointed  at  the  same  time:  Arthur  Anderson,  Franklin  Township; 
James  Carter,  Deerfield;  Oliver  Forward,  Aurora;  Isaac  Mills,  Hiram;  Timo- 
thy Culver,  Springfield;  George  Darrow,  Jr.,  Hudson. 

The  entire  receipts  of  Portage  County  from  June  13,  1808,  to  June  17, 
1809,  were  $3,247.71,  of  which  amount  $2,227.52  was  the  tax  on  lands  lying 
west  of  the  Cuyahoga  River,  which,  by  a  clause  in  the  act  of  erection,  were 
annexed  to  this  county.  The  expenditures  during  the  same  period  were 
$2,355.56,  of  which  $1,125.35  were  expended  in  laying  out  roads  and  building 
bridges  in  the  territory  west  of  the  Cuyahoga,  in  compliance  with  the  clause 
attaching  said  territory  to  Portage  County.  Thus,  the  total  receipts  of  this 
county,  from  the  territory  lying  between  the  Trumbull  County  line  and  the 
Cuyahoga  River,  were,  during  the  first  year  of  its  organized  existence,  $1,020.- 
19;  truly  a  very  insignificant  sum  with  which  to  meet  its  financial  wants. 

By  an  act  passed  January  22,  1811,  the  west  line  of  the  eleventh  range  of 
townships  was  designated  as  the  western  boundary  of  Portage  County;  and  on 
the  l8th  of  February,  1812,  Medina  County  was  erected  and  attached  to  Port- 
age for  judicial  purposes,  where  it  remained  until  its  separate  organization, 
January  14,  1818.  The  west  line  of  the  eleventh  range  continued  to  be  the 
western  boundary  of  Portage  until  the  29th  of  January,  1827,  when  the  follow- 
ing survey  was  established: 

Beginning  on  the  south  line  of  the  Connecticut  Western  Reserve,  at  the  point  where 
the  middle  of  the  Tuscarawas  River  intersects  the  same;  thence  northerly,  following  the 
middle  of  the  said  Tuscarawas  River,  to  the  range  line  between  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
ranges,  as  run  by  the  Connecticut  Land  Company;  thence  north  on  the  course  of  the  range 
line  last  aforesaid,  to  the  north  line  of  the  township  numbered  four;  thence  east  on  the 
north  line  of  number  four,  in  the  eleventh  range,  to  the  middle  of  the  Cuyahoga  River; 
thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  the  north  line  of  the  township  numbered  five,  in 
said  ranges.  ****** 

No  more  changes  occurred  in  the  boundary  lines  of  Portage  County  until 
the  erection  of  Siammit,  March  3,  1840,  when  its  two  western  tiers  of  town- 
ships were  cut  off  in  the  formation  of  the  new  county,  establishing  the  west 
line  of  the  ninth  range  as  the  western  boundary  of  Portage,  and  thus  its 
boundaries  have  since  remained.  It  is  botmded  on  the  west  by  Summit  County, 
on  the  north  by  Geauga,  on  the  east  by  Trumbull  and  Mahoning,  and  on  the 
south  by  Mahoning  and  Stark,  the  last  mentioned  boundary  being  also  the  south- 
ern line  of  the  Western  Reserve. 

Portage  County  received  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  old  Indian  Portage 
Path,  between  the  Cuyahoga  and  Tuscarawas  Rivers,  was,  originally,  within  its 
limits,  though  now  in  Summit  County.  This  historic  path  was  a  part  of  the 
boundary  established  in  1784,  by  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  and  remained 
the  dividing  line  between  the  whites  and  Indians  until  1805,  when  the  treaty 
consummated  at  Fort  Industry  established  the  western  line  of  the  Reserve  as 
the  north  and  south  boundary  between  the  two  races  in  Ohio.  The  Portage 
Path  left  the  Cayahoga  River  at  the  village  of  Old  Portage,  about  three  miles 
north  of  Akron,  thence  ran  westward  up  the  hill  about  half  a  mile  to  the  high 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


197 


ground,  where  it  turned  south  and  ran  about  parallel  with  the  Ohio  Canal  to 
near  Summit  Lake;  thence  took  the  low  ground  nearly  south  to  the  Tuscara- 
was, which  it  struck  a  mile  or  more  above  the  New  Portage.  The  whole  length 
of  the  path  was.  according  to  the  survey  made  by  Moses  Warren,  in  1797, 
eight  miles,  four  chains  and  fifty-five  links. 

As  the  county  increased  in  population  new  townships  were  organized,  and 
prior  to  the  erection  of  Summit  County,  in  1840,  Portage  contained  thirty 
townships,  with  a  combined  area  of  about  740  square  miles  of  territory,  or 
473,600  acres.  The  erection  of  Summit,  however,  left  Portage  County  with 
but  twenty  townships  (Garrettsville  has  since  been  formed  from  Hiram  and 
Nelson),  and  an  area  of  490  square  miles,  or  313,600  acres,  including  streams 
and  lakes;  but  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  1881  gives  312,487 
acres  as  the  amount  of  land  contained  in  this  county.  Its  present  townships 
are  Atwater,  Aurora,  Brimfield,  Charlestown,  Deerfield,  Edinburg,  Franklin, 
Freedom,  Garrettsville,  Hiram,  Mantua,  Nelson,  Palmyra,  Paris,  Randolph, 
Ravenna,  Rootstown,  Shalersville,  Streetsboro,  Suffield  and  Windham. 

The  population  of  the  county  and  the  several  townships  by  decades,  since 
1810  and  1850  respectively,  is  given  in  the  following  tables:  County — 1810, 
2,995;  1820,  1,095;  1830,  18,820;  1840,  22,965;  1850,  24,419;  1860,  24,208; 
1870,  24,584;  1880,  27,500. 


TOWNSHIPS. 


1850. 


Atwater  Township 

Aurora  Township 

Brimfield  Township 

Charlestown  Township 

Deerfield  Township 

Edinburg  Township 

Franklin  Township  (including  Kent) , 

Freedom  Township .  ; 

*Garrettsville  Township , 

Hiram  Township 

Mantua  Township 

Nelson  Township 

Palmyra  Township 

Paris  Township 

Randolph  Township 

Ravenna  Township  (including  Ravenna). 

Rootstown  Township 

Shalersville  Township 

Streetsboro  Township 

Suflield  Township 

Windham  Township 


1,119 
833 
1,015 
809 
1,371 
1,101 
1,758 


1,106 
1,169 
1,383 
1,093 
1,018 
1,732 
2,340 
1,308 
1,190 
1,108 
1,281 


I860. 


1,181 

688 

905 

835 

1,091 

1,018 

1,557 

983 


1,306 
1,207 
1,301 
1,031 

909 
1,686 
2.905 
1,383 
1,153 

906 
1,413 

850 


1870. 


1,180 
643 
913 
675 

1,085 
929 

3,037 
781 


1,234 

1,126 

1,355 

848 

691 

1,564 

3,423 

1,169 

977 

706 

1,444 

865 


1880. 


1,147 

666 

1,030 

633 

985 

910 

4,141 

804 

969 

1,058 

1,150 

890 

1,105 

666 

1,684 

4,224 

1,317 

960 

702 

1,530 

1,029 


*Organized  from  Hiram  and  Nelson  July  6, 1874. 


198  •  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  IL 

PoKTAGE  County  XiNETY  Years  Ago— Timber  and  Fruit-Bearing  Trees 
AND  Vines— Roots  and  Herbage— Wild  Animals,  Birds  and  Reptiles— Big 
Hunts— General  Topography,  Streams  and  Lakes— Geology  of  Portage 
County— Surface  Features  and  Deposits— Geological  Structure— Coal 
Measures— Coal  No.  1— Coals  Nos.  3  and  4— Fire  Clay— Altitudp:s  in  Port- 
age County  above  Lake  Erie. 

ERE  the  woodman' s  ax  resounded,  sombre  and  silent  was  the  ancient  forest, 
which,  during  untold  centuries,  had  overshadowed  the  hills  and  valleys 
of  this  region.  Beauty  and  variety  marked  the  plants  which  grew  and  bloomed 
beneath  the  leafy  canopy  of  the  gigantic  trees. 

"Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

Hill,  dale  and  streamlet,  with  all  the  families  of  plants  from  the  lofty 
forest  tree  to  the  creeping  ivy,  gave  to  the  landscape  variety  and  picturesque 
beauty.  An  unchanged  progression  of  periodical  decay  had  from  time  imme 
morial  been  forming  a  rich  vegetable  soil,  in  preparation  for  the  era  when 
civilized  man  should  take  possession  and  become  its  cultivator.  Oak  of  sev- 
eral varieties,  chestnut,  and  hickory  in  all  its  species,  were  the  principal  growth 
on  the  dry  gravelly  lands;  red  and  white  beech,  maple  or  sugar  tree,  linden 
or  basswood,  sumach,  white  ash,  cucumber,  poplar,  white,  red  and  slippery 
elm,  walnut,  ironwood,  dogwood,  sassafras  and  cherry,  on  the  rich  loamy  soil; 
and  on  the  wet  lands  hemlock,  black  ash,  tamarack,  sycamore,  soft  maple  and 
birch;  while  there  was  a  varying  undergrowth  of  fruit-bearing  trees  and  vines, 
such  as  the  plum,  crab- apple,  white,  red  and  black  haw,  alder,  whortleberry, 
blackberry,  raspberry,  serviceberry,  gooseberry,  currant,  cranberry  and  straw- 
berry, also  nuts  of  several  varieties,  and  hops,  ginseng,  bloodroot,  chocolate 
root,  together  with  innumerable  kinds  of  other  roots  and  herbage  of  valuable 
properties,  were  the  spontaneous  growth  of  Portage  County. 

A  thick  undergrowth  gave  an  excellent  covert  to  the  wild  animals  that  once 
abounded  in  this  section  of  the  State,  viz. :  the  elk,  deer,  panther,  wolf,  bear, 
wild  cat,  fox,  marten,  otter,  polecat,  beaver,  groundhog  or  woodchuck,  opossum, 
raccoon,  hare,  rabbit,  black,  grey,  red  or  pine,  flying  and  ground  or  striped 
squirrels,  muskrat,  mink,  weasel,  porcupine,  field-mouse,  deer-mouse,  common 
rat  and  mouse.  Of  these  the  elk,  panther,  wolf,  bear,  wild  cat  and  beaver 
are  extinct  in  this  county,  or  if  any  are  ever  seen  it  is  a  very  rare  occurrence. 

Among  the  birds  which  are  natives  of  this  county  or  visit  it  annually, 
either  to  build  or  touching  it  in  their  migration  to  a  more  northerly  region, 
are  the  bald  and  gray  eagle,  rarely  if  ever  seen;  the  hen  hawk,  fish  hawk, 
pigeon  hawk,  shrike  or  butcher  bird,  the  white,  the  cat  and  screech  owl,  the 
swan,  wild  goose,  black  duck,  mallard,  wood  duck,  shelldrake,  teal,  butter- 
bolt,  loon,  dipper,  water  hen  or  coot,  plover,  jacksnipe,  sandsnipe,  king- 
fisher, turkey,  pheasant,  partridge  or  quail,  woodcock,  rail,  pigeon,  dove, 
whip-poor-will,  robin,  thrush,  catbird,  cuckoo,  lark,  oriole,  bluejay,  fieldfare 
or  red  breasted  grossbeak,  martin,  the  barn  swallow,  bank  swallow,  oven  swal- 
low, bluebird,  wren,  cow  bird,  bobolink  or  reed-bird,  yellow  bird,  redbird, 
blackbird,  redwing,   starling,   black  or  large  woodpecker,   red-headed  wood- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  199 

pecker,  gray  woodpecker,  flicker,  cedar  bird  or  toppy,  crookbill,  green  bird, 
humming  bird,  and  a  variety  of  small  birds  with  whose  species  the  writer  is 
not  familiar.  Some  of  these  members  of  the  feathery  kingdom  have  become 
very  rare  or  altogether  extinct,  while  others  have  come  into  the  county.  The 
white-breasted  swallow  is  one  of  the  later  inhabitants,  as  is  also  the  hardy, 
pugnacious  English  sparrow,  which  since  his  coming  has  driven  many  of 
the  most  beautiful  songsters  from  the  towns  now  inhabited  by  those  little  fel- 
lows in  great  numbers. 

The  snakes  that  were  found  in  this  locality  are  the  black  and  yellow  rattle- 
snakes, the  former  of  which  usually  frequented  the  wet  or  swampy  lands,  and 
the  latter  the  hilly  or  dry  ground.  Hundi-eds  of  those  "yellow  skins,"  as  they 
were  commonly  called,  were  killed,  during  the  first  few  years  of  settlement,  in 
nearly  every  township  in  the  county.  Regular  hunting  parties  were  some- 
times organized  in  the  spring-time,  to  invade  their  dens  among  the  ledges,  and 
by  this  means  those  dangerous  pests  were  rapidly  exterminated.  The  water 
snake  was  a  large  black  snake,  often  growing  from  five  to  seven  feet  in  length; 
the -small  black  snake  or  white-ringed  viper,  the  brown  or  house  snake,  the 
garter  snake  and  the  green  snake  were  plentiful.  All  of  those  mentioned  are 
innocuous  except  the  rattlesnake,  and  it  is  fortunately  now  nearly  or  altogether 
extinct. 

The  wild  denizens  of  the  forest  roamed  at  will  during  the  earlier  years  of 
the  county's  history,  and  many  of  the  pioneers  could  tell  of  dangers  and  hair- 
breadth escapes  from  an  enraged  bear,  a  pack  of  ravenous  wolves,  or  a  treach- 
erous wild  cat,  which  at  one  time  were  more  plentiful  in  this  region  than  cat- 
tle, sheep  or  hogs.  To  rid  the  country  of  these  dangerous  neighbors,  big 
hunts  were  gotten  up,  when  game  of  every  sort  went  down  in  scores,  before 
the  unerring  rifles  of  the  frontier  sportsmen.  A  whole  township  would  be 
surrounded  by  a  line  of  hunters,  and  at  a  pre-concerted  signal  all  would  begin 
the  march  toward  the  center,  di-ivingthe  game  before  them  and  shooting  down 
any  that  tried  to  escape.  Great  quantities  of  valuable  game  were  slaughtered 
in  this  way,  and  as  there  were  premiums  paid  for  the  scalps  of  the  more  dan- 
gerous animals,  these  hunts  usually  proved  a  financial  success.  In  a  big  hunt 
which  took  place  in  Freedom  Township,  in  December,  1818,  there  were  killed 
twenty-three  bears,  seven  wolves  and  thirty-six  deer,  besides  scores  of  turkeys 
and  other  game.  On  the  25th  of  December,  1818,  another  hunt  took  place  in 
Windham  Township,  when  twenty-one  bears,  sixty-eight  deer,  one  wolf,  one 
wild  cat,  with  turkeys  and  other  small  game  innumerable,  were  bagged.  The 
same  year  at  the  close  of  a  hunt  in  Edinburg  Township,  seven  bears,  five 
wolves,  one  hundred  deer  and  four  hundred  turkeys  were  counted  as  the  result 
of  the  day's  sport.  Another  hunt  occurred  in  Edinburg  and  Atwater  Town- 
ships December  24,  1819,  the  result  of  which  was  twenty-one  bears,  eighteen 
wolves,  one  hundred  and  three  deer,  and  more  than  three  hundred  turkeys. 
In  1819  a  similar  raid  was  made  upon  the  game  of  Streetsboro  Township,  and 
five  bears,  four  wolves  and  sixty  deer  were  slain.  Such  hunts  took  place  at 
different  times  in  nearly  every  township  in  the  county,  but  those  given  will 
fully  illustrate  the  great  amount  of  wild  game  which  once  inhabited  the  val- 
leys of  the  Mahoning  and  Cuyahoga.  Those  organized  hunting  parties  soon 
had  a  telling  effect  in  lessening  the  game,  and  finally  becoming  unpopular, 
met  with  a  determined  opposition  from  a  large  class  of  citizens  and  were 
abandoned.  Long  after  the  surrounding  country  was  well  settled,  the  tam- 
arack swamps  of  Brimfield  Township  afforded  an  excellent  covert  for  wild 
game,  and  bears,  wolves,  deer  etc.,  were  quite  numerous  in  that  locality. 
Bears  especially  were  so  plentiful  that  the  township  was  familiarly  known  as 


200  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

"Bear  Town."  Streetsboro,  Freedom,  Paris  and  Edinburg  Townships  were 
also  noted  hunting  grounds  for  some  years  after  the  game  in  the  adjoining 
territory  had  been  pretty  well  thinned  out.  The  last  wolf  killed  in  Streets- 
boro Township  was  shot  by  Merrill  Stanton,  March  6,  1838,  about  which  time 
the  larger  and  more  troublesome  wild  animals  had,  much  to  the  relief  of  those 
settlers  whose  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep  often  went  to  satisfy  their  voracious 
appetites,  entirely  disappeared  from  the  forests  of  this  county. 

The  general  topography  of  Portage  County  is  slightly  rolling,  the  uplands 
usually  of  a  sandy  or  gravelly  nature,  and  the  more  level  portions  principally 
composed  of  a  clay  soil.  Few  counties  in  Ohio  are  better  watered.  The 
whole  eastern  half  is  drained  by  the  Mahoning  River,  with  its  several  local 
branches,  Silver  Creek  being  the  most  important,  which  rise  along  the  central 
portions  of  the  county,  from  north  to  south,  and  flow  in  an  easterly  direction, 
uniting  before  reaching  Warren,  Ohio;  thence  take  a  southeast  course  to  the 
Shenango,  with  whose  waters  the  Mahoning  unites  about  two  miles  south  of 
Newcastle,  Penn.,  when  the  two  streams  become  Beaver  River.  The  word 
Mahoning  is,  according  to  Heckewelder,  derived  from  either  the  Indian  Mahoni, 
signifying  "a  lick,"  or  Mahonink,  "at  the  lick;"  but  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  in 
his  sketches  of  the  Western  Reserve,  says  that  it  comes  from  the  Indian  word 
Ma-um-ing,  meaning   "the  way  to  the  market." 

The  Cuyahoga  River  takes  its  rise  in  Geauga  County,  and  flowing  south- 
west, enters  Portage  near  the  northwest  corner  of  Hiram  Township;  thence 
crossing  said  corner  and  keeping  the  same  general  course  across  the  southeast 
corner  of  Mantua,  and  the  northwest  corner  of  Shalersville  Township,  turns 
southward  through  the  southeastern  tier  of  lots  in  Streetsboro  Township; 
thence  winding  diagonally  across  Franklin  Township,  from  its  northeast  to  its 
southwest  corner,  passing  through  Kent  on  its  route,  enters  Summit  County. 
It  there  makes  a  big  bend,  and  turning  northward  empties  into  Lake  Erie  at 
Cleveland.  This  river  receives  its  name  from  the  Indian  word  Cuy-o-ga,  mean- 
ing "crooked,"  a  term  significant  of  the  stream,  which'  is  very  winding.  Its 
largest  tribu-taries  in  this  county  are  the  Little  Cuyahoga  and  the  Breakneck. 
The  former  drains  the  southeast  corner  of  the  county,  Fritch's  Pond,  in  Suf- 
field  Township,  being  one  of  its  sources,  and  Springfield  Lake,  across  the  line 
in  Summit  County,  the  other.  The  Breakneck  heads  in  Stark  County,  and 
winding  northward  through  Randolph  and  Rootstown  Townships,  turns  across 
the  southwest  corner  of  Ravenna  Township,  and  thence  northwestward  through 
Franklin  Township,  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Cuyahoga,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  northeast  of  Kent.  One  branch  of  the  Chagrin  River  heads  in  Aurora 
and  Mantua  Townships,  and  thence  passing  northward  joins  the  main  stream 
in  Cuyahoga  County. 

Portage  is  also  well  supplied  with  small  natural  lakes  and  ponds.  In 
Franklin  Township  we  find  Brady's  Lake,  Pippin  Lake,  Twin  Lakes  and 
Stewart's  Pond;  in  Rootstown.  Sandy  Lake, Muddy  Lake  (which  is  partly  located 
in  Ravenna  Township),  Muzzy' s  Pond  and  Ward's  Pond;  in  Suffield,  Congress 
Lake  (partly)  and  Fritch's  Pond,  and  Long  Pond  in  Aurora  Township.  Brady's 
Lake  received  its  name  in  honor  of  Capt.  Samuel  Brady,  of  "  Brady's  Leap  " 
fame,  who  fortunately  escaped  from  Indian  vengeance  by  hiding  beneath  its  wa- 
ters. Pippin  Lake  was  called  after  the  apple  of  that  name;  Twin  Lakes,  because 
of  their  close  proximity  to  each  other,  and  connection  by  a  small  branch;  Stew- 
art's Pond,  after  a  pioneer  of  that  name;  Sandy  and  Muddy  Lakes,  from  the 
character  of  the  soil  surrounding  them;  Muzzy's  Pond,  after  Nathan  Muzzy,  a 
peculiar  character  who  claimed  to  have  discovered  it;  Ward's  Pond,  from  a 
pioneer  of    that  name;  Congress  Lake,  from  the  lake  bearing  that  name  in 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  201 

New  York;  Fritch's  Pond,  after    John  Fritch,  a  German  who  built   a  mill  at 
the  outlet,   and  Long  Pond,  from  its  long,  narrow  shape. 

Geology  of  Portage  County* — Portage  County  lies  entirely  on  the  water- 
shed which  separates  the  streams  that  flow  into  Lake  Erie  from  the  tributaries 
of  the  Ohio.  Its  central  portion  rises  to  an  altitude  of  685  feet  above  the 
lake,  while  the  valleys  by  which  its  surface  is  diversified  descend  about  300 
feet  lower.  The  highest  point  of  the  county  is  near  the  line  of  the  Cleveland 
&  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  between  Rootstown  and  Atwater,  while  the  lowest  is  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mahoning,  below  Garrettsville. 

When  first  entered  by  the  whites,  the  county  was  covered  with  an  unbroken 
growth  of  primeval  forest,  consisting,  on  the  lower  and  more  level  portions,  of 
beach  and  maple;  of  oak,  chestnut,  etc.,  on  the  higher  and  drier  lands. 

Though  underlaid  by  rocks  of  diverse  character,  the  surface  is  mainly 
formed  by  a  sheet  of  clay,which  has  given  a  peculiar  character  to  the  agricult- 
ural pursuits  of  the  inhabitants,  and  has  made  this  a  portion  of  the  great  dairy 
district  of  the  Western  Reserve. 

In  some  localities  on  the  northern  and  western  slope  of  the  water-shed,  but 
near  its  summit,  are  heavy  beds  of  gravel,  forming  swells  of  the  surface,  or 
even-rounded  hills  of  considerable  altitude.  Typical  examples  of  these  may 
be  seen  in  Randolph,  Rootstown,  Siiffield,  Franklin  and  Brimfield,  and  near 
Earlville,  on  the  lines  of  the  two  railroads  which  pass  through  the  county. 
In  the  basins  inclosed  by  these  gravel  hills  and  ridges  lie  most  of  the  lakes 
and  peat  bogs  of  the  county.  These  gravel  hills  constitute  an  interesting 
feature  in  the  surface  deposits,  and  will  be  found  described  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Vol.  II,  under  the  head  of  Karnes.  I  have  ascribed  them  to  the  action  of 
waves  on  the  Drift  deposit  of  the  shore  and  shoals  which  formed  the  margin  of 
the  great  inland  sea  that  once  filled  all  the  basin  of  the  lakes. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  county  the  Drift  deposits  are  generally  of  so 
great  thickness  as  to  cover  and  conceal  the  underlying  rocks.  W^herever 
exposed  to  view,  the  rock  surface  is  found  to  be  planed  and  grooved  by  glacial 
action,  and  usually  the  overlying  clay  may  be  designated  as  a  bowlder  clay, 
since  it  contains  masses  of  rock  derived  from  neighboring  sources,  with  smaller 
and  usually  scratched  and  worn  fragments  brought  from  distant  localities. 
This  clay  is  unquestionably  the  material  ground  up  by  the  great  glacier  which 
once  covered  northern  Ohio,  pushed  forward  by  its  advance,  and  left  in  an 
irregular  sheet  upon  the  rocky  foundation  in  its  retreat.  In  some  places  the 
clay  is  finer,  without  gravel  or  bowlders,  and  is  accurately  stratified  by  the 
action  of  water. 

Immediately  beneath  the  soil,  or  projecting  above  the  surface,  are  found 
many  transported  bowlders,  frequently  of  large  size,  composed  of  granite, 
greenstone,  and  other  crystalline  rocks,  evidently  of  foreign  origin,  and  appar- 
ently derived  from  the  highlands  north  of  the  great  lakes.  These  bowlders 
are  rarely  found  deeply  buried  in  the  Drift,  and,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown, 
must  have  been  floated  by  icebergs  from  their  place  of  origin,  and  dropped  into 
their  present  position.  Some  of  the  superficial  gravels  which  overlie  the 
bowlder  clay  seem  to  have  been  transported  by  the  same  agency. 

As  a  whole,  the  soil  of  Portage  County  is  productive,  and  although,  from 
its  tenacious  character,  and  the  dense  growth  of  forest  by  which  it  was  cov- 
ered, it  has  required  much  patience  and  labor  for  its  subjugation,  this  task  has 
been  well  and  thoroughly  performed  by  the  intelligent  and  industrious  popu- 
lation into  whose  possession  it  came,  and  it  has  repaid  their  efiforts  by  a  con- 
stant and  generous  support  through  the  last  half  century. 

*By  J.  S.  Newberry. 


202  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

In  common  with  the  other  portions  of  the  great  divide  on  which  Portage 
County  is  located,  its  rolling  surface  forms  numerous  local  basins,  many  of 
which  have  been,  and  some  still  are,  occupied  by  lakes.  Of  these  lakes 
Stewart's  Pond,  Twin  Lakes,  Brady's  Lake,  and  Pippin  Lake,  in  Franklin, 
Muddy  Lake,  Sandy  Lake  andMuzzy's  Lake  in  Rootstown,  and  Fritch's  Pond  in 
Suffield,  may  be  cited  as  examples.  These  lakes  are  supplied  by  springs  which 
flow  through  the  Drift  gravels,  and  their  water  is  usually  clear  and  pure;  they 
contain  great  numbers  of  tine  fish,  and  are  also  interesting  and  beautiful  feat- 
ures in  the  scenery.  Some  of  these  basins  formerly  occupied  by  water  have 
been  gradually  filled  up  by  the  growth  of  vegetation,  and  now  exist  as  swamps 
underlaid  by  peat.  One  of  the  best  known  of  these  is  near  Ravenna,  where 
considerable  peat  has  been  cut  and  manufactured.  There  is  another  and  still 
more  extensive  peat  marsh  in  Brimfield,  and  small  ones  occur  in  nearly  every 
township.  Usually  these  peat  bogs  are  occupied  with  Sphagnum  (the  peat- 
producing  moss),  cranberry  vines,  huckleberry  bushes,  and  larches,  and  they 
are  often  known  as  tamarack  or  huckleberry  swamps.  The  peat  in  these 
Bwamps  is  not  unfrequently  underlaid  by  shell  marl,  and  both  these  are  capa- 
ble of  being  used  with  profit  by  the  farmers  as  fertilizers.  It  is  also  probable 
that  the  cranberry  may  be  successfully  cultivated  on  the  swamp  surfaces.  In 
the  Eastern  States  the  cultivation  of  cranberries  has  proved  to  be  liighly 
remunerative  to  those  engaged  in  it,  and  there  seems  no  good  reason  why  the 
same  success  should  not  be  attained  by  the  inhabitants  of  those  portions  of 
Ohio  where  the  cranberry  grows  spontaneously,  and  where  there  are  marshes 
which  are  well  adapted  to  its  cultivation. 

Striking  and  typical  examples  of  the  glacial  furrows  which  have  been 
referred  to  above  may  be  seen  on  the  hill  near  the  house  of  Mr.  Theodore 
Clark,  in  the  township  of  Edinburg.  The  direction  of  the  striae  is  here  N. 
60°  E.  The  rock  is  a  sandstone,  overlying  the  lower  seam  of  coal.  Near 
the  center  of  Palmyra  is  a  still  better  exhibition  of  glacial  marks.  On  the 
hill,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  west  of  the  center,  the  bearing  of  the  furrows  is 
N.  30^  E.  In  the  town  of  Palmyra,  on  a  surface  of  sandstone  exposed  in 
front  of  Mr.  Wilson's  store,  the  traces  of  glacial  action  are  very  conspicuous; 
the  rock  surface  being  planed  down  very  smooth,  and  marked  with  scratches 
and  furrows,  of  which  the  direction  is  N.  26°  E.  In  many  other  parts  of  the 
county  similar  ice  inscriptions  may  be  observed,  chiefly  on  the  surfaces  of  the 
beds  of  sandstone,  as  they  are  better  retained  on  this  indestructable  material 
than  on  the  softer  or  more  soluble  rocks. 

The  bowlder  clay  which  overlies  the  glaciated  sm-face  varies  considerably 
in  appearance  in  different  localities,  according  to  the  exposure  and  drainage 
to  which  it  has  been  subjected,  and  the  local  circumstances  which  controlled 
its  formation.  In  the  valleys  it  will  be  found  to  be  of  a  bluish  color  through- 
out. On  the  higher  lands  the  upper  portion  is  frequently  yellow,  sometimps 
down  to  the  depth  of  ten  or  twelve  feet,  while  the  lower  portion  is  blue  or 
gray.  This  difference  I  attribute  to  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  contained  in  the 
clay,  where  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  air  and  to  surface  drainage.  The  num- 
ber and  character  of  the  pebbles  and  bowlders  contained  in  the  clay  also 
varies  much  in  different  localities.  In  some  places,  as  near  Campbellsport,  the 
Drift  deposits  are  largely  made  up  of  angular  or  little-worn  fragments  of  sand- 
stone, torn  from  their  beds  in  the  immediate  vicinity  ;  while  in  places  remote 
from  such  outcrops  of  the  harder  rooks,  the  stones  contained  in  the  clay  are 
small,  much  worn,  and  many  of  them  are  composed  of  granite,  etc.,  brought 
from  the  region  north  of  the  lakes. 

On  the  highlands  the  gravel  beds  referred  to  above  rest  sometimes  on  the 


4 


t^  ^  O^  ^  J^u/Ik^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  205 

bowlder  clay,  but  perhaps  oftener  on  the  underlying  rock,  showing  that  the 
causes  which  produced  the  accumulation  of  gravel  generally  removed  all  the 
clay.  Where  the  gravel  beds  overlap  the  bowlder  clay,  the  materials  which 
compose  them  seem  to  have  been  washed  back  from  the  higher  grounds.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  the  pebbles  in  the  gravel  beds  are  well  rounded  and  often  irregu- 
larly stratified,  while  those  found  in  the  bowlder  clay  are  sub- angular, 
scratched  and  worn,  but  rarely  rounded.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
gravels  have  been  subjected  to  a  triturating  action  quite  different  from  that 
exerted  by  glaciers  on  the  materials  which  they  move.  The  facts  show  fur- 
ther that  water,  either  in  shore  waves  or  in  river  currents,  has  been  the  agent 
by  which  the  pebbles  of  the  gravel  have  been  rounded  ;  and  as  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  of  any  currents  which  could  leave  beds  and  hills  of  gravel  such  as 
are  found  along  the  divide  between  the  waters  of  the  lake  and  the  Ohio, 
I  have  been  led  to  consider  these  deposits  as  the  effect  of  shore  waves, 
when  the  lake  basin  was  filled  to  this  height,  on  the  bowlder  clay  and  other 
Drift  material  which  once  covered  the  underlying  rocks.  It  is  possible,  too, 
that  the  drainage  from  the  glacier,  when  it  filled  the  lake  basin  and  was  melt- 
ing along  its  southern  edge,  contributed  to  the  washing  of  the  clay  and  the 
rounding  of  the  pebbles.  In  this  view  the  gi-avel  hills  and  sheets  which  cover 
80  much  of  the  great  divide  which  crosses  the  State  may  be  compared  to  the 
terminal  moraines  of  existing  glaciers,  but  in  no  moraine  of  which  I  have  any 
knowledge  are  the  pebbles  and  bowlders  nearly  so  well  rounded  as  in  the 
deposits  under  consideration  ;  and  I  am  sure  all  who  will  carefully  examine 
these  will  agree  with  me  that  free  and  swift  moving  water,  in  large  quantity, 
has  been  the  chief  agent  in  producing  the  phenomena  exhibited.  Along  cer- 
tain lines  leading  from  the  summit  of  the  watershed  to  the  Ohio,  both  east  and 
west  of  Portage  County,  there  are  belts  of  gravel  and  bowlders,  which  mark, 
as  I  concieve,  broad  and  long- existing  drainage  channels,  by  which  the  surplus 
water  of  the  lake  basin  flowed  through  certain  waste- weirs  cut  in  the  water- 
shed and  escaped  southward,  but  the  gravel  hills  of  Portage  County  can  hardly 
be  referred  to  such  a  cause. 

Geological  Structure. — The  number  and  relative  positions  of  the  strata 
which  come  to  the  surface  within  the  limits  of  Portage  County  will  be  seen 
at  a  glance  by  reference  to  the  section  given  below: 

Superficial  clay  and  gravel 10  to  100 

Shale  and  sandstone 50 

Limestone 0  to  4 

Coal  No.  4 1  to  5 

Fire-clay  3  to  4 

Shale  and  sandstone 25  to  30 

Limestone  0  to  4 

Coal  No.  3 1  to  8 

Fire-clay 3  to  12 

Shale 20to  50 

Coal  No.  2 Oto  1 

Sandstone 50  to  100 

Shale Oto  50 

CoalNo.l Oto  5 

Fire-clay 3  to  5 

Shale  and  sandstone 35  to  50 

Conglomerate 100 

All  the  rocks  enumerated  in  the  preceding  section  belong  to  the  Carbon- 
iferous system,  of  which  they  represent  two  members,  viz. :  the  Conglomerate 
and  the  Coal  Measures.  The  area  of  the  county  is  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  two  formations.  All  the  northern  half  has  the  Conglomerate  for 
its  surface  rook,  though  it  is  generally  deeply  buried  by  Drift  clays.     It  is 

12 


206  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

fully  exposed  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mahoning  and  Cuyahoga.  The  trough  of 
the  latter  stream  is  cut  in  the  Conglomerate  all  the  way  from  the  point  where 
it  enters  the  county,  in  Hiram,  to  its  place  of  exit,  on  the  west  side  of  Frank- 
lin. The  Conglomerate  is  well  seen  in  Mantua  and  Garrettsville,  and  still 
better  in  Franklin  and  Nelson.  In  all  these  localities  it  exhibits  essentially 
the  same  characters,  viz. :  a  coarse,  drab-colored  sandstone,  in  places  thickly 
set  with  quartz  pebbles  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  an  egg.  In  some 
places,  as  in  Windham,  the  stone  it  furnishes  is  finer,  whiter,  and  more  homo- 
geneous, and  would  answer  admirably  for  architectural  purposes.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule,  however,  it  is  rather  coarse  for  all  fine  work,  but  furnishes  a  strong 
and  durable  stone,  well  adapted  to  bridge-building,  cellar  walls,  and,  indeed, 
to  all  plain  and  massive  masonry. 

Near  Kent  certain  layers  of  the  Conglomerate  have  been  found,  which  are 
white  enough  to  serve  for  the  manufacture  of  glass.  The  coloring  matter  of 
the  rock  is  usually  iron,  and  it  here  contains  much  less  than  usual. 

The  best  sections  of  the  Conglomerate  found  in  the  county  are  in  Nelson, 
where  its  entire  thickness  is  shown — 175  feet — and  it  forms  bold 
escarpments,  which  constitute  the  western  boundary  of  the  valley  of 
Grand  River.  These  escarpments  are  known  as  the  Nelson  Ledges.  They 
afford  the  most  pictjiresque  scenery  to  be  found  in  the  county,  and  are  noted 
places  of  resoi't  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  region.  In  the  extreme 
northeastern  corner  of  the  county  an  island  of  the  Conglomerate  has  been  cut 
ofi"  by  erosion  from  the  main  plateau.  Though  less  bold  in  its  outline,  it  has 
the  same  topographical  character  and  relation  as  Little  Mountain,  in  Lake 
County. 

At  the  base  of  the  Nelson  Ledges  the  Cuyahoga  shale  is  imperfectly 
exposed.  This  is  the  upper  member  of  the  Waver iy  formation,  and  will  be 
found  fully  described  in  the  reports  on  Cuyahoga,  Summit,  and  Trumbull 
Counties.  A  few  years  since  quite  an  excitement  was  raised  by  the  reported 
discovery  of  gold  at  the  Nelson  Ledges.  As  is  usual  in  such  cases,  stock  com- 
panies were  formed,  and  many  dreams  of  wealth  were  indulged  in  by  those 
who  obtained  shares  of  the  stock.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  these 
dreams  have  passed  like  "the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision."  The  excitement 
was  caused  by  the  discovery  of  iron  pyrites  in  certain  beds  of  the  Conglomer- 
ate— another  of  the  innumerable  examples  of  the  mistake  of  "fool's  gold"  for 
true  gold.  A  little  knowledge  of  geology  would  have  prevented  this  error, 
and  would  have  taught  the  sufferers  that  gold  could  never  be  found  in  paying 
quantities  in  Portage  County.  That  minute  particles  may  sometimes  be 
detected  in  the  superficial  gravels  is  very  probable,  since  these  gravels  are 
largely  made  up  of  quartz  pebbles,  which  are  only  rolled  masses  of  the  quartz 
veins  contained  in  the  crystalline  rocks  of  the  Canadian  highlands,  and  which 
frequently  carry  a  little  gold.  It  is  also  probable  that  with  sufficient  care  in 
searching  for  it,  an  infinitesimal  quantity  of  gold  might  be  detected  in  the 
Conglomerate,  as  the  quartz  pebbles  it  contains  were  doubtless  derived  from 
the  same  source  with  those  to  which  I  have  already  referred  ;  but  it  may  be 
confidently  predicted  that  the  precious  metal  will  never  be  obtained  from 
either  of  the  sources  mentioned  in  sufficient  quantity  to  compensate  the  most 
idle  and  worthless  member  of  the  community  for  any  time  he  may  spend  in 
its  search. 

Coal  Measures. — Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  surface  of  Portage  County  is 
underlaid  by  coal-measure  rocks,  and  they  once  covered  its  entire  area.  From 
the  valleys  of  the  Mahoning  and  Cuyahoga  they  have  been  removed  by  erosion, 
so  that  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  they  are  restricted  to  a  small  island 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  207 

west  of  the  river,  in  Mantua,  and  a  narrow  arm  which  projects  from  Freedom 
northward,  through  Hiram,  into  Geauga  County. 

In  the  northern  part  of  Portage  County  the  Drift  deposits  are  so  thick  as  to 
hide  the  outcrops  of  the  coal  rocks,  and  it  is  here  very  difl&cult  to  trace  the 
line  along  which  the  edge  of  the  lowest  coal  seam  should  be  found.  It  is 
probable  that  coal,  in  greater  or  less  thickness,  underlies  the  principal  part  of 
Hiram,  the  western  half  of  Shalei'sville  and  Ravenna,  and  the  southwestern  cor- 
ner of  Windham.  The  northern  and  southern  portions  of  Paris,  and  nearly  all 
of  Charlestown,  lie  above  the  horizon  of  the  lower  coal,  as  do  most  of  Palmyra, 
Deerfield,  Brimiield  and  Suffield. 

Along  a  belt  running  through  the  central  part  of  the  county,  the  land  is 
high  enough  to  carry  the  second  and  third  seams  of  coal  from  the  bottom. 
With  this  breadth  of  coal  area  it  would  at  fu*st  sight  seem  that  Portage  County 
should  produce  as  large  an  amount  of  coal  as  Trumbull,  and  much  more  than 
Summit,  but  up  to  the  present  time  the  coal  production  of  the  county  has  been 
exceedingly  small.  This  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  margin  of  the  lower 
coal  (Coal  No.  1)  is  so  generally  covered  with  Drift  that  it  does  not  show  itself 
at  the  surface  in  many  localities,  and  also  that  this  coal  here,  as  in  the  Mahon- 
ing Valley,  lies  in  detached  basins  of  limited  extent,  and  is  entirely  absent 
over  large  areas  from  the  place  where  it  belongs,  or  is  so  thin  as  to  be  of  little 
value.  We  may  expect,  however,  that  important  basins  of  the  Briar  Hill  coal 
will  be  found  within  the  limits  that  have  been  marked  out.  W^ere  it  not  for 
the  Drift  it  would  be  easy  to  follow  the  outcrops  of  the  rocks,  and  knowing  just 
where  to  explore  by  digging  or  boring,  to  determine  the  presence  or  absence  of 
the  coal.  In  the  present  circumstances,  however,  even  where  coal  may  be 
supposed  to  exist,  it  can  only  be  detected  by  boring  blindly  through  the  Drift 
deposits.  In  many  places  these  will  doubtless  be  found  so  thick  as  to  cut  out 
the  coal,  though  the  surface  may  be  considerably  above  the  coal  level.  Even 
where  the  rocks  which  belong  above  the  coal  may  be  found  in  place,  from  the 
irregular  distribution  of  this  seam,  the  chances  are  more  than  equal  that  the 
result  of  boring  will  show  it  to  be  absent,  or  too  thin  to  have  any  economic 
value.  Since,  however,  the  coal  of  this  stratum  is  so  excellent,  it  will  be  the 
part  of  wisdom  for  all  those  who  own  territory  lying  within  the  lines  I  have 
traced  to  make  such  explorations  as  may  determine  whether  or  not  they  are  in 
possession  of  some  portion  of  this  great  source  of  wealth.  The  level  of  Coal 
No.  1,  in  the  northern  half  of  Portage  County,  varies  from  500  to  600  feet 
above  the  lake.  The  dip  being  toward  the  south,  the  coal  sinks  rapidly  in 
that  direction,  and  rises  correspondingly  toward  the  north.  At  Ravenna  the 
place  of  the  coal  is  probably  not  far  from  the  level  of  the  intersection  of  the 
Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  and  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroads,  or  about  500 
feet  above  Lake  Erie. 

Coal  No.  1  has  been  opened,  and  is  now  quite  extensively  mined  in  Pal- 
myra. It  here  exhibits  the  same  general  features,  both  as  regards  thickness 
and  quality,  as  the  coal  of  the  neighboring  counties  of  Mahoning  and  Trum- 
bull. The  coal  mining  of  Palmyra  is  principally  done  by  the  Western  Reserve 
Coal  Company,  to  a  member  of  which  company,  Mr.  W.  B.  Wilson,  of 
Palmyra,  I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable  information  concerning  the  opera- 
tions of  his  own  company,  and  in  regard  to  other  developments  of  coal  made 
in  this  township.  The  coal  mined  by  the  Western  Reserve  Coal  Company  is 
reached  by  a  shaft  which  is  eighty-one  feet  deep  to  the  coal,  or  ninety-five  feet 
from  the  tip.  It  is  reported  that  in  sinking  the  shaft  eighteen  feet  of  earth 
was  first  passed  through,  and  then  sixty-three  feet  of  rock,  mainly  shale,  in 
which  were  two  strata  of  "kidney"  ore.     The   coal   varies  from  two  to  four 


208  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

feet  in  thickness,  being  thickest  in  a  "  swamp  "  which  ruus  northwest  and 
southeast  in  a  tortuous  course.  On  each  side  of  this  crooked  basin  the  coal 
rises  and  thins,  and  is  worked  to  the  thickness  of  two  feet.  The  company  is 
taking  out  about  4,000  tons  per  annum,  selling  it  at  the  mine  at  $3.00  per  ton. 
The  coal  is  of  excellent  quality,  being  very  free  fi'om  sulphur,  and  containing 
little  ash.  It  is  a  block  coal,  Unely  laminated  with  charcoal  seams,  and  is  not 
siu'passed  in  quality  by  any  coal  in  the  State  outside  of  the  Mahoning  Valley. 
According  to  our  barometric  measurements  by  a  single  line  of  observations,  the 
center  of  Palmyra  is  120  feet  above  Ravenna  Station,  or  G50  feet  above  Lake 
Erie.  The  tip  of  the  coal  company's  shaft  is  430  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  and  the 
coal  335  feet  above  the  lake.  Owing  to  the  variability  of  the  barometer,  these 
figures  can  not  be  relied  upon  as  absolutely  correct.  The  Western  Reserve 
Coal  Company  has  200  acres  of  coal  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  Palmyra,  on 
the  center  road.  How  large  a  part  of  those  200  acres  is  underlaid  by  coal  of 
workable  thickness  has  not  yet  been  ascertained.  Other  companies  have  been 
making  explorations  in  this  neighborhood,  and  report  about  200  acres  of  good 
coal  land  in  addition  to  that  before  mentioned. 

In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  township  some  300  acres  of  coal  property 
are  said  to  have  been  tested,  and  the  coal  is  reported  to  be  from  three  to  four 
feet  in  thickness.  Coal  has  also  been  found  in  the  northeastern  and  south- 
western parts  of  the  township.  We  thus  have  good  reason  for  believing  that 
a  somewhat  extensive  basin,  or  series  of  basins,  of  the  Briar  Hill  coal  exists  in 
and  about  Palmyra,  but  years  of  exploration  will  be  required  before  it  will  be 
known  what  the  connection,  limits  and  value  of  this  coal  field  are. 

From  the  shaft  in  Palmyra  the  coal  extends  west  and  south  to  an  unknown 
distance,  and  possibly  reaches  under  much  of  the  central  and  southern  parts 
of  the  county.  Since  the  place  of  Coal  No.  1  is  from  200  to  250  feet  below 
the  surface  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  higher  land,  it  is  apparent  that 
most  of  the  boring  yet  done  has  formed  no  test  of  its  presence  or  absence. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Mahoning,  in  Deerfield,  an  outcrop  of  coal  may  be 
seen  which  was  supposed  by  Mr.  Read,  who  examined  it,  to  be  the  Briar  Hill 
coal.  It  is,  however,  only  about  a  foot  in  thickness,  and  it  is  probable  that 
it  is  the  next  seam  above.  A  boring  of  limited  depth  would  decide  the  ques- 
tion. In  Brimfield  and  Suffield  there  is  a  large  amount  of  territory  which 
deserves  more  careful  exploration  than  it  has  yet  received.  Hei'e  the  land 
rises  to  150  feet  above  the  level  of  the  coal,  but  the  surface  is  generally  occu- 
pied by  Drift.  Little  is  known  of  the  nature  of  the  underlying  rocks,  but  from 
the  relation  which  this  district  holds  to  the  coal  basins  of  Tallmadge  and 
Springfield,  in  Summit  County,  there  is  a  great  probability  that  sooner  or 
later  good  deposits  of  coal  will  be  found  here.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  from  the  circumstances  which  I  have  fully  explfiined  in  the 
report  on  the  geology  of  Summit,  the  lower  coal  is  of  tener  absent  than  present 
in  the  place  where  it  belongs,  and  it  is,  therefore,  to  be  expected  that  a  large 
part  of  the  trials  which  may  be  made  here  will  result  in  disappointment. 

At  Limaville,  on  the  southern  line  of  the  county,  Coal  No.  1  has  been 
struck  in  borings  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Dales,  at  the  depth  of  about  170  feet,  or  less 
than  350  feet  above  the  lake.  According  to  the  reports  by  Dr.  Dales,  the 
coal  has  here  a  thickness  of  over  four  feet.  Analyses  prove  that  it  has  the 
purity  and  physical  character  of  the  Mahoning  Valley  coal.  Should  a  consid- 
erable area  in  this  vicinity  bo  found  to  be  underlaid  by  Coal  No.  1,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  importance  it  would  assume  among  the  wealth- 
producing  elements  of  the  county,  and  it  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  the 
examinations  begun  here  will  be  carried  through  the  townships  lying  north, 
until  this  important  question  shall  be  definitely  settled. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  209 

Coals  Nos.  3  and  4. —  By  reference  to  the  general  section  of  the  rocks  of 
the  county,  it  will  be  seen  that  at  a  distance  from  the  lower  coal — generally 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet — a  thin  seam  occurs.  This  has  no  value  in  this 
part  of  the  State,  and  requires  here  no  further  notice. 

From  150  to  200  feet  above  Coal  No.  1,  two  other  seams  come  in,  which 
are  sometimes  of  workable  thickness.  These  we  have  designated  as  Coals  No. 
3  and  No.  4.  They  are  separated  by  a  distance  of  thirty  to  fifty  feet,  and  are 
usually  both  overlaid  by  limestone.  Sometimes,  however,  one  or  both  of  the 
limestones  are  replaced  by  shale.  These  coal  seams,  here  as  elsewhere,  have 
proved  to  be  quite  irregular  in  their  thickness,  although  in  a  general  way 
continuous  from  Portage  through  Summit,  Stark,  Wayne,  Holmes,  Coshocton 
Counties,  etc.,  to  and  beyond  the  National  Road.  Both  these  coals  may  be 
seen  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  Atwater,  where  the  north  and  south  road 
crosses  a  small  stream,  and  not  far  from  the  locality  where  so  much  fire-clay  is 
dug.  Here  the  limestone  of  No.  3  shows  in  the  bed  of  the  brook  at  a  level  of 
twenty  feet  above  the  railroad  at  Atwater,  or  580  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  It  is 
about  four  feet  in  thickness,  and,  as  usual,  has  iron  ore  over  it.  The  coal 
beneath  is  only  a  few  inches  thick.  Some  twenty  feet  above  the  limestone 
Coal  No.  4  is  seen  in  the  road,  here  apparently  four  feet  thick,  but  with  scarcely 
any  covering.     No  limestone  is  visible  over  it. 

In  Limestone  Ridge,  in  Freedom,  both  these  strata  are  shown.  The  upper 
one  is  thin,  but  is  overlaid  by  limestone,  which  is  here  burned  for  quicklime. 
Coal  No.  3  is  seen  in  the  road  at  the  south  end  of  Limestone  Ridge;  as  usual, 
it  is  underlaid  by  a  thick  bed  of  fire-clay. 

On  the  farm  of  Wilson  Davidson,  about  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  last- 
named  locality,  this  coal  has  been  mined,  though  not  largely,  for  a  number  of 
years.  It  is  here  about  twenty-two  inches  thick.  From  the  fact  that  this  seam 
was  represented  as  Coal  No.  1  by  the  geologist  who,  when  connected  with  the 
first  geological  survey  of  the  State,  made  an  examination  of  this  region  (Annual 
Report  of  1838,  p.  59),  no  thorough  exploration  has  ever  been  made  of  the 
strata  below  it.  Possibly  such  explorations  would  have  been  fruitless,  as  the 
lower  seam  is  so  frequently  absent  from  its  place;  but  as  the  true  position  of 
Coal  No.  1  is  at  least  150  feet  below  Mr.  Davidson's  coal,  it  is  evident  that  a 
large  area  in  the  vicinity  deserves  examination  by  deep  boring.  Considerable 
money  has  been  spent  in  boring  in  Freedom,  but,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  none 
of  the  wells  have  been  carried  deep  enough  to  determine  the  presence  or 
absence  of  the  lower  coal.  One  well  bored  on  Limestone  Ridge  is  reported  to 
have  furnished  the  following  section: 

FT.  IN. 

Earth 14  0 

Limestone 3  0 

Shale 54  0 

Coal 1  10 

Fire-clav ? 

Sandrock 30  0 

Shale 10  0 

In  this  boring  the  upper  limestone  coal  was  absent  or  so  thin  as  not  to 
attract  notice.  The  lower  limestone  was  absent,  as  seems  to  be  the  case  gen- 
erally in  this  vicinity.  The  place  of  the  lower  coal  was  not  reached  by  from 
seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet.  Another  hole  was  bored  by  William  Cran- 
nage,  for  Mr.  George  Worthington,  of  Cleveland,  without  finding  the  coal 
sought  for,  but  was  almost  certainly  not  carried  to  a  suflficient  depth. 

A  well  sunk  near  the  quarries  on  Limestone  Ridge  is  said  to  have  passed 
through — 


210  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

FT. 

Limestone 4 

Shale,  with  plants  and  thin  seams  of  coal 20 

Sandrock  to  bottom. 

Here  it  is  evident  that  the  place  of  the  twenty-two-inch  seam  was  not 
reached. 

Half  a  mile  northeast  of  Drakesburg  a  well  showed  the  following  strata: 

FT. 

Earth 14 

Shale 30 

Sandrock  to  bottom 26 

In  this  well  the  excavation  was  probably  begun  below  the  limestone  coals, 
but  it  did  not  descend  to  the  level  of  the  lower  coal. 

At  Hiram  Center  a  yellow  sandrock  of  the  Coal  Measures  is  quarried  just 
back  of  the  hotel.  South  of  the  Center,  about  one  mile,  shale  crops  out  in  the 
road  below  this  sandrock.  Near  this  point,  but  west  and  on  higher  ground, 
a  well  on  Mr.  Hopkins'  land  gave — 

FT. 

Earth 9 

Sandrock 15 

Shale,  with  one  foot  of  coal 40 

"Flagstone,"  to  bottom 3 

Stratum  No.  4  of  this  section  was  called  by  the  drillers  "  bottom  rock," 
but  in  this  vicinity  no  proof  should  be  accepted  of  having  passed  the  place  of 
the  lower  coal,  except  reaching  the  Conglomerate. 

In  the  soiith  part  of  Hiram,  coal  has  been  taken  from  a  natural  outcrop 
twelve  to  eighteen  inches  thick,  and  used  by  the  blacksmiths.  This  is  proba- 
bly Coal  No.  1. 

In  going  from  Drakesburg  to  Garrettsville  the  surface  descends  nearly  two 
hundred  feet,  passing  down  from  a  broad  ridge  or  divide,  which  is  a  marked 
feature  in  the  topography,  and  which  stretches  connectedly  north  into  the  cen- 
ter of  Geauga  County.  The  top  of  this  ridge  or  table  is  above  the  coal  level 
from  Freedom  to  Burton,  and  more  or  less  coal  has  been  found  in  it  all  the 
way,  although  it  is  usually  thin. 

At  Garrettsville  the  Conglomerate  is  fully  exposed,  and  rises  thirty  feet 
above  the  depot,  or  485  feet  above  the  lake.  Two  miles  west  of  Garrettsville 
the  base  of  the  ridge  referred  to  is  reached,  and  in  the  ravine  by  the  roadside 
the  following  section  is  exposed  : 

FT. 

Coarse  sandrock,  with  some  small  pebbles 30 

Irregular  seam  of  coal 1 

Shale,  with  bands  of   sandstone 20 

Black  shale,  with  iron 1 

Sandstone  to  base. 

The  top  of  this  section  is  ]  50  feet  above  the  depot  at  Garrettsville,  and 
the  coal  exposed  is  probably  about  the  horizon  of  the  thin  seam.  No.  2,  the 
place  of  Coal  No.  1  being  below. 

In  Mantua  there  are  many  natural  outcrops  of  coal,  viz.:  at  the  railroad 
cut  northeast  of  the  Corners  a  few  inches  (two  to  four)  thick;  a  mile  south  of 
the  Corners,  on  Mr.  Blaine's  land,  sixteen  inches  ;  one  and  a  half  miles  east 
of  the  Corners,  six  to  eight  inches  thick.  Three  wells  drilled  near  each  other 
in  this  vicinity  gave — 

FT. 

Earth 4 

Sandrock 36  to  46 

Black  shale 20  to  40 

Gray  shale 2  to     4 

Coal 4  to  12  inches. 

Sandrock  (bottom  not  reached). 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  211 

A  boring  was  made  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of  the  Corners,  to  the  depth 
of  336  feet,  penetrating  earth,  sandrock  and  shale,  of  which  the  thickness  is 
not  known.      Coal  was  found  six  to  eight  inches  thick. 

The  center  of  Charlestown  rises  to  the  height  of  575  feet  above  the  lake, 
and  an  outcrop  of  coal  is  visible  on  the  King  place,  in  the  road  leading  to 
Ravenna,  and  about  fifty  feet  below  the  Center.  This  is  evidently  the  Briar 
Hill  seam.  The  hill  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  rises  600  feet  above 
the  lake  and  nearly  100  feet  above  the  coal  level,  but  the  coal,  if  it  exists 
there,  is  concealed.  The  valleys  of  the  streams  in  this  region  are  cut  below 
the  coal,  and  all  the  highlands  should  carry  it  ;  but  unfortunately  heavy  beds 
of  Drift  conceal  its  outcrops  and  make  the  work  of  exploration  expensive  and 
uncertain. 

In  the  central  part  of  Edinburg  the  land  is  all  at  least  150  feet  above  the 
coal  level.  This  is  proved,  not  only  by  barometric  measurement,  but  by  the 
explorations  made  east  of  the  Center  by  Mr.  G.  L.  Chapman.  He  has  bored 
many  holes  in  search  of  coal,  and  has  found  it  in  several.  In  one  place  a 
shaft  was  sunk  with  the  expectation  of  mining  it.  The  coal,  however,  was 
found  to  be  very  irregular  in  thickness,  and  the  enterprise  was  not  successful. 
In  making  these  explorations  Mr.  Chapman  at  first  supposed  that  the  coal  he 
found  was  the  Briar  Hill  seam,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  place  of  Coal 
No.  1  is  at  least  150  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  Two  beds  of  coal  and 
two  of  limestone  were  passed  through  in  some  of  the  borings  made  by  Mr. 
Chapman,  all  within  fifty  feet  of  the  surface.  The  section  exposed  in  the 
shaft  referred  to  is  as  follows: 

FT. 

Surface  deposits 12^ 

Sandy  shale 11^ 

White  sandrock 7^ 

Shale,  sandy  above 17| 

Coal  No.  3 3i 

Sandrock  and  shale 4 

Fire-clay 1^ 

The  upper  limestone  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  an  adjacent  field. 

A  boring  made  somewhat  east  of  the  shaft,  and  carried  to  a  greater  depth 
afibrds  a  much  better  view  of  the  geological  sub-stjucture  of  this  region.  The 
record  of  this  boring  is  as  follows: 

FT-  IN. 

Surface  deposits 20  0 

Shale 4  0 

Limestone 3  6 

Fire-clav 3  6 

Shale 3  6 

Shaly  sandstone 8  0 

Shale 6  0 

Coal 0  4 

Shale 2  0 

Coal 2  6 

Shale 7  0 

Fire-clay 4  0 

Shale 7  6 

Sandrock 54  0 

Shale 2  0 

Bluish  sandrock 0  6 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  section  a  bed  of  limestone  occurs  near  the 
surface,  and  that  the  lower  part  of  the  boring  was  in  a  thick  bed  of  sand- 
stone. This  sandstone  is  the  massive  stratum  which  overlies  the  Briar  Hill 
coal,  sometimes  coming  down  to   it,  and   sometimes  even  cutting  it  out  com- 


212  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

pletely,  but  more  generally  resting  upon  a  bed  of  shale  of  variable  thickness. 
The  place  of  Coal  No.  1  is  plainly  below  the  bottom  of  this  hole. 

Since  my  first  visit  to  Edinburg,  Mr.  Chapman  has  continued  his  explora- 
tions, and  others  have  been  carried  on  by  Mr.  D.  W.  Goss,  but,  so  far,  I 
believe,  without  very  satisfactory  results.  The  many  borings  made  show  great 
irregularity  in  the  deposition  of  the  strata  here,  and  it  is  evident  that  this  has 
been  a  region  through  which  rapid  currents  of  water  have  swept,  which  have 
cut  away  the  coal  seams  and  deposited  sands  and  clays  in  a  very  unequal  way. 
This  will  be  evident  upon  an  examination  of  the  records  of  some  of  the  drill- 
ings.    A  well  bored  one  mile  northeast  of  the  Center  gave — 

FT. 

Earth 20 

Shaly  sandrock 6 

White  sandrock 39 

Blue  shale 3 

Fire-clay 8 

Shale,  with  coal  streaks 4 

Fire-clay 1 

Shale 4 

Black,  coaly  shale 2 

Shale 3 

Fire-clay 2 

Shale 87 

Very  hard  sandrock 8 

Fire-clay 1 

Shale 42 

Fine  sandrock 24 

Sandrocli 8i 

Soft  shale 8 

Fine,  bluish  sandrock 45 

Gray  shale 50 

Shale  and  sandrock 38^ 

Bluish-gray  shale 21 

It  is  evident  that  this  boring  has  gone  far  into  the  Waverly,  and  it  reveals 
the  fact  that  the  Conglomerate  is  here  absent.  This  is  somewhat  surprising, 
as  in  the  valley  of  the  Mahoning,  only  a  few  miles  distant,  it  is  fully  100  feet 
in  thickness. 

Another  well,  one-half  mile  east  of  the  last,  gave — 

FT. 

E  arth 1 

Soft  sandstone 13 

White  sandstone 24 

Stratified  iron  ore 6 

Sandrock  and  shale 4 

Fire-clay 3 

Shale 3 

Fire-clay 2 

Dark  shale 13 

This  was  evidently  not  deep  enough  to  aflford  a  satisfactory  test. 
A  third  well,  in  the  north  part  of  the  township,  east  of  the  Center  road, 
gave: 

FT.  IN. 

Yellow  clay 10  0 

Blue  clay 40  0 

Sandrock 41  0 

Sandy  shale 4  0 

"Flint,"  very  hard 0  6 

Sandy  shale 12  6 

Fine  sandrock 26  0 

This,  also,  was  probably  not  deep  enough. 

An  instructive  section  is  furnished  by  a  well  three-quarters  of  a  mile  east 
of  the  Center;  this  is: 


"■".^^tg  ^.y  jra^-uM^^-l 


^erK, 


'./-'C-^ 


i:-^,^6-i!y<:/^  f-c     ^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  215 

FT.  IN. 

Earth 10  0 

Shellyrock 10  0 

Sandrock 40  0 

Clay 0  4 

"Sulphurous"  sandrock 0  8 

Clay 0  3 

Shalycoal 0  9 

Coal,  good 0  6 

Shale 0  7 

Coal,  poor 0  11 

Black  shale 1  6 

This  hole  certainly  did  not  reach  near  the  horizon  of  the  block  coal,  but 
is  carried  to  about  the  place  of  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  and  shows  the  mixed 
character  of  the  deposits  in  even  a  greater  degree  than  the  shaft  section. 

Mr.  Goss  has  sent  me  sections  of  three  wells  bored  south  of  the  Center  to 
the  depths  respectively  of  126^,  88  and  78  feet.  They  show  alternations  of 
shale,  sandstone  and  fire-clay,  with  a  little  coal,  but  do  not  reach  to  the  place 
of  Coal  No.  1. 

These  explorations  indicate  that  the  upper  coals  are  not  likely  to  be  found 
in  any  valuable  development  in  the  township  of  Edinburg.  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
however,  that  under  this  bi'oad  and  elevated  table-land  the  lower  coal  will  be 
somewhere  found  of  workable  thickness. 

Passing  south  from  Edinburg  the  land  continues  high,  and  the  surface 
nowhere  comes  nearer  than  150  feet  to  Coal  No.  1;  while  in  some  instances  it 
rises  to  such  a  height  that  the  coal  must  be  from  200  to  250  feet  beneath. 

In  Atwater  much  boring  has  been  done,  and  coal  found,  which  has  been 
opened  both  by  shaft  and  adit.  The  explorations  made  here  were  undertaken 
on  the  supposition  that  the  coal,  of  which  outcrops  had  been  known,  was  the 
Briar  Hill  seam.  This  was,  however,  an  error,  and  there  can  be  no  question 
that  it  is  Coal  No.  4.  The  place  of  Coal  No.  1  is  far  below  the  bottom  of 
the  Atwater  shaft,  and  probably  below  the  bottom  of  the  deepest  well  bored  in 
the  vicinity.  The  coal  mined  at  Atwater  is  of  good  thickness — from  four  to 
five  feet — but  it  exhibits  the  usual  characteristics  of  the  limestone  seams, 
being  of  irregular  thickness  and  variable  quality.  It  is  a  serviceable  fuel  for 
the  generation  of  steam,  and  is  a  pleasant  grate-coal,  but  from  the  quantity 
of  sulphur  it  contains  is  not  well  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  iron.  The 
following  analyses  of  this  coal,  made  at  the  School  of  Mines  by  Mr.  W.  P. 
Jenney,  will  indicate  very  fairly  its  composition.  No.  1,  upper  bench;  No.  2, 
lower  bench: 

No.  1.  No.  2. 

Water 3.27  3.03 

Volatile  combustible  matter 26.06  26.42 

Fixedcarbon 64.50  62.50 

Sulphur 1.52  2.20 

Ash 4.65  5.72 

Totals 100.00  99.97 

At  the  shaft  of  the  Atwater  Coal  Company  the  coal  is  from  four  to  five  feet 
in  thickness,  in  two  benches,  separated  by  a  bony  parting.  It  is  overlaid  by 
black  shale,  which  contains  many  discoid  shells  {Discina).  In  the  shale  above 
is  considerable  granular  iron  ore,  but  not  of  very  good  quality.  The  shale  is 
succeeded  by  sandstone,  as  in  all  this  region.  The  coal  is  opened  by  an  adit, 
half  a  mile  east,  on  lower  ground. 

On  John  Hines'  farm,  one  and  a  half  miles  southeast  from  Atwater  Cen- 
ter, a  shaft  has  been  sunk  to  Coal  No.  4,  passing  through — 1,  surface  clay;  2, 
sandstone;  3,  black  and  gray  shale;  4,  black  shale;  5,  coal.     Coal  is  here  four 


216  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

feet  six  inches  in  thickness,  and,  according  to  barometer,  lies  twenty-six  feet 
below  Atwater  Station,  or  534  feet  above  Lake  Erie. 

About  half  a  mile  east  the  same  coal  is  struck  at  a  depth  of  eleven  feet, 
on  the  farm  of  Michael  Strong.  It  here  lies  ten  feet  higher  than  at  Hines', 
while  the  svirface  falls  off  rapidly  toward  the  east.  The  thickness  of  the  coal 
is  the  same  as  at  Hines'  farm. 

In  some  of  the  borings  made  by  Mr.  Christy,  near  the  Atwater  shaft,  the 
coal  was  found  to  be  cut  out  by  heavy  beds  of  sacdstone;  no  coal  whatever 
having  been  reached  in  borings  carried  to  a  depth  of  200  feet.  It  is  quite 
possible,  therefore,  that  in  this  locality  no  workable  coal  exists  below 
Coal  No.  4,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  the  deepest  boring  has  been  carried  to 
the  level  of  the  Briar  Hill  seam,  as  the  surface  of  this  portion  of  the  town- 
ship is  at  least  200  feet  above  the  level.  From  the  proximity  of  the 
railroad,  the  Briar  Hill  coal  would  have  special  value  if  found  under  these 
highlands,  and  it  seems  vexy  desirable  that  a  sufficient  number  of  borings 
should  be  made  to  determine  its  presence  or  absence.  The  cost  of  boring  to 
the  depth  of  200  feet  need  not  exceed  $300  for  each  hole,  and  experienced 
and  reliable  drillers  can  be  found  who  will  contract  to  do  the  work  at  this 
price.  The  result  of  boring  at  Limaville  has  already  been  reported,  and  this 
is  such  as  to  encourage  further  effort.  At  Limaville  the  upper  coals  are  found 
in  their  proper  positions,  and  Coal  No.  1  at  its  regular  level,  far  below. 

It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  the  lower  seam  does  exist  in  this  region — at 
least  in  basins  of  limited  area— and  we  may  confidently  predict  that  foresight 
and  energy  will  bring  to  some  fortunate  person  ample  reward  by  its  discovery 
in  this  part  of  Portage  County. 

Fire-clay. — As  I  have  stated  on  a  preceding  page,  the  Atwater  coal  crops 
out  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township.  The  lower  limestone  coal  is  here 
very  thin,  but,  as  usual,  is  underlaid  by  a  seam  of  fire-clay,  which  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  valuable  in  the  series.  This  is  apparently  the  same  bed  with  that 
worked  in  Springfield,  Summit  County,  and  also  that  which  furnishes  most  of 
the  fire-clay  made  into  pottery  and  tire-bricks  along  the  Ohio,  in  Columbiana 
and  Jefferson  Counties.  It  also  forms  the  basis  of  an  important  manufacture 
in  Portage  County,  as  it  supplies  the  material  for  the  potteries  at  Lima  and 
Atwater.  It  is  chiefly  derived  from  John  Spire's  farm.  Lot  10.  Atwater  Town- 
ship. The  bed  is  about  twelve  feet  thick,  divided  into  two  layers  by  a  part- 
ing of  back  slate.  The  upper  seven  feet  is  not  used  in  the  potteries  on 
account  of  the  contained  iron.  The  clay  generally  immediately  underlies  the 
soil,  and  is  worked  in  open  pits,  but  it  is  in  some  places  overlaid  by  coal  about 
thirty  inches  in  thickness.  A  specimen  obtained  from  the  mine  or  pit  (but 
"whether  from  the  upper  or  lower  bench  is  not  certain)  was  analyzed  by  Prof. 
Wormley,  giving  the  following  result: 

Water 3. 00 

Silica 79.90 

Alumina 14.60 

Iron  oxide 1.60 

Lime 0.20 

Magnesia 0.24 

Alkalies 1.50 

Total 100.04 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  217 

ALTITUDES  IN  PORTAGE  COUNTY  ABOVE  LAKE  ERIE. 

FT. 

Ravenna  Station 530 

Ravenna  (City) 560 

Rootstown 550 

Atvvater  Station 560 

Atwater  Center 600 

Railroad  Summit 603 

Topographical  Summit,  north 685 

Cuyahoga  River  Bridge 474 

Garrettsville  Depot 455 

Mantua 536 

Drakesburg 635 

Windham 372 

Edinburg 610 

Campbellsport 410 

Charlestown  Center 575 

Limestone  Ridge 675 

Freedom  Station 575 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Pre-Historic  Races— Mound-Builders— Their  Great  Antiquity— Occu- 

PATION  OF  THE  COUNTRY — THE  WONDERFUL  MONUMENTS  WHICH  THEY  LeFT 

Behind  Them— Some  Evidences  of  Their  Existence  in  Portage  County 
—The  North  American  Indians— Their  Supposed  Origin— Brief  Sketch 
of  Them— Indians  of  Portage  County— The  Great  Trail— The  Indian 
Chiefs  Bigson,  Stignish  and  Big  Cayuga— Extracts  from  the  Reminis- 
cences of  Christian  Cackler  on  the  Indians  of  This  Section. 

THAT  a  very  numerous  race  of  people  occupied  that  portion  of  the  North 
American  Continent  now  known  as  the  United  States,  long  anterior  to  its 
occupancy  by  the  present  Indians,  is  beyond  proof,  but  of  this  people  nothing 
is  now  known,  more  than  can  be  gleaned  or  conjectured  from  the  multiplicity 
of  massive  works  left  by  them  throughout,  almost,  the  entire  extent  of  the 
country.  These  works  exist  to-day  as  mounds,  varying  in  size  and  character, 
and  scattered  either  in  groups  or  singly,  from  the  sources  of  the  Allegheny  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri,  and,  extending  southward,  stretch  from  the 
Appalachians  in  the  Carolinas  to  Texas.  There  are  three  grand  divisions  of 
these  elevations,  but  they  all  bear  the  same  general  characteristics,  being  either 
mounds  in  the  true  sense,  or  circumvallations  of  earth  and  stone,  the  State  of 
Ohio,  alone,  it  is  computed,  containing  no  less  than  10,000  of  the  former  and 
1,500  of  the  latter,  some  of  which  are  of  a  very  marked  and  extraordinary 
character.  These  mysterious  dwellers  of  a  long- forgotten  age,  called  Mound- 
Builders,  in  lieu  of  a  more  accurate  designation,  evidently  possessed  a  civili- 
zation distinctive  of  themselves,  and  that  they  used  a  written  language  appears 
entirely  probable,  from  some  peculiar  hieroglyphic  characters  discovered  upon 
their  pottery  ware  and  stone  implements.  But,  beyond  their  almost  imperish- 
able monuments,  the  archaeologist  seeks  in  vain  for  a  further  solution  of  the 
grand  problem  of  the  coming,  the  life,  and  the  exodus  or  decay  of  this  myste- 
rious race.  On  opening  a  mound,  he  finds  only  mouldering  skeletons,  scattered 
and  shattered  remnants  of  vessels  of  earthenware,  rude  weapons  of  warfare,  axes 
of  stone,  flint  drills,  spear-heads,  and  bottles  of  irregular,  yet  finished  workman- 
ship, cut  and  polished  from  extremely  hard  stone,  never,  or  rarely,  indigenous 


218  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

to  the  spot  where  found,  showing  the  owners  of  them  to  have  been  an  essentially 
migratory  people,  or  a  conquering  nation,  shifting  about  from  place  to  place, 
yet  leaving  monuments  behind  them  whose  imperishability  is  not  inferior  to 
that  of  Cheops. 

A  thousand  interesting  queries  arise  respecting  them,  but  the  most  search- 
ing investigations  only  give  us  vague  and  unsatisfactory  speculations  as  an 
answer.  If  we  knock  at  their  tombs  no  spirit  reposing  within  responds  to  the 
summons,  but  a  sepulchral  echo  comes  ringing  down  the  ages,  reminding  us 
how  fruitless  the  search  into  that  inscrutable  past  over  which  the  curtain  of 
oblivion  seems  to  have  been  irrevocably  drawn.  Whence  came  these  people; 
who  and  what  were  they,  and  whither  did  they  go?  Some  writers  have  dis- 
covered evidences,  convincing,  apparently,  to  themselves,  that  this  pre-historic 
race  came  from  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  and  that  their  advent  was  made  at 
different  times  and  from  different  points  of  a  general  hive  in  the  supposed 
cradle  of  humanity — Central  Asia.  Others  think  them  to  have  been  the  for- 
gotten ancestors  of  the  degenerate  and  now  decaying  American  Indians,  who, 
having  no  preservative  written  language,  the  memory  of  their  ancestors  has 
gradually  slipped  from  them.  Still  others  fancy  them  to  have  been  the  orig- 
inal indigenous,  spontaneous  product  of  the  soil.  Regardless,  however,  of  the 
origin,  progress  and  destiny  of  this  curious  people,  the  fact  of  their  having 
been  here  is  certain;  therefore  the  best  that  can  be  done  by  the  archseologist 
is  to  examine  their  works  and  draw  from  them  the  conclusions  that  seem  the 
most  probable. 

The  mounds  vary  in  height  from  about  five  feet  to  thirty  feet,  with  several 
notable  exceptions,  when  they  reach  an  altitude  of  eighty  to  ninety  feet.  The 
erections  consist  of  villages,  altars,  temples,  idols,  cemeteries,  monuments, 
camps,  fortifications  and  pleasure  grounds.  They  are  chiefly  of  some  symmet- 
rical figure,  as  circle,  ellipse,  rectangular  parallelogram,  or  regular  polygon, 
and  inclose  from  one  or  two  acres  to  as  high  as  fifty  acres.  The  circumvalla- 
tions  generally  contain  the  mounds,  although  there  are  many  of  the  latter  to 
be  found  standing  isolated  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  or  in  the  midst  of  a  broad 
plateau,  being  evidently  thus  placed  as  outposts  of  offense  or  defense,  for  the 
fact  that  they  were  a  very  warlike  and  even  conquering  race,  is  fully  attested 
by  the  numerous  fortifications  to  be  met  with  wherever  any  trace  of  them  is 
found. 

The  works  of  the  Mound-Builders  in  the  United  States  are  divided  into 
three  groups:  The  first  group  extends  from  the  upper  sources  of  the  Alle- 
gheny River  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri;  the  second  occupies  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  Valleys,  and  the  third  stretches  across  the  country,  with 
very  little  interruption,  from  South  Carolina  to  the  western  limits  of  Texas. 
These  groups  are  subdivided  into  three  varieties  of  elevations,  mounds, 
inclosures  and  eflSgieo,  which  are  designated  as  mounds  of  sepulture, 
sacrifice,  worship,  observation,  commemoration  and  defense.  Mounds  of 
sepulture  are  more  numerous  than  the  others,  are  conical  in  shape,  and  range 
from  three  to  fifty  feet  in  height.  They  usually  contain  the  bones  of  one  or 
more  skeletons,  accompanied  by  ornaments  and  implements  of  stone,  mica, 
slate,  shell  or  obsidian,  besides  pottery,  whole  and  fragmentary,  bone  and  cop- 
per beads,  and  the  bones  of  animals.  Mounds  of  sacrifice  are  recognized  by 
their  stratification,  being  convex  and  constructed  of  clay  and  sand  on  the  nor- 
mal level  of  the  soil,  on  top  of  which  can  be  found  a  layer  of  ashes,  charcoal 
and  calcined  bones,  which  in  time  has  a  layer  of  clay  and  sand,  followed  by 
more  ashes,  charcoal,  etc.,  till  the  gradual  upbuilding  resulted  in  the  manner 
we  now  see.     These  mounds  also  often   contain  beads,  stone  implements,  pot- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  219 

tery  and  rude  sculpture,  and  occasionally  a  skeleton,  showing  that  they  may 
have  been  used  as  burial  places.  Mounds  of  worship,  which  are  compara- 
tively few,  have  generally  a  large  base  and  low  elevation,  and  are  in  some 
instances  terraced  and  having  inclined  ways  to  the  top.  Their  size  and  char- 
acter have  led  to  the  inference  that  these  flat-topped  mounds  originally  were 
crowned  with  temples  of  wood,  for  had  they  been  stone,  traces  of  that  material 
would  be  found.  Mounds  of  observation,  or  beacon  or  signal  mounds,  are 
generally  found  upon  elevated  positions,  and  apparently  could  have  subserved 
no  other  purpose  than  as  "  look-out"  stations,  or  beacon  points,  and  as  con- 
firmatory of  the  latter  purpose,  ashes  and  charcoal  have  been  found  imbedded  in 
their  summits.  These  mounds  occur  on  the  line  of  what  are  considered  the 
outposts  of  these  pre-historic  conquerors.  Mounds  in  commemoration  of  some 
important  event  or  character  are  here  and  there  to  be  found,  and  they  are  thus 
classed  because  from  their  composition,  position  and  character  they  are  neither 
sepulchral,  sacrificial,  temple,  defensive  nor  observation  mounds.  They  are 
generally  constructed  of  earth,  but  in  some  instances  in  Ohio,  where  they  are 
stone  erections,  they  are  considered  to  be  monumental.  Mounds  of  defense, 
however,  with  the  exception  possibly  of  one  or  two  efl&gies  in  Ohio,  are  the 
most  remarkable.  These  mounds  in  some  instances  give  evidence  that  their 
builders  were  acquainted  with  all  the  peculiarities  in  the  construction  of  the 
best  defensive  earth  and  stone-works.  They  are  always  upon  high  ground, 
on  precipitous  bluffs  and  in  positions  that  would  now  be  selected  by  the 
accomplished  strategist.  The  gateways  to  these  forts  are  narrow  and  are 
defended  by  the  usual  wall  in  front  of  them,  whilst  the  double  angle  at  the 
corners  and  projecting  walls  along  the  sides  for  enfilading  attack  show  a 
knowledge  of  warfare  that  is  phenomenal  in  so  rude  a  people  as  their  imple- 
ments would  indicate.  Moats  are  often  noticed  around  these  fortifications,  and 
cisterns  are  to  be  found  within  the  inclosures. 

When  the  first  settlers  arrived  at  the  sites  of  Marietta  and  Circleville, 
Ohio,  a  number  of  these  earthworks  were  discovered,  some  of  which  yet  exist; 
and  at  Newark  when  the  circumvallation  known  as  the  "  fort "  was  first  seen 
by  those  who  settled  there  in  the  early  years  of  the  century,  a  large  tree, 
whose  age  was  possibly  not  less  than  six  hundred  years,  stood  upon  one  of  the 
embankments  over  twenty  feet  above  the  general  level,  thus  giving  great  anti- 
quity to  the  erection.  Ohio  contains  many  curious  forms  of  these  works,  two 
of  the  most  singular  being  in  Licking  County  and  known  respectively  as  the 
"Eagle"  and  "Alligator"  eflSgies.  The  first  is  a  bird  with  outstretched 
wings  raised  about  three  or  four  feet  above  the  ground  in  the  same  manner  as 
a  bas-relief  of  the  sculptors;  the  other  is  an  animal  closely  resembling  an 
alligator.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  idols,  or  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  religion  of  the  people  who  built  them. 

In  Boss  County  a  defensive  inclosure  occupies  the  summit  of  a  lofty, 
detached  hill,  twelve  miles  west  of  Chillicothe.  This  hill  is  not  far  from  400 
feet  in  perpendicular  height,  and  some  of  its  sides  are  actually  inaccessible, 
all  of  them  being  abrupt.  The  defenses  consisted  originally  of  a  stone  wall 
carried  around  the  hill  a  little  below  the  brow,  the  remains  of  this  wall  exist- 
ing now  only  in  a  line  of  detached  stones,  but  showing  plainly  their  evident 
purpose  and  position.  The  area  inclosed  embraced  about  140  acres,  and  the 
wall  itself  was  two  and  one-quarter  miles  in  length.  Trees  of  the  largest  size 
now  grow  upon  the  ruins  of  this  fortification.  About  six  miles  east  of  Leba- 
non, Warren  County,  on  the  Little  Miami  River,  is  another  extensive  fortifi- 
cation, called  "  Fort  Ancient."  It  stands  on  a  plain,  nearly  horizontal,  about 
236  feet  above  the  level  of   the  river,   between  two  branches  with  very  steep 


220  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

banks.  The  extreme  length  of  these  works  in  a  direct  line  is  nearly  a  mile, 
although  following  their  angles,  retreating  and  salient,  they  probably  reach  a 
distance  of  six  miles.  Another  of  those  inclosures  is  located  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Highland  County,  on  an  eminence  500  feet  above  the  level  of 
Brush  Creek,  which  washes  its  base.  The  walls  of  the  fortifications  are  over 
half  a  mile  long,  and  the  works  are  locally  called  "  Fort  Hill."  The  remains 
of  an  inclosure  may  yet  be  seen  near  Carrollton,  a  few  miles  south  of  Dayton, 
Montgomery  County.  All  of  those  inclosures  were  evidently  constructed  for 
defensive  purposes,  and  give  signal  proofs  of  the  military  knowledge  of  their 
builders. 

Burial  mounds  are  very  numerous  in  this  State,  and  there  ai'e  few  coun- 
ties that  have  not  a  greater  or  less  number  of  these  tumuli.  The  most 
remarkable  of  this  class  was  a  mound  opened  by  John  S.  B.  Matson,  in  Har- 
din County,  in  which  over  300  human  skeletons  were  found.  Some  antiqua- 
rians, however,  entertain  the  belief  that  they  were  not  all  the  remains  of 
Mound-Builders,  but  many  of  them  Indian  remains,  as  it  is  well  known  that 
the  latter  often  interred  their  dead  in  those  monuments  of  their  predecessors. 
When  the  first  band  of  pioneers  to  the  Western  Reserve  arrived  at  the  mouth 
of  Conneaut  Creek,  July  4,  1796,  they  discovered  several  mounds,  and  could 
easily  trace  the  outline  of  a  large  cemetery  then  overgrown  with  forest.  Ex- 
plorations were  subsequently  made,  and  some  gigantic  skeletons  exhumed  from 
mounds  which  stood  on  the  site  of  Conneaut,  Ashtabula  County.  The  frames 
and  jaw-bones  were  those  of  giants,  and  could  not  have  belonged  to  the  race 
of  Indians  then  inhabiting  any  portion  of  this  country.  Several  yeai'S  ago  a 
burial  mound  was  opened  in  Logan  County,  from  which  three  skeletons  were 
taken.  The  frame  of  one  was  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  and 
measured  nearly  seven  feet  from  the  top  of  the  skull  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
heel.  In  1850  a  mound  lying  on  the  north  bank  of  Big  Darby  about  one 
mile  northwest  of  Plain  City,  in  Union  County,  was  opened  and  several  mas- 
sive skeletons  taken  therefrom.  The  lower  jaw-bones,  like  those  found  at 
Conneaut,  could  be  easily  fitted  over  the  jaw  of  a  very  large  man,  outside  the 
flesh.  These  bones — and  they  are  usually  large  wherever  found — indicate 
that  the  Mound -Builders  were  a  gigantic  race  of  beings,  fully  according  in 
size  with  the  colossal  remains  they  have  left  behind  them. 

The  largest  mound  in  Ohio,  called  the  "Great  Mound,"  is  located  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Miami  River,  a  short  distance  southeast  of  Miamisburg, 
Montgomery  County.  The  surf  ace  elevation  at  this  point  is  more  than  150  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  stream.  The  mound  measures  800  feet  around  the  base, 
and  about  sixty-five  feet  in  height,  though  archaeologists  claim  that  it  was  orig- 
inally more  than  eighty  feet  high.  Explorations  and  the  wear  and  tear  of  the 
elements  have  worn  o&  the  summit  about  fifteen  feet.  At  the  time  the  pio- 
neers first  came  to  the  Miami  Valley  this  mound  was  covered  with  trees,  a 
large  maple  crowning  the  top,  from  which,  it  is  said,  the  few  cabins  then  con- 
stituting Dayton  were  plainly  visible.  In  1869  a  shaft  was  sunk  from  the  top 
of  the  mound  to  a  distance  of  two  feet  below  the  base,  and  about  eight  feet 
from  the  surface  a  human  skeleton  was  found  in  a  sitting  posture  facing  due 
east.  A  deposit  of  vegetable  matter,  bones  of  small  animals,  also  wood  and 
stone  surrounded  the  skeleton,  while  a  cover  of  clay,  ashes  and  charcoal  seems 
to  have  been  the  mode  of  burial. 

There  are  few  traces  left  of  the  Mound -Builders  in  Portage  County, 
although  at  an  early  day  in  the  settlement  of  this  section,  many  small  tumuli 
were  observed,  which  the  plow  has  long  since  almost  entirely  obliterated. 
Still,  there  are  eminences  in  various  sections  in  the  northern  and  southeast- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  221 

em  portions  of  the  county  which  seemingly  owe  their  origin  more  to  the 
labors  of  man  than  to  nature.  In  Randolph  Township,  we  have  been  informed, 
a  mound  was  opened  some  years  ago  which  disclosed  the  bones  of  a  skeleton, 
together  with  some  fragments  of  pottery  and  rude  stone  implements.  To  the 
northeast  of  Hiram  Center  the  writer  noticed  an  elevation  that  bears  the 
almost  unmistakable  marks  of  artificial  workmanship,  and  it  is  believed  that  if 
excavations  were  made  into  it  the  usual  pre-historic  "finds"  would  be  the 
reward.  In  the  townships  of  Suffield  and  Streetsboro  are  several  tumuli 
which  resemble  the  works  of  the  Mound- Builders,  but  as  no  scientific  examina- 
tion has  been  made  into  them,  they  are  still  held  in  doubt.  In  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, a  little  northwest  of  the  Center,  about  one  mile  therefrom,  is  a  low  but  well- 
defined  series  of  mounds,  almost  unnoticeable  to  the  untrained  eye,  that  have 
all  the  characteristics  of  the  true  mound.  They  are  not  far  from  where  there 
was,  in  the  early  days  of  the  county,  an  Indian  camp  or  small  village,  the 
spot  being  pointed  out  to  us  by  Mr.  Alva  Baldwin.  But  all  these  indica- 
tions, until  they  have  some  actual  foundation  given  them  by  examination, 
must  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  allowance.  The  remains  of  this  strange  people 
are  usually  found  near  the  larger  water  courses  and  lakes,  and  as  Portage 
County  lies  somewhat  out  of  the  course  of  these  by-ways  of  navigation,  many 
evidences  of  their  presence  cannot  be  looked  for  here.  Yet,  that  they  passed 
over  those  very  hills  is  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  for  their  mounds  are  to  be 
seen  eastward  and  westward  of  this  section. 

The  question  of  the  origin  of  the  North  American  Indians  has  long  inter- 
ested archaeologists,  and  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  they  have  been  called  upon 
to  answer.  The  commonly  accepted  opinion  is  that  they  are  a  derivative  race, 
and  sprang  from  one  or  more  of  the  ancient  peoples  of  Asia.  Some  writers 
have  put  forward  the  theory  that  the  Indians,  from  their  tribal  organization, 
faint  similarity  of  language  and  religion,  and  the  high  cheekbone  in  the  well 
developed  specimen  of  the  race,  are  the  descendants  of  the  two  lost  tribes  of 
Israel.  Others  contend  that  they  descended  from  the  Hindoos,  and  that  the 
Brahmin  idea  which  uses  the  sun  to  symbolize  the  Creator  has  its  counterpart 
in  the  sun-worship  of  some  Indian  tribes.  They  have  lived  for  centuries  with- 
out much  apparent  progress — purely  a  hunter  race — while  the  Caucasian,  under 
the  transforming  power  of  Christianity — the  parent  of  art,  science  and  civil 
government — has  made  the  most  rapid  advancement.  Under  the  influences  of 
the  church,  however,  the  Indian  has  often  shown  a  commendable  capability  for 
accepting  the  teachings  of  civilization;  but  the  earnest  efforts  of  her  devoted 
missionaries  have  often  been  nullified  or  totally  destroyed  by  the  unwise 
policy  pursued  by  the  governing  power,  or  the  dishonesty  and  selfishness  of 
the  officials  in  charge.  Stung  to  madness  at  our  injustice  and  usurpation  of 
his  hunting-grounds,  he  has  remained  a  savage,  and  his  career  in  the  upward 
march  of  man  is  forever  stunted.  The  Indian  race  is  in  the  position  of  a  half- 
grown  giant  cut  down  before  reaching  manhood.  There  never  has  been  a 
savage  people  who  could  compare  with  them  in  their  best  estate.  Splendid  in 
physique,  with  intense  shrewdness  and  common  sense,  and  possessed  of  a 
bravery  unexcelled,  there  never  was  a  race  of  uncivilized  people  who  had  with- 
in them  so  much  to  make  them  great  as  the  red  man.  Whatever  he  has  been 
or  is,  he  was  never  charged  with  being  a  coward  or  a  fool,  and  as  compared  to 
the  barbarians  of  other  portions  of  the  globe,  he  is  as  "Hyperion  to  a  Satyr." 

The  advent  of  the  whites  upon  the  shores  of  the  Western  continent  engen- 
dered in  the  bosom  of  the  aborigines  a  spark  of  jealousy,  which,  by  the 
impolitic  course  of  the  former,  was  soon  fanned  into  a  blaze,  and  a  contest 
was  thereby  inaugurated  that  sooner  or  later  must  end  in  the  extermination  of 


222  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  latter.  The  struggle  has  been  long  and  bitter;  many  a  campaign  has  been 
planned  by  warriors  worthy  and  able  to  command  armies,  for  the  destruction 
of  the  pale-faced  invaders  When  Philip  struck  the  blow  which  he  hoped 
would  forever  crush  the  growing  power  of  the  white  men,  both  sides  recognized 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  contest,  and  the  courage  and  resources  of  the 
New  England  colonists  were  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  avoid  a  defeat,  which  meant 
final  destruction.  The  fierce  resistance  of  later  days,  as  the  Indians  were 
driven  farther  and  farther  toward  the  setting  sun^  are  historic  facts  with 
which  the  student  is  already  familiar.  The  conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  the  famous 
Ottawa  chieftain,  in  1763,  failed  in  its  object  of  extermination,  and  the  bravery 
and  sagacity  of  the  celebrated  Indian  leaders,  Brandt,  Red  Jacket,  Cornplanter, 
Cornstalk,  Logan,  Black  Hoof,  Tarhe,  Little  Turtle  and  Blue  Jacket,  could 
not  prevail  against  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  triumph  of  Wayne  in 
1794  closed  a  long  series  of  bloody  Indian  wars.  A  few  years  passed  by,  when 
Tecumseh  flashed  out  like  a  brilliant  meteor  in  the  firmament  of  great  Indian 
leaders,  and  organized  the  Western  tribes  for  a  last  desperate  effort  to  hold 
their  own  against  the  advancing  tide  of  civilization.  But  he  too  went  down 
in  defeat  and  death  before  the  prowess  of  Hai-rison's  legions.  When  the 
Creeks,  in  1813,  through  the  intrigue  of  Tecumseh,  challenged  the  people  of 
the  South  to  mortal  combat,  it  required  the  genius  of  a  Jackson,  and  soldiers 
worthy  of  such  a  chief,  to  avert  a  serious  calamity.  But  since  the  decisive  bat- 
tle of  Tohopeka,  March  27,  1814,  there  has  been  but  one  Indian  war  of  any 
considerable  magnitude,  viz. :  the  Seminole  war  in  Florida.  The  Black  Hawk 
outbreak  in  Illinois  in  1832  required  but  a  few  weeks'  service  of  raw  militia 
to  quell,  but  the  Seminoles  of  Florida,  led  by  the  indomitable  Osceola,  a  half- 
breed  of  great  talents,  carried  on  a  bitter  struggle  from  1835  to  1839,  when 
their  power  was  completely  crushed,  and  they  were  soon  after  removed  beyond 
the  Mississippi.  Since  then  campaigns  have  dwindled  into  mere  raids,  and 
battles  into  skirmishes.  The  massacre  of  Custer's  command  in  Montana  must 
be  regarded  as  an  accident  of  no  permanent  importance,  and  a  dozen  such 
melancholy  events  would  not  in  the  least  alarm  the  country.  Indian  fighting, 
though  not  free  from  peril,  now  serves  a  useful  purpose  for  the  army  graduates 
of  West  Point,  who  might  otherwise  go  to  their  graves  without  ever  having 
amelled  hostile  gunpowder. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  the  white  man  lived  in  America  only  by  the  red 
man's  consent,  and  within  that  period  the  combined  strength  of  the  red  man 
might  have  di'iven  the  white  into  the  sea.  Along  the  Atlantic  coast  are  still 
to  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  rude  fortifications  which  the  early  settlers  built 
to  protect  themselves  from  the  host  of  enemies  around;  but  to  find  the  need 
of  such  protection  now,  one  must  go  beyond  the  Mississippi  to  a  few  widely 
scattered  points  in  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Oregon.  The  enemy  that  once 
camped  in  sight  of  the  Atlantic  has  retreated  toward  the  slope  of  the  Pacific, 
and  from  that  long  retreat  there  can  be  no  returning.  East  of  the  stream 
which  he  called  the  Father  of  Waters,  nothing  is  left  of  the  Indian  except  the 
beautiful  names  he  gave  and  the  graves  of  his  dead,  save  here  and  there  the 
remnants  of  once  powerful  tribes,  living  on  reservations  by  the  sufferance  of 
their  conquerors.  The  Indian  has  resisted  and  will  continue  to  resist  every  effort 
to  civilize  him  by  coercion — every  attempt  to  force  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet 
the  white  man's  ideas  into  his  brain.  He  does  not  want  and  will  not  have  our 
manners  or  our  code  of  morals  forced  upon  him.  The  greatest  redeeming  fea- 
ture in  the  Indian  character  and  career  is  that  he  has  always  preferred  the  worst 
sort  of  freedom  to  the  best  sort  of  slavery.  Whether  his  choice  was  a  wise 
one  or  not  the  reader  can  determine;  but  it  is  impossible  not  to   feel  some 


"^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  225 

admiration  for  the  indomitable  spirit  that  has  never  bowed  to  the  yoke — never 
called  any  man  "master."  The  Indian  is  a  savage,  but  he  never  was,  never 
will  be,  a  slave.  We  have  treated  him  like  a  dog  and  are  surprised  that  he 
bites.  In  a  speech  in  New  York  City,  not  long  before  his  death,  Gen.  Sam 
Houston,  indisputable  authority  on  such  matters,  declared  with  solemn 
emphasis,  that  "there  never  was  an  Indian  war  in  which  the  white  man  was  not 
the  aggressor."  Aggression  leading  to  war  is  not  our  heaviest  sin  against 
the  Indian.  He  has  been  deceived,  cheated  and  robbed  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  looks  upon  most  of  the  white  race  as  villains  to  whom  he  should  show  no 
quarter.  A  very  decided  feeling  of  justice  to  the  abused  red  man  is  gaining 
ground  of  late  years,  and  numerous  able  pens  have  been  engaged  in  defending 
him,  among  whom  are  Joaquin  Miller,  the  poet,  and  Hon.  A.  B.  Meacham. 
But  we  can  well  afford,  after  getting  all  his  land  and  nearly  exterminating 
him,  to  extend  to  him  a  little  cheap  sympathy. 

The  Indians  of  this  continent  were  never  so  numerous  as  has  generally 
been  supposed,  although  they  were  spread  over  a  vast  extent  of  country.  Con- 
tinual wars  prevented  any  great  increase,  and  their  mode  of  life  was  not  cal- 
culated to  promote  longevity  or  numbers.  The  great  body  of  them  originally 
were  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  most  of  the  Indian  tribes  had  traditions 
that  their  forefathers  lived  in  splendid  hunting  grounds  far  to  the  westward. 
The  best  authorities  affirm  that  on  the  discovery  of  this  country  the  number 
of  the  scattered  aborigines  of  the  territory  now  forming  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Kentucky  and  Michigan    could  not  have  exceeded  18,000. 

The  earliest  date  of  any  authentic  knowledge  of  the  Indian  in  this  section 
is  1650,  when  the  Eries  held  possession  of  the  northern  portion  of  what  is  now 
Ohio.  They  lived  along  the  southern  borders  of  the  lake  which  bears 
their  name,  but  when  their  domains  were  invaded  by  the  Iroquois,  about  1655, 
most  of  them  fell  before  their  relentless  foes,  whilst  the  i*emainder  became 
incorporated  with  other  tribes,  were  driven  farther  southward,  or  adopted  into 
those  of  their  conquerors.  During  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  Shawnees  were  living  along  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  but  they,  too,  were  dis- 
persed by  the  Five  Nations  or  Iroquois,  and  dispossessed  of  their  lands,  though 
they  subsequently  returned  to  their  early  hunting  grounds.  For  many  years 
before  and  after  1700  this  entire  territory  was  occupied  by  the  remnants  of 
defeated  tribes,  who  were  permitted  to  remain  by  sufferance  of  their  conquerers, 
the  latter  exacting  a  tribute,  collected  at  will  from  the  wandering  and  unset- 
tled tribes.  In  1750,  however,  something  like  permanent  occupation  had 
again  taken  place,  and  we  find  in  what  is  now  Ohio  the  Wyandotts,  Delawares, 
Shawanees,  Mi  amis,  Munsees,  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Senecas,  Cayugas, 
Mohawks,  Oneidas  and  Onondagas,  the  last  five  being  known  in  history  as  the 
Mingoes  of  Ohio.  They  were  settled  mostly  along  the  larger  streams  and  on 
the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie. 

When  the  first  settlers  reached  what  is  now  Portage  County,  the  then 
unbroken  wilderness  was  filled  with  wild  animals  and  nearly  as  wild  men. 
There  were  members  of  several  tribes,  as  this  county  was  among  the  best  of 
the  hunting  grounds  of  the  red  man.  In  the  northwestern  section  there  were 
representatives  of  three  tribes:  the  Senecas,  who  had  their  headquarters  near 
the  Cuyahoga  River,  in  Streetsboro  Township,  on  land  now  owned  by  Samuel 
Olin,  and  whose  chief  was  Bigson;  the  Ottawas,  who  had  their  village  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga  River,  whose  chief  was  Stignish,  and  the 
Chippewas,  who  lived  further  west  in  Medina  County,  about  Chippewa.  Lake, 
but  who  occupied  a  portion  of  this  section  in  summer,  where  they  hunted. 
These  tribes  had  their  hunting  grounds  as  well  defined  as  the  boundaries  of  a 

>3 


226  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

modern  farm,  and  every  Indian  knew  where  the  limits  of  his  "range"  was, 
as  well  as  if  it  had  been  surveyed. 

Bigson,  the  Seneca  chief,  was  about  six  feet  in  height,  of  a  powerful  and 
muscular  frame,  well  proportioned,  with  keen  black  eyes,  a  stern  and  dignified 
look,  honest  and  upright  in  all  his  dealings  with  the  whites,  a  firm  friend,  or 
an  implacable  enemy.  His  family  consisted  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters, 
only  two  of  the  sons  being  with  him:  John  Amur  and  John  Mohawk,  the  lat- 
ter the  one  who  shot  Diver  in  Deerfield  Township.  The  husbands  of  the 
daughters  were  George  Wilson,  Nickshaw  and  Wobmung.  These  Indians  did 
most  of  their  trading  with  Capt.  Heman  Oviatt,  who  kept  a  little  Indian 
store  about  one  mile  south  of  Hudson.  They  named  the  old  trader  "  Coppa- 
qua, "  from  the  fact  that  he  was  so  badly  cheated  in  a  trade  on  one  occasion 
that  he  cried — the  term  Coppaqua  meaning  "to  shed  tears."  This,  also,  was 
the  Seneca  name  for  Cuyahoga  Falls. 

In  what  is  now  Windham  Township  there  was  a  village  of  Indians  up  to 
about  1807  or  1808,  a  short  distance  northwest  of  where  now  stands  the  depot 
of  the  Mahoning  Branch  of  the  New  York,  Lake  Erie  &  Western  Railroad. 
There  were  small  clearings  and  a  few  decaying  wigwams  still  to  be  seen  when 
the  first  settlers  arrived  in  that  section.  There  was,  also,  an  old  orchard,  set 
out  by  the  red  men,  and  from  the  old  trees,  one  of  the  sons  of  those  first 
settlers  informed  the  writer  he  had  eaten  apples.  An  Indian  trail  ran  along 
the  northern  border,  and  at  various  points  the  pioneers  discovered  the  remains 
of  villages.  What  are  now  Nelson  and  Hiram  Townships  was  a  favorite  hunt- 
ing resort  of  the  Indians,  and  members  of  several  tribes  periodically  visited 
this  section,  among  whom  were  Senecas,  Ottawas,  Onondagas,  and  a  few 
Oneidas,  but  mostly  Cayugas,  with  their  chief  Big  Cayuga,  and  his  nephew, 
Snipnose  Cayuga,  who  succeeded  him,  after  the  redoubtable  Capt.  Delaun 
Mills  had  killed  the  former.  The  "  ledges "  in  the  upper  part  of  Nelson 
afforded  excellent  shelter  for  the  red  skins,  and  a  few  wigwams  could  always 
be  seen  under  them.  Many  thrilling  tales  are  told  of  the  adventures,  hair- 
breadth escapes  and  dreadful  vengeance  of  the  early  settlers,  and  particularly 
of  Capt.  Mills,  the  most  of  which,  however,  has  been  summed  up  in  the  sketch 
of  Nelson  Township. 

When  the  first  settlers  came  into  Palmyra  Township,  and  for  several  years 
afterward,  a  number  of  families  belonging  to  the  Onondaga  and  Oneida  tribes 
were  living  in  that  locality.  The  Onondagas  had  their  village  about  a  mile 
west  of  the  Center,  a  little  to  the  northeast  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Alva  Bald- 
win, and  one  of  the  trees  under  which  they  used  to  congregate  is  still  standing 
on  the  spot.  This  settlement  was  on  the  line  of  the  "  Great  Trail,"  which 
extended  from  Fort  Mcintosh,  where  Beaver,  Penn.,  now  is,  to  Sandusky  and 
Detroit.  From  the  Big  Beaver  the  trail  passed  up  the  left  branch  of  the 
Mahoning,  crossing  it  about  three  miles  above  Youngstown;  thence  by  way  of 
the  Salt  Springs  in  Trumbull  County, through  Milton  and  on  through  the  upper 
portion  of  Palmyra;  thence  through  Edinburg,  after  crossing  Silver  Creek  one 
mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  Center  road;  thence  through  Ravenna  and 
Franklin,  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  at  Standing  Rock,  about  a  mile  from  the 
city  of  Kent,  where  the  waters  enter  the  narrow  gorge  made  so  famous  by 
the  "Leap"  of  Capt.  Brady;  the  trail  then  passed  in  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion to  Sandusky.  Along  this  great  thoroughfare  parties  of  Indians  frequently 
passed  for  many  years,  even  after  the  whites  had  taken  possession  of  the 
country.  There  were  several  large  piles  of  stones  in  Palmyra  Township,  along 
this  trail,  under  which  human  skeletons  were  found,  supposed  to  be  the 
remains  of    Indians  slain  in  war,  or  murdered  enemies,  and  as  it  was  the  cus- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  227 

torn  of  the  red  men  to  cast  stones  upon  the  graves  of  their  dead  foes,  they  each, 
in  passing,  helped  to  form  the  piles.  In  1814,  near  where  the  trail  crosses 
Silver  Creek,  several  devices  were  found  carved  upon  trees.  The  bark  had 
been  carefully  shaved  off,  and  in  one  instance  seven  Indian  figures  carved 
thereon,  one  of  which  was  without  a  head,  the  inference  being  that  seven  of 
the  red  skins  h^ed  started  out  on  one  of  their  forays,  and  that  one  of  the  band 
had  been  slain;  hence  the  memorial. 

The  Indians  living  in  Deertield  at  the  time  Diver  was  shot  were,  according 
to  Christian  Cackler,  who  knew  them  well,  Senecas,  and  not  Mohawks,  as 
Howe,  in  his  "  Historical  Collections"  makes  them,  nor  were  they  permanent 
dwellers  in  that  portion  of  the  county,  their  camp  being  in  Streetsboro  Town- 
ship, where  they  would  erect,  in  the  winter- time,  a  large  wigwam,  spacious 
enough  to  contain  the  whole  remnant  of  their  tribe  in  this  section.  Nickshaw, 
who  traded  horses  with  Diver,  was  a  son-in-law  of  the  Seneca  chief,  John 
Bigson,  and  John  Mohawk,  who  shot  the  unfortunate  man,  was  a  son  of  the 
chief.  A  detailed  account  of  this  affair  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  ok 
Deerfield  Township.  In  the  summer  of  1809  Bigson  lost  his  squaw  by  death, 
at  their  head-quarters  on  the  Cuyahoga  River.  She  was  a  large,  stout  woman, 
and  very  good  looking,  having,  like  her  husband,  a  very  dignified,  not  to  say- 
stoical,  appearance.  She  was  said  to  be  very  kind  and  friendly  for  an  Indian. 
Her  age  was  between  fifty  and  sixty  years.  They  made  a  new  calico  frock  for 
her  after  she  was  dead,  and  placing  it  on  the  corpse,  literally  covered  the  arms 
and  ankles  with  silver  beads  and  broaches.  She  was  buried  in  a  coffin  made 
of  bark,  in  a  grave  three  feet  deep,  bein^i;  first  rolled  up  in  a  large  blanket, 
the  covering  being  so  arranged  that  a  hole  was  left  that  she  might  see  out  of 
it  when  she  was  summoned  to  arise  again  and  enjoy  the  happy  hunting  grounds 
in  the  domain  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

This  chapter  can  have  no  more  appropriate  closing  than  to  give  a  few 
extracts  from  the  recollections  of  the  late  Christian  Cackler,  who  was  an  eye- 
witness to  what  he  relates.  Speaking  of  the  head-quarters  of  John  Bigson,  the 
Seneca  chief,  whom  he  knew  personally  for  many  years,  the  old  gentleman 
writes  in  the  following  quaint  style:  "I  have  been  there  a  great  many  times 
when  they  lived  there,  and  if  they  had  anything  to  bestow  upon  you  in  the 
way  of  eatables,  it  was  as  free  as  water.  They  thought  it  a  privilege  to  give, 
for  they  thought  it  was  a  token  of  friendship,  and  if  they  gave- one  they  gave 
all  present.  Their  wigwam  was  about  twenty-five  feet  long  or  more,  and  they 
had  their  fire  through  the  middle,  and  had  it  so  constructed  as  to  leave  room 
for  a  tier  of  them  to  lie  down  on  each  side  of  the  fire  so  as  to  have  their  feet 
to  the  fire,  for  they  laid  on  their  skins  and  furs,  and  were  covered  over  with 
their  blankets.  They  had  a  space  left  open  on  the  ridge  of  their  camp  to  let 
the  smoke  pass  oat.  They  had  their  wigwam  thatched  with  bark,  so  that  it 
was  tight  and  warm,  and  had  a  door  in  each  end  so  that  they  could  haul  in 
their  wood  without  much  chopping.  They  laid  there  as  warm  and  comfortable 
as  a  king  in  his  palace.  The  Seneca  chief  used  to  gather  in  all  his  family 
connections  and  lay  there  all  winter.  In  the  spring  they  would  scatter  out 
over  their  hunting  grounds,  each  family  by  themselves,  and  build  their  wig- 
wams for  the  summer.  They  were  as  careful  of  their  game  as  we  are  of  our  cat- 
tle, and  would  kill  nothing  unless  wanted  for  present  use.  *  *  *  Thej 
had  no  government  expenses,  no  taxes  to  pay,  no  jails  to  build,  no  locks  to 
buy.  I  think  the  Indian  is  the  happiest  man  in  the  world,  in  the  wilderness. 
*  *  *  I  never  knew  they  had  any  language  in  which  to  swear.  He  will 
eat  all  kinds  of  animals  and  fish  and  horses,  or  anything  that  a  dog  will  eat, 
and  sometimes  I  have  thought  what  a  dog  would  not  eat.     They  often  paini 


228  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

their  faces  in  streaks;  that  denotes  peace  and  friendship.     They  love  whisky 
and  get  drunk  often." 

Describing  one  of  their  drunken  frolics,  Mr.  Cackler  says:  "They  got 
their  whisky  and  had  a  suit  made  like  a  little  boy's  suit,  all  whole,  but  open 
before  so  they  could  stick  their  arms  and  legs  in.  It  was  fringed  all  around, 
and  had  claws  of  several  kinds^deer,  bear,  turkey,  coon,  etc.  The  one  that 
was  dancing  would  jump,  hop  and  kick  around  the  floor,  *  *  *  and  when 
he  got  tired  he  would  take  a  drink  and  another  would  try  his  hand.  But 
when  they  got  perfectly  drunk,  the  claws  rattling  looked  more  like  the  devil 
than  anything  I  ever  saw.  *  *  *  Then  the  squaws  went  into  it  and  got 
as  drunk  as  could  be,  and  went  tumbling  around  on  the  ground.  But  after 
they  got  through  they  looked  as  though  they  had  lost  their  best  friends." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Pioneers  of  Portage  County— Their  Heroic  Perseverance  and  Pri- 
vations—New England  Transplanted  on  the  Connecticut  Western 
Reserve— The  First  Settlement  Made  Within  The  Limits  of  Portage 
County— First  Settlers  of  Mantua,  Ravenna,  Aurora  and  Atwateb 
Tow^NSHiPS— At  water  Hall,  the  First  White  Child  Born  in  the 
County— First  Settlers  of  Palmyra,  Deerfield,  Nelson,  Rootstown, 
Randolph,  Suffield,  Charlestown,  Hiram,  Franklin,  Shalersville, 
Edinburg.  Windham,  Paris,  Brimfield,  Freedom,  Streetsboro  and 
Garrettsville  Townships — The  Portage-Summit  Pioneer  Association. 

LESS  than  one  hundred  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  white  inhabitant 
a  permanent  settler  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  State  of 
Ohio;  less  than  eighty-seven  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  white  person  in 
Portage  County.  Could  those  who.  only  see  this  country  as  it  now  is,  borrow 
the  eyes  of  those  who  helped  make  the  transformation,  their  amazement  could 
not  be  depicted  by  words.  In  place  of  the  now  smiling  fields  and  comfortable 
homes,  naught  but  a  vast  wilderness  of  forest  would  greet  the  sight.  The  true 
story  of  the  first  settlement  of  Portage  County  has  never  been  told.  Those 
early  pioneers  were  not  seeking  fortunes,  nor  fame;  thej^  were  intent  only  on 
making  a  home  for  their  children,  and  from  that  laudable  impelling  motive 
has  arisen  the  splendid  structure  of  Western  civilization  we  see  all  around  us. 
It  is  astonishing  how  rapidly  accurate  and  reliable  information  concerning  the 
pioneer  days  is  perishing.  The  traditions  of  those  early  times  have  been  very 
carelessly  kept,  and  whoever  seeks  to  collect  them  finds  much  difiiculty  in 
doing  so.  Yet,  what  does  remain  has  been  carefully  and  cautiously  collated, 
keeping  ever  in  view  the  unreliability  of  certain  sources,  but  gleaning  the 
rich  kernels  from  out  the  debris  of  shells.  The  present  generation  can  form 
no  just  conception  of  the  trials,  tireless  labors,  sacrifices  and  privations  to 
which  the  first  settlers  heroically  submitted.  These  men  whose  industry,  enter- 
prise and  perseverance  wx'ought  from  out  nature's  wilds  the  great  prosperity 
which  in  to-day's  sunlight,  from  every  hillside  and  glen,  looks  up  to  smile 
upon  us,  have,  in  the  benefactions  they  have  bestowed  upon  their  children,  by 
leaving  this  to  them  for  an  inheritance,  proved  themselves  greater  heroes, 
because  their  achievements  were  nobler  and  better,  than  if  they  had  laid  the 
trophies  of  a  blood-bought  conquest  upon  their  escutcheons.     Courage  upon 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  229 

the  soil  of  carnage  wins  the  wreath  of  laurel  that  evanescently  bedecks  the 
brow  of  victory,  but  true,  manly  courage  upon  life's  broad  field  of  battle 
should  bestow  a  more  brilliant  and  fadeless  diadem  than  ever  pressed  the  war- 
rior's brow,  for  the  peaceful  conquests  of  ax  and  plow  are  more  fruitful  of 
benefits  to  mankind  than  those  of  the  sword  and  the  mere  scorn  of  death. 

.From  the  time  that  the  Connecticut  Land  Company  put  their  lands  upon 
the  market,  exaggerated  reports  of  the  wonderful  richness  of  the  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve,  or  New  Connecticut,  as  it  was  called,  were  in  circulation- 
Single  individuals,  parties  and  companies  made  their  way  to  the  far-off  wilds, 
nearly  all  of  whom  either  returned  with  or  sent  back  to  their  homes  glowing 
accounts,  the  result  of  which  was  an  exodus  to  and  a  rapid  settlement  of  thi? 
section.  The  new  comers  were  at  first  almost  exclusively  from  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts.  They  brought  with  them  their  religious  ideas  and  preju- 
dices, their  virtues  and  social  customs,  their  peculiarities,  and  above  all,  their 
New  England  thrift,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  for  many  years  the  inhabitants 
of  Portage  County,  as  well  as  the  entire  tract  of  territory  knowu  as  the  Con- 
necticut Western  Reserve,  so  closely  resembled  their  ancestors  in  their  modes 
of  life  and  veins  of  thought,  as  to  be  but  a  transplantation  of,  or  an  enlarge- 
ment upon,  the  land  of  the  "Pilgrim  Fathers."  The  two  upper  tiers  of  town- 
ships, especially,  were  peopled  from  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  a 
native  of  any  other  State  was  rarely  to  be  found.  The  pioneers  of  the  two 
southern  tiers  of  townships,  however,  were  from  New  England  and  Pennsvl- 
vania,  with  here  and  there  a  Virginian,  a  Carolinian,  or  a  Marylander. 
Many  Germans  came  in  later,  bringing  with  them  their  hardiness  of  constitu- 
tion and  industry,  and  bringing  up  the  land  upon  which  they  settled  to  the 
highest  point  of  fertility.  In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county  many  of  that 
sturdy  race,  the  Welsh,  have  settled,  and  in  one  township  largely  outnumber 
the  purely  American  population. 

In  those  early  days  the  entire  communitv  were  producers— every  man 
woman,  boy  and  girl  had  their  duties  to  perform.  They  lived  in  comparative 
social  equality,  and  the  almighty  dollar  did  not  form  a  barrier  between  the 
rich  and  the  poor;  a  man  was  esteemed  not  for  his  money  bags,  but  for  actual 
merit.  A.11  aristocratic  distinctions  were  left  beyond  the  mountains,  and  the 
only  society  lines  were  to  separate  the  bad  from  the  good.  Rich  and  poor 
dressed  alike,  homespun  being  almost  universal,  whilst  the  primitive  cabin  was 
furnished  with  the  same  style  of  simplicity.  Bedsteads  often  consisted  of 
forked  sticks  driven  in  the  ground,  with  crosspoles  to  support  the  clapboards 
or  cord.  We  have  gi-own  older,  in  many  respects,  if  not  wiser,  and  could  not 
think  of  living  on  what  our  ancestors  lived.  But  this  is  an  age  of  progress 
and  improvement,  and  these  observations  are  made  by  way  of  contrasting  the 
past  with  the  present.  The  pioneers  who  endured  the  hardships,  and  ofttimes 
the  dangers  from  wild  beasts  and  still  wilder  men  have,  with  few  exceptions, 
passed  to  their  final  account,  and  all  that  remains  for  their  descendants  to  do 
18  to  keep  bright  the  recollections  of  such  names  and  such  events  as  have  come 
down  to  them,  for  the  memory  of  their  deeds  should  be  "written  in  characters 
of  living  light  upon  the  firmament,  there  to  endure  as  radiant  as  if  every  let- 
ter were  traced  in  shining  stars." 

The  first  settlement  within  the  bounds  of  what  is  now  Portage  County  was 
made  in  the  fall  of  1798,  in  Mantua  Township,  on  Lot  24,  by  Abram  S.  Honev, 
who  erected  a  log  cabin,  made  a  clearing,  and  put  out  a  small  crop  of  wheat' 
which  was  harvested  the  following  season  by  his  brother-in-law,  Ruf us  Ed- 
wards, who  owned  the  land,  but  who  had  sent  Honey  in  advance  to  prepare  the 
way.     A  man  by  the  name  of  Peter  French  is  said  to  have  been  at  the  point 


230  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

■where  Edwards  settled,  as  early  as  Honey,  but  be  made  no  permanent  settle- 
ment and  may  have  been  simply  a  helper  of  the  latter.  William  Crooks  was 
the  next  permanent  settler  to  come  in  after  those  named  above,  and  he  built  a 
cabin  and  made  a  clearing  on  the  southwest  part  of  Lot  29.  He  remained  a 
resident  of  Mantua  till  1854,  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty-five.  Elias  Harmon 
arrived  at  the'  clearing  Honey  had  made  on  the  12th  of  June,  1799,  where  he 
remained  a  short  time,  and  then  proceeded  to  Aurora,  where  he  had  engaged 
to  make  some  improvements  on  the  land  of  Ebenezer  Sheldon.  Harmon  came 
in  company  with  three  other  men  who  have  had  considerable  local  notoriety: 
Benjamin  Tappan,  Jr.,  of  Ravenna,  afterward  a  resident  of  Steubenville;  David 
Hudson,  of  Summit  County,  and  Jotham  Atwater,  of  Euclid.  Mr.  Harmon 
was  for  a  number  of  years  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  county  and  left 
many  descendants.     He  was  the  first  Treasurer  of  the  county. 

In  June,  1799,  Benjamin  Tappan,  Jr.,  son  of  Benjamin  Tappan,  of  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  one  of  the  principal  proprietors  of  the  present  territory  known 
as  Ravenna  Township,  set  out  from  his  home  in  the  East  to  make  a  settlement 
on  the  land  of  his  father.  On  his  journey,  Mr.  Tappan  fell  in  with  David 
Hudson,  at  Gerondaquet  Bay,  N.  Y.,  wl\om  he  took  in  his  boat'and  assisted  on 
his  way  to  what  is  now  Summit  County.  In  company  they  overtook  Elias  Har- 
mon in  a  small  boat  with  his  wife,  bound  to  Mantua.  At  Niagara  they  found 
the  river  full  of  ice,  which  compelled  them  to  convey  their  boats  to  some  dis- 
tance around  and  above  the  Falls.  Proceeding  on  their  dangerous  way  vast 
bodies  of  floating  ice  impeded  their  progress,  and  they  had  to  get  out  upon  the 
shore  and  drag  their  boats  along  with  I'opes  till  they  were  clear  of  the  stronger 
current  running  to  the  Falls.  When  they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  lake 
they  also  found  it  full  of  floating  ice,  and  had  to  remain  tbei'e  several  days 
before  proceeding.  Ofi"  Ashtabula  County  their  boats  were  driven  ashore  in  a 
storm,  and  that  of  Mr.  Harmon  stove  to  pieces,  the  latter  traveling  thence  by 
land  to  his  destination.  Tappan  and  his  companions  sailed  along  the  shore- 
line till  they  arrived  at  Cleveland,  which  consisted  at  that  time  of  one  log- 
cabin.  Entering  the  Cuyahoga  River  and  following  its  sinuosities,  but  know- 
ing nothing  at  all  of  its  depth,  they  soon  found  that  they  would  have  to  either 
abandon  their  boats  or  di'ag  them  over  the  frequent  rapids  in  the  river.  After 
much  difficulty,  however,  they  passed  safely  onward,  and,  judging  from  the  dis- 
tance traveled,  thought  that  they  were  in  about  the  latitude  of  the  township  of 
which  they  were  in  search.  They  landed  at  a  point  where  now  is  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton, in  Summit  County,  where  Tappan  left  all  of  his  goods  under  a  tent  with  a 
hired  man,  and  taking  Benjamin  Bigsby  with  him  commenced  to  cut  out  a  road  to 
Eavenna.  They  built  a  sled  and  witb  a  yoke  of  oxen  Mr.  Tappan  had  bought 
in  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  conveyed  a  load  of  his  farming  utensils  to  his  set- 
tlement in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  township,  where,  owing  to  delays,  a 
cabin  was  not  finished  till  the  first  of  the  following  year,  ISOO.  He  subse- 
quently erected  a  house  about  one  mile  east  of  Ravenna  on  the  Marcus  Heath 
farm.  Returning  for  a  second  load,  he  found  that  his  efi"ects  had  been  aban- 
doned and  partly  plundered,  and  to  make  it  still  worse,  one  of  his  oxen  became 
overheated  and  died.  From  a  sketch  of  Hon.  Benjamin  Tappan,  published 
in  the  Democratic  Review  for  June,  1840,  we  extract  the  following: 

"The  death  of  one  of  his  oxen  left  him  in  a  vast  forest,  distant  from  any 
habitation,  without  a  team,  and  what  was  still  worse,  with  but  a  single  dol- 
lar in  money.  He  was  not  depressed  for  an  instant  by  these  untoward  cir- 
cumstances. He  sent  one  of  his  men  through  the  woods,  with  a  compass,  to 
Erie,  Penn. ,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles,  requesting  from 
Capt.  Lyman,   the  commandant  at  the  fort,    a  loan  of   money.     At  the  same 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  231 

time,  he  himself  followed  the  township  lines  to  Youngstown,  where  he  became 
acquainted  with  Col.  James  Hillman,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  sell  him  an  ox, 
on  credit,  at  a  fair  price — an  act  of  generosity  which  proved  of  great  value, 
as  the  want  of  a  team  must  have  broken  up  his  settlement.  The  unexpected 
delays  upon  the  journey,  and  other  hindrances,  prevented  them  from  raising  a 
crop  this  season,  and  they  had,  after  the  provisions  brought  with  them  were 
exhausted,  to  depend  for  meat  upon  their  skill  in  hunting  and  purchases  from 
the  Indians,  and  for  meal  upon  the  scanty  supplies  procured  from  west- 
tern  Pennsylvania.  Having  set  out  with  the  determination  to  spend  the  win- 
ter, he  erected  a  log-cabin,  into  which  himself  and  one  Bigsby,  whom  he  had 
agreed  to  give  one  hundi'ed  acres  of  land  on  condition  of  settlement,  moved 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  1800,  before  which  they  lived  under  a  bark  camp 
and  tent." 

During  the  spring  following  the  removal  of  Tappan  into  his  first  cabin, 
which  stood  on  the  Capt.  J.  D.  King  farm,  several  other  settlers  came 
into  Ravenna,  among  whom  were  William  Chard  and  Conrad  Boos- 
inger,  the  latter  coming  in  August,  and  bringing  his  wife,  sons  George  and 
John,  and  daughter  Polly.  Boosinger  settled  on  200  acres  of  land  about 
one  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  the  present  town  of  Ravenna,  made  a 
clearing  and  sowed  it  in  wheat.  Chard  located  on  Lot  33.  Boosinger  being 
a  tanner,  constructed  a  couple  of  vats  soon  after  he  came,  which  was  the  first 
effort  in  that  direction,  and  the  first  public  enterprise  in  the  way  of  manufac- 
tures in  the  county.  The  privations  of  these  early  settlers  of  the  Western 
Reserve  cannot  now  be  described  or  realized,  and  why  a  young  lawyer  like 
Benjamin  Tappan,  Jr.,  surrounded  with  all  of  the  comforts  of  an  Eastern 
home,  would  venture  out  into  an  unknown  wilderness,  seems  to  us  now  some- 
thing wonderful. 

During  the  same  month  in  which  Benjamin  Tappan  and  his  party  arrived 
in  Ravenna,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  of  Suffield,  Conn.,  came  into  Aurora  Township, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  Elias  Harmon  and  his  wife,  made  a  settlement  on 
Lot  40.  After  the  erection  of  a  cabin  and  making  a  small  clearing  in  the  prim- 
itive forest,  Harmon  and  wife  moved  to  Mantua  Township,  where  they  ever 
afterward  resided.  Sheldon  then  returned  to  Connecticut,  and  in  the  following 
spring,  1800,  came  out  to  his  new  home,  bringing  his  wife,  four  sons  and  two 
daughters.  They  rode  the  entire  distance  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  leading  a  pair  of  young  horses.  They  came  safely  as  far  as  War- 
ren, which  at  that  time  consisted  of  a  few  log  structures,  but  after  leaving 
there  a  storm  overtook  them  in  the  woods  and  they  were  very  near  perishing 
from  falling  trees.  They  managed  to  avoid  all  accidents,  however,  but  were 
literally  penned  in  and  had  to  remain  in  the  woods  all  night,  only  being 
released  the  next  day  by  getting  assistance  and  cutting  a  road  out.  One  of  the 
daughters  of  this  sturdy  old  pioneer,  the  year  following  their  arrival,  married 
Amzi  AtAvater,  of  Mantua,  one  of  the  surveyors  who  accompanied  Cleveland  in 
the  survey  of  the  Western  Reserve,  and  who  afterward  became  one  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  a  leading  citizen  of 
the  county.  Ebenezer  Sheldon  and  his  family  were  the  only  inhabitants  of 
Aurora  for  three  years  after  they  arrived  there,  but  in  1803  quite  a  number 
came  in,  among  whom  were  Samuel  Forward  and  his  family,  from  Granby, 
Conn.  The  next  year  came  James  M.  Henry,  John  Cochran,  Jr.,  David  Ken- 
nedy, Sr.,  Ebenezer  Kennedy,  Samuel  Ferguson  and  several  others.  Within 
a  year  or  two  afterward  came  Moses  Eggleston,  father  of  Gen.  Nelson  Eggles- 
ton;  also  Joseph  Eggleston,  brother  of  Moses,  together  with  Capt.  Perkins, 
Col.  Ebenezer  Harmon,  Isaac  Blair  and  others  from  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. 


232  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE   COUNTY. 

Early  in  April,  1799,  two  months  before  any  settlers  had  arrived  in  Ravenna 
or  Aurora  Townships,  and  only  six  months  after  Honey  had  made  his  clearing 
in  Mantua,  six  persons  made  their  way  into  what  is  now  Atwater  Township. 
They  came  from  Wallingford,  Conn.,  and  were  Capt.  Caleb  Atwater,  Jonathan 
Merrick,  Peter  Bunnell,  Asahel  Blakesley  and  Asa  Hall  and  his  wife.  This 
party,  headed  by  Atwater,  surveyed  the  township  into  lots,  and  in  the  fall  all 
of  them,  with  the  exception  of  Hall  and  his  wife,  returned  to  their  homes  in 
the  East.  From  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  this  first  settler  till  the  spring  of 
1801 — two  years — Hall  and  his  wife  were  the  only  persons  in  the  township, 
his  nearest  neighbor  being  Lewis  Ely,  over  in  Deertield  Township,  who  had 
come  out  with  others  shortly  after  Hall's  arrival.  Although  having  a  lonesome 
time  during  those  two  years  in  the  wilderness,  an  incident  happened  within 
Hall's  household  that  was  calculated  in  a  measure  to  relieve  the  tedium  of, 
whilst  it  imposed  additional  cares  upon,  the  life  of  this  pioneer  couple.  The 
"incident"  was  a  child  born  to  them  in  the  spring  of  1800,  which  was 
promptly  and  appropriately  named  Atwater  Hall,  and  had  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  white  child  born  in  Portage  County.  Hall  was  considerable  of  a 
hunter,  and  as  may  well  be  supposed,  had  ample  opportunity  and  game  to 
gratify  all  his  taste  in  that  direction,  but  he  eventually  got  tired  of  his  lone- 
some life  and  moved  in  1801  to  near  the  Deertield  Township  line,  where  he 
could  more  easily  reach  the  settlements  in  that  township.  About  the  time 
Hall  moved  from  his  first  location,  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  came  in  from  Walling- 
ford, Conn.,  and  settled  about  two  miles  south  of  the  Center  of  Atwater  Town- 
ship. These  two  families  for  the  next  three  years  were  the  only  persons  in 
the  township,  but  after  that  period  settlers  came  in  rapidly,  most  of  whom 
were  from  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  but  about  1807  quite  a  number  of 
persons  from  South  Carolina  settled  here,  among  whom  were  Enos  Davis, 
whose  son  Isaac,  then  a  boy  of  ten  years  is  still  living,  nearly  ninety  years  of  age; 
also,  from  the  same  State, came  William  Marshall,  John  Huttou  and  John  Camp- 
bell. Among  the  arrivals  shortly  before  and  about  the  year  1806-07  were  Jere- 
miah Jones,  Josiah  Mix,  John  H.  Whittlesey,  Caleb  Mattoon,  Asahel  Blakesley 
and  Ira  and  Amos  Morse.  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  was  the  agent  of  Capt.  Atwater, 
who  owned  not  only  the  entire  township,  but  several  others  and  portions  of  others 
on  the  Reserve,  he  being  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Connecticut  Land 
Company.  Maj.  Ransom  Baldwin,  now  I'esiding,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-two  years,  on  the  original  land  located  by  his  father,  is  the  son  of  David 
Baldwin,  he  being  born  in  1802,  the  second  male  child  born  in  the  township 
of  Atwater.  The  settlement  of  this  portion  of  the  county  was  very  rapid,  as 
the  land  was  considered  by  most  of  the  early  comers  to  be  better  in  the  southern 
than  in  the  northern  portions  of  the  county. 

The  first  settler  in  that  division  of  the  county  known  as  Palmyra  Township 
was  David  Daniels,  who  left  his  home  in  Grattan,  Conn.,  in  the  spring  of 
1799,  and  arrived  there  in  June,  locating  on  Lot  21,  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  south  of  the  Center.  At  the  drawing  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company, 
Palmyra  Township  fell  to  the  lot  of  eight  persons,  Elijah  Boardman  being  the 
principal  owner,  and  these  gentlemen,  as  an  inducement  to  its  settlement,  gave 
Daniels  100  acres  of  land  to  go  there,  make  a  clearing  and  build  a  cabin, 
which  he  accordingly  did.  He  put  in  a  small  crop  of  wheat,  which  was  duly 
harvested  the  following  season,  and  after  threshing  his  crop  carried  a  bushel 
of  the  grain  on  his  shoulders  to  Poland,  about  thirty  miles  away,  had  it  ground 
and  returned  with  it  to  his  humble  cabin.  Daniels  was  a  soldier  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary Army  and  died  in  1813,  having  been  highly  respected.  He  was  the 
first  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Palmyra   Township  after  its  organization.     Not 


(ZiAi^  ,         ^  ^ 


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HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  235 

long  after  the  settlement  of  Daniels,  Ethelbert  Baker  came  in  and  located 
about  half  a  mile  sovith  of  the  Center  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  and  the 
next  year,  1800,  in  the  spring,  William  Bacon  arrived  and  located  one  and  a 
quarter  miles  south  of  the  Center.  In  1802  came  a  son-in-law  of  Nehemiah 
Bacon — E.  Cutler — who  located  two  miles  south  of  the  Center,  and  in  1804 
James  McKelvey,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Amasa  Preston  arrived.  In  1805 
quite  a  delegation  came  in  from  Connecticut,  among  whom  were  David,  Silas 
and  Asahel  Waller,  John  Tuttle,  Jr.,  and  Capt.  John  T.  Baldwin;  the  latter, 
who  was  from  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  bringing  his  wife  and  three  sons,  one 
of  whom.  Squire  Alva  Baldwin,  still  resides  upon  the  farm  originally  owned 
by  his  father.  Capt.  Baldwin  for  many  years  kept  a  tavern  at  the  Center  of 
Palmyra.  In  1806  Truman  Gilbert,  Sr. ,  also,  from  Litchlield,.Conn. ,  arrived 
and  settled  west  of  the  Center.  He  brought  his  wife,  seven  sons  and  one 
daughter,  the  latter  still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 

In  the  spring  of  1799  Lewis  Day  and  Horatio  Day,  of  Connecticut,  came 
to  their  purchase  of  land  in  Deertield  Township.  They  came  through  in  a 
wagon  drawn  by  horses,  selected  their  locations,  made  a  clearing  and  put  out 
a  crop  of  wheat.  The  first  actual  settler,  however,  was  Lewis  Ely,  who  came 
in  July,  bringing  his  family  and  settling  down  to  business  at  once,  while  the 
Days  in  the  fall  returned  to  their  homes  in  the  East.  Ely  located  on  Lot  19, 
just  east  of  the  old  grave-yard.  The  following  year,  1800,  was  marked 
by  the  arrival  in  Deerfield  of  several  men  who  afterward  became  prominent  in 
the  history  of  the  county.  In  February  Alva  Day,  John  Campbell  and  Joel 
Thrall  started  from  their  homes  in  Connecticut  and  walked  the  entire  distance, 
arriving  here  in  March,  after  an  exceedingly  rough  time,  as  the  mountains 
over  which  they  had  to  pass  were  covered  with  five  or  six  feet  of  snow,  subject- 
ing them  to  much  su£fering  from  the  cold.  Provisions  were  exceedingly  scarce 
at  this  time,  and  Lewis  Ely  and  Alva  Day  were  compelled  to  make  a  trip  to  the 
Ohio  River  to  procure  some  bacon  and  meal.  They  constructed  a  canoe  from 
a  log,  floated  it  down  to  the  Ohio  River,  and  at  a  point  opposite  Steubenville, 
procured  what  they  needed  and  brought  it  back  with  an  ox  team.  James 
Laughlin  also  came  this  year  from  Pennsylvania.  In  July  Lewis  Day  returned 
bringing  out  his  wife  and  six  children:  Horatio,  Munn,  Seth,  Lewis,  Jr., 
Solomon  and  Seba  Day.  During  the  next  three  or  four  years  following  1800 
the  township  filled  up  very  rapidly,  many  of  the  settlers  coming  from  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland  and  Virginia.  Ephraim  B.  Hubbard,  of  Connecticut, 
came  about  this  time,  and  in  1803  Daniel  Diver  and  his  family.  Noah  Grant, 
the  grandfather  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  is  supposed  to  have  settled  in  Deerfield 
about  1804-05,  where  he  opened  a  tannery  and  followed  shoe-making.  Noah 
brought  his  wife  and  little  son  Jesse,  aged  about  ten  years,  father  of  the  now 
illustrious  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  to  whom  the  country  owes  so  much,  for  to  him 
is  largely  due  the  conception  of  the  proper  mode  to  crush  out  the  modern 
python  of  armed  secession.  Rev.  Shadrack  Bostwick,  son  in-law  of  Daniel 
Diver,  came  in  1803.  This  gentleman  was  one  of  the  early  circuit-riders  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  and  was  a  physician  as  well. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  there  arrived  in  Nelson  Township,  from  Becket,  Mass., 
Delaun,  Asahel  and  Isaac  Mills,  sons  of  Deacon  Ezekiel  Mills.  The  first  two 
were  married  and  brought  out  their  families;  the  latter  was  single.  They 
came  in  covered  wagons  and  several  weeks  were  occupied  in  the  trip,  during 
which  time  their  money  had  dwindled  down  to  less  than  25  cents.  Falling  in 
with  XJrial  Holmes,  the  principal  proprietor  of  Nelson  Township,  the  brothers 
engaged  with  him  to  serve  as  ax-men  to  the  surveyors,  who  were  under  charge 
of  Amzi  Atwater.     After  finishing  their  job,  Delaun  settled  on   a  lot  of  100 


236  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

acres  which  had  been  donated  to  him  by  Holmes.  It  was  on  the  north  side  of 
the  road  just  west  of  the  Center.  Asahel  settled  on  a  100  acre  lot  on  the 
north  and  south  road.  Delaun,  or  Capt.  Delaun  Mills,  as  he  was  afterward 
known,  was  looked  upon  as  the  Daniel  Boone  of  this  section,  and  a  full 
account  of  him  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  Nelson  Township.  For  nearly 
three  years  the  two  brothers,  Delaun  and  Asahel  (Isaac  having  returned  to  the 
East)  and  their  families  were  the  only  white  inhabitants  of  Nelson  Township; 
but  in  the  spring  of  1803  seven  families  came  in,  they  being  Stephen  Baldwin, 
Benjamin  Stow  and  two  sons,  John  Bancroft  and  four  sons,  Daniel  Owen,  two 
Stiles  brothers,  William  and  Thomas  Kennedy  and  Asa  Truesdell.  In  July, 
1804,  Col.  John  Garrett,  who  founded  Garrettsville,  or  rather  built  a  mill  at 
that  point,  and  for  whom  that  enterprising  little  town  is  named,  came  into 
Nelson,  and  about  the  same  time  Abraham  Dyson  and  a  German  named  Johann 
Noah,  all  coming  from  the  State  of  Delaware.  In  the  following  year,  1805, 
came  John  Tinker,  Nathaniel  Bancroft,  Martin  Manley  and  Daniel  Wood. 

Ephraim  Root,  principal  proprietor  of  Rootstown  Township,  in  company 
with  a  young  man  named  Harvey  Davenport,  came  out  in  the  spring  of  1800 
to  survey  his  land,  which  was  done,  he  returning  in  the  fall,  but  leaving  his 
companion  in  the  wilderness,  the  unfortunate  young  man  having  suddenly 
died.  In  the  spring  of  1801  Mr.  Root  again  came  out,  bringing  his  brother 
David,  and  they  together  made  a  settlement  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
township.  They  erected  a  two-story  log-cabin  not  far  from  where  now  is 
Campbellsport.  Nathan  Muzzy,  of  whom  frequent  mention  is  made  in  several 
of  the  township  sketches,  came  to  the  county  about  this  time,  and  did  the  car- 
penter work  for  the  Roots.  Muzzy  discovered  the  little  lake  which  has  ever 
since  borne  his  name.  Poor  old  Nathan!  His  life-story  was  a  romance:  A 
graduate  of  Yale, brilliant  young  minister,  crossed  in  love,  reason  dethroned,  a 
wanderer  in  the  West,  decrepit  and  penniless,  buried  by  the  hand  of  charity. 
In  1802  Henry  O'Neill,  an  Irishman  of  fine  education  and  a  pioneer  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  Samuel  McCoy  came  in  and  together  erected  a  cabin  on  Lot 
3,  but  McCoy,  also  an  Irishman,  afterward  moved  to  Lot  28.  In  the  fall  of 
this  year  Michael  Hartle  and  Frederick  Caris,  originally  from  Northumberland 
County,  Penn.,  and  the  following  year  John  Caria  came  in,  also  Arthur 
Anderson.  In  1804,  in  addition  to  a  number  of  others,  the  Chapmans  made  a 
settlement  on  Lot  4.  Jacob  and  Abraham  Reed  settled  on  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  Lot  15.  In  the  fall  of  1805  Beman  Chapman,  brother  of  Ephraim, 
arrived  with  his  wife  and  brother  Nathan.  Stephen  Colton  came  about  this 
time,  and  Gersham  Bostwick  in  1806. 

Bela  Hubbard  and  Salmon  Ward,  natives  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  the  year 
1802  removed  with  their  families  to  Randolph  Townshi}),  from  Jefferson 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  they  had  resided  since  1799.  These  two  old  pioneers 
made  a  halt  about  half  a  mile  west  of  the  Center,  and  the  first  night  camped 
under  a  large  tree,  but  the  next  day  built  them  a  cabin.  Ward  was  taken  sick, 
and  upon  recovery  returned  to  his  Eastern  home.  He,  however,  made  three  other 
trials  at  settling  here,  and  as  many  times  gave  it  up.  The  last  time  he  started 
for  the  East  was  the  last  ever  heard  of  him  by  his  friends.  For  six  weeks 
Hubbard  was  the  solitary  inhabitant  of  Randolph  Township,  and  a  lonely  time 
he  must  have  had  of  it,  bat  in  July  came  Arad  Upson,  originally  from  Ply- 
mouth, Conn. ;  also  Joseph  Harris,  from  the  same  State.  In  the  fall  came  Calvin 
Ward  and  John  Ludington.  In  the  spring  of  1803  Josiah  Ward,  wife  and  six 
children  moved  in,  and  daring  the  summer  Jehiel  Savage  and  Timothy  Culver 
arrived  from  Atwater,  where  they  had  at  first  located.  In  the  fall  Salmon 
Ward,   on  his  third  return  trip,  brought  with  him  Aaroa  Weston,  Levi  Davis, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  237 

and  two  young  men  named  Carey  and  Smith,  the  latter  two  simply  coming  to 
trade  with  the  Indians.  In  November,  1804,  Ebenezer  Goss,  and  in  Decern 
ber  following  Eliakim  Merriman,  the  first  from  Plymouth  and  the  last  from 
Wallingford,  Conn.,  came  in.  July  17,  1805,  Oliver  Dickinson  and  family, 
from  East  Granville,  Mass.,  arrived.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  one 
of  the  most  useful  members  of  the  first  settlement.  During  this  same  year 
Isaac  Merriman  from  Connecticut,  Archibald  Coon  from  Pennsylvania,  John 
Goss,  and  Jeremiah  Sabin  and  bis  son  Abel  located  in  the  township.  In 
1806  came  Hiram  Raymond,  Thomas  Miller,  Nathan  Sears  and  son  Elisha, 
and  Rev.  Henry  Ely,  all  of  Connecticut,  William  Thornton  from  Pennsylva- 
nia and  Daniel  Cross  from  Vermont.  In  1807  Deacon  Stephen  Butler  and 
Caleb  Wetmore  moved  in  from  Connecticut,  but  removed  to  Stow  Township  in  a 
few  years.  Dr.  Rufus  Belding,  from  Cattaraugas  County,  N.  Y.,  settled  here 
this  year,  whei'e  he  practiced  his  profession  for  nearly  thirty  years.  Among 
the  leading  names  of  settlers  in  the  few  years  succeeding  the  last  date  are 
those  of  Nathaniel  Bancroft,  Sylvester  Tinker  and  Deacon  James  Coe. 

"In  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  county  a  settlement  was  made  in  May, 
1802,  by  Royal  Pease,  a  native  of  Suffield,  Conn.,  who  owned  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  land  comprised  in  the  township  now  known  as  Suffield.  Pease 
settled  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Kent  Farm,  and  made  a  clearing,  built  a 
cabin  and  put  out  a  crop  of  wheat.  This  old  pioneer  remained  alone  at  his 
settlement  for  nearly  a  year,  but  the  following  spring  after  his  arrival  Ben- 
jamin Baldwin  made  his  appearance,  and  soon  after  him  David  Way  and 
family.  In  1804  John  Fritch,  a  Pennsylvania  German,  located  at  the  little 
lake  that  has  since  borne  his  name.  In  this  year  also  came  from  Connecticut 
Daniel  Warner,  Ezekiel  Tupper,  Bradford  Waldo  and  Champlin  Minard.  In 
1805  Martin  Kent  and  family  and  Jonathan  Foster  came  in;  also,  Samuel 
Hale  and  his  sons  Thomas  and  Orestes.  During  the  next  few  years  settlers 
were  quite  numerous,  and  among  the  most  noted  was  Moses  Adams,  from  Mas- 
sachusetts. Many  Germans  have  from  time  to  time  settled  in  Suffield  Town- 
ship, and  form  a  large  portion  of  its  present  population. 

In  Charlestown  Township  a  man  by  the  name  of  Abel  Forsha,  from  Mary- 
land, about  1803,  squatted  on  a  piece  of  land  afterward  known  as  "  Farnham's 
Hill,"  where  he  lived  for  a  short  time,  afterward  removing  to  Ravenna;  but 
the  first  permanent  settler  was  John  Campbell,  who  moved  here  from  Deerfield 
Township  in  1805,  and  remained  throughout  his  life  one  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  the  county.  A  company  from  Blanford  and  Granville,  Mass.,  com- 
posed of  thirteen  families,  gave  the  township  an  impetus  in  1809. 

Hiraui  Township,  which  originally  comprised  the  territory  now  known  as 
Hiram,  Mantua,  Shalersville,  Freedom,  Windham  and  Nelson,  I'eceived  its 
first  settlers  in  1802,  when  Elijah  Mason,  Elisha  Hutchinson  and  Mason  Til- 
den  came  in  and  settled  respectively  as  follows:  Mason,  who  was  from  Leba- 
non, Conn.,  selected  the  west  half  of  Lot  23;  Hutchinson,  who  was  from  Her- 
kimer County,  N.  Y. ,  also  selected  a  portion  of  Lot  23,  and  Tilden,  from  Con- 
necticut, selected  Lot  22.  In  the  fall  they  all  returned  to  their  homes  in  the 
East.  John  Fleming  came  about  the  same  time,  but  remained  only  one  year. 
In  1803  the  three  first-named  persons  again  came  out  and  made  improvements 
on  their  land.  Mason  cleared  twenty-two  acres,  built  a  cabin,  and  put  out  a 
crop  of  wheat.  They  all  then  again  returned  to  their  homes.  Three  men 
whom  Mason  and  Tilden  had  in  their  employ,  liking  the  country,  remained. 
These  men  were  Richard  Redden  and  Jacob  and  Samuel  Wirt,  all  from 
Pennsylvania.  In  1804  William  Fenton  and  Cornelius  Baker  settled  on  Lot 
38,    the   first    on   the    east   half    of    the    west    half,    and    the    other    on   the 


238  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

west  half  of  the  same.  Eoswell  Mason,  son  of  Elijah,  and  some  others, 
came  out  in  1807,  but  as  late  as- 1809  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  only 
twenty.  In  1811  the  Youngs  came  from  Connecticut;  also  Elisha  Hutch- 
inson. For  five  or  six  years  after  the  last  date  many  settlers  came  in, 
and  an  enumeration  of  them  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of   Hiram  Township. 

John  Haymaker,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  from  near  Pittsburgh,  in  the 
fall  of  1805  made  the  first  settlement  in  Franklin  Township.  He  brought 
his  wife  and  three  children,  and  at  first  located  on  the  Cuyahoga,  just  west  of 
where  the  upper  bridge  now  is  in  Kent.  The  following  spring  George  Hay- 
maker, a  brother  of  John,  and  their  father,  Jacob,  arrived.  The  next  year 
the  Haymakers  built  a  mill,  the  Cuyahoga  River  at  the  point  where  they 
settled  affording  ample  water  power.  Settlement  in  Franklin  was  rather  slow 
for  many  years,  considering  the  natural  advantages  of  the  township.  Jacob 
Reed,  who  had  settled  in  Rootstown  in  1804,  came  to  Franklin  in  1811.  and 
purchased  the  Haymaker  Mill,  and  ran  it  for  several  years, when  it  was  in  turn 
purchased  by  George  B.  DePeyster,  For  a  more  extended  account  of  the 
early  settlement  of  Franklin,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  two  chapters  on  that 
township. 

The  first  settlement  in  Shalersville  Township  was  made  in  the  spring  of 
1806  by  Joel  Baker,  from  Tolland  County,  Conn.  He  brought  his  wife  and 
one  child  and  located  on  Lot  46,  erecting  his  cabin  and  digging  a  well  nearly 
opposite  where  the  hotel  at  the  Center  now  stands.  For  two  years  Baker  and 
his  family  were  alone  in  this  part  of  the  wilderness,  but  in  1808  Simeon 
Belden  and  Calvin  Crane,  from  Say  brook,  Conn.,  came  in,  located  their  future 
homes  and  then  returned  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  they  had  resided 
several  years,  but  the  following  spring  came  out  for  permanent  residence. 
Hezekiah  Hine,  Daniel  Keyes  and  his  son,  Asa  D.  Keyes,  also  came  in  1808. 
In  1810  William  Coolman,  Sr.,  and  family  came  from  Middletown,  Conn. ; 
also,  Daniel  Burroughs,  and  his  sons,  Asa  K.  and  Greenhood,  from  Vermont, 
and  others.  In  1814  Silas  Crocker,  then  a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  came  in  with 
Job  and  Benoni  Thompson.  Gen.  David  Mcintosh  and  Sylvester  Beecher 
came  later.  These  three  last-named  were  all  poor  boys,  but  they  each  left 
their  impress  on  the  county  of  their  adoption. 

Eber  Abbott,  of  Tolland  County,  Conn.,  in  the  spring  of  1811  came  to 
Edinburg  Township  and  settled  on  Lot  2,  Subdivision  5,  and  shortly  after 
him  his  bi'other-in-law,  Lemuel  Chapman,  located  near  him.  In  1813  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Howard  came  in  and  located  on  Silver  Creek.  In  1815  Alan- 
son  and  Justin  Eddy,  from  Williamstown,  arrived  with  their  families,  having 
come  the  entire  distance  in  sleighs.  Justin  made  his  settlement  on  the  now 
fine  farm  of  Mr.  Theodore  Clark.  Alanson  settled  on  the  farm  afterward 
owned  by  C.  H.  Rowell.  Robert  Calvin,  a  Virginian,  came  about  1816,  and 
settled  on  Lot  8.  He  was  the  father  of  Mr.  John  Calvin,  who  now  resides  in 
the  northeastern  portion  of  the  township.  David  Trowbridge  and  Sylvester 
Gilbert  also  came  at  this  time.  Richard  M.  Hart  came  in  1817,  and  Adnah 
H.  Bostwick  in  1819. 

In  1810  the  Becket  Land  Company  was  formed  in  Becket,  Berkshire  Co., 
Mass.,  for  the  purchase  and  settlement  of  the  lands  now  embraced  in  Windham 
Township,  most  of  which  then  belonged  to  Gov.  Caleb  Strong,  of  that  State. 
The  company  consisted  of  sixteen  persons,  viz. :  Bills  Messenger,  John  Seely, 
Jeremiah  Lyman,  Aaron  P.  Jagger,  Benjamin  C.  Perkins,  Elijah  Alford,  Alpheus 
Streator,  Benjamin  Higley,  Elisha  Clark,  Isaac  Clark,  Ebenezer  N.  Messenger, 
Thatcher  Conant,  Nathan  Birchard,  Enos  Kingsley,  Dillingham  Clark  and 
Gideon  Bush.     Early  in  1811  the  company  sent  out  four  young  men— Elijah 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  239 

Alford,  Jr.,  Oliver  Alford,  Ebenezer  O.  Messenger  and  Nathan  H.  Messenger — 
to  make  some  preparation  for  the  coming  population.  On  their  arrival  in 
Windham,  March  15,  the  Alfords  began  an  improvement  on  Lot  84,  and 
erected  a  cabin,  which  was  the  first  built  in  the  township.  The  Messengers- 
built  a  cabin  on  Lot  82.  These  two  cabins  constituted  VVindam  Township  in 
March,  1811,  and  the  population  up  to  the  2t7h  of  that  month  consisted  of  the 
four  pioneer  boys  previously  mentioned.  On  the  27th  Wareham  Loomis  and 
family  moved  in  from  Nelson.  This  was  the  first  family  in  the  township. 
Loomis  put  up  a  cabin  on  that  part  of  Lot  92  subsequently  owned  by  Daniel 
Jagger.  Hiram  Messenger,  a  son  of  Bills,  one  of  the  Becket  Land  Company, 
arrived  with  his  family  in  June,  1811,  being  the  first  installment  of  the  pro- 
prietors. He  settled  on  Lot  76.  His  father  came  with  him,  and  stayed  sev- 
eral months,  assisting  Hiram  in  making  improvements,  and  then  returned  to 
his  home.  In  July,  1811,  Alpheus  Streator,  Benjamin  Higley,  Ebenezer  N. 
Messenger,  Gideon  Bush,  Thatcher  Conant  and  Jeremiah  Lyman  arrived  and 
settled  on  their  lands,  and  the  following  October  Deacon  Elijah  Alford  joined 
the  settlement.  From  this  time  forward  settlers  continued  to  arrive  at  inter- 
vals, and  this  portion  of  the  county  rapidly  increased  in  population. 

In  consequence  of  a  certain  reputation  for  an  almost  uninhabitable  swamp- 
iness, Paris  Township,  although  excellent  land,  was  not  settled  very  early,  at 
least  not  as  early  as  it  should  have  been  under  the  circumstances.  Richard 
Hudson,  a  Pennsylvanian,  however,  ventured  in  about  June,  1811,  and  drove 
his  stakes  on  Lot  21.  John  Bridges,  son-in-law  of  Hudson,  came  the  next 
year,  and  about  the  same  time  John  Cox  and  John  Young.  In  1815  Chauncy 
Hawley  and  William  Selby,  in  1816  Brainard,  Newton  and  Thomas  Selby, 
and  in  1817  Austin  Wilson  and  John  Smith  arrived. 

The  first  permanent  settler  in  Brimfield  Township  was  John  Boosinger,  who 
removed  from  Ravenna  Township  in  1816,  settling  on  Lot  39.  In  November 
of  the  same  year  Henry  Thorndike  and  his  family,  with  his  brother  Israel, 
arrived.  In  the  employ  of  the  Thorndikes  was  Abner  H.  Lanphare,  who  lived 
to  an  advanced  age.  The  following  January  Deacon  Alpheus  Andrews  settled 
near  the  Center.  In  the  year  1817  many  settlers  came,  whose  names  will  be 
found  in  the  chapter  on  Brimfield. 

Charles  H.  Paine,  son  of  Gen.  Paine,  of  Painesville,  who  had  married  a 
daughter  of  Elijah  Mason,  of  Hii'am  Township,  settled  in  Freedom  Township 
in  the  spring  of  1818,  on  Lots  31  and  41,  and  from  that  time  till  1822  himself 
and  family  were  the  only  inhabitants  of  Freedom.  In  the  spring  of  the  year 
last  named,  however,  thirteen  persons  arrived,  all  in  one  family:  Thomas 
Johnston,  wife  and  eleven  children.  In  1823  came  Newell  Day,  and  Enos  and 
Asa  Wadsworth;  in  1824,  Rufus  Ranney,  father  of  Judge  R.  P.  Ranney,  and 
in  1825  Paul  Larkcom,  father  of  A.  C.  Larkcom,  still  a  resident  of  Freedom 
Township. 

Streetsboro  Township  settled  up  very  rapidly  from  the  time  the  first  settler 
made  his  appearance  in  1822,  that  person  being  Stephen  Myers,  who  located 
on  Lot  82.  He  made  a  clearing  and  put  up  a  distillery.  In  1824  a  number 
of  other  persons  came  in  and  rapidly  filled  up  the  township. 

Col.  John  Garrett,  of  Delaware,  as  noticed  elsewhere,  was  the  first  settler 
of  what  is  now  Garrettsville  Township. 

For  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  I'emembrance  of  the  old  pioneer  days  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  the  present  generation,  and  as  a  humble  monument  to  their 
deeds,  an  association  was  formed  a  few  years  ago,  entitled  "  The  Portage - 
Summit  Pioneer  Association."  From  the  eighth  annual  report  of  the  Secre- 
tary,  Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman,  of  Kent,  we  glean  the  following: 


240  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

"  Some  of  you  will  remember  that  on  the  10th  of  February,  1874,  seventy- 
three  persons  met  at  the  residence  of  the  venerable  Samuel  Olin,  in  Streets- 
boro,  mainly  by  invitation  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Stratton,  and  her  venerable 
husband.  The  primary  object  was  to  enjoy  a  social  reunion  of  "  Old  Folks," 
and  partake  of  Father  Olin's  generous  hospitality.  At  that  meeting  Christian 
Cackler,  being  the  first  white  boy  that  ever  crossed  the  Cuyahoga  River  here, 
invited  all  those  present  and  many  others  to  meet  at  his  pleasant  home  in 
October  following  to  enjoy  his  hospitality.  At  that  meeting  an  organization 
was  effected  that  has  enlarged  into  the  grand  proportions  of  your  present 
organization.  There  have  joined  up  to  this  meeting  620  persons,  and  out  of 
this  number  (up  to  the  fall  of  1882)  112  have  died.  Comparatively  few  of 
those  present  at  the  organization  remain.  Another  decade  will  evidently  wit- 
ness the  departure  from  earth  of  the  last  of  the  original  members.  The 
society,  since  it  extended  its  borders,  has  rapidly  grown,  including  as  it  now 
does  in  its  territory  all  of  Portage  and  Summit  Counties.  All  above  sisty 
years  of  age  are  permitted  to  become  members." 

The  annual  meetings  of  the  association  are  occasions  of  much  interest  and 
enjoyment,  as  many  as  5,000  to  6,000  persons  being  in  attendance.  Eloquent 
addresses  are  delivered,  music  by  the  Pioneer  Band  discoursed,  and  a  sump- 
tuous dinner  served  at  the  beautiful  grounds  selected  in  the  village  of  Kent. 
This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  the  people  of  to-day  scarcely  realize  or  appreciate 
how  much  they  owe  to  the  large-hearted  pioneer  fathers  and  mothers,  who, 
with  their  children,  braved  the  perils  of  the  wilderness;  who  reared  their 
families  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  implanted  within  them  many  of  the  virtues 
necessary  to  the  welfare  of  humanity,  then  'passed  from  the  scene  of  action, 
leaving  to  their  descendants  an  inheritance  that  should  ever  be  cherished  and 
kept  in  sacred  remembrance.  The  history  of  Portage  County  would  be  incom- 
plete without  fitting  notice  of  those  pioneers  who,  by  reason  of  their  limited 
sphere  of  action,  could  not  become  conspicuous  in  the  great  drama  of  life,  but 
whose  busy  hands  and  conscientious  regard  of  duty  made  them  necessary  fac- 
tors in  the  establishment  of  the  solid  foundation  upon  which  our  republican 
form  of  government  is  embedded.  It  is  a  little  thing  to  preserve  their  names 
in  the  pages  of  history,  yet  it  is  all  that  is  left  to  do,  for  their  lives  were  much 
alike;  they  met  the  stern  necessities  of  the  hour,  and  were  content  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  duty  well  done. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  241 


CHAPTER  V. 

Pioneer  Days  and  Trials— Habitations  of  the  First  Settlers— Furni- 
ture, Food  and  Medicine— Habits,  Labor  and  Dress— Early  Manners 
and  Customs— Bees  and  Weddings— The  Hominy  Block  and  Pioneer 
Mills— Prices  of  Store  Goods  and  Produce— Items  From  an  Old  Cash 
Book— Mode  of  Living— Churches  and  Schools— Period  of  the  War 
OF  1812— Prices  After  the  War— First  Crops  Eaised  in  the  County- 
Agricultural  Implements  of  the  Pioneers,  and  Subsequent  Improve- 
ments Made  in  Them— Pioneer  Farming— Cheese  and  Butter  Statis- 
tics—First Stock  Brought  into  the  County— Stock  Statistics  Since 
1840— Statistics  of  Wheat,  Corn,  Oats  and  Hay— Total  Valuation  of 
Property  by  Decades— Portage  County  Agricultural  Societies— Por- 
tage County  Horticultural  Society. 

THE  first  settlers  who  built  their  cabins  in  the  unbroken  forest  of  Portage 
County  came  not  to  enjoy  a  life  of  lotus-eating  and  ease.  They  could, 
doubtless,  admire  the  pristine  beauty  of  the  scenes  that  unveiled  before  them, 
the  vernal  green  of  the  forest,  and  the  loveliness  of  all  the  works  of  nature; 
they  could  look  forward  with  happy  anticipation  to  the  lives  they  were  to  lead 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  beauty,  and  to  the  rich  reward  that  would  be  theirs 
from  the  cultivation  of  the  mellow,  fertile  soil;  but  they  had  first  to  work. 
The  dangers  they  were  exposed  to  were  serious  ones.  The  Indians  could  not 
fully  be  trusted,  and  the  many  stories  of  their  depredations  in  the  earlier 
Eastern  settlements  made  the  pioneers  of  Ohio  apprehensive  of  trouble.  The 
larger  wild  beasts  were  a  cause  of  much  dread,  and  the  smaller  ones  a  source 
of  great  annoyance.  Added  to  this  was  tlie  liability  to  sickness  which  always 
exists  in  a  new  country.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  loveliness  of  the  surround- 
ings, there  was  a  sense  of  loneliness  that  could  not  be  dispelled,  and  this  was 
a  far  greater  trial  to  the  men  and  women  who  first  dwelt  in  the  "Western  coun- 
try than  is  generally  imagined.  The  deep-seated,  constantly  recurring  feeling 
of  isolation  made  many  stout  hearts  turn  back  to  the  older  settlements  and  the 
abodes  of  comfort,  the  companionship  and  sociability  they  had  abandoned  in 
their  early  homes  to  take  up  a  new  life  in  the  wilderness. 

The  pioneers  making  the  tedious  journey  from  the  East  and  South  by  the 
rude  trails,  arrived  at  their  places  of  destination  with  but  very  little  with 
which  to  begin  the  battle  of  life.  They  had  brave  hearts  and  strong  arms, 
however,  and  they  were  possessed  of  invincible  determination.  Frequently 
they  came  on  without  their  families  to  make  a  beginning,  and  this  having  been 
accomplished,  would  return  to  their  old  homes  for  their  wives  and  children. 
The  first  thing  done,  after  a  temporary  shelter  from  the  rain  had  been  pro- 
vided, was  to  prepare  a  little  spot  of  ground  for  some  crop,  usually  corn. 
This  was  done  by  girdling  the  trees,  clearing  away  the  underbrush,  if  there 
chanced  to  be  any,  and  sweeping  the  surface  with  fire.  Five,  ten,  or  even  fif- 
teen acres  of  land  might  thus  be  prepared  and  planted  the  first  season.  In 
the  autumn  the  crop  would  be  carefully  gathered  and  garnered  with  the  least 
possible  svaste,  for  it  was  the  food  supply  of  the  pioneer  and  his  family,  and 
life  itself  depended,  in  part,  upon  its  safe  preservation.  While  the  first  crop 
was  growing  the  pioneer  had  busied  himself  with  the  building  of  his  cabin, 
which  must  answer   as  a  shelter  from  the  storms  of  the  coming  winter,  a  pro- 


242  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

tection  from  the  ravages  of  wild  animals,  and,  possibly,  a  place   of  refuge 
from  the  red  man. 

If  a  pioneer  was  completely  isolated  from  his  fellow-men,  his  position  was 
certainly  a  hard  one;  for  without  assistance  he  could  construct  only  a  poor 
habitation.  In  such  cases  the  cabin  was  generally  made  of  light  logs  or  poles, 
and  was  laid  up  roughly,  only  to  answer  the  temporary  purpose  of  shelter,  until 
other  settlers  had  come  into  the  vicinity,  by  whose  help  a  more  solid  structure 
could  be  built.  Usually  a  number  of  men  came  into  the  country  together,  and 
located  within  such  distance  of  each  other  as  enabled  them  to  perform  many 
friendly  and  neighborly  offices.  Assistance  was  always  readily  given  each  pio- 
neer by  all  the  scattered  residents  of  the  forest  within  a  radius  of  several 
miles.  The  commonly  followed  plan  of  erecting  a  log-cabin  was  through  a 
union  of  labor.  The  site  of  the  cabin  home  was  generally  selected  with  refer- 
ence to  a  good  water  supply,  often  by  a  never-failing  spring  of  pure  water,  or 
if  such  could  not  be  found,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  first  dig  a  well.  When 
the  cabin  was  to  be  built  the  few  neighbors  gathered  at  the  site,  and  first  cut 
down,  within  as  close  proximity  as  possible,  a  number  of  trees  as  nearly  of  a 
size  as  could  be  found,  but  ranging  from  a  foot  to  twenty  inches  in  diameter. 
Logs  were  chopped  from  these  and  rolled  to  a  common  center.  This  work, 
and  that  of  preparing  the  foundation,  would  consume  the  greater  part  of  the 
day,  in  most  cases,  and  the  entire  labor  would  most  commonly  occupy  two  or 
three  days — sometimes  four.  The  logs  were  raised  to  their  places  with  hand- 
spikes and  "  skid  poles,"  and  men  standing  at  the  corners  with  axes  notched 
them  as  fast  as  they  were  laid  in  position.  Soon  the  cabin  would  be  built  sev- 
eral logs  high,  and  the  work  would  become  more  difficult.  The  gables  were 
formed  by  beveling  the  logs,  and  making  them  shorter  and  shorter,  as  each 
additional  one  was  laid  in  place.  These  logs  in  the  gables  were  held  in  place 
by  poles,  which  extended  across  the  cabin  from  end  to  end,  and  which  served 
also  as  rafters  upon  which  to  lay  the  rived  "  clapboard  "  roof.  The  so-called 
"  clapboards  "  were  five  or  six  feet  in  length,  and  were  split  from  oak  or  ash 
logs,  and  made  as  smooth  and  flat  as  possible.  They  were  laid  side  by  side, 
and  other  pieces  of  split  stuff  laid  over  the  cracks  so  as  to  effectually  keep 
out  the  rain.  Upon  these  logs  were  laid  to  hold  them  in  place,  and  the  logs 
were  held  by  blocks  of  wood  placed  between  them. 

The  chimney  was  an  important  part  of  the  structure,  and  taxed  the  build- 
ers, with  their  poor  tools,  to  their  utmost.  In  rare  cases  it  was  made  of  stone, 
but  most  commonly  of  logs  and  sticks  laid  up  in  a  manner  similar  to  those 
which  formed  the  cabin.  It  was,  in  nearly  all  cases,  built  outside  of  the  cabin, 
and  at  its  base  a  huge  opening  was  cut  through  the  wall  to  answer  as  a  fire- 
place. The  sticks  in  the  chimney  were  kept  in  place  and  protected  from  fire 
by  mortar,  formed  by  kneading  and  working  clay  and  straw.  Flat  stones  were 
procured  for  back  and  jambs  of  the  fire-place. 

An  opening  was  chopped  or  sawed  in  the  logs  on  one  side  of  the  cabin  for 
a  doorway.  Pieces  of  hewed  timber,  three  or  four  inches  thick,  were  fastened 
on  each  side  by  wooden  pins  to  the  end  of  the  logs,  and  the  door  (if  there  was 
any)  was  fastened  to  one  of  these  by  wooden  hinges.  The  door  itself  was  a 
clumsy  piece  of  wood-work.  It  was  made  of  boards  rived  from  an  oak  log, 
and  held  together  by  heavy  cross-pieces.  There  was  a  wooden  latch  upon 
the  inside,  raised  by  a  string  which  passed  through  a  gimlet-hole,  and  hung 
upon  the  outside.  From  this  mode  of  construction  arose  the  old  and  well- 
known  hospitable  saying:  "  You  will  find  the  latch-string  always  out."  It 
was  pulled  in  only  at  night,  and  the  door  was  thus  fastened.  Very  many  of 
the  cabins  of  the  pioneers  had  no  doors  of   the  kind  here  described,   and  the 


^^^'^      ^^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  245 

entrance  was  protected  only  by  a  blanket  or  skin  of  some  wild  beast  suspended 
above  it. 

The  window  was  a  small  opening,  often  devoid  of  anything  resembling  a 
sash,  and  very  seldom  having  glass.  Greased  paper  was  sometimes  used  in 
lieu  of  the  latter,  but  more  commonly  some  old  garment  constituted  a  curtain, 
which  was  the  only  protection  from  sun,  rain  or  snow. 

The  floor  of  the  cabin  was  made  of  puncheons — pieces  of  timber  split  from 
trees  about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  hewed  smooth  with  the  broad-ax. 
They  were  half  the  length  of  the  floor.  Many  of  the  cabins  first  erected  in 
this  part  of  the  country  had  nothing  but  the  earthen  floor.  Sometimes  the 
cabins  had  cellars,  which  were  simply  small  excavations  in  the  ground  for  the 
storage  of  a  few  articles  of  food,  or  perhaps  cooking  utensils.  Access  to  the 
cellar  was  readily  gained  by  lifting  a  loose  puncheon.  There  was  sometimes 
a  loft  used  for  various  purposes,  among  others  as  the  "guest  chamber''  of  the 
house.  It  was  reached  by  a  ladder,  the  sides  of  which  were  split  pieces  of  a 
sapling,  put  together,  like  everything  else  in  the  house,  without  nails. 

The  furniture  of  the  log-cabin  was  as  simple  and  primitive  as  the  structure 
itself.  A  forked  stick  set  in  the  floor  and  supporting  two  poles,  the  other  ends 
of  which  were  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  logs  at  the  end  and  side  of  the  cabin, 
formed  a  bedstead.  A  common  form  of  table  was  a  split  slab  supported  by  four 
rustic  legs  set  in  augur  holes.  Three-legged  stools  were  made  in  a  similar 
simple  manner.  Pegs  driven  in  augur  holes  into  the  logs  of  the  wall  supported 
shelves,  and  others  displayed  the  limited  wardrobe  of  the  family  not  in  use.  A 
few  other  pegs,  or  perhaps  a  pair  of  deer  horns,  formed  a  rack  where  hung  the 
rifle  and  powder-horn,  which  no  cabin  was  without.  These,  and  perhaps  a  few 
other  simple  articles  brought  from  the  "old  home"  formed  the  furniture  and 
furnishings  of  the  pioneer  cabin. 

The  utensils  for  cooking  and  the  dishes  for  table  use  were  few.  The  best 
were  of  pewter,  which  the  careful  housewife  of  the  olden  time  kept  shining  as 
brightly  as  the  most  pretentious  plate  of  our  later-day  fine  houses.  It  was  by 
no  means  uncommon  that  wooden  vessels,  either  coopered  or  turned,  were  used 
upon  the  table.  Knives  and  forks  were  few,  crockery  very  scarce,  and  tin-ware 
not  abundant.  Food  was  simply  cooked  and  served,  but  it  was  of  the  best  and 
most  wholesome  kind.  The  hunter  kept  the  larder  supplied  with  venison,  bear 
meat,  squirrels,  fish,  wild  turkeys,  and  the  many  varieties  of  smaller  game. 
Plain  corn-bread  baked  in  a  kettle,  in  the  ashes,  or  upon  a  board  in  front  of 
the  great  open  fire-place  answered  the  purpose  of  all  kinds  of  pastry.  The 
corn  was  among  the  earlier  pioneers  pounded  or  grated,  there  being  no  mills 
for  grinding  it  for  some  time,  and  then  only  small  ones  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance away.  The  wild  fruits  in  their  season  were  made  use  of,  and  afi"orded 
a  pleasant  variety.  Sometimes  especial  efi'ort  was  made  to  prepare  a  delicacy, 
as,  for  instance,  when  a  woman  experimented  in  mince  pies  by  pounding 
wheat  for  the  flour  to  make  the  crust,  and  used  crab- apples  for  fruit.  In  the 
lofts  of  the  cabins  was  usually  to  be  found  a  collection  of  articles  that  made 
up  the  pioneer's  materia  medica — the  herb  medicines  and  spices,  catnip,  sage, 
tansy,  fennel,  boneset,  pennyroyal  and  wormwood,  each  gathered  in  its  sea- 
son; and  there  were  also  stores  of  nuts,  and  strings  of  dried  pumpkin,  with 
bags  of  berries  and  fi-uit. 

The  habits  of  the  pioneers  were  of  a  simplicity  and  purity  in  conformance 
to  their  surroundings  and  belongings.  The  men  were  engaged  in  the  hercu- 
lean labor,  day  after  day,  of  enlarging  the  little  patch  of  sunshine  about  their 
homes,  cutting  away  the  forest,  burning  ofl"  the  brush  and  debris,  preparing 
the  soil,  planting,  tending,  harvesting,  caring  for  the  few  animals  which  they 

14 


246  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

brought  with  them  or  soon  procured,  and  in  hunting.  While  they  were 
engaged  in  the  heavy  labor  of  the  field  and  forest,  or  following  the  deer,  or 
seeking  other  game,  their  helpmeets  were  busied  with  their  household  duties, 
providing  for  the  day  and  for  the  winter  coming  on,  cooking,  making  clothes, 
spinning  and  weaving.  They  were  fitted  by  nature  and  experience  to  be  the 
consorts  of  the  brave  men  who  first  came  into  the  Western  wilderness.  They 
were  heroic  in  their  endurance  of  hardship  and  privation  and  loneliness.  Their 
industry  was  well  directed  and  unceasing.  Woman's  work  then,  like  man's, 
was  performed  under  disadvantages  which  have  been  removed  in  later  years. 
She  had  not  only  the  common  household  duties  to  perform,  but  many  others. 
She  not  only  made  the  clothing,  but  the  fabric  for  it.  That  old,  old  occupa- 
tion of  spinning  and  of  weaving,  with  which  woman's  name  has  been  associated 
in  all  history,  and  of  which  the  modern  world  knows  nothing,  except  through 
the  stories  of  those  who  are  grandmothers  now — that  old  occupation  of  spin- 
ning and  of  weaving,  which  seems  surrounded  with  a  glamour  of  romance  as 
we  look  back  to  it  through  tradition  and  poetry,  and  which  always  conjures  up 
thoughts  of  the  graces  and  virtues  of  the  dames  and  damsels  of  a  generation 
that  is  gone — that  old,  old  occupation  of  spinning  and  of  weaving,  was  the 
chief  industry  of  the  pioneer  women.  Every  cabin  sounded  with  the  softly- 
whirring  wheel  and  the  rythmic  thud  of  the  loom.  The  woman  of  pioneer 
times  was  like  the  woman  described  by  Solomon:  "She  seeketh  wool  and  flax, 
and  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands;  she  layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle, 
and  her  hands  hold  the  distafif." 

Almost  every  article  of  clothing,  all  of  the  cloth  in  use  in  the  old  log- cab- 
ins, was  the  product  of  the  patient  woman-weaver's  toil.  She  spun  the  flax 
and  wove  the  cloth  for  shirts,  pantaloons,  frocks,  sheets  and  blankets.  The 
linen  and  the  wool,  the  "  linsey-woolsey  "  woven  by  the  housewife  formed  all 
of  the  material  for  the  clothing  of  both  men  and  women,  except  such  articles 
as  were  made  of  skins.  The  men  commonly  wore  the  hunting-shirt,  a  kind  of 
loose  frock  reaching  half  way  down  the  figure,  open  before,  and  so  wide  as  to 
lap  over  a  foot  or  more  upon  the  chest.  This  generally  had  a  cape,  which 
was  often  fringed  with  a  raveled  piece  of  cloth  of  a  different  color  from  that 
which  composed  the  garment.  The  bosom  of  the  hunting-shirt  answered  as  a 
pouch,  in  which  could  be  carried  the  various  articles  that  the  hunter  or  woods- 
man would  need.  It  was  always  worn  belted  and  made  out  of  coarse  linen, 
or  linsey,  or  of  dressed  deer  skin,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  wearer. 
Breeches  were  made  of  heavy  cloth  or  of  deer  skin,  and  were  often  worn  with 
leggings  of  the  same  material,  or  of  some  kind  of  leather,  while  the  feet  were 
most  usually  encased  in  moccasins,  which  were  easily  and  quickly  made, 
though  they  needed  frequent  mending.  The  deer-skin  breeches  or  drawers 
were  very  comfortable  when  dry,  but  when  they  became  wet  were  very  cold  to 
the  limbs,  and  the  next  time  they  were  put  on  were  almost  as  stiff  as  if  made 
of  wood.  Hats  or  caps  were  made  of  the  various  native  furs.  The  women 
were  clothed  in  linsey  petticoats,  coarse  shoes  and  stockings,  and  wore  buck- 
skin gloves  or  mittens  when  any  protection  was  required  for  the  hands.  All 
of  the  wearing  apparel,  like  that  of  the  men,  was  made  with  a  view  to  being 
serviceable  and  comfortable,  and  all  was  of  home  manufacture.  Other  articles 
and  finer  ones  were  sometimes  worn,  but  they  had  been  brought  from  former 
homes,  and  were  usually  relics  handed  down  from  parents  to  children.  Jew- 
elry was  not  common,  but  occasionally  some  ornament  was  displayed.  In  the 
cabins  of  the  more  cultivated  pioneers  were  usually  a  few  books,  and  the  long 
winter  evenings  were  spent  in  poring  over  these  well-thumbed  volumes  by  the 
light  of  the  great  log-fire,  in  knitting,  mending,  curing  furs,  or  some  similar 
occupation. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  247 

Hospitality  was  simple,  imaflfected,  hearty,  unbounded.  Whisky  was  in 
common  use,  and  was  furnished  on  all  occasions  of  sociality.  Nearly  every 
settler  had  his  barrel  stored  away.  It  was  the  universal  drink  at  merry-mak- 
ings, bees,  house-warmings,  weddings,  and  was  always  set  before  the  traveler 
who  chanced  to  spend  the  night  or  take  a  meal  in  the  log-cabin.  It  was  the 
good  old-fashioned  whisky,  "clear  as  amber,  sweet  as  musk,  smooth  as  oil," 
that  the  few  octogenarians  and  nonagenarians  of  to-day  recall  to  memory  with 
an  unctuous  gusto  and  a  suggestive  smack  of  the  lips.  The  whisky  came  from 
the  Monongahela  district,  and  was  boated  up  the  streams  or  hauled  in  wagons 
across  the  country.  A  few  years  later  stills  began  to  make  their  appearance, 
and  an  article  of  peach  brandy  and  rye  whisky  manufactured;  the  latter  was 
not  held  in  such  high  esteem  as  the  peach  brandy,  though  used  in  greater 
quantities. 

As  the  settlement  increased,  the  sense  of  loneliness  and  isolation  was  dis- 
pelled, the  asperities  of  life  were  softened  and  its  amenities  multiplied:  social 
gatherings  became  more  numerous  and  more  enjoyable.  The  log  rollings, 
harvestings  and  husking-bees  for  the  men,  and  the  apple-butter  making  and 
the  quilting  parties  for  the  women,  furnished  frequent  occasions  for  social 
intercourse.  The  early  settlers  took  much  pleasure  and  pride  in  rifle  shooting, 
and  as  they  were  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  gun  as  a  means,  often,  of 
obtaining  a  subsistence,  and  relied  upon  it  as  a  weapon  of  defense,  they  exhib- 
ited considerable  skill. 

A  wedding  was  the  event  of  most  importance  in  the  sparsely  settled  new 
country.  The  young  people  had  every  inducement  to  marry,  and  generally 
did  so  as  soon  as  able  to  provide  for  themselves.  When  a  marriage  was  to  be 
celebrated,  all  the  neighborhood  turned  out.  It  was  customary  to  have  the 
ceremony  performed  before  dinnei-,  and  in  order  to  be  in  time,  the  groom  and 
his  attendants  usually  started  from  his  father's  house  in  the  morning  for  that 
of  the  bride.  All  went  on  horseback,  riding  in  single  file  along  the  narrow 
trail.  Arriving  at  the  cabin  of  the  bride's  parents,  the  ceremony  would  be 
performed,  and  after  that,  dinner  served.  This  would  be  a  substantial  back- 
woods feast  of  beef,  pork,  fowls,  and  bear  or  deer  meat,  with  such  vegetables, 
as  could  be  procured.  The  greatest  hilarity  prevailed  during  theraeal.  After 
it  was  over  the  dancing  began,  and  was  usually  kept  up  till  the  next  morning, 
though  the  newly  made  husband  and  wife  were  as  a  general  thing  put  to  bed 
in  the  most  approved  fashion,  and  with  considerable  formality,  in  the  middle 
of  the  evening's  hilarity.  The  tall  young  men,  when  they  went  on  the  floor 
to  dance,  had  to  take  their  places  with  care  between  the  logs  that  supported 
the  loft  floor,  or  they  were  in  danger  of  bumping  their  heads.  The  figures  of 
the  dances  were  three  and  four  hand  reels,  or  square  sets  and  jigs.  The  com- 
mencement was  always  a  square  four,  which  was  followed  by  "jigging  it  off," 
or  what  is  sometimes  called  a  "cutout  jig."  The  "settlement"  of  a  j^oung 
couple  was  thought  to  be  thoroughly  and  generously  made  when  the  neighbors 
assembled  and  raised  a  cabin  for  them. 

During  all  the  early  years  of  the  settlement,  varied  with  occasional  pleas- 
ures and  excitements,  the  great  work  of  increasing  the  tillable  ground  went 
slowly  on.  The  implements  and  tools  were  few  and  of  the  most  primitive 
kinds,  but  the  soil  that  had  long  held  in  reserve  the  accumulated  richness  of 
centuries,  produced  splendid  harvests,  and  the  husbandman  was  well  rewarded 
for  his  labor.  The  soil  was  warmer  then  than  now,  and  the  season  earlier. 
The  wheat  was  occasionally  pastured  in  the  spring  to  keep  it  from  growing  up 
so  fast  as  to  become  lodged.  The  harvest  came  early,  and  the  yield  was  often 
from  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  per  acre.  Corn  grew  fast,  and  roasting  ears 
were  to  be  had  by  the  1st  of  August  in  most  seasons. 


248  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

When  the  corn  grew  too  hard  for  roasting  ears,  and  was  yet  too  soft  to 
grind  in  the  mill,  it  was  reduced  to  meal  bv  a  grater.  Next  to  the  grater  came 
the  hominy  block,  an  article  in  common  use  among  the  pioneers.  It  consisted 
simply  of  a  block  of  wood — a  section  of  a  tree  perhaps — with  a  hole  burned 
or  dug  into  it  a  foot  deep  in  which  corn  was  pulverized  with  a  pestle.  Some- 
times this  block  was  inside  the  cabin,  where  it  served  as  a  seat  for  the  bashful 
young  backwoodsman  while  "sparking"  his  girl;  sometimes  a  convenient  stump 
in  front  of  the  cabin  door  was  prepared  for  and  made  one  of  the  best  of  hom- 
iny blocks.  These  blocks  did  not  last  long,  for  mills  came  quite  early 
and  superseded  them,  yet  those  mills  were  so  far  apart  that  in  stormy 
weather,  or  for  want  of  transportation,  the  pioneer  was  compelled  to  resort  to 
his  hominy-block  or  go  without  bread.  In  winter  the  mills  were  frozen  up 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  when  a  thaw  came  and  the  ice  broke,  if  the  mill  was 
not  swept  away  entirely  by  the  floods,  it  was  so  thronged  with  pioneers,  each 
with  his  sack  of  corn,  that  some  of  them  were  often  compelled  to  camp  out 
near  the  mill  and  wait  several  days  for  their  turn.  When  the  grist  was  ground, 
if  they  were  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  an  ox,  or  a  horse  or  mule  for  the  pur- 
pose of  transportation,  they  were  happy.  It  was  not  unusual  to  go  from  ten 
to  thirty  miles  to  mill,  through  the  pathless,  unbroken  forest,  and  to  be  be- 
nighted on  the  journey  and  chased  by  wolves. 

As  the  majority  of  the  pioneers  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  a  stream, 
mills  soon  made  their  appearance  in  every  settlement.  Those  mills,  however, 
were  very  primitive  affairs— mere  "corn -crackers" — ^but  they  were  a  big 
improvement  on  the  hominy-block.  They  merely  ground  the  corn;  the  pio- 
neer must  do  his  own  bolting.  The  meal  was  sifted  through  a  wire  sieve  by 
hand,  and  the  finest  used  for  bread.  A  road  cut  through  the  forest  to  the  mill 
and  a  wagon  for  hauling  the  grist  were  great  advantages.  The  latter,  espe- 
cially, was  often  a  seven  days'  wonder  to  the  children  of  a  settlement,  and  the 
happy  owner  of  one  often  did  for  years  the  milling  of  a  whole  neighborhood. 
About  once  a  month  this  good  neighbor,  who  was  in  exceptionally  good  cir- 
cumstances because  able  to  own  a  wagon,  would  go  around  through  the  settle- 
ment, gather  up  the  grists  and  take  them  to  mill,  often  spending  several  days 
in  the  operation,  and  never  think  of  charging  for  his  time  and  trouble. 

Only  the  commonest  goods  were  brought  into  the  country,  and  they  sold  at 
very  high  prices,  as  the  freightage  of  merchaiidise  from  the  East  was  high. 
Most  of  the  people  were  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  were  content  to  live 
in  a  very  cheap  way.  A  majority  had  to  depend  mainly  on  the  produce  of 
their  little  clearings,  which  consisted  to  a  large  extent  of  potatoes  and  corn. 
Mush,  corn  bread  and  potatoes  were  the  principal  food.  There  was  no  meat 
except  game,  and  often  this  had  to  be  eaten  without  salt.  Pork,  flour,  sugar 
and  other  groceries  sold  at  high  prices,  and  were  looked  upon  as  luxuries.  In 
1798-99  wheat  brought  $1.50  per  bushel;  flour  $4  per  100  pounds;  corn  $1 
per  bushel;  oats,  75  cents,  and  potatoes  65  cents.  Prices  were  still  higher  in 
1813-14,  corn  being  $2  per  bushel;  flour  $14  per  barrel;  oats,  $1,  and  salt 
from  $12  to  $20  per  barrel. 

The  writer  has  seen  an  old  cash  book  kept  at  one  of  the  frontier  stores  on 
the  Reserve  prior  to  1800,  wherein  the  accounts  with  the  whites  are  carried  out 
in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence,  while  those  with  the  Indians,  who  largely 
patronized  the  store,  wei-e  kept  in  dollars  and  cents.  To  judge  from  the  daily 
consumption  of  whisky,  it  was  pre-eminently  the  "  staflf  of  life,''  there  being 
scarcely  an  account  against  a  white  or  Indian,  male  or  female,  of  which  it 
does  not  form  a  large  proportion.  For  domestic  use,  it  cost  3  shillings  per 
quart,  while  a  gill  cost  4  cents.      Tobacco  was  sold  by  the  yard  at  4  cents  per 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  249 

yard;  common  sugar  at  33  cents,  and  loaf  at  50  cents  per  pound.  Chocolate 
was  in  more  general  use  than  tea  or  coffee,  and  sold  at  3  shillings  and  6  pence 
per  pound,  and  coffee  at  30  cents.  Homespun  linen  could  be  purchased  at  50 
cents  per  yard,  while  the  belle  aspiring  to  the  extravagance  of  calico,  could 
gratify  her  ambition  at  83  cents  per  yard,  with  the  addition  of  a  cotton  hand- 
kerchief at  from  70  cents  to  $1,  according  to  color  and  design.  Shoes  and 
boots  brought  from  $1  to  $3  per  pair,  but  moccasins  were  in  common  use  with 
both  white  men  and  Indians  at  3  shillings  and  9  pence,  though  from  9  pence 
to  two  shillings  higher  when  ornamented  with  the  colored  quills  of  the  porcu- 
pine. The  price  of  a  rifle  was  $25,  a  horse  $125,  and  a  yoke  of  oien  $80. 
Indians  usually  paid  their  bills  with  peltry  and  many  of  the  whites  did  like- 
wise. A  bear  skin  was  worth  from  $2  to  $5;  otter,  from  $3  to  $4;  beaver,  from 
$2  to  $3;  deer  from  75  to  90  cents;  marten  1  shilling  and  10  pence;  muskrat, 
1  shilling,  while  fisher,  wild  cat,  panther,  wolf,  fox,  raccoon,  mink  and  other 
skins  were  also  readily  purchased. 

Long  journeys  upon  foot  were  often  made  by  the  pioneers  to  obtain  the 
necessities  of  life  or  some  article,  then  a  luxury,  for  the  sick.  Hardships  were 
cheerfully  borne,  privations  stoutly  endured;  the  best  was  made  of  what  they 
had  by  the  pioneers  and  their  families,  and  they  toiled  patiently  on,  industri- 
ous and  frugal,  simple  in  their  tastes  and  pleasures,  happy  in  an  independ- 
ence, however  hardly  gained,  and  looking  forward  hopefully  to  a  future  of 
plenty  which  should  reward  them  for  the  toils  of  their  earliest  years,  and  a 
rest  from  the  struggle  amidst  the  benefits  gained  by  it.  Without  an  iron  will 
and  indomitable  resolution  they  could  never  have  accomplished  what  they  did. 
Their  heroism  deserves  the  highest  tribute  of  praise  that  can  be  awarded.  A 
writer  in  one  of  the  local  papers  says: 

"  Eighty  years  ago  not  a  pound  of  coal  or  a  cubic  foot  of  illuminating  gas 
had  been  burned  in  the  country.  All  the  cooking  and  warming  in  town  as 
well  as  in  the  country  were  done  by  the  aid  of  a  fire  kindled  on  the  brick 
hearth  or  in  the  brick  ovens.  Pine  knots  or  tallow  candles  furnished  the  light 
for  the  long  winter  nights,  and  sanded  floors  supplied  the  place  of  rugs  and 
carpets.  The  water  used  for  household  purposes  was  drawn  from  deep  wells 
by  the  creaking  sweep.  No  form  of  pump  was  used  in  this  country,  so  far  as 
we  can  learn,  until  after  the  commencement  of  the  present  century.  There 
were  no  friction  matches  in  those  early  days,  by  the  aid  of  which  a  fire  could 
be  easily  kindled,  and  if  the  fire  went  out  upon  the  hearth  over  night,  and  the 
tinder  was  damp,  so  that  the  spark  would  not  catch,  the  alternative  remained 
of  wading  through  the  snow  a  mile  or  so  to  borrow  a  brand  from  a  neighbor. 
Only  one  room  in  any  house  was  warm,  unless  some  member  of  the  family  was 
ill,  in  all  the  rest  the  temperature  was  at  zero  during  many  nights  in  winter. 
The  men  and  women  undressed  and  went  to  their  beds  in  a  temperature  colder 
than  our  barns  and  woodsheds,  and  they  never  complained." 

Churches  and  schoolhouses  were  sparsely  scattered,  and  of  the  most  primi- 
tive character.  One  pastor  served  a  number  of  congi-egations,  and  salaries 
were  so  low  that  the  preachers  had  to  take  part  in  working  their  farms  to  pro- 
cure support  for  their  families.  The  people  went  to  religious  service  on  foot 
or  horseback,  and  the  children  often  walked  two  or  three  miles  through  the 
woods  to  school.  There  were  no  fires  in  the  churches  for  a  number  of  years. 
When  they  were  finally  introduced  they  were  at  first  built  in  holes  cut  in  the 
floors,  and  the  smoke  found  its  way  out  through  openings  in  the  roofs.  The 
seats  were  of  unsmoothed  slabs,  the  ends  and  centers  of  which  were  laid  upon 
blocks,  and  the  pulpits  were  little  better.  Worship  was  held  once  or  twice  a 
month,  consisting  usually  of  two  services,  one  in  the  forenoon  and  one  imme- 


250  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

diately  after  noon,  the  people  remaining  during  the  interval  and  spending  the 
time  in  social  intercourse.  It  is  much  to  be  feared  that  if  religious  worship 
were  attended  with  the  same  discomforts  now  as  it  was  eighty  to  ninety  years 
ago,  the  excuses  for  keeping  away  from  the  house  of  God  would  be  many  times 
multiplied.  Taken  altogether,  while  they  had  to  endure  many  privations  and 
hardships,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  pioneers  of  any  part  of  America  were 
more  fortunate  in  their  selection  than  those  of  Portage  County.  Every  one 
of  the  settlers  agrees  in  saying  that  they  had  no  trouble  in  accommodating 
themselves  to  the  situation,  and  were,  as  a  rule,  both  men  and  women,  healthy, 
contented  and  happy. 

During  the  war  of  1812-15,  many  of  the  husbands  and  fathers  volunteered 
their  services  to  the  United  States,  and  others  were  drafted.  Women  and 
children  were  then  left  alone  in  many  an  isolated  log-cabin  in  northeastern 
Ohio,  and  there  were  several  intervals  of  unrest  and  anxiety.  It  was  feared 
by  many  that  the  Indians  might  take  advantage  of  the  absence  from  these  homes 
of  their  natural  defenders,  and  pillage  and  destroy  them.  The  dread  of  rob- 
bery and  murder  filled  many  a  mother's  heart,  but  happily  the  worst  fears  of 
the  kind  proved  to  be  groundless,  and  this  part  of  the  country  was  spared  any 
scenes  of  actual  violence. 

After  the  war  there  was  a  greater  feeling  of  security  than  ever  before;  a 
new  motive  was  given  to  immigration.  The  country  rapidly  filled  up  with  set- 
tlers, and  the  era  of  peace  and  prosperity  was  fairly  begun.  Progress  was 
slowly,  surely  made:  the  log-houses  became  more  numerous  in  the  clearings; 
the  forest  shrank  away  before  the  woodman's  ax;  frame  houses  began  to  appear. 
The  pioneers,  assured  of  safety,  laid  better  plans  for  the  future,  resorted  to 
new  industries,  enlarged  their  possessions,  and  improved  the  means  of  culti- 
vation. Stock  was  brought  in  from  the  South  and  East.  Every  settler  had 
his  horses,  oxen,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs.  More  qommodious  structures  took 
the  places  of  the  old  ones;  the  large  double  log-cabin  of  hewed  logs  and  the 
still  handsomer  frame  dwelling  took  the  place  of  the  smaller  hut;  log  and 
frame  barns  were  built  for  the  protection  of  stock  and  the  housing  of  the  crops. 
Then  society  began  to  form  itself;  the  schoolhouse  and  the  church  appeared, 
and  the  advancement  was  noticeable  in  a  score  of  ways.  Still  there  remained 
a  vast  work  to  perform,  for  as  yet  only  a  beginning  had  been  made  in  the  West- 
ern woods.  The  brunt  of  the  struggle,  however,  was  past,  and  the  way  made 
in  the  wilderness  for  the  army  that  was  to  come. 

For  the  next  ten  years  succeeding  the  war  of  1812  wheat  was  from  25  to 
37^  cents  per  bushel,  and  other  products  in  proportion.  Merchandise  was  still 
very  high.  A  day's  labor  would  barely  pui'chase  a  yard  of  cotton,  while 
thirty -two  bushels  of  corn  are  known  to  have  been  exchanged,  by  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Portage  County,  for  four  yards  of  fulled  cloth.  About  1813  John 
T.  Baldwin  and  David  Waller,  two  well  remembered  pioneers  of  Palmyra 
Township,  brought  the  first  load  of  salt  from  Cleveland  to  Portage  County. 
It  took  five  days  to  make  the  trip,  and  the  salt  wais  worth  when  delivered  $20 
per  barrel.  In  1816  corn  was  $2  per  bushel,  and  flour  SL4  per  barrel,  while 
hired  hands  received  but  25  cents  a  day.  In  1821  wheat  sold  in  Ravenna  for 
25  cents  per  bushel,  and  money  was  so  scarce  that  the  average  pioneer  was 
very  often  unable  to  raise  the  funds  to  pay  the  postage  on  an  occasional  letter, 
which  then  cost  25  cents.  Wheat  and  flour  were  hauled  to  Cleveland  with  ox 
teams,  and  exchanged  for  goods,  and,  as  the  roads  were  usually  in  a  terrible 
condition,  it  often  took  a  whole  week  to  make  the  round  trip.  Along  about 
this  period  Judge  Amzi  Atwater,  who  resided  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
county,    with  the   laudable  intention  of  encouraging  the  struggling  settlers, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  251 

advertised  that  he  would  allow  50  cents  per  bushel  for  wheat  to  those  who 
had  purchased  or  would  purchase  land  of  him.  Taking  advantage  of  this 
liberal  ofifer,  they  would  buy  up  wheat  at  from  25  to  40  cents  and  turn  it  over 
to  Judge  Atwater  at  50  cents  per  bushel.  This  was  soon  regarded  by  the 
Judge  as  "sharp  practice,"  and  he  withdrew  his  offer.  The  usual  hotel 
charges  throughout  the  county  for  a  good  pioneer  dinner  was  12i^  cents,  a 
similar  amount  being  charged  for  four  quarts  of  oats  and  hay  for  the  guest's 
horse.  Very  little  change  occurred  in  prices  of  produce  or  goods  until  1825, 
when  the  commencement  of  work  on  the  Ohio  Canal  gave  an  impetus  to  every 
branch  of  trade. 

The  first  settlers  were  necessarily  exposed  to  many  dangers  and  privations, 
yet  as  a  rule  they  had  no  fears  of  starvation,  for  the  forest  was  alive  with 
game,  the  streams  abounded  in  fish  and  the  virgin  soil  yielded  bountifully. 
Upon  selecting  a  location,  the  pioneer  usually  began  at  once  to  open  a  clearing 
in  the  primitive  forest  and  prepare  a  piece  of  ground  for  tillage.  Thus  the 
foundation  of  the  present  agricultural  prosperity  was  laid  by  the  first  settlers 
of  the  county.  In  the  fall  of  1798  Abram  S.  Honey  planted  a  small  patch  of 
wheat  in  Mantua  Township, which  was  harvested  the  following  summer  by  his 
brother-in-law,  Kufus  Edwards,  who  owned  the  land.  This  was  the  first  crop 
raised  by  white  men  in  what  is  now  Portage  County,  In  June,  1799,  Elias 
Harmon  planted  some  potatoes  and  peas  in  the  Honey  clearing.  The  same  fall 
Lewis  Ely  put  in  a  crop  of  wheat  in  Deertield  Township,  as  also  did  Lewis 
and  Horatio  Day,  amounting  in  all  to  some  eight  or  ten  acres.  The  next 
spring  Lewis  Ely,  Alva  Day,  John  Campbell  and  Joel  Thrall  each  planted  a 
small  jjatch  of  corn  in  Deerfield.  David  Daniels  cleared  up  a  piece  of  ground 
on  Lot  21,  Palmyra  Township,  in  the  summer  of  1799,  and  that  fall  sowed  it 
in  wheat,  which  he  harvested  the  following  summer.  After  threshing  the 
little  crop  with  his  flail,  he  cleaned  up  about  a  bushel  of  the  grain  and  carried 
it  on  his  back  to  a  mill  located  at  Poland,  Ohio,  about  thirty  miles  distant, 
had  it  ground  and  retui-ned  with  the  flour  to  his  cabin,  where  for  the  first  time 
since  settling  in  the  wilderness,  he  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  wheat  bread.  In 
the  spring  of  1800  Daniels  put  in  a  patch  of  corn;  Ethelbert  Baker  and 
William  Bacon  also  planted  little  fields  of  corn  in  Palmyra  the  same  spring. 
In  1799  Ebenezer  Sheldon  sent  out  Eben  Blair  fi'om  Connecticut  to  make  a 
settlement  on  his  land  in  Aurora  Township.  Blair  came  ria  Pittsburgh,  where 
he  bought  a  peck  of  grass  seed.  This  he  carried  on  his  back  from  Pittsburgh 
to  Sheldon's  land,  where  he  was  soon  after  joined  by  his  employer  and  Elias 
Harmon.  An  opening  was  soon  made  in  the  woods  and  sown  with  wheat 
brought  out  by  Sheldon,  the  gi'ass  seed  being  sown  in  the  same  field.  Benja- 
min Tappan  put  in  a  few  acres  of  corn  and  vegetables  in  1800,  on  his  land  in 
the  southeast  corner  of  Ravenna  Township,  and  the  same  fall  planted  the 
ground  in  wheat.  William  Chard  and  Conrad  Boosinger,  both  of  whom  settled 
in  Tappan's  neighborhood,  also  planted  small  fields  of  the  latter  cereal  in  the 
fall  of  1800.  Asa  Hall  made  the  first  clearing  in  Atwater  Township  early  in 
1800,  and  put  in  some  corn,  which  was  succeeded  the  next  fall  by  wheat.  In 
1801  or  1802  David  Baldwin  raised  a  corn  and  wheat  crop  in  Atwater  Town- 
ship. 

The  first  corn  in  Rootstown  Township  was  planted  in  the  spring  of  1801, 
near  its  northeast  corner,  by  Ephraira  and  David  Root,  In  Nelson  Township 
a  crop  was  put  in  the  same  year  by  Delaun  and  Asahel  Mills.  In  1802  Royal 
Pease  sowed  a  few  acres  of  wheat  in  Suffield  Township.  In  April,  1803,  Ben- 
jamin Baldwin  settled  in  the  latter  township.  He  brought  from  Connecticut  a 
small  bag  of  apple  seeds,  which  he  planted  upon  his  arrival,  and  from  the  seed- 


252  HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY. 

lings  thus  obtained  has  come  the  much-prized  "  Baldwin  Apple."  The  first 
crop  of  wheat  planted  in  Randolph  Township  was  in  the  fall  of  1802,  by  Bela 
Hubbard,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Lot  57,  the  first  land  cleared  in  the 
township.  He  had  to  go  to  David  Baldwin's  in  Atwater  Township  eight  miles 
away  to  borrow  a  plow,  which  he  carried  on  his  shoulders  to  his  little  clear- 
ing, and  returned  it  in  the  same  manner.  He  went  to  Christman's  Mill,  on 
Little  Beaver  Creek,  in  Pennsylvania,  for  seed,  the  round  trip  taking  about  a 
week,  but  so  rich  was  the  soil  that  he  raised  100  bushels  of  clean  wheat  from 
four  acres  of  ground.  He  and  Joseph  Harris  raised  in  partnership,  in  1805, 
1,500  bushels  of  corn.  In  1803  Elijah  Mason  cleared  twenty-two  acres  of  land 
on  Lot  23,  Hiram  Township,  which  he  planted  in  wheat  the  same  year.  John 
Campbell  raised  the  first  corn  in  Charlestown  Township  in  1805,  having 
removed  there  from  Deerfield,  where  he  first  settled.  In  1806  John  and 
George  Haymaker  sowed  a  small  patch  of  corn  on  the  bank  of  the  Cuyahoga, 
in  Franklin  Township,  and  the  next  year  built  a  grist-mill  on  that  stream. 
Joel  Baker  put  in  a  crop  of  corn  and  wheat  on  Lot  46,  Shalersville  Township, 
in  1806.  Eber  Abbott  planted  the  first  corn  and  wheat  in  Edinburg  Town- 
ship in  1811.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  Elijah  and  Oliver  Alford  aud  Eben- 
ezer  O.  and  Nathan  Messenger  cleared  small  pieces  of  ground  in  Windham 
Township,  which  they  planted  in  corn.  Wareham  Loomis  also  put  in  a  small 
patch,  and  the  same  fall  several  acres  of  wheat  were  sown  by  the  same  parties 
and  other  settlers  who  arrived  during  the  summer.  Benjamin  Higley,  one  of 
those  who  came  to  Windham  that  year,  planted  four  acres  of  wheat  on  Lot  36, 
and  from  three  bushels  sown  he  threshed  out  the  following  summer  about  100 
bushels,  which  fully  demonstrates  the  original  fertility  of  the  soil  of  this 
county. 

The  agricultural  implements  in  use  by  the  early  settlers  were  very  simple 
and  rude.  The  plow  was  made  entirely  of  wood,  except  the  share,  clevis  and 
draft-rods,  which  were  of  iron,  and  had  to  be  for  a  number  of  years  transported 
from  Pittsburgh,  as  there  were  no  iron  works  in  the  county  where  the  plow- 
shares could  be  foi'ged.  The  wooden  plow  was  a  very  awkward  implement, 
very  difficult  to  hold  and  h'ard  for  the  team  to  draw.  It  was,  however,  very 
generally  used  until  the  fall  of  1824,  when  the  cast-iron  plow,  patented  by 
Jethro  Wood,  was  first  brought  into  the  county,  though  it  did  not  gain  popular 
favor  very  rapidly.  The  farmer  looked  at  it  and  was  sure  it  would  break  the 
first  time  it  struck  a  stone  or  a  root,  and  then  how  should  he  replace  it?  The 
wooden  mould-board  would  not  break,  and  when  it  wore  out  he  could  take  his 
ax  and  hew  another  out  of  a  piece  of  a  tree.  In  no  one  agricultural  implement 
has  there  been  more  marked  improvement  than  in  the  plow — now  made  of  beau- 
tifully polished  cast-steel  except  the  beam  and  handles,  while  in  Canada  and 
some  portions  of  the  United  States  these,  too,  are  manufactured  of  iron.  The 
cast-steel  plow  of  the  present  manufacture,  in  its  several  sizes,  styles  and 
adaptations  to  the  various  soils  and  forms  of  land,  including  the  sulky  or  rid- 
ing plow  of  the  Western  prairies,  is  among  agricultural  implements  the  most 
perfect  m  use. 

The  pioneer  harrow  was  simply  the  fork  of  a  tree,  with  the  branches  on  one 
side  cut  close  and  on  the  other  left  about  a  foot  long  to  serve  the  purpose  of 
teeth.  In  some  instances  a  number  of  holes  were  bored  through  the  beams 
and  dry  wooden  pins  driven  into  them.  It  was  not  until  about  1825  that  iron 
or  steel  harrow  teeth  were  introduced  into  Portage  County. 

The  axes,  hoes,  shovels  and  picks  were  rude  and  clumsy,  and  of  inferior 
utility.  The  sickle  and  scythe  were  at  first  used  to  harvest  the  grain  and  hay, 
but  the  former  gave  way  early  to  the  cradle,  with  which  better  results  could  be 


-f^---^  •■  SoBii 


<^^y^/.<' 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  255 

attained  with  less  labor.  The  scythe  and  cradle  have  been  replaced  by  the 
mower  and  reaper  to  a  great  extent,  though  both  are  still  used  considerably  in 
this  county. 

The  ordinary  wooden  flail  was  used  to  thresh  grain  until  about  1830,  when 
the  horse-power  thresher  was  largely  substituted.  The  method  of  cleaning 
the  chaflf  from  the  grain  by  the  early  settlers,  was  by  a  blanket  handled  by  two 
persons.  The  grain  and  the  chaff  were  placed  on  the  blanket,  which  was  then 
tossed  up  and  down,  the  wind  separating  a  certain  amount  of  the  chaff  from 
the  grain  during  the  operation.  Fanning-mills  were  introduced  about  1820, 
but  the  first  of  these  were  very  rude  and  little  better  than  the  primitive 
blanket.  Improvements  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  until  an  almost 
perfect  separator  is  now  connected  with  every  threshing  machine,  and  the  work 
of  ten  men  for  a  whole  season  is  done  more  completely  by  two  or  three  men, 
as  many  horses,  and  a  patent  separator,  in  one  day.  In  fact,  it  is  diflScult  to 
fix  limitations  upon  improvements  in  agricultural  machinery  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  It  is,  however,  safe  to  say  that  they  have  enabled  the  farmer  to 
accomplish  more  than  triple  the  amount  of  work  with  the  same  force  in  the 
same  time,  and  do  his  work  better  than  before.  It  has  been  stated  on  compe- 
tent aiithority  that  the  saving  effected  by  new  and  improved  implements  within 
the  last  twenty  years  has  been  not  less  than  one-half  on  all  kinds  of  farm  labor. 

The  greatest  triumphs  of  mechanical  skill  in  its  application  to  agriculture 
are  witnessed  in  the  plow,  planter,  reaper  and  separator,  as  well  as  in  many 
other  implements  adapted  to  the  tillage,  harvesting  and  subsequent  handling 
of  the  immense  crops  of  the  country.  The  rude  and  cumbrous  implements  of 
the  pioneers  have  been  superseded  by  improved  and  apparently  perfect  machin- 
ery of  all  classes,  so  that  the  calling  of  the  farmer  is  no  longer  synonymous 
with  laborious  toil,  but  is  in  many  ways  pleasant  recreation. 

The  farmers  of  Portage  County  are  not  behind  their  neighbors  in  the 
employment  of  improved  methods  and  in  the  use  of  the  best  machinery.  It  is 
true  that  in  many  cases  they  were  slow  to  change,  but  much  allowance  should 
be  made  for  surrounding  circumstances.  The  pioneers  had  to  contend  against 
innumerable  obstacles — with  the  wildness  of  nature,  the  jealous  hostility  of 
the  Indians,  the  immense  growth  of  timber,  the  depredations  of  wild  beasts 
and  the  annoyance  of  the  swarming  insect  life,  and  the  great  difficulty  and 
expense  of  procuring  seeds  and  farming  implements.  These  various  difficul- 
ties were  quite  sufficient  to  explain  the  slow  progress  made  in  the  first  years 
of  settlement.  Improvements  were  not  encouraged,  while  the  pioneers  gener- 
ally rejected  "book- farming"  as  unimportant  and  useless,  and  knew  little  of  the 
chemistry  of  agriculture.  The  farmer  who  ventured  to  make  experiments,  to 
stake  out  new  paths  of  practice,  or  to  adopt  new  modes  of  culture,  subjected 
himself  to  the  ridicule  of  the  whole  neighborhood.  For  many  years  the  same 
methods  of  farming  were  observed;  the  son  planted  as  many  acres  of  corn  or 
wheat  as  his  father  did,  and  in  the  same  phases  of  the  moon.  All  their  prac- 
tices were  merely  traditional;  but  within  the  last  thirty  years  most  remarkable 
changes  have  occurred  in  all  the  conditions  of  agriculture  in  this  country. 

It  is  not,  however,  in  grain-growing  that  Portage  County  has  made  its 
most  material  progress.  The  natural  adaptation  of  the  soil  to  grass,  and  the 
abundant  supply  of  pure  water,  early  attracted  the  attention  of  many  progress- 
ive farmers  to  the  raising  of  daii-y  stock,  and  the  manufacture  of  butter  and 
cheese,  which  industries  have  increased  until  they  are  among  the  leading  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  exceeding  most  other  branches  of  farming  in  their  impor- 
tance and  magnitude.  Milch  cows  were  brought  into  the  county  by  many  of 
the  very  earliest  settlers,  and  butter  and  cheese  began  to  be  manufactured  for 


256  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

market  in  a  small  way  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century.  The 
business  grew  rapidly,  and  by  1850  nearly  2,000,000  pounds  of  cheese  were 
annually  produced  in  Portage  County,  and  butter  and  cheese  became  the  great 
staple  products  of  the  northern  half  of  the  county.  Their  regular  manufacture 
has  since  extended  into  several  of  ^the  southern  townships,  though  the  latter 
are  more  largely  devoted  to  grain-growing.  From  18G0  to  1864,  inclusive, 
Portage  County  ranked  among  the  counties  of  the  State  respectively  third  and 
fourth  in  its  production  of  cheese  and  butter,  annually  averaging  for  those  five 
years  2,933,471  pounds  of  cheese,  and  872,454  pounds  of  butter.  In  1866  it 
stood  second  in  both  products,  having  3,115,728  pounds  of  cheese,  and  833,988 
pounds  of  butter.  In  1870  it  was  third  and  fifth  respectively,  with  3,822,829 
pounds  of  cheese,  atid  916,376  pounds  of  butter.  In  1871  it  had  3,308,334 
pounds  of  cheese,  and  907,693  pounds  of  butter,  being  fourth  and  seventh 
respectively  in  those  products.  In  1872  it  produced  3,619,983  pounds  of 
cheese,  and  906,995  pounds  of  butter,  ranking  fifth  in  both.  In  1873  there 
were  turned  out  948,964  pounds  of  butter,  which  was  more  than  any  other 
county  in  the  State,  and  3,712,233  pounds  of  cheese,  or  the  fifth  in  that  article. 
In  1874  this  county's  butter  product  heads  the  list  with  1,062,043  pounds;  and 
it  was  the  fourth  cheese  producing  county,  with  3,483,965  pounds.  It  ranked 
respectively  third  and  sixth,  in  butter  and  cheese,  in  1875,  turning  out  955,- 
817  pounds  of  the  former,  and  3,404,286  pounds  of  the  latter  product.  In  1877 
Portage  manufactured  1,043,542  pounds  of  butter  and  3,767,783  pounds  of  cheese, 
ranking  fifth  in  each.  In  1878  its  butter  product  stood  fourth,  and  its  cheese 
product  second  in  the  list  of  counties,  reporting  981,425  pounds  of^the  former, 
and  4,170,339  pounds  of  the  latter.  Its  butter  product  dropped  in  1879  to 
the  ninth  place,  being  911,910  pounds,  while  its  cheese  production  also 
declined  to  less  than  one-half  of  the  amount  turned  out  the  previous  year,  or 
2,061,111  pounds,  making  Portage  fifth  in  the  list  of  cheese  counties  for  that 
year.  Little  change  occurred  for  the  succeeding  two  years,  the  county  stand- 
ing, in  1881,  seventh  in  its  butter  product,  with  962,970  pounds,  and  third  in 
its  cheese  product,  having  2,798,722  pounds.  In  1883  this  county  again  took 
the  first  place  in  its  butter  product,  standing  at  the  head  of  all  the  other  coun- 
ties, with  1,299,077  pounds,  while  its  2,645,115  pounds  of  cheese  gave  it  fifth 
place  in  the  list  of  cheese  producing  counties.  The  statistics  for  1884 
have  not  yet  (March  1885)  been  collected,  but  cheese  dealers  have  informed 
the  writer  that,  on  account  of  the  long  dry  season,  there  will  be  a  considerable 
falling  off  in  last  year's  product.  The  county  now  contains  about  thirty  cheese 
factories,  located  principally  in  the  three  northern  ranges  of  townships,  though 
there  are  several  in  the  southern  section  of  the  county. 

Horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  were  brought  into  the  county  by  the  first 
settlers,  though  they  were  usually  of  an  ordinary  breed,  and  very  little  was 
done  toward  the  improvement  of  farm  stock  for  fifty  years  after  the  first  set- 
tlement was  made.  Mrs.  Josiah  Ward  is  credited  with  owning  the  first  sheep 
in  Kandolph  Township,  which  were  brought  in  from  the  East  in  1805.  Her 
husband  having  no  money,  was  unable  to  purchase  them,  when  she  "took  out 
her  stocking  "  and  paid  cash  down  for  eight  or  ten  of  the  drove  standing  in 
front  of  their  little  cabin.  She  had  saved  up  this  money  ere  leaving  her  Con- 
necticut home,  to  be  used  for  that  very  purpose.  Timothy  Culver,  also  of 
Raudolph  Township,  bought  sixteen  sheep  about  the  same  time,  the  seller  to 
receive  as  many  more  at  a  certain  stated  date;  but  the  animals  were  kept  near 
the  creek,  and,  in  consequence  of  eating  a  poisonous  plant,  all  but  one  died 
the  first  winter.  In  1806  John  H.  Whittlesey  and  Jeremiah  Jones  located  in 
Atwater  Township,  and  soon  afterward  went  to  Georgetown,  Penn.,  and    pur- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  257 

chased  twelve  sheep,  which  they  brought  to  their  homes  in  this  county.  On 
getting  the  sheep  here  they  discovered  that  they  had  no  place  to  keep  them 
safe  from  the  wolves  during  the  coming  night,  but  Mr.  Whittlesey  soon  got 
over  the  diflSculty  by  giving  the  animals  a  portion  of  his  own  kitchen.  About 
1807  John  Campbell  went  to  Pennsylvania  and  brought  in  some  stock  from 
that  State,  which  he  distributed  among  the  few  settlers  who  were  then  finan- 
cially able  to  purchase.  In  1813  Erastus  Carter  bought  six  sheep  of  John 
Campbell.  They  were  watched  through  the  daytime  by  his  son  Howard  Car- 
ter, who  is  yet  living,  and  shut  up  at  night  in  a  log-stable.  One  night  the 
sheep  were  left  out,  and  the  wolves  killed  every  one  of  them.  The  family 
picked  up  the  wool  scattered  around  the  remains,  carded  and  spun  it,  and  had 
it  woven  into  cloth,  from  which  young  Howard  was  made  his  first  pair  of  woolen 
pants  since  coming  to  Ohio  several  years  before,  buckskin  being  then  the  only 
material  generally  in  use  for  such  garments. 

The  swine  of  the  early  settlers,  compared  with  those  they  now  possess,  pre- 
sent a  very  wide  contrast,  for  whatever  the  breed  may  have  been  called,  run- 
ning wild,  as  was  customary,  the  special  breed  was  soon  lost  in  the  mixed  swine 
of  the  countiy.  They  were  long  and  slim,  long-snouted  and  long-legged,  with 
an  arched  back,  and  bristles  erect  from  the  back  of  the  head  to  the  tail,  slab- 
sided,  active  and  healthy;  the  "sapling-splitter"  or  "razor  back,"  as  he  was 
called,  was  ever  in  the  search  of  food,  and  quick  to  take  alarm.  He  was  capa 
ble  of  making  a  heavy  hog,  but  required  two  or  more  yeai's  to  mature,  and 
until  a  short  time  before  butchering  or  marketing  was  suffered  to  run  at  large, 
subsisting  mainly  as  a  forager,  and  in  the  fall  fattening  on  the  "mast"  of  the 
forest.  Yet  this  was  the  hog  for  a  new  country,  whose  nearest  and  best 
markets  were  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia,  to  which  points  they  were  driven 
on  foot.  Almost  every  farmer  raised  a  few  hogs  for  market,  which  were  gath- 
ered up  by  drovers  and  dealers  during  the  fall  and  winter  seasons.  In  no 
stock  of  the  farm  have  greater  changes  been  effected  than  in  the  hog.  From 
the  long-legged,  long-snouted,  slab-sided,  I'oach-backed,  tall,  long,  active, 
wild,  fierce  and  muscular,  it  has  been  bred  to  be  almost  as  square  as  a  store- 
box  and  quiet  as  a  sheep,  taking  on  250  pounds  of  flesh  in  ten  months.  They 
are  now  ranked  into  distinctive  breeds,  the  Berkshire  and  Chester  White  being 
more  extensively  bred  in  Portage  County  than  any  other  kind. 

The  following  statistics,  compiled  from  the  Secretary  of  State's  reports,  will 
furnish  a  good  idea  of  the  growth  of  the  stock  interests  in  Portage  County  for 
the  past  forty- five  years: 

In  1840  the  county  contained  4,205  horses  and  mules,  25,308  cattle,  37,240 
sheep  and  11,074  hogs.  In  1852,  4,795  horses,  27,526  cattle,  70,852  sheep, 
5,537  hogs  and  45  mules.  From  1858  to  1864  inclusive,  the  annual  average 
was  8,063  horses,  33,927  cattle,  86,692  sheep,  7,875  hogs  and  75  mules.  In 
1867  there  were  7,439  horses,  27,823  cattle,  125,545  sheep,  7,769  hogs  and  87 
mules.  In  1870,  6,373  horses,  26,696  cattle,  45,386  sheep,  6,421  hogs  and  56 
mules.  In  1873,  7,887  horses,  34,706  cattle,  44,365  sheep,  5,565  hogs  and  73 
mules.  In  1875,  8,359  horses,  26.466  cattle,  34,609  sheep,  4,648  hogs  and  75 
mules.  In  1878,  7,886  horses,  29,968  cattle,  41,394  sheep,  9,162  hogs  and  75 
mules.  In  1880,  7,557  horses,  28,702  cattle,  51,622  sheep,  6,895  hogs  and  74 
mules.  In  1884  there  were  reported  9,327  horses,  30,049  cattle,  13,746  sheep, 
29,185  hogs  and  267  mules.  The  greatest  noticeable  changes  will  be  found  in 
the  sheep  reports.  From  1840  to  1867  there  was  a  rapid  increase  of  this 
stock,  numbering  in  the  latter  year  125,545  head,  but  from  that  date  up  to 
1884  there  was  a  var34ng  decrease  in  numbers,  until  the  difi'erence  between 
1867  and  1884  was  over  100,000.     While  the  number  of   horses  and  cattle 


258  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

varied  a  few  thousand  back  and  forth,  there  were  more  than  three  times  as 
many  hogs  reported  in  1883  and  1884  as  in  any  other  year  since  1852.  This 
would  indicate  that  hogs  are  rapidly  taking  the  place  of  sheep  on  the  farms  of 
Portage  County,  the  raising  of  the  latter  having  been  almost  abandoned  because 
of  the  rapid  decline  in  the  price  of  wool,  caused  by  the  reduction  of  the  tariff 
on  that  staple. 

The  leading  staple  crops  of  Portage  County  are  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  hay. 
From  1850  to  1864  inclusive,  the  annual  average  wheat  and  corn  product  was, 
respectively,  149,084  and  358,094  Tjushels.  The  annual  average  product  of 
oats  from  1858  to  1864  inclusive,  was  240,233  bushels,  while  the  annual  hay 
product  for  the  same  period  was  44,711  tons.  In  1866  there  were  raised  in 
this  county  81,922  bushels  of  wheat,  456,667  bushels  of  corn,  309,381  bushels 
of  oats,  and  49,913  tons  of  hay  and  clover.  In  1870,  108,324  bushels  of 
wheat,  540,862  bushels  of  corn,  386,257  bushels  of  oats  and  44,612  tons  of 
hay  and  clover.  In  1875,  176,866  bushels  of  wheat,  736,112  bushels  of  corn, 
502,288  bushels  of  oats  and  33,914  tons  of  hay  and  clover.  In  1880,  460,894 
bushels  of  wheat,  450,822  bushels  of  corn,  429,735  bushels  of  oats  and  40,138 
tons  of  hay  and  clover.  In  1883  (the  last  report  published),  there  were  raised 
318,261  bushels  of  wheat,  159,751  bushels  of  corn  (shelled),  540,464  bushels  of 
oats  and  58,694  tons  of  hay  and  clover.  The  total  annual  average  wheat- pro- 
duct of  this  county  from  1878  to  1882  inclusive  was  352,251  bushels,  and  of 
corn  for  the  same  period,  568,503  bushels. 

The  official  valuation  of  property  in  Portage  County,  by  decades,  as 
returned  for  taxation,  will  illustrate  its  steady  increase  in  wealth  and  general 
prosperity.  In  1850  the  total  valuation  was  $5,926,727;  1860,  $10,854,965; 
1870,  $14,228,943;  1880,  $16,100,010. 

Portage  County  Agricultural  Societies. — There  has  been  no  agency  that 
has  accomplished  so  much  good  for  the  farming  intei'ests  of  this  county  as  the 
several  agricultural  societies  of  the  past  and  present.  Their  influence  began 
sixty  years  ago,  when,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1825,  the  "  Portage  County  Agricult- 
ural Society  "  was  organized  at  the  Court  House  in  Ravenna,  by  the  election 
of  the  following  officers:  Joshua  Woodward,  President;  Elias  Harmon,  First 
Yice-President;  Owen  Brown,  Second  Vice-President;  Frederick  Wadsworth, 
Corresponding  Secretary;  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Recording  Secretary;  William 
Coolman,  Jr.,  Treasurer;  Jonathan  Sloane,  Auditor.  The  society  held  its 
first  "  agricultural  fair  and  cattle  show "  at  Ravenna,  October  18,  1825. 
Among  the  premiums  we  find  one  of  $3,  awarded  to  Seth  Harmon  for  the  best 
crop  of  corn,  he  having  raised  one  hundred  bushels  and  one  peck  from  one 
acre  of  land.  Fairs  were  held  annually  by  the  society  at  Ravenna  until  1830, 
when,  although  officers  were  elected,  no  fair  was  held,  and  the  society  went 
out  of  existence. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1839,  the  Ohio  Assembly  passed  "  an  act  to  author- 
ize and  encourage  the  establishment  of  agricultural  societies  in  the  several 
counties  in  this  State,  and  to  regulate  the  same;"  and  June  20,  1839,  in 
pursuance  of  notice  given  by  the  County  Auditor,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the 
Court  House  in  Ravenna,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  agricultural  society 
in  Portage  County.  William  Wetmore  was  Chairman,  and  George  Y.  Wallace, 
Secretary.  It  was  resolved  by  the  meeting  to  call  the  new  institution  the 
"  Portage  County  Agricultural  Societj"-,"  and  the  following  officers  were  chosen : 
William  Wetmore,  President;  Lorin  Bigelow,  Vice-President;  George  Y. 
Wallace,  Recording  Secretary;  Joseph  Lyman,  Corresponding  Secretary;  John 
B.  Clark,  William  Milliken  and  Oliver  C.  Dickinson,  Executive  Committee. 
Their  first  fair  was  held  at  the  Court  House  October  20  and  21,  1841,  and  was 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  259 

quite  a  success.  Successful  fairs  were  also  held  at  the  same  place  in  1842, 
1843  and  1844,  but  on  account  of  a  long  drouth  and  consequent  failure  of 
crops,  none  was  held  in  1845. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1846,  the  Legislature  passed  "  an  act  for  the 
encouragement  of  agriculture;"  and  April  1  and  2,  1846,  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture  met  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  adopted  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
government  of  county  societies  legally  organized  in  harmony  with  this  law. 
A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Court  House  in  Ravenna,  for  the  purpose  of  organ- 
izing a  society  under  those  rules,  and  to  obtain  the  financial  assistance  from 
the  State,  which  the  act  promised.  Greenbury  Keen  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and  Richard  J.  Thompson  chosen  Secretary.  Enoch  Johnson,  Friend  Cook, 
Ralph  Day,  William  Stedman  and  Richard  J.  Thompson  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  prepare  a  constitution  for  the  society,  which  was  subsequently 
presented  and  adopted.  The  following  officers  were  then  elected:  Richard  J. 
Thompson,  President;  J.  G.  Foley,  Vice-President;  Archibald  Servoss,  Secre- 
tary; Enos  P.  Brainerd,  Treasurer;  William  Stedman,  Albert  Austin,  Charles 
Button,  William  Milliken  and  Daniel  W.  Jennings,  Executive  Committee. 
The  thanks  of  the  meeting  were  extended  to  Hon.  William  Wetmore,  of  the 
Senate,  and  to  Hons.  David  Mcintosh  and  Thomas  C.  Shreve,  of  the  House, 
for  their  exertions  to  procure  the  passage  of  the  law  for  the  promotion  of 
agriculture.  Gen.  Mcintosh  was  afterward  President  of  the  society  for  several 
years,  and  in  August,  1853,  he  and  wife  were  presented  by  the  society  with  a 
massive  silver  salver,  as  an  appropriate  token  of  its  appreciation  of  the  efforts 
both  had  always  put  forth  to  build  up  the  interests  of  the  institution. 

The  first  fair  of  the  new  society  was  held  at  Ravenna,  September  30  and 
October  1,  1846,  and  though  not  so  largely  attended  as  expected,  was  never- 
theless a  very  creditable  exhibition.  For  several  years  the  society  held  its 
annual  fairs  in  Ravenna,  with  no  permanent  grounds,  but  in  1859  it  rented 
about  twenty  acres  of  land  east  of  Ravenna,  and  immediately  south  of  the 
present  grounds,  which  were  fitted  up  and  used  for  twenty  years.  Prior  to 
1870  the  financial  affairs  of  the  society  had  reached  a  low  ebb,  and  the  fair  of 
1869  was  regarded  as  a  failure  in  every  sense.  Many  predicted  that  the  soci- 
ety would  go  under,  and  on  the  strength  of  this  feeling  an  agricultural  soci- 
ety was  organized  at  Garrettsville,  with  the  expectation  of  taking  its  place. 
But  in  the  meantime  Horace  Y.  Beebe,  and  a  few  other  enterprising  citizens, 
"  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,"  raised  a  subscription,  paid  off  the  debts 
and  got  the  institution  once  more  "  upon  its  legs,"  where  it  has  since  remained. 
The  lease  of  the  old  grounds  expired  in  1879,  and  the  society  obtained  a 
twenty  years'  lease  of  its  present  grounds,  owned  and  previously  fitted  up  by 
the  Ravenna  Park  Association,  a  coterie  of  horsemen  who  held  annual  races 
and  thus  sought  to  encourage  the  growth  of  fine  horses.  On  these  grounds, 
which  contain  twenty-two  acres  and  a  good  half-mile  track,  the  agricultural 
society  has  erected  a  fine  exhibition  hall,  offices,  and  cattle  and  sheep  sheds, 
besides  having  the  right,  under  its  lease,  to  the  use  of  the  stables,  grand 
stand,  and  other  buildings  of  the  Park  Association,  with  exclusive  control  of 
the  grounds  during  the  fair.  It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  present  pros- 
perous condition  of  the  society  is  largely  due  to  the  efforts  of  Horace  Y. 
Beebe,  who  has  spared  neither  time  nor  labor  to  make  the  annual  fairs  a  suc- 
cess, and  whose  energy  and  business  capacity,  together  with  the  earnest  sup- 
port of  the  Board  and  friends  of  the  society,  have  enabled  him  to  accomplish 
what  few  men  would  have  cared  to  undertake.  Besides  the  annual  fair  at  Gar- 
rettsville, several  other  townships  in  the  county  hold  township  fairs,  and  while 
any  effort  in  that  direction  is  laudable,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  positive  fact  that 


260  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

those  township  societies  detract  much  from  the  interest  and  usefulness  of  the 
county  organization,  and  had,  therefore,  better  be  abolished.  The  membership 
of  the  society  is  now  about  600,  and  its  present  officers  are  N.  S.  Olin,  Presi- 
dent; R.  S.  Elkins,  Vice-President;  E.  R.  Wait,  Treasurer;  K.  S.  Wing,  Sec- 
retary; C.  C.  Gardner,  William  Bergen,  S  N.  Andrews,  W.  W.  Stevens,  Simon 
Perkins,  A.  N.  Farr,  Franklin  Willard,  F.  R.  Coit,  H.  O.  Hine  and  Smith 
Sanford,  Directors. 

The  Portage  County  Horticultural  Society  was  organized  in  February,  1879, 
with  fourteen  charter  members,  most  of  whom  were  men  who  put  their  hands 
to  the  plow  without  any  intention  of  looking  back.  The  society  has  experi- 
enced unexpected  prosperity,  and  contains  at  this  writing  250  members,  who 
pay  an  annual  fee  of  $1.  It  has  never  failed  to  hold  its  regular  monthly 
meeting,  and  the  attendance  has  always  been  encouraging  and  generally  large. 
The  social  feature  of  the  meetings,  which  are  held  at  the  residences  of  the 
members,  is  good  remuneration  for  the  expense  and  trouble  incurred,  while  the 
interest  stimulated  in  horticulture  has  been  rapidly  increasing,  as  is  plainly 
evident  throughout  the  county  in  improved  yards,  orchards  and  gardens. 
The  present  officers  of  the  society  are  Horace  Y,  Beebe,  President;  R.  S. 
Elkins,  Vice-President;  Andrew  W^illson,  Secretary;  C.  L.  Bartlett,  Treasurer; 
C.  C.  Gardner,  A.  J.  Jennings  and  John  Meharg,  Executive  Committee.  The 
same  President  and  Seci'etary  have  held  those  positions  since  the  organization 
of  the  society.  The  officers  and  members  of  the  Agricultural  Society  recog- 
nize the  aid  of  the  Horticultural  Society  in  reviving  the  county  fairs,  and 
making  them  truly  successful.  In  many  ways  the  society  is  exerting  a  whole- 
some influence.  The  membei's  feel  that  what  has  been  done  is  but  a  prophecy 
of  what  may  be  accomplished,  and  are  generally  anxious  to  make  the  Bociety 
as  helpful  to  the  purpose  of  its  organization  as  is  possible. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

First  Military  Organization  on  the  Western  Reserve— War  of  1812  and 
First  Call  for  Volunteers— John  Harmon's  Recollections  of  the  War 
— Second  Regiment  Ohio  Militia— Capt.  John  Campbell's  Company  of 
Volunteers— Camp  on  Barrel  Run— March  to  Cleveland,  and  Embark- 
ation for  Lower  Sandusky— Description  OF  the  Trip  and  Arrival — 
Incidents  at  the  Fort,  and  Sickness  Among  the  Soldiers  —Departure 
FOR  THE  River  Raisin— Hull's  Surrender— Start  for  Malden,  and 
Arrival  at  that  Point— Paroled  Prisoners— Return  Home  of  the 
Sick  and  Paroled  Men— Deaths  in  the  Command— Alarm  Caused  by  the 
Surrender— Regimental  Record  of  the  Second  Regiment— Response  to 
A  Call  for  Troops  in  1813— Mr.  Harmon's  Concluding  Remarks— The 
Inhabitants  of  Portage  County  Fear  an  Indian  Invasion— Distressing 
Incident  of  the  War— Re-organization  of  the  Militia— Muster  Days 
AND  Sham  Fights. 

THE  first  military  organization  on  the  Western  Reserve  was  effected  under 
the  general  militia  law  of  Ohio,  passed  at  the  Legislative  session  of 
1803-04.  The  State  was  divided  into  four  divisions,  the  Fourth  Division 
embracing  the  whole  eastern  portion  thereof,  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio 
Rivei'.  Elijah  Wadsworth  was  elected  Major-General  of  that  division,  and 
issued  his  first  order  April  6,  1804.  His  division  was  divided  into  two 
brigades  and  five  regiments.     The  First  Brigade,  Ohio  militia,  comprised  the 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  261 

male  inhabitants  of  naiiitary  age  inside  the  limits  of  Trumbull  County,  which 
then  embraced  the  territory  now  in  Portage,  as  well  as  all  the  country  west  of  this 
county  to  the  western  limits  of  the  Reserve.  The  brigade  was  divided  into  the 
First  and  Second  Regiments,  the  north  line  of  Township  5  being  the  dividing  line 
between  those  forming  the  respective  commands.  The  Second  Regiment  was 
divided  into  two  battalions,  and  the  Second  Battalion  into  four  companies. 

The  First  Company  included  the  present  townships  of  Berlin  and  Milton, 
Mahoning  County,  and  Deerfield,  Palmyra,  Paris,  Charlestown,  Edinburg 
and  Atwater  Townships,  Portage  County,  and  was  called  the  "  Deerfield  Com- 
pany." The  Second  Company  included  the  present  townships  of  Randolph, 
Rootstown,  Ravenna,  Franklin,  Brimtield  and  Suffield,  and  was  called  th© 
"  Rootstown  Company. "  The  Third  Company  included  the  present  town- 
ships of  Windham,  Nelson,  Garrettsville,  Hiram,  Freedom,  Shalersville,  Man- 
tua, Aurora  and  Streetsboro,  and  the  Fourth  Company  included  all  of  the 
remaining  territory  of  the  Reserve  west  of  the  present  western  boundary  of 
Portage  County.  On  the  7th  of  May,  1804,  elections  for  ofi&cers  were  held  in 
the  four  companies,  resulting  as  follows:  First  Company — Henry  Rogers, 
Captain;  John  Diver,  Lieutenant;  John  Campbell,  Ensign.  Second  Company 
— Thomas  Wright,  Captain;  William  Chard,  Lieutenant;  David  Morse, 
Ensign.  Third  Company — Ezra  Wyatt,  Captain;  Gersham  Judson,  Lieuten- 
ant; Thomas  Kennedy,  Ensign.  Fourth  Company — John  Oviatt,  Captain;. 
Aaron  Norton,  Lieutenant;  James  Walker,  Ensign.  On  the  24th  of  Septem- 
ber following,  Henry  Rogers,  Captain  of  the  First  Company,  was  elected 
Major  of  the  battalion.  The  names  of  most  of  the  officers  of  those  four  com- 
panies will  be  recognized  as  those  of  leading  pioneers  of  Portage  County,  but 
as  elections  were  held  annually  their  places  were  subsequently  tilled  by  others 
who  are  equally  well  remembered  as  prominent  early  settlers  of  this  section  of 
the  State. 

With  the  rapid  growth  of  population  and  the  organization  of  new  counties, 
among  which  was  Portage,  in  1808,  some  changes  occurred  in  the  boundaries 
of  the  territory  from  which  the  Second  Regiment  was  originally  raised,  while 
the  number  of  brigades  in  the  Fourth  Division  was  increased  to  four,  and 
other  regiments  formed  from  the  additional  brigades.  A  few  years  passed  by 
and  the  sound  wisdom  of  these  militia  organizations  became  very  apparent. 
The  war  of  1812  was  brought  on  by  the  arrogant  claims  of  the  English  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  citizen  soldiers  of  Portage  County  were  among  the  first  to 
respond  to  their  country's  call.  In  response  to  a  call  from  Gov.  Meigs  for  sol- 
diers to  defend  the  frontier,  Capt.  John  Campbell's  company  of  riflemen  was 
organized  May  23,  1812,  of  volunteers  from  the  Second  Regiment,  Ohio  Mili- 
tia. Soon  after  the  declaration  of  war,  June  18,  1812,  this  company  received 
orders  to  meet  at  the  house  of  Capt.  Campbell,  July  1,  and  on  that  day 
pitched  their  tents  of  homespun  linen  sheets  on  the  bank  of  Barrel  Run,  near 
the  home  of  Capt.  Campbell.  The  command  had  no  uniforms,  but  each  man 
was  "armed  to  the  teeth"  with  a  rifle,  a  tomahawk,  and  a  large  knife.  It  soon 
afterward  started  for  the  frontier,  and  was  encamped  on  the  River  Raisin  at 
the  time  of  Hull's  surrender,  and  therefore  included  in  that  disgraceful  and 
cowardly  capitulation. 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  late  John  Harmon,  Esq.,  of  Ravenna,  who  was  a 
member  of  this  company,  compiled  an  article  entitled  "Recollections  of  the 
War  of  1812,  "  which  was  published  in  the  Portage  County  Democrat,  March 
2,  3870.  The  writer  deems  this  historic  sketch  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
worthy  of  preservation  in  the  pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  Harmon  rendered 
the  present  and  future  generations  a  great  service  by  rescuing  from  obliviou 


262  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  placing  on  record  important  events  connected  with  a  very  interesting 
period  of  our  national  history;  but  more  especially  are  these  reminiscences 
invaluable  to  the  people  of  Portage  County.  None  of  the  pioneers  of  this 
county  who  participated  in  the  war  of  1812  are  left  to  tell  the  story  of  their 
trials  and  hardships,  and  without  these  reminiscences,  so  fortunately  prepared 
by  Mr.  Harmon,  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  at  this  late  day  to  obtain  any 
reliable  data  treating  of  military  events  in  this  portion  of  Ohio  during  that 
momentous  period. 

Recollections  of  the  War  of  1812.  * — In  compliance  with  the  expressed  wishes 
of  some  valued  friends,  and  more  particularly  at  the  recent  solicitation  of  the 
officers  of  the  Western  Reserve  Historical  Society,  I  will  endeavor  to  write  for 
publication  some  account  of  the  campaign  of  Capt.  Campbell's  Volunteer 
Company  of  1812,  of  which  I  was  an  humble  member.  To  aid  me  in  this  task, 
I  have  a  brief  diary  journal,  kept  at  that  time,  and  a  brief  record  of  our 
organization  in  the  book  of  Regimental  Records  of  the  regiment  from  which 
our  company  was  raised.  But  for  much  that  I  have  to  record,  I  have  to  rely 
on  memory,  and  I  fear  my  task,  performed  at  my  time  of  life,  and  after  a  lapse 
of  more  than  iifty-seven  years  from  the  time  the  events  occurred  of  which  I 
write,  will  not  be  acceptably  recorded.  But,  as  few  of  the  actors  of  those  days 
now  remain  to  tell  their  tales,  and  fewer  still  are  disposed  to  transmit  our  his- 
tory to  the  present  young,  and  the  coming  generations,  I  have  been  induced  to 
commence  the  task,  and  present  the  record  first  to  the  people  of  the  locality 
where  our  company  was  best  known,  and  through  the  medium  of  the  local  press 
of  Portage  County. 

In  1812  the  able  bodied  white  male  inhabitants  between  the  ages  of  eight- 
een and  forty-five,  residing  on  the  three  eastern  tiers  of  townships  of  the 
present  county  of  Portage,  and  subject  to  military  duty,  constituted  the  Sec- 
ond Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  Fourth  Division,  Ohio  Militia,  and  were  com- 
manded by  Col.  John  Campbell,  then  residing  on  the  corners  of  the  four  town- 
ships of  Ravenna,  Rootstown,  Charlestown  and  Edinburg,  a  place  since  called 
Campbellsport.  This  regiment  consisted  of  two  battalions,  of  four  militia 
companies  each.  Those  residing  in  Mantua  constituted  the  First  Company, 
First  Battalion.  Nelson,  Hiram  and  Windham  constituted  the  Second  Com- 
pany, First  Battalion.  Ravenna  and  Charlestown  constituted  the  Third  Com- 
pany, First  Battalion.  Shalersville  constituted  the  Fourth  Company,  First 
Battalion.  Deerfield  and  Atwater  constituted  the  First  Company,  Second 
Battalion.  Rootstown  constituted  the  Second  Company,  Second  Battalion. 
Palmyra  and  Paris  constituted  the  Third  Company,  Second  Battalion.  Ran- 
dolph constituted  the  Fourth  Company,  Second  Battalion. 

It  appears  that  about  the  middle  of  May,  1812,  Col.  Campbell  received 
orders  from  Got.  Meigs  to  raise  soldiers  from  his  regiment  for  the  defense  of 
the  frontiers;  but  the  number  to  be  raised  does  not  appear  on  record,  but,  on 
the  Military  Record  Book,  page  26,  we  find  the  following: 

"  At  a  special  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Bri- 
gade, Fourth  Division,  of  Ohio  Militia,  holden  at  Ravenna,  the  19th  day  of 
May,  1812,  for  raising  soldiers. 

"Officers  present. — Col.  John  Campbell,  Maj.  Stephen  Mason,  Maj.  Thad- 
deus  Andrews. 

"  Captains. — Alva  Day,  Joshua  Woodward,  Asa  K.  Burroughs. 

"Lieut.  Isaac  Merriman,  for  Capt.  Timothy  Culver's  Company. 

"Lieut.  John  Redden,  for  Capt,  Delaun  Mills'  Company. 

*  By  the  late' John  Harmon,  Esq. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  265 

"Commandants  of  Companies. — Lieut,  Oliver  Snow,  Lieut.  John  Caris, 
Lieut.  Charles  Gilbert. 

"Ordered — That  the  regiment  meet  at  Ravenna  on  the  23d  inst.,  at  10 
o'clock  A.  M. 

"Orders  given  to  Majors  Mason  and  Andrews." 

Then  follow  on  the  record  several  pages  of  "class  rolls"  of  the  regi- 
ment, with  the  name  and  class,  as  it  purports,  of  every  man  of  the  regiment 
subject  to  military  duty,  comprising  all  able-bodied  white  males  between  the 
ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five,  residing  in  the  bounds  of  the  regiment,  which 
we  omit  at  present.  At  this  time,  and  previous,  Robert  Campbell  was  Clerk 
of  the  regiment,  but  much  of  the  records  appear  to  be  in  the  hand- writing  of 
the  late  Col.  Stephen  Mason.  On  page  30  is  recorded  the  appointment  of 
Charles  Curtis,  of  Charlestown,  as  Quartermaster  of  the  regiment,  and  Fred- 
erick Wadsworth,  Clerk  of  the  regiment,  dated  26th  of  May,  1812.  I  find  no 
record  of  the  mustering  of  the  regiment  "to  raise  soldiers,"  and  here  have  to 
tax  my  memory. 

According  to  orders  the  regiment  met  at  Ravenna,  May  23,  and  on  being 
paraded  in  line,  the  Colonel  informed  us  that  he  had  orders  from  the  Governor 
to  raise  soldiers  from  this  regiment  for  the  defense  of  the  frontiers,  and  that 
unless  a  company  of  fifty  would  volunteer,  a  draft  must  be  made;  that  if 
fifty  men  would  volunteer,  they  could  by  law  elect  their  own  officers;  but 
if  a  draft  had  to  be  made,  they  would  be  commanded  probably  by  strangers. 
He  advised  us  to  volunteer,  and  urged  in  a  short  speech,  and  Charles  Shaler, 
then  a  young  lawyer,  since  Judge  Shaler,  of  Pittsburgh,  a  son  of  Nathaniel 
Shaler,  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  the  proprietor  of  Shalersville,  being  present, 
entertained  us  with  a  patriotic  speech. 

It  was  then  announced,  as  the  musicians  stepped  out  before  the  regiment, 
that  all  who  would  volunteer  should  step  forward  and  follow  the  music. 
Immediately  volunteers  began  to  show  themselves,  stepping  to  the  front,  to 
the  music  of  the  drum  and  fife.  Among  the  first  were  Col  Campbell,  Capt. 
Alva  Day,  Lieut.  John  Caris  and  Samuel  Redfield.  The  last-mentioned  was,  I 
believe,  the  first  to  follow  the  music.  The  little  squad  thus  formed  continued 
passing  to  and  fro  before  the  regiment,  its  members  constantly  accumulating, 
until  it  was  announced  that  the  fifty  were  on  hand,  and  one  more.  During 
the  suspense  before  the  required  number  were  on  hand,  some  one  announced 
that  he  saw  a  star  in  our  horizon,  a  star  of  promise,  may  be,  on  which  George 
Grant  Redden,  of  Hiram,  declared  if  he  could  see  the  star,  he  too 
would  volunteer,  and  on  it  being  shown  him  he  immediately  volunteered. 
As  it  was  a  clear  day,  numbers  of  us  saw  the  bright  star.  We  were 
then  marched  to  the  south  side  of  the  Court  House,  and  our  names  were  taken 
by  one  of  our  number,  Ralph  Buckland — father  of  Hon.  Ralph  P.  Buckland, 
late  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  Ninth  (Fremont)  District,  Ohio.  This 
done,  we  were  fully  engaged,  and  it  was  debated  when  and  where  we  would 
elect  our  company  officers,  and  determined  to  proceed  immediately,  same 
evening,  at  the  house  of  William  Tappan,  which  we  accordingly  did.  That 
house,  one  of  the  first  frame  structures  built  in  Ravenna,  was  burned  a  few 
years  ago.  It  stood  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Phoenix  Block,  north- 
east of  the  Court  House  square.  The  same  room  where  the  votes  were  taken 
was  afterward  used  as  a  printing  office,  from  which,  in  1834-35,  The  Western 
Courier  was  issued. 

The  following  "roll  of  volunteers"  and  list-  of  officers  elected  is  copied 
from  Regimental  Records,  page  30,  the  record  found  in  the  hand-writing  of 
the  late  Frederick  Wadsworth,  Esq.     I  add  only  their  respective  residences: 


266  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

OFFICERS. 

John  Campbell,  Captain,  Campbellsport. 

Alva  Day,  Lieutenant,  Deerfield. 

John  Caris,  Second  Lieutenant,  Rootstown. 

Aaron  Weston,  Ensign,  Kavenna. 

Lewis  Day,  Jr.,  First  Sergeant,  Deertield. 

John  Wright,  Second  Sergeant,  Rootstown. 

Ralph  Buckland,  Third  Sergeant,  Ravenna. 

Lewis  Ely,  Jr.,  Fourth  Sergeant,  Deeriield. 

Charles  (Jhittenden,  First  Corporal,  Atwater. 

John  Harmon,  Second  Corporal,  Mantua. 

Daniel  Burroughs,  Jr.,  Third  Corporal,  Shalersville. 

John  Turner,  Fourth  Corporal,  Rootstown. 

David  Jones,  Drummer,  Randolph. 

James  Magill,  Fifer,  Palmyra. 

PRIVATES. 

William  Tappan,  Ravenna;  Samuel  Redfield,  Randolph;  David  Moore, 
Ravenna;  Samuel  C.  Thompson,  Ravenna;  Benjamin  Bradley,  Shalersville; 
William  Thornton,  Randolph;  John  McManus,  Ravenna;  William  Ward, 
Ravenna;  Harry  O.  Pettibone,  Mantua;  Enos  Harmon,  Mantua;  Chauncey 
Newberry,  Rootstown;  Robert  Campbell,  Ravenna;  John  Sabin,  Randolph; 
Samuel  Bartlett,  Rootstown;  Samuel  Tuthill,  Rootstown;  John  Shaler,  Charles- 
town;  Ebenezer  Tibballs,  Deerfield;  John  Smith,  Mantua;  Peter  Tyrrel, 
Ravenna;  Philip  AVillyard,  Rootstown;  Zacheas  Harmon,  Mantua;  Ebenezer 
Buckley,  Palmyra;  Abiram  Amidon,  Rootstown;  James  Ray,  Jr.,  Mantua; 
Mark  Moore,  Mantua;  George  G.  Redden,  Hiram;  Job  Thompson,  Jr.,  Shalers- 
ville; William  Coolman,  Jr.,  Shalersville;  Henry  Root,  Rootstown;  Samuel 
Hartle,  Rootstown;  Oliver  Newberry,  Rootstown;  Joseph  Fisher,  Palmyra; 
Charles  Carter,  Ravenna;  Enoch  Judson,  Mantua;  Nathan  Chapman,  Roots- 
town;  Joel  Underwood,  Palmyra;  Charles  Reed,  Deerfield;  Seth  Day,  Deer- 
field. 

Seth  Day  did  not  at  first  volunteer,  but  joined  us  at  the  rendezvous,  and 
acted  as  Clerk  for  the  oflScers  until  taken  sick. 

Of  the  foregoing  roll,  Charles  Reed,  William  Tappan,  John  Sabin,  John 
Shaler,  Nathan  Chapman,  Enoch  Judson,  Joseph  Fisher,  Oliver  Newberry, 
Benjamin  Bradley  and  Samuel  Bartlett,  and  I  think  also  Ebenezer  Tibballs, 
failed  to  march  to  the  frontier,  but  several  furnished  substitutes,  to- wit:  Miles 
Allen  took  the  place  of  John  Sabin;  William  Maxfield  took  the  place  of  Nathan 
Chapman;  Nathan  Cross  that  of  Joseph  Fisher;  John  Jacobs  that  of  Enoch 
Judson;  John  Williams  that  of  Charles  Reed;  Richard  Redden  that  of  Ben- 
jamin Bradley.  Thomas  Rowley  substituted  for  some  one,  and  several  shirked 
the  service.  Joseph  DeW^olf  and  David  Thompson,  of  Ravenna,  I  believe, 
both  volunteered,  but  their  names  do  not  appear  on  the  record.  It  was  said 
that  DeWolf,  being  the  only  physician  in  Ravenna,  could  not  be  spared  from 
the  place,  and  Thompson  was  detained  by  the  condition  of  his  family.  Our 
company  being  thus  organized,  we  were  permitted  to  return  to  our  homes,  with 
the  injunction  oto  meet  again  on  short  notice  and  to  bring  with  us  arms  and 
equipments  for  a  war  campaign;  and  we  were  urged  to  provide  ourselves  with 
rifles  if  possible. 

On  the  18th  of  June  following.  Congress  passed  a  formal  declaration  of 
war  against  Great  Britain,  and  soon  thereafter  we  were  severally  summoned  to 
meet  on  the  1st  day  of  July,  at  the  residence  of  Capt.  Campbell.     The  com- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  267 

pany  accordingly  met  at  the  time  and  place  appointed,  established  some  tem- 
porary camps  on  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Mahoning  (west  branch)  and  Barrel 
Run,  near  to  Capt.  Campbell's  residence,  in  a  pleasant  natural  bower.  All,  I 
believe,  came  provided  with  arms  and  equipments,  and  most  of  us  brought 
rifles.  We  there  found,  besides  our  officers,  a  committee  appointed  to  appraise 
our  equipments,  as  by  law  provided,  that  if  lost  we  could  claim  and  obtain 
their  value  from  the  Government.  On  July  2  our  arms  were  appraised;  and 
I  find  on  record  a  detailed  statement  of  each  article  furnished  by  each  person, 
set  to  their  respective  names,  and  signed  by  the  appraisers,  Charles  Curtis, 
Erastus  Carter  and  Stephen  Mason.  The  details  I  omit — the  whole  amount 
of  the  appraisement  as  stated  is  $912.66.  We  had  to  wait  some  days  for 
supplies  to  be  collected  by  our  Captain,  who  had  been  authorized,  as  he  said, 
by  the  Governor  for  that  purpose.  On  July  4  our  Captain  gave  the  company 
an  Independence  dinner,  which  was  well  relished  and  appreciated;  and  in  the 
evening   we  enjoyed  ourselves  at  our  camps,  and  some  patriotic  soncrs  were 

On  July  5,  which  was  Sunday,  there  was  something  of  an  assemblage  of 
people,  from  the  neighboring  townships,  at  our  rendezvous  in  the  bower,  and 
the  two  old  Congregational  pioneer  preachers.  Rev.  John  Seward  (then  of 
Aurora,  now  a  venerable  resident  of  Tallmadge),  and  Rev.  Harvey  Coe,  of 
Trumbull  County — I  believe  Hartford — and  I  believe  since  deceased,  addi'essed 
us  and  the  people  in  the  grove  very  appropriately,  and  prayed  with  us.  On 
the  next  day,  July  6,  in  the  afternoon,  the  company  commenced  their  march 
for  the  frontier;  camped  the  first  night  at  Roundy's  Inn,  near  the  southwest 
corner  of  Ravenna,  on  the  old  State  Road  from  Youngstown  to  the  Portage- 
That  road  is  said  to  be  the  first  road  laid  out  on  the  Western  Reserve.  The 
second  day's  march  was  only  to  Hudson,  and  camped  near  the  residence  of 
David  Hudson,  Esq.  At  the  end  of  the  third  day's  march  they  encamped  at 
the  crossing  of  Tinker's  Creek  near  the  west  line  of  Bedford.  The  tavern 
there  was,  I  believe,  kept  by  Noble.  On  the  fourth  day  from  our  rendez- 
vous, July  9,  the  company  arrived  at  "  the  City,"  as  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Cleveland  was  then  called  to  distinguish  it  from  "the  settlement** 
part  of  Cleveland  township,  which  then  included  what  is  now  Newburg. 
Those  of  us  whose  homes  were  in  Mantua  had  by  permission  passed  that  way 
to  Cleveland,  and  were  there  in  waiting  when  the  company  arrived,  having 
made  quicker  time,  not  being  impeded  by  the  slow  pi'ogress  of  the  baggage 
wagons.  Cleveland  was  then  but  a  small  place.  I  had  been  somewhat  famil- 
iar there  and  can  recollect  of  scarce  a  dozen  families  resident  there  at  that 
time.  There  were  two  taverns,  Carter's  and  Wallace's,  and  I  believe  three 
stores.  Perry's,  Murray's,  and  Hanchett's,  which  last  mentioned,  Hanchett's, 
was  nearly  sold  out.  The  company  encamped  on  the  north  side  of  Superior 
Street,  among  the  bushes,  east  of  Perry's  store. 

The  next  day,  July  10,  afternoon,  we  embarked  on  board  of  two  boats  for 
Lower  Sandusky,  as  the  stockade  was  then  called,  where  is  now  the  flourish- 
ing little  city  of  Fremont.  One  of  our  boats  was  known  as  Babcock's,  the 
other  as  Smith's.  The  first  day  we  made  only  seven  miles,  to  the  mouth  of 
Rocky  River.  From  our  encampment  on  the  beach,  east  side  of  the  mouth  of 
Rocky  River,  we  embarked  early  the  following  morning  and  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  Black  River  about  noon,  and  the  lake  being  rough,  we  encamped 
with  our  boats  in  a  safe  harbor  on  the  west  side,  in  the  mouth  of  Black  River, 
near  the  residence  of  John  S.  Reid,  whom  I  had  known,  when  a  few  years  pre- 
vious he  had  resided  some  three  or  four  miles  from  Cleveland  on  the  Newburg 
road.     Embarked  early,  July  12,  and  arrived  about  the  middle  of  the  day  at 


268  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Sandusky  Bay,  and  stopped  at  a  blockhouse  on  the  north  side  of  the  bay,  on 
the  Peninsula  of  Danbury.  I  understood  it  was  called  Maj.  Parson's  block- 
house, and  I  think  it  was  nearly  opposite  to  where  I  have  since  found  San- 
dusk}^  City.  We  saw  no  settlement  here,  and  saw  no  settler  that  I  remember 
but  one,  Capt.  Charles  Parker,  who  came  from  the  south  side  of  the  bay, 
where  I  understood  he  resided.  He  was  the  same  who  was  a  pioneer  in 
Geauga  (now  Lake  County),  at  Mentor.  I  had  known  him  there  when  he  was 
acting  Sheriff  of  Geauga  County  in  1806  and  after.  We  had  met  and  passed 
a  sail  boat  at  a  distance,  just  before  entering  the  bay,  which  was  I  think  the 
only  craft  we  had  seen  on  our  way.  Those  of  us  on  Babcock's  boat  spent  the 
night  in  the  block-house;  Smith's  boat  anchored  out  in  the  bay. 

On  the  13th  of  July  both  boats  proceeded  up  the  bay,  and  up  the  Sandusky 
River,  slowly,  passing  some  prairies  but  no  white  settlement,  and  moving  so 
slowly  that  some  of  us  walked  along  shore  part  of  the  way.  While  walking 
we  passed  over  the  stubble  of  Indian  corn  patches  of  the  previous  years,  and 
on  the  way  fell  in  with  a  venerable  and  good-looking  old  Indian,  known 
to  some  of  our  comrades  as  Sagaman,  an  old  chief  who  had  in  previous  years 
had  his  camps  in  Portage  County,  and  had  been  a  good  kind  neighbor  to  the 
first  settlers  of  Mantua,  in  the  winter  of  1799-1800,  and  helped  them  to  meat, 
at  fair  rates  of  exchange,  for  pumpkins  and  other  small  articles.  He  was  still 
friendly,  while  Wilson  and  other  Indians  had  left  us  and  gone  to  the  British. 
We  arrived  at  Widow  Whittaker's,  on  the  west  side,  where  we  found  an 
improved  farm,  surrounded  by  timber  land.  This  was  said  to  be  three  miles 
by  water  from  our  destination,  the  fort  or  stockade  of  Lower  Sandusky,  as  it 
was  called. 

On  July  14  we  proceeded  up  the  river,  and  landed  on  the  west  side  below 
the  rapids,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort,  marched  up,  and  were  admitted 
into  the  garrison,  where  we  found  Capt.  Norton,  with  his  company  of  about 
fifty  volunteer  riflemen  from  Delaware  County,  Ohio.  The  fort  was  a  stockade 
of  log  pickets,  cut  about  twelve  feet,  and  set  upright,  with  a  shallow  ditch 
enclosing  about  an  acre.  Within  were  one  or  two  small  houses,  in  one  of  which 
was  kept  the  United  States  store  and  Indian  agency.  The  Indian  Agent,  Mr. 
Varnum,  was  said  to  be  a  son  of  Hon.  Joseph  B.  Varnum,  of  Massachusetts, 
Speaker  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives  from  1807  to  1811. 
We  found  him  a  very  pleasant,  gentlemanly  young  man.  The  fort  was  some 
thirty  rods  west  of  the  river,  at  the  rapids,  and  on  the  nearest  high  land  was 
an  open  country  with  a  few  scattering  oak  trees  about  it  on  the  north,  and  oak 
woods  at  the  west,  a  large  cornfield  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  on  the  bottom 
land,  and  a  log-house  on  the  first  rise  of  land  east  of  the  cornfield.  That  was 
all  the  farming  or  farm  houses  I  saw  in  that  region. 

The  barracks  or  soldiers'  quarters,  we  found  not  very  commodious,  but 
sufficient  for  summer  quarters.  They  consisted  of  bark  or  puncheon,  laid  up 
with  two  sides  seven  or  eight  feet  long  and  five  or  six  feet  wide,  backed 
against  the  pickets  and  open  in  front  where  we  built  our  cooking  fires,  having 
to  go  in  the  woods  and  pack  the  little  fuel  we  used.  We  had  only  the  ground 
to  lie  on  till  we  peeled  some  oak  bark  for  a  floor,  and  for  our Jjeds  we  stripped 
foliage  from  the  hazel  bushes,  as  straw  was  not  to  be  had. 

We  saw  very  few  persons  here,  whites  or  Indians,  except  soldiers.  Our 
business  was,  besides  our  daily  parade,  to  dig  a  well  and  build  block-houses. 
We  had  got  a  well  dug  about  twenty  feet  deep,  when  an  Indian  was  brought 
there  charged  with  horse  stealing,  I  believe,  from  Mrs.  Whittaker.  He  was 
confined  some  days  in  our  dry  well,  until  a  council  was  held  with  the  Indians 
of  Seneca  Town,  an  Indian   village  several  miles  up  the  river,  at  which  they 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  269 

agreed  to  furnish  a  good  dressed  beef  for  the  garrison,  and  our  prisoner  was 
released,  and  a  fine,  fat,  well-dressed  heifer  was  furnished  for  the  gari'ison, 
and  the  horse  was  restored.  The  fresh  beef  was  well  relished  indeed,  after  we 
had  been  kept  on  salt  pork  and  bread  so  long,  but  so  many  of  the  garrison 
were  soon  taken  sick,  that  we  suspected  the  Indians  of  poisoning  the  beef. 

We  had  not  yet  finished  our  well  or  our  block-house,  when  on  July  21,  orders 
were  received  from  Gen.  Hull,  at  Detroit,  by  our  Captain,  to  march  there  with 
his  and  Rowland's  companies  to  join  the  main  army.  With  these  orders, 
sent  by  a  Capt.  Curtis,  came  also  some  money  to  our  Captain  to  pay  for  the 
supplies  he  had  obtained  for  us;  but  no  money  came  to  pay  soldiers.  On  July 
22  Capt.  Campbell  started  for  Portage  County,  to  pay  those  from  whom 
he  had  obtained  our  supplies,  leaving  orders  to  make  all  ready  while  he  should 
be  absent.  On  July  29  Capt.  Campbell  returned,  accompanied  by  Capt. 
Rowland,  of  the  Columbiana  County  Volunteers,  who  came  in  advance  of  his 
company.  About  the  same  time  nearly  all  the  garrison  were  taken  sick  with' 
diarrhoea  and  fever.  Some  were  entirely  disabled,  others  were  just  able  to 
walk  about.  Capt,  Rowland's  company  arrived  at  the  fort  by  water, 
August  2,  and  on  the  4th  both  companies  started  by  water  down  the  river, 
halted  at  Mrs.  Whittaker's,  stayed  over  night,  and  remained  next  day  to  attend 
to  the  sick,  of  whom  Capt.  Campbell  and  Seth  Day  were  very  low. 

On  the  6th  Rowland's  company  started  by  land  up  the  lake  toward 
Detroit,  and  with  them  Lieut.  Caris,  who  was  detailed  with  a  squad  of  eleven 
men  to  guard  the  post  and  stores  at  Maumee.  Of  that  squad  I  only  remem- 
ber the  names  of  Sergt.  Ely,  Samuel  Hartle,  Henry  Root  and  John  Jacobs. 
The  last  mentioned  died  there  some  time  after.  The  same  day  Capt.  Camp- 
bell, with  the  remainder  of  our  company,  went  by  boat  down  the  river  and  bay 
from  Mrs.  Whittaker's  to  the  Parson's  Block-house,  on  Danbury  Peninsula. 
Next  day,  August  7,  Capt.  Campbell  and  Seth  Day,  being  much  worse  than 
others  of  the  company,  were  aided  on  board  John  Wallace's  boat,  and  started 
down  the  lake  for  Cleveland,  with  one  attendant,  Philip  Willyard;  and  Lieut. 
Day  and  the  balance  of  the  company  started  west  for  the  River  Raisin, 
on  Babcock's  boat,  the  same  boat  we  came  up  the  lake  on  near  a  month  before. 

From  Sandusky  Bay  we  sailed  day  and  night  till  we  arrived  near  the  mouth 
of  the  River  Raisin  on  the  forenoon  of  August  7,  where  we  were  hindered 
some  hours  among  the  bulrushes  and  flags,  hunting  the  channel,  which  we 
finally  found,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  a  mile  or  two,  and  arrived  at  the 
settlement  of  Frenchtown  about  noon,  stopping  at  Godfrey's  unfinished  frame 
house  on  our  right  bank,  about  noon.  There  we  stayed  over  night,  and  next 
day  on  an  alarm  of  "Indians  coming"  we  moved  on  to  the  garrison,  about  a 
half  mile  up  the  river,  on  same  side.  Next  day,  August  10,  we  moved  to  other 
quarters,  some  of  the  sick  to  a  vacant  log-house  on  the  south  side  of  the  river, 
others  to  Capt.  Downing's,  a  kind,  good  family,  nearly  a  mile  above  the  gar- 
rison. There  Lieut.  Day.  Sergt.  Day,  Sergt.  Wright  and  John  McManus, 
who  were  our  sickest,  with  Ensign  Weston  and  John  Smith  to  attend 
them,  were  located  with  that  kind  family.  The  log- house  Avhere  the 
most  of  us  were  located  stood  alone,  had  a  good  spring  and  timber  near,  and 
not  far  from  the  river,  and  I  think  it  was  there,  some  forty  years  after,  I  found 
the  flourishing  city  of  Monroe,  Mich.  We  remained  at  those  places  nearly 
all  sick,  but  most  of  us  able  to  walk  about,  until  an  alarm  of  Indians  coming 
to  attack  us,  on  August  14,  when,  though  the  alarm  proved  a  false  one, 
all  who  occupied  the  log- house  went  to  the  garrison,  where  we  stayed  till 
Monday,  the  17th,  when  Capt.  Elliott,  a  British  officer,  and  a  few  attend- 
ants, white  and  red,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  came  to  the  garrison,  demanding  its 


270  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

surrender,  hrin':^ing  also  the  articles  of  capitulation  of  Detroit  and  the  army 
under  Geu  Hull,  including  also  all  who  were  on  the  way  to  join  his  army, 
which  included  our  garrison.  This,  so  unexpected,  was  indeed  a  damper  on 
ns  all,  as  the  last  we  had  heard  of  Hull's  army  was  by  a  hand-bill  announcing 
his  successful  invasion  of  Canada.  The  flag  party  was  placed  under  guard, 
and  a  council  of  officers  met  in  a  marquee  of  the  Chillicothe  Cavalry  Company, 
a  company  just  arrived,  escorting  a  drove  of  beef  cattle  for  Detroit,  said  to  be 
about  one  hundred  head,  for  the  army.  The  marquee  was  outside  the  front 
gate  of  the  garrison,  and  I  was  enabled  to  observe  the  discussions  of  the 
officers,  of  whom  Capt.  Brush,  of  the  Chillicothe  Cavalry,  was  or  assumed 
to  be  the  senior  officer,  and  of  the  others  I  only  knew  Lieut.  Creighton, 
of  the  same  company.  Maj.  Anderson,  of  the  local  militia  of  the  Territory, 
was  near  by  on  horseback,  a  good-looking  officer,  but  I  understood  was  not 
admitted  in  council  because  of  suspicions  that  the  local  militia  were  not  loyal 
to  our  side. 

The  genuineness  of  the  articles  of  capitulation  brought  by  Elliott  were 
questioned,  and,  as  I  understood,  declared  to  be  a  forgery  and  a  trick  to  trap 
us.  Finally  Elliott  and  attendants  were  imprisoned  in  the  block- house, 
near  the  front  gate  of  the  garrison,  where  we  left  them  when  we  retired  for 
the  night.  That  night  we  slept  at  Lacelle's  Mill,  just  above  the  garrison, 
and  the  next  morning  we  found  that  the  Chillicothe  Cavalry  and  their  drove 
of  beeves  were  gone,  and  a  number  of  our  company  also  had  gone  homeward. 
I  had  left  my  rifle  standing  in  the  corner  of  the  mill  that  night,  but  in  the 
morning  it  was  gone  also,  and  some  of  my  comrades  suggested  that  it  was 
taken  by  one  who  would  carry  it  back  to  Portage  County  and  keep  it  from  the 
British.  The  same  night  Sergt.  John  Wright  died  at  Captain  Downing's, 
and  was  buried  by  his  friends  before  morning.  Our  company  was  thus  reduced 
to  twenty-six  men.  The  policy  of  leaving  for  home  that  night  had  been  dis- 
cussed, and  those  who  felt  able  and  were  so  disposed,  had  gone;  but  some 
were  not  able  to  go,  and  some  who  went  were  scarcely  able  to  endure  such  a 
journey.  For  my  part,  I  thought  there  was  more  danger  in  running  away 
than  in  quietly  submitting  to  be  prisoners  of  war.  Besides  I  was  feeble,  and 
liad  two  older  brothers  along  not  as  able  as  myself — one  of  them  very  feeble. 
We  therefore  submitted  to  the  yoke,  and  stayed  where  we  were,  till  August 
25.  Meantime  the  Indians  circulated  freely  among  us,  but  olfered  no  violence 
to  any  that  I  heard  of.  One,  however,  meeting  our  comrade,  John  Smith,  on 
the  road,  demanded  his  watch,  which  he  was  obliged  to  give  up.  The  watch 
belonged  to  Lieut.  Day,  whom  Smith  was  attending  in  his  sickness,  at 
Capt.  Downing's.  One  Indian  also  stopped  at  Downing's,  where  our  sickest 
friends  were,  and  demanded  of  Lieut.  Day  his  nice  castor  hat,  and  took 
it,  leaving  one  that  had  been  a  poorer  fur  hat,  but  now,  being  wet  with  rain, 
was  slouched  down  like  a  rag. 

August  25  a  British  officer,  whom  we  understood  to  be  Capt.  Elliott, 
and  a  squad  of  soldiers,  came  and  took  twenty  one  of  us  in  a  small  open  row 
boat  to  Maiden,  and,  at  the  same  time,  gave  permission  and  a  pass  to  live 
others,  who  had  made  arrangements  to  go  by  boat  to  Cleveland.  Those  five 
were  Job  Thompson,  Jr.,  Daniel  Burroughs,  Jr.,  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  William 
Maxfield  and  Ebenezer  Buckley,  who,  with  a  Mr.  Lewis,  and  another  man  and 
their  families,  had  prepared  a  boat,  and  all  started  down  the  river  and  lake 
the  same  day  we  went  to  Fort  Maiden.  Of  their  journey  down  the  lake  to 
Cleveland,  friend  William  Coolman,  not  long  before  his  death,  gave  me  a 
brief  narrative,  which  will  be  referred  to  hereafter.  Since  his  death,  which 
occurred  December  15,  18C9,  there  are,  as  I  believe,  but  two  of  our  company 
left — Samuel  liedtield  and  the  writer  of  this  article. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  271 

Our  small  company  of  twenty-one,  under  our  British  conductors,  arrived 
at  Maiden,  from  Raisin,  the  same  day,  August  25,  and  were  quartered  at  a 
large  and  long  building,  on  a  beautiful  open  plain  and  lawn,  just  above  and 
near  the  fort  and  town.  This  was  the  Indian  Council  House,  and  there 
appeared  to  be  thousands  of  Indians  swarming  in  the  open  plain  back  of  the 
town  and  fort,  and  in  plain  sight  of  the  Council  House;  and  with  us  were  quar- 
tered fifty-one  other  prisoners,  mostly  sick  and  wounded  of  Hull's  army.  There 
our  beloved  Orderly  Sergeant,  Lewis  Day,  Jr.,  breathed  his  last,  on  the  morn- 
ing after  our  arrival,  August  26.  August  27  our  little  company,  now  reduced 
to  twenty,  were  permitted  to  remove  from  the  crowded  Council  House  and 
occupy  a  small  house  in  town,  back  of  the  fort,  where  we  spent  the  few 
remaining  days  of  our  captivity  in  Canada.  While  there  we  were  guarded  by 
a  British  sentinel  at  the  door,  as  we  had  been  also  at  the  Council  House,  but 
one  day  the  sentinel  permitted  an  Indian  to  enter  among  us,  who  drew  his 
knife  and  dashed  about,  apparently  to  frighten  us,  jabbering  his  Indian  in  a 
threatening  tone,  striking  some,  but  not  extremely  hard.  Zacheas  Harmon, 
who  was  so  feeble  as  to  be  hardly  able  to  walk,  Mr.  Indian  struck  in  the  breast, 
and  knocked  down  with  his  right  hand,  in  which  he  held  his  knife,  but  with 
the  hilt  of  the  knife.  He  was  soon  induced  by  the  sentinel  to  leave.  We  saw 
there  several  Indians  well  known  in  Portage  County.  I  saw  two  in  town  I 
had  known  in  Mantua.  One  of  them  was  well  known  throughout  that  country 
— George  Vincent,  alias  Wilson. 

August  29,  about  sunset,  we  were  embarked  on  board  a  small  vessel,  to  be 
paroled  and  sent  home,  in  company  with  about  thirty  other  prisoners,  the 
most  of  whom  were  sick.  On  the  dock,  as  we  were  going  on  board,  were 
some  officers,  apparently  superintending  our  departure,  among  whom  was  one 
large  and  noble  looking  man,  apparently  fifty  years  old,  whom  we  were  told 
was  Gen.  Brock.  Another,  a  short,  thick- set  fellow,  of  not  a  very  pre- 
possessing appearance,  and  apparently  past  sixty,  was  said  to  be  Simon  Girty, 
noted  in  Indian  war  annals.  We  were  rejoiced  to  be  thus  starting  for  home, 
and  dropped  down  to  the  mouth  of  Detroit  River  the  same  night,  about  two  and 
a  half  miles  distant.  The  next  day  we  sailed  slowly  with  light  wind,  and  after 
midnight,  anchored  just  west  of  Put-in-Bay  Islands.  Next  day,  August 
31,  a  light  wind  wafted  us  on  to  near  the  mouth  of  Black  River  before  day  on 
the  1st  of  September,  and  we  landed  in  Cleveland  about  sunset  of  the  same  day. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  those  twenty  paroled  prisoners  of  our 
company,  according  to  my  recollection,  who  landed  at  Cleveland  September  1, 
from  the  cartel  sloop:  » 

Lieut.  Alva  Day.  Harry  O.  Pettibone. 

Ensign  Aaron  Weston.  Zacheas  Harmon. 

Sergt.  Ralph  Buckland.  Enos  Harmon. 

Corporal  Charles  Chittenden.  John  Harmon. 

Corporal  John  Turner.  Mark  Moore. 

John  Smith.  Samuel  C.  Thompson. 

Samuel  Redfield.  Samuel  Tuthill. 

George  G.  Redden.  James  Magi  11. 

Richard  Redden.  David  Jones. 

James  Ray,  Jr.  John  McManus. 

Of  the  five  comrades  we  parted  with  August  25,  at  Frenchtown,  on  River 
Raisin,  as  we  started  for  Maiden,  friend  Coolman  informed  me,  the  last  con- 
versation I  had  with  him,  which  was  December  4,  1869,  that  they  started  the 
same  day,  in  a  boat  provided  by  a  Mr.  Lewis  and  another  man,  whose  name 
I  forget,  who  were  going  down  with  their  families  to  escape  from  the  British 


272  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  Indians;  that  Job  Thompson,  Jr.,  the  only  well  one  of  the  Shalers- 
ville  boys,  engaged  a  passage  with  them  for  himself  and  comrades,  and 
helped  to  get  the  boat  out  of  the  mud,  where  it  had  been  left  abandoned, 
assisted  to  caulk  and  otherwise  repair  it;  that  as  they  were  about  to  start,  Eben- 
ezer  Buckley  and  William  Maxfield  joined  them;  that  they  were  much  hindered 
by  adverse  winds  on  their  passage  down  the  lake;  and  finally,  at  some  place 
near  Black  River,  out  of  patience  with  waiting  for  weather,  they  left  the  boat 
and  endeavored  to  walk,  but  made  poor  headway,  when  Mr.  Mygatt,  of  Can- 
field,  on  horseback,  overtook  them,  and  carried  a  message  to  friends  at  Cleve 
land,  who,  with  wagons,  met  and  helped  them  into  Cleveland,  where  they  ar- 
rived, he  believed,  September  2.  Of  the  journey  home  of  Lieut.  Caris  and  his 
squad  from  Maumee,  where  they  were  stationed,  and  of  those  who  left  French- 
town  on  foot,  I  have  but  little  information,  except  that  in  going  through  the 
Maumee  Swamp,  as  that  part  of  Wood  and  Sandusky  Counties  between  Fort 
Meigs  and  Sandusky  River  was  then  called,  they,  at  times,  nearly  gave  out, 
and  one,  I  think  it  was  William  Ward,  sat  down  at  one  time  and  gave  up,  till 
a  comrade  came  along  and  cheered  him  up  and  helped  him  along.  Many  of 
us  then  had  chills  or  ague.  We  were  from  thirty  to  fifty-five  miles  from  oar 
homes,  but  on  arriving  in  Cleveland  we  found  friends,  a  very  convenient  circum- 
stance, as  we  discovered  for  those  who  had  no  money,  as  was  the  case  with  all  or 
nearly  all  of  us,  except  Lieut.  Day,  and  I  think  he  had  not  much.  Landlord 
Carter  entertained  all  free  who  called  there.  Cousin  Hiram  Hanchett  and  his 
kind  wife— since  Mrs.  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Boston — entertained  the  Harmons, 
W.  W.  Williams  entertained  the  Reddens,  and  Samuel  S.  Baldwin  fed  some 
of  us;  but  all  got  started  home  soon  except  Lieut.  Alva  Day,  Seth  Day  and 
John  McManus,  who  were  very  dangerously  sick,  and,  I  have  understood,  were 
kindly  nursed  and  cared  for  at  Judge  Kingsbury's,  till  they  were  able  to  be 
conveyed  home.  John  Turner,  too,  was  very  sick,  and  died  on  the  way,  per- 
haps at  Judge  Kingsbury's,  but  I  believe  I  heard  it  said  he  died  at  Noble's, 
at  the  crossing  of  Tinker's  Creek.  Of  the  fifty  or  fifty- one  who  went  out  so 
cheerily  together,  eleven  or  twelve  died  within  the  year,  among  whom,  besides 
those  before  mentioned,  were,  I  believe.  Ensign  Weston,  Sergt.  Buckiand,  Cor- 
poral Chittenden,  Mark  Mooi-e,  Robert  Campbell,  David  Jones,  and  Samuel 
Tuthill. 

Of  the  rest,  as  far  as  I  know,  but  one  is  left  now,  besides  the  writer  of 
this.  That  one,  Mr.  Redfield,  aids  me  with  some  information  for  this  com- 
munication, and  though  about  seventy- six  years  of  age,  appears  likely  to 
endure  yet  many  years,  though  he  has  lately  lost  the  partner  of  his  youth, 
and  of  more  than  half  a  century.  Although  we  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  con- 
tract sickness,  and  did  little  toward  the  defense  of  the  frontier,  it  was  because 
we  had  no  opportunity,  having  been  captured  before  we  saw  the  enemy.  We 
at  least  showed  a  willingness  to  do  our  duty  in  defense  of  our  homes.  We 
had  a  very  good  and  pleasant  set  of  officers,  and  there  formed  friendships  for 
each  other  which  have  been  pleasant  and  enduring.  For  our  services  and  our 
arms  we  were  paid  after  years  of  waiting. 

Having  brought  to  a  close  my  narrative  of  the  volunteering,  organizing, 
adventures,  inglorious  capture,  parole  and  return  home  of  our  company — the 
first  military  company  ever  raised  in  this  part  of  Ohio — I  propose  now  to 
refer  to  subsequent  events,  in  which  the  people  of  Portage  and  adjoining 
counties  were  concerned.  The  capture  of  the  army  under  Gen.  Hull  caused  much 
alarm,  as  might  be  expected,  in  all  this  region,  as  our  population  was  then  very 
sparse,  and  all  the  region  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  River  and  the  Portage  Path  was 
then  very  sparsely  settled.      Not  an  organized  township  or  military  company 


■^ 


^■t^U^  ^}7^^^rr^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  275 

existed  in  Medina  County,  which  then  extended  west  to  Huron  Count j,  and 
was  attached  to  Portage  for  civil  purposes,  the  whole  region  sixty-eight  and  a 
half  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and  twenty  to  twenty-five  in  breadth, 
contained  in  1810  less  than  3,000  people,  and  had  not  increased  very 
much  in  two  short  years.  All  that  region  west  of  the  eighth  range  included 
then  a  single  battalion,  commanded  by  Major,  afterward  Col.  George  Darrow. 
The  townships  of  Streetsboro,  Brimfield,  Freedom  and  Edinburg  were  then 
unsettled.  Franklin  and  Suffield  had  but  very  few  settlers.  So  that  the 
thinly  settled  counties  of  Portage  and  Cuyahoga  were  then  the  frontier,  and  it 
is  not  strange  that  the  people  of  this  region  were  much  alarmed  on  learning 
the  news  of  the  capture  of  all  the  army  raised  for  our  defense,  all  between  ue 
and  the  victorious  British  and  their  savage  allies.  The  record  I  copy  from 
our  Regimental  Record  book  will  show  something  of  the  alarm  felt  by  our 
home  friends  on  the  first  news  of  the  disastrous  capture  of  our  army. 

Copy  of  records  of  the  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  Fourth  Division, 
Ohio  Militia.     [Begun  on  page  33.] 

Orders  were  received  from  Brig. -Gen.  Paine,  dated  July  6,  1812,  requiring 
thirty  men  to  be  drafted,  including  one  Lieutenant,  one  Sergeant,  one  Corporal  and  one 
Fifer,  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning,  and  orders  were 
issued  by  the  Major, commanding,  to  the  commissioned  officers,  to  meet  at  Ravenna,  the 
14th  of  July,  1812,  and  on  said  14th  day  of  July  the  following  officers  met  at  the  Court 
House  in  Ravenna:  Stephen  Mason,  Major-Commandant;  Major,  Thaddeus  Andrews; 
Captains,  Delaun  Mills,  Joshua  Woodward,  Asa  K.  Burroughs  and  Timothy  Culver; 
Lieutenants,  Oliver  Snow,  John  Redding,  Linus  Carter,  Hezekiah  Hine,  Charles  Gilbert, 
Ira  Morse  and  Isaac  Merriman;  Ensigns,  Asa  Truesdale,  Hezekiah  Kooney,  Anson  Bee- 
man,  Frederick  Caris,  Jr.;  and  agreeable  to  said  officers'  request,  the  Major  commanding 
ordered  that  there  be  drafted  from  the  First  Company,  First  Battalion,  three  men;  from 
the  Second  Company,  First  Battalion,  one  Lieutenant  and  three  men;  from  the  Third 
Company,  First  Battalion,  four  men;  from  the  Fourth  Company,  First  Battalion,  one  man; 
from  the  First  Company, Second  Battalion,  one  Fifer  and  six  men;  from  the  Second  Com- 
pany, Second  Battalion,  one  Sergeant  and  three  men;  from  the  Third  Company,  Second 
Battalion,  one  Corporal  and  four  men;  from  the  Fourth  Company,  Second  Battalion,  two 
men,  with  orders  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning,  armed 
and  equipped  as  the  law  directs. 

Then  follows  the  dates  of  several  commissions,  to- wit:  Hezekiah  Nooney's 
commission  as  Captain;  and  Ella  Willmot's  commission  as  Ensign  of  First  Com- 
pany, First  Battalion,  both  dated  June  18,  1812.  Also  Linus  Curtis'  com- 
mission of  Second  Company,  First  Battalion, dated  August  28,  1812. 

An  express  from  Gen.  Paine,  dated  Painesville,  August  22,  1812,  was 
received  the  same  day,  and  orders  were  immediately  issued  by  Thaddeus  An- 
drews, as  Major  commanding,  to  have  the  regiment  meet  at  Ravenna  forth- 
with. An  express  from  Maj.-Gen.  Wadeworth,  dated  August  23,  was 
received  by  Maj.  Andrews,  to  have  the  regiment  under  his  command  meet  at 
Ravenna  immediately  and  await  there  until  further  orders  were  received  from 
him.  At  9  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  23d,  Maj.-Gen.  Wadsworth  delivered  rerbal 
orders  to  Maj.  Andrews,  to  have  the  regiment,  as  soon  as  embodied  at  Ravenna, 
march  for  Cleveland.  The  regiment  was  embodied  at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  the 
24th,  and  marched  at  3  P.  M.  the  same  day,  and  encamped  at  Mr.  Roundy's. 
The  next  day,  the  25th,  marched  from  Mr.  Roundy's  and  encamped  et  the 
center  of  Hudson.  The  next  day,  marched  from  Hudson,  and  arrived  and 
encamped  at  Tinker's  Creek,  and  the  next  day,  the  27th,  marched  from  Tink- 
er's Creek,  arrived  at  Cleveland,  and  reported  the  regiment  to  Maj.-Gen. 
Wadsworth,  who  ordered  the  regiment  to  encamp  in  Cleveland,  and  await  fur- 
ther orders.  The  30th,  the  following  order  was  received,  which  was  read  to 
the  regiment  on  the  3l8t- 


276  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Cleteland,  Headquarters,  August  30,  1812. 
Maj.  Stephen  Mason. — You  will  dismiss  the  regiment  under  your    command  for 
the  present,  but  under  the  express  conditions  that  they  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
inarch  at  a  moment's  warning.  Joel  Paine,  Oeneral- Brigade. 

After  the  foregoing,  copied  from  page  33  of  the  Record,  follow  several 
pages  of  names  of  those  who  thus  marched  to  Cleveland,  with  their  several 
charges  for  services  thus  performed.  The  charges  were  mostly  for  nine  days' 
services  for  each  private,  except  Capt.  T.  Culver's  company  from  Randolph, 
and  Lieut.  Morse's  company  from  Deerfield  and  Atwatei',  both  of  which  com- 
panies had  charged  ten  days'  service  for  each  private,  all  at  the  rate  of  $5  per 
month,  carried  out,  the  one  at  $1.50  and  the  other  at  $1.60.  I  know  not 
whether  the  men  were  ever  paid,  but  I  know  that  many  of  them  got  their  land 
warrants,  for  I  helped  obtain  them,  and  those  men  who  did  not  obtain  war- 
rants, or  their  widows,  can  have  them.      I  would  like  to  help  them  to  warrants. 

That  it  maybe  known  who  were  the  pioneer  men  of  those  days — but  few  of 
whom  now  remain — I  will  here  insert  the  names  of  those  who  thus  responded 
to  the  call  of  their  country,  to  defend  it  against  the  British  and  their  sav- 
age allies,  who  were  then  daily  expected  on  our  frontier,  after  the  news 
arrived  of  Hull's  surrender,  when  many  were  so  alarmed  as  to  prepare  to  flee 
the  country,  and  some,  I  believe,  did  leave.  I  copy  the  companies,  in  the 
order  as  I  find  them  on  the  record,  each  company  record  separate,  and  all 
charged  as  in  actual  service  from  the  24th  of  August  to  September  1,  1812, 
inclusive,  and  each  signed  by  its  Captain  or  Lieutenant  commanding. 

RETURN  OF    FIRST  COMPANY. 

First  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  Fourth  Division, 
Ohio  Militia. 

Captain — Hezekiah  Nooney. 

Lieutenant — Oliver  Snow. 

Ensign— Ella  Wilmot. 

Sergeants — -Seth  Harmon,   Gersham  Judson,  Horace  Ladd,  Ariel  Walden. 

Corporals — Henry  Blair,  Phineas  Pond,  Moses  Mcintosh,  Bazel  Windsor,  Jr. 

Fifer — Joseph  Skinner. 

Drummer — Virgil  Moore. 

Privates— Jotham  Atwater,  Thomas  Bright,  Peter  Carlton,  Henry  R.  Fer- 
ris, Samuel  Judson,  Eleazer  Ladd,  Ezekiel  Ladd,  Lyman  Leland,  Samuel 
Moore,  Jr.,  Moses  Pond,  David  Pond,  Franklin  Snow,  John  Gardner,  Elisha 
J.  Wilmot,  Patrick  Ray,  William  Russell. 

RETURN  OF  SECOND  COMPANY. 

First  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Lieutenant — John  Redding. 

Ensign — Asa  Truesdale. 

Sergeants— Chester  Adams,  Oliver  Mills,  George  Young,  Benjamin  Higley. 

Corporals — David  Bancroft,  Elisha  Hutchinson,  Caleb  Stow,  Hiram  Mes- 
senger. 

Fifer — Freeman  Conant. 

Privates — Oliver  Alford,  Levi  Alford,  Artemus  Baker,  Rodolphus  Ban- 
croft, Asahel  Blair,  Simon  Babcock,  Abraham  Dyson,  Hezekiah  Higley, 
Ephraim  Hacket,  Thomas  Johnston,  Orrin  Pitkin,  Joseph  Southard,  Ephraim 
H.  Seeley,  John  Streator. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  277 

RETURN  OF  THIRD  COMPANY. 

First  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Captain — Joshua  Woodward. 

Lieutenant— Linus  Curtis. 

Ensign— x\.nson  Beeman. 

Sergeants — Almon  Babcock,  Elijah  Smith. 

Privates — Alanson  Baldwin,  Ralzaraan  Loomis,  John  King,  John  Smith, 
Peter  Wolford,  Abel  Forsha,  Abel  Thompson,  James  Knowlton,  George 
Barnes,  Quartua  Noble,  Ebenezer  Broadway,  David  Ci-osby,  Jesse  Miller, 
James  Cook,  Silas  Owen. 

RETURN  OF  FOURTH  COMPANY. 

First  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Captain — Asa  K.  Burroughs. 

Lieutenant — Hezekiah  Hine. 

Ensign — Richard  E.  Gay. 

Sergeant — Samuel  Munson. 

Privates — Joel  Baker,  Abel  Hine,  Lyman  Hine,  Ephraim  Brown. 

RETURN  OF  FIRST  COMPANY. 

Second  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Lieutenant — Ira  Morse. 

Sergeants — Hamlet  Coe,  Jeremiah  Jones,  Alexander  K.  Hubbard. 

Corporal — Caleb  Mattoon. 

Privates — William  Hartzel,  Robert  Taylor,  Jr.,  Moses  Baldwin,  Allen  C. 
Baldwin,  Elijah  Mott,  John  H.  \Yhittlesey,  Asahel  Blakesley,  Jesse  SutliflF, 
James  Laughlin,  Almon  Chittenden,  Abraham  Hartzell,  Ami  Baldwin,  Ralph 
Granger,  William  A.  Strong,  Joseph  Carter,  John  Quier,  Horatio  Day,  Ezekiel 
Mott,  Ira  Mansfield,  Peter  Hartzell,  Peter  Mason,  John  Hartzell,  Jr. ,  Ephraim 
B.  Hubbard,  Amos  Morse,  Garrett  Packard. 

RETURN  OF  SECOND  COMPANY. 

Second  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Captain — Frederick  Caris,  Jr. 

Sergeants — David  Collins,  Titus  Belding,  Samuel  Coe,  Gersham  Norris. 

Corporals — Samuel  B.  Spellman,  Ariel  Case,  Lemuel  Chapman. 

Fifer — Asahel  Gurley. 

Drummer — Alpheus  Andrews. 

Privates — Abraham  Reed,  Timothy  Reed,  Robert  McKnight,  Jr.,  John  Will- 
yard,  Mason  Richardson,  Ephraim  Chapman,  Chester  Chapman,  Beman 
Chapman,  Daniel  Collins,  Joseph  R.  Bostwick,  Calvin  Ellsworth,  Charles  H. 
Bostwick. 

RETURN  OF  THIRD  COMPANY. 

Second  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Lieutenant — Charles  Gilbert. 

Sergeants— Hugh  McDaniel,  Lyman  P.  Gilbert,  Truman  Gilbert. 

Corporals — Gaius  Smith,  Zebulon  Walker. 

Privates — Amasa  Preston,  Chauncey  Lowry,  Adna  H.  Bostwick,  John  Shaw, 
John  Fisher,  James  Tuttle,  James  Hazzard,  Gabriel  Cane,  William  Jewel, 
Marvin  Gilbert,  Dalton  Trowbridge,  John  McKelvy,  Roswell  Smith,  David 
Gano,  Nicholas  Shank,  Joseph  Lewis. 


278  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

KETURN  OF  FOURTH  COMPANY. 

Second  Battalion,  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade,  etc. 

Captain — Timothy  Culver. 

Lieutenant — Isaac  Merriman. 

Sergeants — Walter  Dickinson,  William  Rogers. 

Corporals — Oliver  C.  Dickinson,  Ephraim  Sabin. 

Privates — Arad  Upson,  Freeman  Upson,  -  Elisha  Sears,  John  Goss,  The- 
ophilus  Cross,  Josiah  Ward,  Henry  P.  Hosier,  Jehiel  Savage,  Joseph  Harris. 

After  the  eight  companies  I  find  a  list  of  regimental  officers,  including 
regimental  stafif,  as  follows: 

Major  Commandant — Stephen  Mason. 

Major — Thaddeus  Andrews. 

Adjutant — Erastus  Skinner, 

Quartermaster— Charles  Curtis. 

Paymaster — Hiram  Roundy. 

Clerk — Frederick  Wadsworth. 

Assistant  Quartermaster — Arthur  Anderson. 

Quartermaster  Sergeant — William  Kennedy. 

Surgeon — Joseph  DeW'olf. 

Fife  Major— Philo  Hall. 

Privates — Horace  Burroughs,  Greenwood  Burroughs,  Daniel  Ward,  Ashur 
Garley. 

With  the  wagon  transportation,  Robert  Eaton  and  John  Sabin  are  named, 
and  the  United  States  is  charged  with  their  services  with  teams;  Sabin's  $13.- 
75,  and  Eaton's  $16.33.     Total  charged  for  the  regiment,  $546.60. 

These  muster  or  pay  rolls  are  probably  copies  of  those  sent  to  the  War 
Department,  on  which  the  money  was  expected  to  be  drawn.  In  copying,  I 
have  abbreviated  and  omitted  some  formalities  of  the  pay  roll.  As  far  as  I 
know,  nearly  all  the  adult  male  population  were  included  in  the  rolls,  as  not 
more  than  one  man  in  ten  was  past  forty-live. 

On  page  39  is  the  record  of  the  draft  made,  agreeable  to  orders  of  July 
34,  1812,  to-wit:  First  Company,  First  Battalion,  David  Pond,  Ezra  Chaffee 
and  Eleazer  Ladd.  Second  Company,  First  Battalion,  Lieut.  John  Red- 
ding, Hezekiah  Higley  as  a  substitute  for  Seth  Cole,  George  Young  and 
David  Wood.  Third  Company,  First  Battalion,  David  Thompson,  David 
Grier,  William  Jones,  John  Baldwin.  Fourth  Company,  First  Battalion, 
Abel  Hine. 

For  the  First  Company,  Second  Battalion,  David  Abbott,  David  Baldwin, 
Lelon  Landon,  Merrick  Ely,  Robert  Taylor,  Jr.,  William  Hartzell,  Joseph 
Hartzell  (Fifer).  For  Second  Company,  Second  Battalion,  Sergt.  Gersham 
Norris,  Ariel  Case,  Robert  McKnight,  Jr.,  Timothy  Reed.  For  Third  Com- 
pany, Second  Battalion,  Corporal  Zebulon  Walker,  Adna  H.  Bostwick,  John 
Shaw,  Gabriel  Cane,  John  Fisher.  For  Fourth  Company,  Second  Battalion, 
Levi  Seeley,  Jr.,  George  Burr. 

The  following  order  was  received  from  General  Paine: 

Painesville,  September  18,  1813. 
Col.  John  Campbell — Sir:  You  are  hereby  ordered  to  draft  out  of  the  regiment 
under  your  command,  thirty  men,  including  one  Lieutenant,  two  Sergeants,  two  Cor- 
porals, and  one  Fifer,  to  be  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning;  and  you  are  to 
march  twenty-two  men  to  join  Capt.  Lusk  at  the  Portage,  of  the  former  draft.  They 
are  to  furnish  themselves  with  knapsacks  and  blankets,  and  they  are  to  be  furnished  with 
arms  and  equipments  by  the  public.  Joel  Paine,  General- Brigade. 

In  compliance  with  the  above  order,  orders  were  issued  to  the  commandants 
of  companies,  to   furnish  their  respective  quotas;  and  the  following  persons 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  279 

were  returned  by  the  commandants  of  companies,  as  persons  legally  notified 
to  march  on  said  tour  of  duty,  viz. :  David  Pond,  Eleazer  Ladd,  Seth  Cole, 
Ebenezer  O.  IMessenger,  Harvey  Messenger,  David  Thompson,  Zenas  Carter, 
Norval  Carter,  Abel  Hine,  David  Abbott,  William  Hartzell,  David  Baldwin, 
Robert  Taylor,  Jr.,  Benjamin  Marshall. Eobert  McKnight,  Jr.,  Timothy  Reed, 
Gabriel  Cane,  John  Fisher,  Adna  H.  Bostwick,  John  Shaw,  Levi  Seeley,  Jr., 
and  George  Burr. 

And  also  to  comply  with  the  said  order  of  the  18th  of  September,  the  fol- 
lowing persons  were  notified  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a 
moment's  warning,  viz. :  From  the  First  Company,  First  Battalion,  Jotham 
Atwater,  Jacob  W.  Pettibone,  William  Russell,  Sergt.  Gersham  Judson, 
Corporals  Moses,  Mcintosh,  Bazel  Windsor,  Jr.  From  Second  Company,  First 
Battalion,  Asahel  Blair,  Joseph  Southard,  Thomas  Johnston.  From  the 
Third  Company,  First  Battalion,  John  Baldwin,  John  Shaler,  Alanson  Bald- 
win, Isaac  P.  Skinner. 

From  the  First  Company,  Second  Battalion,  Moses  Baldwin,  Allen  C. 
Baldwin,  Elijah  Mott,  John  H  Whittlesey,  Asahel  Whittlesey.  From  the 
Second  Company,  Second  Battalion,  Robert  Collins,  Jr.,  Abram  Reed,  Mason 
Richardson.  From  the  Third  Company,  Second  Battalion,  Jabez  Gilbert, 
William  Jewel,  David  Gano,  David  Calvin.  From  the  Fourth  Company,  Sec- 
ond Battalion,  Alpheus  Dickinson,   Arad  Upson. 

Verbal  orders  were  given  by  Maj.-Gen.  Wadsworth  at  the  Portage,  to 
Stephen  Mason,  Major  Commandant  of  the  Second  Regiment,  Fourth  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1812,  to  march  all  the  mounted 
men,  who  could  be  immediately  raised  in  said  regiment,  to  Gen.  Wadsworth's 
headquarters  at  the  Portage.  And  agreeably  to  said  orders  the  following  per- 
sons mustered  at  Ravenna,  Ist  of  October,  marched  to  Portage,  and  reported 
to  Maj.-Gen.  Wadsworth,  viz.:  Stephen  Mason,  Major  Commandant;  Joseph 
DeWolf,  Surgeon;  Rufus  Edwards,  Quartermaster;  Delaun  Mills,  Captain; 
John  Caris,  Lieutenant;  Asa  Truesdale,  Ensign;  Titus  Belding,  Gersham  Nor- 
ris,  Samuel  Coe  and  Chester  Adams,  Sergeants;  David  A.  Rumsay,  Henry 
Blair,  Caleb  Stow  and  Moses  Mcintosh,  Corporals;  Daniel  Ward,  Drummer; 
Joseph  Skinner,  Abraham  Dyson,  Bazel  Windsor,  Jr.,  Gersham  Judson,  Henry 
R.  Ferris,  Horatio  Taylor,  John  Willyard,  John  Redding,  John  Gardner,  John 
Shaler,  Joseph  R.  Bostwick,  Orrin  Pitkin, Quartus  Noble,  Rodolphus  Bancroft, 
Simon  Babcock,  Samuel  Judson,  Samuel  Moore,  Jr.,  Titon  Rudolph,  William 
Kennedy,  Jr.,  W^areham  Loomis,  Ezekiel  Ladd,  Charles  Bostwick,  John 
Smith  and  Ephraim  Hacket,  Privates. 

The  following  order  was  issued: 

Headquarters,  Portage,  October  2,  1813. 
Maj.  Mason — Sir:  You  will  march  all  the  mounted  men  of  Col.  Campbell's  regi- 
ment   to  Huron,  with  all    possible  dispatch.     Furnish  them  with    three  days' provisions. 
Keport  yourself  to  Gen.  Perkins.  Elijah  Wadsworth  ,Major- General. 

And  in  compliance  with  said  orders,  they  marched  to  Huron  and  reported 
to  Brig.-Gen.  Simon  Perkins,  who  on  the  J 0th  of  October  issued  the  follow- 
ing order: 

Maj.  Stephen  Mason — Sir:  You  will  march  the  officers  and  privates  named  in  the 
annexed  list  to  Headquarters  at  Portage,  and  report  yourself  to  the  commanding  oflficer. 

Simon  Perkins,  Brigadier-  General. 
Camp  Avery,  October  10,  1812. 

It  further  appears  by  the  record,  that  on  the  arrival  of  Maj.  Mason,  Capt. 
Mills  and  their  mounted  men  at  Portage, "that  Gen.  Wadsworth  gave  orders 
for  their  discharge,  but  it  does  not  appear  how  many  or  who  were  discharged. 


280  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

as  the  ^Hist  annexecf^  mentioned  in  the  order  of    Geo.  Perkins' is  not  recorded. 

It  further  appears,  that  Gen.  Paine,  on  February  2,  1813,  by  an  order 
dated  at  Painesville,  called  for  one  Lieutenant,  one  Second  Sergeant,  one 
Third  Sergeant,  one  Second  Corporal,  and  eighteen  privates  from  the  Second 
Regiment,  "to  march  to  Lower  Sandusky  as  soon  as  possible,  to  relieve  the 
men  now  in  service,"  to  comply  with  which  order  the  following  persons  were 
returned  by  commandants  of  companies  on  February  16,  1813,  as  legally 
notified  to  perform  said  tour  of  duty,  viz. :  Virgil  Moore,  as  a  substitute 
for  Jotham  Atwater,  John  Gardner  as  a  substitute  for  Jacob  W.  Pettibone, 
Asahel  Blair,  Joseph  Southard,  both  of  whom  absconded,  Thomas  John- 
ston, Phineas  Pond  as  a  substitute  for  Orrin  Pitkin,  Charles  Carter  as  a 
substitute  for  David  Grier,  William  Jones,  John  Shaler,  George  Wilber, 
Merrick  Ely.  Moses  Baldwin,  Allen  C.  Baldwin,  Robert  McKnight,  Jr.,  Sergt. 
Lyman  P.  Gilbert,  John  Fisher,  Austin  Purdy,  Sergt.  Waller  Dickinson, 
Corporal  Oliver  C.  Dickinson,  William  Jewel,  Richard  Rogers,  Jr.,  Alpheus 
Dickinson  and  Arad  Upson;  and  on  February  15  Lieut.  John  Redding,  Cor- 
poral Oliver  C.  Dickinson,  Richard  Rogers,  Jr,  Robert  McKnight,  Jr.,  Alpheus 
Dickinson,  Virgil  Moore,  John  Gardner,  John  Shaler,  William  Jones,  and 
Moses  Baldwin  appeared  according  to  orders  at  Ravenna,  had  their  equip- 
ments appraised  by  Charles  Curtis,  Linus  Curtis,  and  John  Campbell, 
appraisers,  which  is  the  last  the  record  says  of  the  services  of  those  so  drafted. 

On  page  42  is  the  following  record:  "The  Major  Commandant  issued 
orders  to  the  Major  of  the  Second  Battalion,  and  to  the  commandants  of  each 
company  in  the  I'egiment,  to  meet  at  the  Court  House,  in  Ravenna,  on  the  29th 
of  March,  1813,  for  the  purpose  of  assessing  fines  upon  persons  who  refused 
to  perform  tours  of  duty,  when  legally  called  on,  and  the  commandants  of 
companies  ordered  to  notify  the  delinquents  in  their  respective  companies." 
And  this  is  the  last  of  our  war  record,  as  then  follows  some  thirteen  large 
blank  pages,  left  apparently  to  record  the  assessment  of  tines  for  non- perform- 
ance of  "tours  of  duty."'  After  the"se  blank  leaves  follows  the  regular  record 
of  ordinary  regimental  boards  for  ordinary  business,  but  no  more  drafting 
orders.  I  think,  however,  but  few  of  our  drafted  men  evaded  the  draft.  I 
knew  of  the  services  of  many  of  them.  Several  I  knew  to  be  posted  at  Camp 
Avery,  which  was  near  the  present  village  of  Milan,  Erie  County. 

After  our  return  from  the  service,  September,  1812,  I  knew  little  of  the 
war  movements,  except  what  was  found  in  the  papers,  and  papers  were  then 
scarce.  I  can  give  little  information  of  the  times  subsequent  to  those  records, 
than  what  I  have  given  in  this  communication,  that  would  be  valuable  to  the 
Historical  Society.  I  spent  some  time  in  Cleveland  in  December,  1812,  and 
there  became  acquainted  with  Maj.  Jessup,  Quartermaster  Biddle,  and  his 
assistant,  Mr.  Downing,  son  of  Capt.  Downing,  of  Frenchtown,  River  Raisin, 
and  was  informed  of  the  then  recent  raising  and  organization  of  a  volunteer 
company  in  Cuyahoga  and  Geauga  Counties,  with  Clark  Parker,  Captain,  and 
Harvey  Murray,  Lieutenant.  I  think  it  was  then  out  at  one  of  the  posts  of 
the  West. 

I  was  in  Harpersfield  in  the  summer  of  1813,  when  Capt.  James  Harper 
was  recruiting,  and  was  offered  a  position  by  him,  but  being  still  a  prisoner 
on  parole,  would  not  forfeit  my  parole.  We  were  not  informed  of  our 
exchange  for  about  two  years  after  our  return.  But  several  of  our  company 
did  again  enter  the  service,  before  we  were  informed  of  our  exchange.  I 
believe  Samuel  C.  Thompson,  Charles  Carter  and  John  Smith,  and  perhaps 
some  others,  were  out  in  the  service  some  time  in  1813  and  1814.  Though  we 
were  not  specially  successful,  we  had   much  cause  to  rejoice,  and  be  proud  at 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  281 

the  prowess  and  progress  of  our  armies  thereafter,  and  of  the  final  success  of 
our  arms;  and  especially  that  the  war  finally  broke  up  the  baneful  influence 
of  the  British  over  the  Western  Indians,  on  our  territory. 

With  this  I  close    my  communication  on  the  subject  of  the  war  of  1812. 

John  Harmon,  Ravenna,  February,  1870. 

In  the  summer  of  1813  every  able-bodied  man  in  Portage  County  not  then 
in  active  service  or  on  parole  was  ordered  to  Cleveland,  and  the  scattered 
settlements  were  left  defenseless.  It  is  a  part  of  the  tradition  of  that  time 
that  the  sound  of  the  cannonading  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  fought  Septem- 
ber 10,  1813,  was  plainly  heard  in  this  county.  A  messenger  arrived  at  Raven- 
na from  Cleveland  the  same  night,  warning  the  women  and  children,  in  case 
of  Perry's  defeat,  to  be  ready  to  fly  to  Pittsburgh.  All  next  day  the  families 
residing  in  this  section  anxiously  waited  for  definite  information  as  to  the 
result  of  the  battle,  but  as  night  came  on  the  sound  of  a  horn  was  heard  in  the 
direction  of  Shalersville,  then  a  voice  was  distinguished,  and  soon  an  excited 
horseman  dashed  into  the  village  with  the  joyful  tidings  of  Perry's  great  vic- 
tory. The  terrible  suspense  and  dread  of  Indians  were  past,  and  soon  gave 
way  to  thanksgiving  and  rejoicing  over  the  brilliant  success  of  the  American 
naval  forces  on  Lake  Erie. 

The  following  distressing  incident  of  this  period  may  appropriately  be 
given  in  connection  with  the  history  of  Portage  County  in  the  war  of  1812. 
Daniel  Cross,  an  early  settler  of  Randolph  Township,  hearing  that  produce 
and  provisions  of  every  sort  were  very  scarce  and  commanded  high  prices  at  the 
military  camp  near  Wooster,  Ohio,  set  out  from  his  home  in  December,  1812, 
with  a  load  of  oats  for  that  point.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  son,  a  young 
man  about  eighteen  years  old.  On  arriving  at  Wooster  and  selling  his  oats, 
he  found  teams  so  scarce  that  the  army  had  no  means  of  transportation,  and, 
by  the  offer  of  high  wages,  Cross  was  induced  to  go  with  the  army  as  far  as 
Mansfield,  and  assist  in  transporting  the  forage  and  baggage  of  the  camp. 
Here  he  was  paid  off,  and  started  for  home.  On  the  road  between  Mansfield 
and  Wooster  he  purchased  seventeen  head  of  oxen  and  steers,  with  which  he 
arrived  at  the  latter  town  on  the  last  day  of  December,  1812.  The  following 
morning.  New  Year's,  he  and  son  started  with  their  stock  up  the  valley  of  the 
Killbuck,  intending  to  reach  the  house  of  Joseph  Harris,  who  had  removed 
from  Randolph  Township  to  the  site  of  Lodi,  Medina  County,  in  1811.  Soon 
after  they  left  Wooster,  there  came  on  a  terrible  snowstorm,  which  lasted  three 
days.  Nothing  further  was  seen  or  heard  of  Cross  and  his  son,  and  the  fol- 
lowing March,  his  family  in  Randolph  Township  becoming  alarmed  at  their 
lengthened  absence,  sent  another  son  in  pursuit  of  them.  Finding  they  had 
left  Wooster  on  the  1st  of  January  for  the  Harris  settlement,  the  son  followed 
their  trail,  and  on  reaching  the  settlement  was  informed  that  they  had  not 
been  there,  but  that  several  stray  cattle  had  been  "  taken  up  "  during  the  win- 
ter for  which  no  owner  could  be  found.  It  was  now  evident  that  Cross  and 
his  son  had  perished  in  the  storm  which  came  on  soon  after  they  left  Wooster, 
and  the  settlers  of  that  section  turned  out  en  masse  to  try  and  find  their  remains. 
Nearly  three  miles  southeast  of  the  settlement  they  found  the  skull  of  Cross 
and  some  of  his  bones  picked  clean  by  the  wolves,  also  his  jack-knife  and  rem- 
nants of  his  clothing,  but  no  trace  of  the  son  was  ever  discovered.  The 
remains  of  two  yokes  of  oxen,  still  in  yoke,  were  also  found  near  by.  They 
had  been  chained  to  trees,  and  therefore  could  not  get  away  with  the  balance 
of  the  cattle,  but  starved  to  death  in  their  yokes.  The  bones  of  the  unfortu- 
nate Cross  were  gathered  up  and  buried  in  a  field  just  south  of  the  present 
town  of  Lodi,  and  his  name  was  carved  upon  a  beech  tree  which  stood  close 
to  where  he  met  his  death. 


282  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  peace,  in  1815,  Congress  passed  a  law  re-organiz- 
ing the  militia,  and  making  it  obligatory  for  all  males  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty-five  to  perform  military  duty.  The  State  was  divided  into 
military  divisions,  and  certain  points  designated  in  each  county  where  the  dif- 
ferent militia  companies  should  meet  and  receive  instructions  in  the  science  of 
war.  This  was  called  "  company  muster,"  but  once  a  year  all  of  the  compa- 
nies were  required  to  meet,  usually  at  the  county  seat,  to  attend  the  "general 
muster."  The  militia  could  not  draw  military  equipments  from  the  Govern- 
ment, but  at  those  musters  armed  themselves  with  rifles,  shotguns,  broom-han- 
dles, sticks,  or  any  other  implement  with  which  they  could  be  put  through  the 
manual  exercises.  The  law  also  provided  that  if  any  company  would  furnish 
their  own  uniforms,  and  otherwise  comply  with  its  provisions,  the  State  would 
supply  them  with  arms  and  munitions.  Several  companies  of  this  class  were 
organized  from  time  to  time  in  Portage  County.  On  performing  military  duty 
for  seven  years  in  time  of  peace,  the  members  of  those  independent  companies 
were  exempted  from  poll  tax.  Sham  fights  would  sometimes  be  gotten  up  for 
the  purpose  of  indulging  the  popular  taste  for  excitement.  About  1833  a  cel- 
ebrated sham  fight,  with  real  Indians  as  opponents,  took  place  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  county,  which  is  yet  well  remembered  by  many  of  the  older  inhab- 
itants. Those  sham  fights  and  training  days  were  looked  upon  with  much 
favor  by  all  classes,  as  they  were  days  of  recreation,  social  joys  and  friendly 
greetings. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Internal  Improvements— The  Great  Indian  Trail— Pioneer  Eoads  of  Por- 
tage County— Mail  Facilities  and  i^etter  Postage— Stage  Routes  and 
Drivers— Canals— Early  Canal  Legislation— The  Ohio  Canal  Com- 
menced and  Completed— Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal — The  Efforts 
Made  to  Have  it  Built— Its  Construction  and  Co3ipletion— First 
Boats  Arrive  at  Ravenna— Subsequent  Success  of  the  Enterprise- 
Causes  Which  Led  to  its  Abandonment— Railroads— Cleveland  & 
Pittsburgh  —  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Yalley— Atlantic  &  Great 
Western— Cleveland,  Youngstown  &  Pittsburgh— Connotton  Valley — 
Pittsburgh,  Cleveland  &  Toledo— The  Proposed  Clinton  Air  Line,  and 
THE  General  Railroad  Facilities  of  the  County. 

AS  a  matter  of  necessity,  almost  the  first  thing  to  be  done  after  the  settler 
arrived  was  to  cut  out  a  road;  in  fact,  it  had  often  to  be  done  before  he 
reached  his  land,  and  in  many  instances  days  of  weary  work  in  underbrushing 
a  path  through  the  primitive  forest  intervened  before  he  could  move  forward 
with  his  ox  teams  and  rude  wagon.  This  latter  necessity  was  the  origin  of 
the  first  road  in  the  county  constructed  by  white  men.  When  Benjamin  Tap- 
pan,  Jr.,  in  the  spring  of  1799,  as  detailed  in  Chapter  IV.  of  the  county  his- 
tory, arrived  at  a  point  on  the  Cuyahoga  where  now  is  the  town  of  Boston, 
Summit  County,  he  unloaded  his  goods,  and  placing  them  in  charge  of  one  of 
his  hired  men,  proceeded,  with  the  assistance  of  Benjamin  Bigsby,  to  cut  out 
a  road  to  his  father's  land,  now  known  as  Ravenna.  After  working  two  or 
three  days,  Tappan  struck  the  great  Indian  trail  which  crossed  the  Cuyahoga 
at  Standing  Rock,  a  short  distance  east  of  the  present  site  of  Kent.  Follow- 
ing this  trail,  he  soon  reached  the  spot  where  he  erected  his  first  cabin,  in  the 


^^'^- 

%--^ 


~z^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  285 

southeast  corner  of  the  township,  the  Indian  trail  passing  out  of  Ravenna 
exactly  at  the  southeast  corner.  This  great  trail  had  been  used  from  time 
immemorial  by  the  aborigines,  and  was  their  main  thoroughfare  in  the  upper 
portion  of  Ohio.  It  extended  from  Fort  Mcintosh,  where  Beaver,  Penn. ,  now 
is,  to  Palmyra  Township;  thence  passing  through  Edinburg,  Ravenna  and 
Franklin  Townships,  left  Portage  County,  going  northwestwardly  to  Sandusky. 
As  early  as  1786  Col.  James  Hillman,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  West,  who 
afterward  lived  to  an  advanced  age  in  Youngstown,  made  six  trips  over  this 
route,  he  being  engaged  in  forwarding  goods  and  provisions  for  a  firm  in  Pitts- 
burgh.    The  road  is  said  by  old  settlers  to  have  been  very  compact  and  firm. 

About  the  same  time  that  Benjamin  Tappan  cut  his  road,  one  was  under- 
brushed  from  Atwater  to  Georgetown,  Penn.,  for  the  purpose  of  obtainingpro- 
visions.  Capt.  Caleb  Atwater,  Jonathan  Merrick,  Peter  Bunnell  and  Asa 
Hall  did  the  work.  The  road  was  about  forty  miles  long,  and  ran  through 
Atwater  and  Deerfield  Townships,  it  being  the  present  east  and  west  center 
road  of  those  subdivisions.  Ebenezer  Sheldon  also  had  cut  a  road  from. the 
center  of  Aurora  Township  in  1799,  that  ran  northwestwardly  until  it  inter- 
sected a  bridle  path  to  Cleveland.  In  Nelson  Township  an  east  and  west  cen- 
ter road  was  cut  out  shortly  after  the  Mills  brothers  settled  in  that  section.  'In 
1802  the  road  running  north  from  Ravenna  through  Shalersville  and  Mantua 
Townships,  to  Burton,  Summit  County,  was  laid  out,  but  it  was  several  years 
until  it  was  completed.  Also,  in  1802  a  road  from  Warren  to  Cleveland,  which 
ran  through  the  center  of  Hiram  and  Mantua  Townships,  was  begun.  In  1804- 
05  a  road  was  cut  from  the  center  of  Rootstown  Township  eastward  to  intersect 
the  great  road  from  Pittsburgh  to  Cleveland,  which  passed  through  the  center 
of  Edinburg  Township.  Not  far  from  this  time  a  road  from  Randolph  Cen- 
ter, standing  at  the  creek  just  west  of  the  Center,  was  cut  to  a  point  on  the 
line  between  Rootstown  and  Edinburg  Townships,  and  from  thence  running 
northwardly.  There  was  also  a  horse  path  to  Canton,  and  a  trail  to  Atwater. 
In  1805  Amzi  Atwater  siirveyed  a  road  from  his  place  in  Mantua  Township, 
along  the  south  line  of  Hiram  Township  to  Garrett's  Mills  in  Nelson,  and  in 
1806  another  was  cut  out  running  westward  to  Aurora.  About  the  same  time 
a  road  was  cut  through  Windham  Township  to  Braceville,  running  thence  to 
Warren,  and  is  now  known  as  the  State  Road.  In  1808  Alva  Day,  of  Deerfield 
Township,  and  Charles  Chittenden,  and  Cromwell  and  Walter  Dickinson,  of 
Randolph  Township,  cut  out  and  bridged  the  road  from  old  Portage  to  the 
Seventeenth  Range,  west  of  Medina.  In  1809  Erastus  Carter,  of  Ravenna, 
and  Lemuel  Punderson,  of  Newburg,  laid  out  a  road  from  Ravenna  through 
Rootstown  and  Randolph  Townships  toward  Canton,  as  far  as  the  south  line 
of  the  county,  but  it  was  not  completed  in  Stark  County  till  1812.  This  road 
afterward  became  the  great  north  and  south  route  over  which  J.  O.  Granger 
ran  his  four-horse  stage  line.  In  1817  David  Mcintosh  cut  the  center  road 
through  from  Shalersville  Township  to  Freedom,  at  which  time  the  latter 
township  was  an  unbroken  wilderness,  the  first  settler  not  arriving  till  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

Mail  facilities  were  extremely  meager  in  the  early  days,  and  months  would 
elapse  before  news  could  reach  the  settlers  in  their  new  homes.  As  late  as  the 
spring  of  1801  Pittsburgh  and  Meadville,  Penn.,  were  the  nearest  postoffices  to 
the  Western  Reserve,  and  in  October  of  that  year  the  first  mail  arrived  at  Warren, 
Ohio.  Postage,  even  to  a  much  later  date,  was  high,  and  frequently  a  bushel  of 
wheat  was  refused  as  payment  on  a  single  letter.  A  considerable  number  of  let- 
ters were  permitted  to  pass  to  the  dead  letter  office,  and  in  the  advertised  lists  of 
letters  at  the  Ravenna  postoffice,  published  in  the  Cornier  of  1825-26,  can  be 

16 


286  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY 

seen  the  names  of  many  prominent  citizens  who  at  the  time  lived  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  office.  John  Diver,  of  Deerfield,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
mail  contractors  and  carriers  on  the  Reserve.  He  had  the  contract  for  carry- 
ing the  mail  from  New  Lisbon  to  Mausfield,  via  Canton  and  Wooster,  and  was 
in  the  business  over  forty  years.  The  Cleveland  &  Wellsville  Turnpike  was 
finished  in  1827  and  became  a  great  thoroughfare.  It  entered  the  county  in 
Streetsboro  Township,  passed  diagonally  across  Ravenna,  Edinburg  and 
Deerfield  and  left  the  county  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  last  named  town- 
ship. Lines  of  stage  routes  were  also  opened  east  and  west  and  north  and 
south  about  the  same  time  as  the  Cleveland  &  Wellsville  Turnpike. 

The  old  stage  coach  was  an  institution  of  those  early  days,  and  was,  of 
course,  the  only  means  of  traveling  long  distances.  Several  lines  of  them 
passed  through  this  county,  and  Jabez  Gilbert,  of  Palmyra  Township,  was  the 
most  noted  driver  and  mail  contractor  in  all  this  region.  In  the  Western  Cour- 
ier of  April  1,  1826,  the  editor  says:  "  The  line  of  stages  between  Pittsburgh 
and  Cleveland  have  always  been  more  or  less  irregular,  but  arrangements  now 
are  made  by  Mr.  Gilbert,  the  enterprising  proprietor  of  this  end  of  the  line,  to 
prevent  these  irregularities.  *  *  *  jje  jj^a  been  at  the  expense  of  a  new 
stage,  which,  instead  of  two,  is  to  be  drawn  by  four  horses.  *  *  *  ^he 
line  is  now  completely  established  from  Pittsburgh  to  Cleveland,  and  will 
run  regularly  twice  a  week."  In  the  same  month  a  line  of  stages  is  announced 
to  run  from  Beaver  to  Cleveland  twice  a  week.  The  route  was  through  a  por- 
tion of  this  county,  and  was  much  traveled,  as  it  intersected  at  Stow,  now  in 
Summit  County,  a  line  that  ran  due  south  to  the  interior  of  the  State.  Aug- 
ust 5,  3  826,  J.  O.  Granger  advertises  in  the  Courier  that  he  will  run  regularly 
twice  a  week  a  line  of  stages  from  Fairport,  at  the  mouth  of  Grand  River,  to 
Canton,  through  Painesville,  Chardon  and  Ravenna,  and  the  editor,  speaking 
of  this  new  evidence  of  improvement,  says:  "Few  country  towns  possess  equal 
facilities  for  the  receipt  and  transmission  of  private  and  public  documents; 
there  being  728  arrivals  and  departures  of  mails  within  the  year  at  and  from 
Ravenna.''  In  November  the  Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland  line,  run  by  Jabez 
Gilbert,  John  Stokes  and  Horace  Daniels,  was  increased  to  three  trips  per 
week.  In  August  of  this  year  (1826)  the  new  bridge  across  the  Cuyahoga  at 
Carthage  (Kent)  was  completed;  and  early  in  the  following  year  a  line  of 
stages  was  put  on  the  road  that  passed  over  it,  running  from  Ravenna  to  Mid- 
dleburg  (now  Akron).  By  this  date  roads  had  been  opened  in  every  part  of 
the  county,  which  through  the  passing  years  have  been  greatly  improved,  while 
many  others  were  built  from  time  to  time  as  the  wants  of  the  country  demanded. 

Canals. — The  subject  of  canal  building  began  to  be  eagerly  discussed  in 
this  portion  of  the  Union  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century;  but 
this  system  of  navigation  met  with  considerable  opposition  from  sections  of 
the  State  off  the  lines  of  the  proposed  routes.  Canal  construction  was  one  of 
the  first  great  measures  to  which  Ohio  gave  attention,  and  as  early  as  January, 
1817,  a  resolution  on  the  subject  of  canal  navigation  between  Lake  Erie  and 
the  Ohio  River  was  introduced  into  the  Legislatiire.  In  1822  a  bill  was  passed 
authorizing  a  survey  of  four  several  routes,  viz. :  From  Sandusky  Bay;  from 
the  Maumee  River;  from  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga  River,  or  the  Black  River, 
by  the  Muskingum;  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Grand  River,  via  the  Mahoning, 
to  the  Ohio.'  At  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  the  Canal  Commissioners 
reported  all  of  the  routes  practicable,  but  requested  further  time  to  ascertain 
the  comparative  advantages  of  each.  At  the  session  of  1823-24  the  route 
through  the  upper  part  of  the  Muskingum,  the  Licking,  and  the  lower  part  of 
the  Scioto  Valleys  was  recommended;  but  they  also  called  attention  to  the 
advantages  of  the  route  by  way  of  the  Miami  Valley. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  287 

In  the  summer  of  1824  two  lines  of  canal  were  located,  one  from  Cincin- 
nati to  the  Maumee  River,  and  one  from  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  to  Coshocton, 
and  thence  by  one  of  three  different  routes  tq  Lake  Erie.  By  an  act  passed 
February  4,  1825,  the  Canal  Commissioners  were  authorized  to  begin  work  on 
these  two  canal  routes.  The  western  route  received  the  name  of  the  Miami 
Canal,  while  the  eastern  was  called  the  Ohio  Canal,  and  the  line  of  the  latter, 
from  Coshocton  northward,  was  established  by  way  of  the  Tuscarawas  River, 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  passing  from  south  to  north  through  what  was 
then  the  western  range  of  townships  of  Portage  County.  Bids  for  the  several 
sections  of  the  Ohio  Canal  were  advertised  for  in  May,  1825,  ancj  by  the  mid- 
dle of  June  several  miles  were  under  contract.  It  was  thought  that  the  break- 
ing of  the  first  ground  would  take  place  at  Portage  Summit,  then  in  Portage 
County,  and  that  Gen.  LaFayette,  who  at  that  time  was  on  a  visit  to  America, 
would  attend,  but  the  ceremony  occurred  July  4,  1825,  at  Licking  Summit, 
on  which  date  that  celebrated  Frenchman  had  promised  to  be  in  Boston.  The 
invited  guests,  however,  included  many  notables  of  the  State  and  Nation.  Gov. 
DeWitt  Clinton,  of  New  York,  raised  the  first  spadeful  of  earth,  and  ex-Gov. 
Jeremiah  Morrow,  of  Ohio,  the  second.  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  of  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  was  the  orator  on  the  occasion.  An  immense  crowd  had  gathered  and 
the  scene  was  one  of  great  excitement.  The  canal  was  completed  from  Cleve- 
land to  Akron  in  1827,  and  three  years  afterward  navigation  was  opened  via 
the  Ohio  Canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio  River. 

The  construction  of  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal  from  the  Portage 
Summit  to  Pittsburgh,  began  to  be  mooted  early  in  1825,  and  during  the  sum- 
mer of  that  year  a  number  of  gentlemen  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  route 
made  explorations.  On  the  6th  of  September,  1825,  a  meeting  of  citizens  of 
Trumbull  and  Portage  Counties  was  held  at  the  Court  House  in  Ravenna  to  take 
into  consideration  the  practicability  and  policy  of  constructing  a  canal  from 
the  movith  of  Beaver  River,  via  the  Mahoning  through  the  two  counties  to  the 
Portage  Summit.  Alva  Day  was  Chairman,  and  Darius  Lyman  Secretary  of 
the  meeting,  which  appointed  Frederick  Wadsworth,  Dillingham  Clark,  Joshua 
Woodward,  Eliakim  Crosby,  William  Wetmore,  Jonathan  Sloane,  Simon 
Perkins,  Elias  Harmon,  Amzi  Atwater,  and  Calvin  Pease  a  committee  to  col- 
lect information  as  to  the  most  favorable  route  for  the  canal.  The  meeting 
then  adjourned  to  September  14,  when  another  was  held  and  arrangements 
made  for  a  survey  of  the  proposed  route.  At  the  following  session  of  the  Ohio 
Legislature  a  bill  was  introduced  to  incorporate  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio 
Canal  Company  "for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  a  navigable  canal  between 
some  suitable  point  on  the  Ohio  River,  through  the  valley  of  the  Mahoning 
River,  to  some  suitable  point  on  Lake  Erie,  or  to  some  such  point  on  the  Ohio 
Canal."  Under  the  articles  of  incorporation,  this  act,  if  passed,  was  not  to 
become  a  law  until  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  would  grant  similiar  rights 
and  privileges  to  said  company.  The  bill  was  read  the  third  time  in  Febru- 
ary, 1826,  but  further  action  was  postponed  until  the  next  session. 

The  people  along  the  line  were  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and  in  February, 
1826,  a  canal  meeting  was  held  at  Ravenna,  of  which  William  Stoddard  was 
Chairman  and  Cyrus  Prentiss  Secretary.  The  meeting  appointed  Seth  Day, 
Jonathan  Sloane  and  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  a  committee  to  obtain  and  com- 
municate information  on  the  advisibility  and  practicability  of  building  a  canal 
from  Portage  Summit  via  the  Mahoning  and  Big  Beaver  Valleys  to  Pittsburgh. 
A  similar  meeting  was  held  at  Pittsburgh,  March  4,  with  the  same  object  in 
view.  On  the  7th  of  March  another  meeting  was  convened  at  Ravenna,  with 
Jonathan  Sloane  Chairman  and  Seth  Day  Secretary.       Jonathan  Sloane,  Seth 


288  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Day  aod  Frederick  Wadsworth  were  appointed  to  represent  Portage  County 
in  a  canal  convention  of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  citizens  at  Beaver,  Penn., 
which  was  held  March  10.  A  canal  meeting  was  also  held  at  Warren,  Ohio, 
on  the  2lBt  of  March,  1826;  and  on  the  3d  and  4th  of  May  following  a  very 
large  convention  assembled  at  Newcastle,  Penn. ,  in  which  twenty  delegates 
from  Allegheny,  Mercer,  Butler  and  Beaver  Counties,  Penn.,  and  Trumbull 
and  Portage  Counties,  Ohio,  were  in  attendance.  Those  from  Portage  were 
Seth  Day,  Frederick  Wadsworth  and  Jonathan  Sloane.  This  convention 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Warren,  Ohio,  October  25,  1826,  on  which  date  a  bill 
for  the  incorporation  of  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal  was  prepared.  The 
next  day  the  bill  was  approved  and  adopted,  Jonathan  Sloane  and  Frederick 
Wadsworth,  of  Portage  County,  being  two  of  the  incorporators  named  in  the 
instrument.  This  bill  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  January  10,  1827,  to 
take  effect  whenever  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  granted  a  similar 
charter.  The  latter  State  passed  an  act  of  incorporation  in  April,  1827,  and 
the  legal  power  for  the  construction  of  this  much  cherished  project  was  at 
last  obtained.  Jonathan  Sloane,  then  representing  the  Portage  district  in  the 
Ohio  Senate,  was  the  author  of  the  bill,  and  also  of  a  resolution  passed  during 
the  same  session  authorizing  the  State  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners  to  have 
the  proposed  route  surveyed  and  estimates  made  by  a  competent  engineer  the 
same  season,  and  report  to  the  next  session  of  the  General  Assembly.  Several 
surveys  of  the  route  were  made  but  nothing  positively  decided  at  that  time. 
The  Courier  in  its  issue  of  July  3,  1829,  announces  the  location  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania &  Ohio  Canal  through  llavenna,  and  says  "  the  information  was 
greeted  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  village  by  the  discharge  of  a  national  salute, 
fired  near  the  located  route  south  of  the  village,  accompanied  by  hearty  cheers." 
The  survey  was  under  the  charge  of  Capt.  Dumest,  an  accomplished  engineer 
of  the  United  States  Army. 

Owinw  to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  point  of  intersection  with  the  Penn- 
sylvania Canal,  and  witnessing  the  steady  progress  that  Pennsylvania  was 
making  in  extending  her  improvements  towards  the  Ohio  boundary,  the  Penn- 
sylvania &  Ohio  Canal  Company  deemed  it  advisable  to  postpone  the  opening 
of  books  for  the  subscription  of  stock.  The  enterjDrise,  therefore,  lay  dor- 
mant for  several  years,  but  in  1833  meetings  began  to  be  held  along  the  sur- 
veyed route,  with  the  object  of  reviving  the  scheme.  The  friends  of  the 
project  went  vigorously  to  work,  and  February  20,  1835,  the  charter,  passed 
in  1827,  was  renewed  and  amended,  and  ten  years,  from  December  31,  1835, 
given  the  company  to  complete  the  canal.  On  the  13th  of  April,  1835,  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature  also  passed  a  bill  renewing  the  old  charter.  Sub- 
scription books  for  stock  were  opened  at  Philadelphia,  April  27,  1835,  and  in 
less  than  one  hour  $780,000,  the  amount  of  stock  to  which  that  city  was  limited, 
was  all  taken.  The  whole  amount  was  placed  at  11,000,000,  and  the  remain- 
ing $220,000,  allotted  to  Portage  and  Trumbull  Counties,  Ohio,  and  western 
Pennsylvania,  was  all  taken  before  the  close  of  May.  The  stock-holders  met 
at  Newcastle,  Penn.,  May  21,  1835,  and  elected  the  following  Board  of  Direct- 
ors: Abner  Laycock,  William  Boyd,  William  Robinson,  Joseph  T.  Boyd, 
William  Ray  en,  Leicester  King  and  Jonathan  Sloane;  Abner  Laycock, 
President;  Zalmon  Fitch,  Treasurer;  Leicester  King,  Secretary.  Messrs. 
Sloane,  Lacock  and  Rayen  were  appointed  an  Executive  Committee  to  let 
contracts  and  transact  and  superintend  any  other  business  connected  with 
the  construction  of  the  canal. 

Col.  Sebried  Dodge  and  James  D.  Harris  were  appointed  Chief  Engineers 
of  Construction,  and  with  their  corps  began  surveying  on  the  Ravenna  Sum- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  289 

mit,  east  of  the  village  of  Ravenna,  June  8,  1835.  By  the  middle  of  August 
the  survey  was  completed,  and  on  the  17th  and  18th  of  that  month  contracts 
were  let  for  the  portion  of  the  canal  west  of  Ravenna,  but  the  western  ter- 
minus being  afterward  changed  to  run  by  Cuyahoga  Falls,  the  contracts  for 
the  whole  western  division,  extending  from  the  east  line  of  Portage  (bounty 
to  Akron,  were  re-let  November  16,  1835.  The  several  secfiious  of  the  eastern 
division  of  the  canal,  extending  fi-om  the  east  line  of  Portage  County  to  near 
Newcastle,  Penn. ,  were  put  under  contract  August  10,  September  21,  and 
November  11,  1835.  The  whole  length  of  the  canal  from  its  intersection  with 
the  Pennsylvania  Canal,  about  two  miles  below  Newcastle,  Penn.,  to  its  inter- 
section with  the  Ohio  Canal,  at  Akron,  Ohio,  was  eighty- two  miles.  "  Feeders  " 
from  the  small  lakes  in  the  western  section  of  Portage  County  were  also  built 
at  the  same  time.  The  total  estimated  cost  of  the  canal  at  that  time  was 
about  $913,000.  The  section  east  of  Warren,  accoi'ding  to  the  terms  of  the 
contracts,  was  to  be  completed  on  or  before  September  1,  1836,  and  that 
between  Warren  and  Akron  via  Ravenna  and  Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  one  year 
later. 

The  work  of  construction  was  begun  at  once  and  pushed  forward  vigor- 
ously. Hundreds  of  laborers  found  employment  at  good  wages,  but  finally 
on  account  of  the  stock- holders  neglecting  to  pay  their  subscriptions  according 
to  contract,  the  work  was  greatly  retarded,  and  the  canal  was  not  finished  at 
the  dates  specified.  Though  the  finances  were  very  low,  work  was  however 
continued  through  the  winter  of  1836-37.  In  May,  1837,  Gov.  Vance, 
in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  subscribed  $450,000  to  the 
stock  of  the  canal,  and  as  soon  as  the  money  could  be  raised,  paid  the  first 
installment  of  $145,000  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  company.  For  a  time,  in 
the  winter  of  1837-38,  the  work  lagged,  but  throughout  the  balance  of  the 
latter  year  the  canal  bed  was  rapidly  opened  through  this  county.  In  June, 
1839,  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  subscribed  and  paid  $50,000  to  the  capital 
stock,  which  it  was  thought  would  complete  the  canal;  and  by  April  1,  1840, 
it  was  expected  to  be  finished  and  opened  for  business.  These  expectations 
were  realized,  for  the  writer  found  in  a  report  of  the  Harrison  Convention, 
held  at  Ravenna,  April  3,  1840,  the  proceedings  of  which  were  published  in 
the  next  issue  of  the  Ohio  Stai\  the  following  item  relative  to  the  canal: 

From  Trumbull  County  came  first  two  crowded  canal  boats,  with  each  a  band  of 
music — the  "Mohawk,"  of  Beaver,  and  the  "Tippecanoe,"  of  Warren — the  first  that  ever 
passed  through  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal  now  just  completed. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1840,  the  "Ohio  City"  arrived  at  Ravenna,  on  her 
way  to  Pittsburgh,  freighted  with  ashes,  fish,  etc. ;  and  on  the  following  day  the 
"Huron*'  arrived  from  Pittsburgh  with  merchandise,  the  first  brought  to 
Ravenna  by  canal.  Boats  were  now  passing  Ravenna  daily,  to  and  fro,  along 
the  canal,  and  on  the  4th  of  August,  1840,  a  celebration  was  held  all  along 
the  line.  Gov.  David  R.  Porter,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  other  distinguished  citi- 
zens being  passengers  on  one  of  the  excursion  packets  which  made  the  trip. 
Meetings  were  held  at  nearly  every  town  on  the  route  of  the  canal,  all  expres- 
sive of  a  deep  satisfaction  over  the  successful  completion  and  operation  of  the 
great  enterprise. 

For  twelve  years  nothing  occurred  to  mar  the  success  of  the  canal,  and 
throughout  the  summer  of  1851  a  line  of  packets  connected  at  Ravenna  with 
the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  which  was  completed  to  Ravenna  early 
in  that  year.  But  in  March,  1852,  the  railroad  was  finished  to  Wellsville,  on 
the  Ohio  River,  and  therefore  a  superior  mode  of  travel  and  shipment  insti- 
tuted between   northern  and   southei-n  Ohio   and  Pennsylvania.     It,  however, 


290  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

did  a  coinpnratively  good  business  for  three  or  four  years  longer,  or  until  the 
completion  of  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad,  when  its  trafiSc 
gradually  dwindled  away,  and  it  became  an  unprofitable  institution.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1863,  the  State  Board  of  Public  Works  sold  the  stock  owned  by  the  State 
in  the  canal,  being  the  one-third  of  the  whole  amount,  to  the  Cleveland  & 
Mahoning  Valley  Railroad  Company,  for  the  sum  of  $30,000,  by  which  pur- 
chase this  road  obtained  a  controlling  interest  in  the  canal,  and  thus  sounded 
its  death  knell.  In  December,  1863,  the  warehouse  at  Ravenna  was  sold,  and 
though  an  occasional  boat  floated  lazily  along  its  sluggish  waters,  its  day  of 
usefulness  and  prosperity  had  passed  away,  and  it  was  gradually  abandoned. 
Its  bed,  which  runs  through  Paris,  Charlestown,  Ravenna  and  Franklin  Town- 
ships, Portage  County,  is  now  occupied  by  the  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland  &  Toledo 
Railroad,  but  nothing  remains  to  be  seen  by  the  casual  observer,  save  here  and 
there  portions  of  its  old  channel. 

Railroads. — Up  to  the  close  of  1850,  150  charters  for  the  construction  of 
railroads  had  been  gi-anted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio,  and  the  work 
was  fairly  under  way  for  the  net-work  of  roads  now  covering  the  State.  The 
year  1851  introduced  a  new  era  and  an  entire  revolution  on  the  subject  of  rail- 
road legislation.  During  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  this  year, 
twenty-one  railroad  charters  were  granted,  and  over  forty  amendments  were 
made  to  those  already  in  existence.  The  charters  and  amendments  all  con- 
tained power  and  authority  to  borrow  money,  and  thirty-six  of  the  amendments 
authorized  counties,  cities,  towns  or  townships  to  subscribe  stock.  The  door 
was  thrown  as  wide  open  as  legislation  could  go  to  enable  railroad  companies 
to  borrow  money  and  procure  stock  subscription. 

The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company  was  the  first  corporation  to 
obtain  a  charter  from  which  Portage  County  subsequently  reaped  a  benefit.  It 
was  granted  under  a  special  act  passed  March  14,  1836,  vesting  that  company 
with  the  right  to  construct  a  railroad  from  Cleveland  to  some  point  on  the 
State  line  between  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  or  on  the  Ohio  River,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Pittsburgh.  But  little  or  nothing  was  done  under  the  rights  thus 
granted,  and  an  act  of  revival  and  amendment  was  passed  March  11,  1845. 
By  the  acts  of  February  16,  1849,  March  9,  1850,  and  February  19,  1851,  cer- 
tain branching  privileges  were  granted,  under  which  the  roads  from  Bayard  to 
New  Philadelphia,  and  from  Hudson  southwest  into  Wayne  County  were  sub- 
sequently built.  On  the  8th  of  April,  1850,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature  authorizing  the  company  to  extend  its  railroad  from  the 
eastern  line  of  Ohio  up  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  River  to  a  point  at  or  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Beaver.  The  same  Commonwealth  also  passed  an  act  April 
18,  1853,  adopting  the  two  first  named  acts  of  this  State,  and  making  the  com- 
pany a  corporation  of  Pennsylvania  with  all  the  rights  and  powers  granted  by 
the  Ohio  acts.  Under  those  various  acts  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad 
Company  constructed  199f  miles  of  railroad  (not  including  the  branch  from 
Hudson,  which  was  built  by  a  separate  company),  extending  from  Cleveland  to 
Wellsville,  and  thence  down  the  Ohio  River  to  Bellair,  and  from  Wellsville  up 
the  Ohio  to  Rochester,  and  the  Tuscarawas  Branch  from  Bayard  to  New  Phil- 
adelphia. 

By  the  fall  of  1850  much  grading  had  been  done  on  the  main  line,  and  the 
company  began  laying  the  track  between  Cleveland  and  Ravenna.  On  the 
evening  of  March  6,  1851,  the  last  rail  connecting  these  points  was  laid  and 
the  last  spike  driven  about  one  mile  southeast  of  Hudson,  and  Monday  morn- 
ing, March  10,  the  first  passenger  train  left  Ravenna  for  Cleveland,  return- 
ing the  same  evening.      The  first  round  trip  from  Cleveland  was  made  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  291 

following  Thursday,  March  13,  1851,  when  the  locomotive  "Ravenna,"  draw- 
ing one  car  filled  with  Directors  of  the  road,  came  down  from  the  city  to  exam- 
ine the  progress  of  the  work.  On  the  18th  of  March  regular  daily  trains  began 
running,  connecting  at  Ravenna  with  a  packet  on  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania 
Canal,  which  ran  to  Beaver,  Penn.,  where  the  traveler  took  the  steamer  for 
Pittsburgh.  The  trip  was  made  in  twenty-six  hours,  and  the  fare  from  Cleve- 
land to  Pittsburgh  was  $3.50  including  meals  and  bed  on  the  boat.  At  that 
time  a  daily  train  (except  Sundays)  left  Cleveland  at  8:30  A.  M. ,  arrived  at 
Ravenna  at  10:30  A.  M.,  and  left  the  latter  point  for  Cleveland  at  2:30  P.  M. 
But  after  the  1st  of  April,  1851,  an  accommodation  left  Ravenna  every  morn- 
ing (excepting  Sunday)  for  Cleveland,  and  returned  in  the  evening,  so  that,  at 
that  early  day,  Ravenna  enjoyed  traveling  facilities  that  many  country  towns 
do  not  even  yet  possess. 

The  first  week  the  road  averaged  175  passengers  daily,  besides  carrying 
considerable  freight,  and  from  that  time  forward  its  business  increased  rapidly. 
A  telegraph  ofiice  was  opened  in  Ravenna,  in  connection  with  the  road, 
April  22,  1851,  which  was  the  first  established  in  the  village.  The  work  on 
the  road  south  of  Ravenna  was  pushed  along  vigorously,  and  by  May  28,  1851, 
about  eight  miles  of  track  were  laid  between  Ravenna  and  Atwater.  The  track 
was  being  put  down  at  the  rate  of  half  a  mile  a  day,  and  before  the  close  of 
June  a  passenger  car  on  the  construction  train  was  making  daily  trips  to 
Atwater,  Lima  and  Alliance,  and  many  availed  themselves  of  the  accommoda- 
tion thus  afforded.  The  cars  began  running  to  Hanover,  about  seventy  five 
miles  southeast  of  Cleveland,  November  5,  1851,  there  connecting  with  the 
stage  for  Wellsville  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  thence  to  Pittsburgh  by  a  special 
line  of  steamers.  Leaving  Cleveland  at  8:45  A.  M.,  the  traveler  arrived  at 
Pittsburgh  at  10  P.  M.  the  same  day.  The  last  rail  completing  the  road  to 
Wellsville  was  laid  on  Saturday,  February  14, 1852,  and  the  same  evening  the 
cars  came  through  from  Wellsville  to  Ravenna.  But  the  first  passenger  train 
came  over  the  line  from  Wellsville  to  Cleveland  February  23,  and  February 
26  regular  trains  began  running  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River.  On 
Thursday,  March  4,  1852,  a  grand  celebration  was  held  at  Wellsville  over  the 
completion  of  the  road,  and  on  the  following  day  at  Wheeling,  West  Va.  The 
line  was  subsequently  built  to  Bellaire,  Ohio,  and  Rochester,  Penn.  At  the  lat- 
ter point  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  connects  with  the  Pittsburgh.  Fort  Wayne 
&  Chicago  Railroad,  which  track  it  uses  from  Rochester  to  Pittsburgh,  under 
a  twenty- five-year  lease  entered  into  between  the  two  companies  December  15, 
1862,  which  went  into  effect  April  1,  1863.  On  the  25th  of  October,  1871, 
the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company  leased  its  road  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  Company  for  the  term  of  999  years  from  December  1,  1871. 
The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  enters  Portage  County  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  Streetsboro  Township,  and  thence  passing  in  a  southeast  direction 
across  Franklin,  Ravenna,  Rootstown,  Edinburg  and  Atwater  Townships, 
leaves  the  county  on  Lot  51  of  the  last  mentioned  subdivision.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  roads  in  the  country,  and  pays  a  large  annual  dividend  to 
its  stock-holders. 

The  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  by  a 
special  act  passed  February  22,  1848,  with  authority  to  construct  a  railroad 
from  Cleveland  to  some  point  in  or  near  Warren,  Ohio,  with  the  right  of  con- 
tinuing the  road  to  the  east  line  of  the  State.  The  road  was  built  under  this 
charter  from  Cleveland  to  Youngstown,  and  a  branch  from  Youngstown  to  the 
State  line.  It  enters  Portage  County  near  the  northwest  corner  of  Aurora 
Township,  and  passes  through   Aurora,  Mantua,    Hiram,  Garrettsville,  Nelson 


292  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  Windham  Townships,  striking  the  Trumbull  County  line  near  the  north- 
east corner  of  Windham.  Most  of  the  grading  was  done  and  the  track  partially 
laid  through  this  county  in  the  fall  of  1855.  The  Portage  County  Democrat 
of  November  7,  1855,  says  that  the  rails  were  then  laid  between  Warren  and 
Mantua  Station,  and  construction  trains  running  between  those  points.  In 
the  spring  of  1856  the  road  was  completed  to  Cleveland,  and  July  4  of  that 
year  regular  trains  began  running  from  Cleveland  to  Warren.  The  road  east 
of  Warren  was,  after  that  date,  rapidly  pushed  to  completion.  On  the  7th  of 
October,  1863,  the  company  leased  the  road  to  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western 
Railroad  Company  for  the  term  of  ninety-nine  years,  and  it  has  since  been 
operated  as  a  branch  of  that  line. 

The  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  is  one  of  the  principal  trunk  lines 
between  the  East  and  the  West.  It  had  its  inception  in  three  different  charters 
granted  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  that  granted  by  the  last-men- 
tioned State  being  the  one  in  which  Portage  County  is  more  directly  interested. 
On  the  10th  of  March,  1851,  the  Ohio  Legislature  granted  a  charter  to  the 
Franklin  &  Warren  Railroad  Company,  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  Portage  County,  to  Warren,  Trumbull  County,  and 
thence  to  the  easti  line  of  the  State,  with  power  to  continue  the  road  westward 
or  southwestward  from  Franklin  Mills  to  connect  with  any  other  railroad  in 
Ohio.  On  the  21st  of  May,  1851,  the  company  was  organized  by  the  follow- 
ing incorporators:  Marvin  Kent,  Zenas  Kent,  L.  V.  Bierce,  Thomas  Earl,  O. 
L.  Drake,  Cyrus  Prentiss,  Simon  Perkins,  H.  B.  Spelman,  Charles  Smith, 
Jacob  Perkins,  Rufus  P.  Ranney,  A.  V.  Horr,  Daniel  Upson,  Fred  Kinsman 
and  C.  G.  Sutliff.  Marvin  Kent,  the  leading  spirit  of  the  enterprise,  was 
elected  President  of  the  company  July  8,  1851,  and  served  five  years  continu- 
ously. He  was  again  elected  President  in  July,  1859,  and  re-elected  annually 
five  times,  serving  in  that  capacity  until  the  fall  of  1864,  when  he  resigned  the 
office. 

Another  well-known  citizen  of  the  county,  who  from  long  connection  with 
the  road  deserves  a  passing  notice,  is  Enos  P.  Bramerd,  Esq.  He  became 
Treasurer  of  the  company  in  January,  1855,  and  for  nine  successive  jears  was 
annually  re-elected  to  the  same  position,  which  he  resigned  December  2,  1864, 
He  was,  however,  retained  as  Assistant  Treasurer,  and  July  11,  1865,  again 
elected  Treasurer,  but  lost  the  office  upon  the  consolidation  of  the  three  com- 
panies the  following  August. 

In  the  meantime,  dui'ing  the  summer  of  1852,  some  gentlemen  in  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania  had  proposed  the  project  of  continuing  the  broad  gauge  of  the 
Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railroad  through  Ohio,  northwestern  Pennsylvania  and 
southwestern  New  York.  This  grand  plan  for  a  great  broad  gauge  from  St. 
Louis  to  New  York  was  subsequently  submitted  to  the  Directors  of  the  three 
local  companies  of  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  (the  two  last-mentioned 
having  some  years  previously,  under  different  titles,  obtained  charters  covering 
the  construction  of  roads  in  the  same  general  direction),  and  favorable  action 
taken  thereon.  By  a  decree  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage 
County,  dated  October  17,  1854,  the  name  of  the  company  in  Ohio  was  changed 
to  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  Company.  The  Pennsylvania  Com- 
pany also  changed  its  corporate  name,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed 
April  15,  1858,  to  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  Company  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  Company  of  New  York 
was  incorporated  the  same  year,  and  it  was  the  intention  to  build  and  operate 
these  three  roads  as  one  line,  so  far  as  such  could  be  done  by  contracts  with 
each  other. 


# 


IL>^ 


V^' 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  295 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1860,  the  engineers  commenced  work  at  Jamestown, 
N.  Y.,  and  on  the  27th  the  contractors  began  grading.  On  the  8th  of  May, 
1860,  the  first  rail  was  laid,  and  the  first  spike  driven.  In  May,  1861,  the 
track  was  laid  to  Corry,  Penn.  Work  was  soon  afterward  suspended  and  it 
was  not  until  October  22,  1862,  that  the  road  was  opened  to  Meadville,  Penn. 
During  this  time  the  work  on  the  Ohio  division  was  progressing  very  slowly, 
but  in  the  spring  of  1862  it  was  energetically  commenced,  and  vigorously 
pushed  throughout  the  summer.  The  first  week  in  November,  1862,  two  loco- 
motives were  placed  upon  the  track  at  Ravenna  to  aid  in  the  work,  and  by  the 
12th  of  that  month  about  seven  miles  of  track  were  laid  east  of  that  town. 
The  telegraph  office  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  was  opened  in 
Ravenna  September  20,  1862,  and  the  first  dispatch  sent  over  the  wires  to 
Corry,  Penn.,  on  that  date.  By  December  10,  1862,  the  track  between 
Ravenna  and  Warren  was  completed,  and  the  construction  trains  freely  run- 
ning from  the  latter  town  to  a  point  four  miles  west  of  Ravenna;  and  January 
4,  1863,  the  last  rail,  connecting  Warren  and  Meadville,  was  laid  in  place. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1863,  thirteen  freight  cars  loaded  with  rails 
arrived  at  Ravenna  from  New  York  over  the  new  line,  being  the  first  cars 
direct  from  the  eastern  metropolis  without  change.  On  the  evening  of  Febru- 
ary 10,  1863,  the  first  accomodation  train  reached  Ravenna  from  Meadville. 
The  passengers  were  principally  officers  of  the  road.  They  were  met  at  the 
depot  (then  a  temporary  frame  building),  by  a  number  of  leading  citizens, 
taken  in  carriages  to  the  Collins  House  and  handsomely  entertained,  returning 
to  Meadville  the  following  morning.  The  first  freight  was  sent  over  this  road 
from  Ravenna  to  New  Y''ork  February  11,  1863,  and  consisted  of  a  car  load  of 
flour  fi'om  one  of  the  mills  in  the  town.  Two  days  afterward  ten  barrels  of 
sugar  were  received  at  Ravenna  from  New  York,  via  the  Atlantic  &  Great 
Western.  A  regular  accommodation  train  began  running  east  from  Ravenna 
February  16,  1863.  It  made  three  trips  a  week  each  way,  and  was  only  intended 
as  a  temporary  arrangement  to  accommodate  the  people  along  the  line  until 
the  further  completion  of  the  road.  Though  the  rails  were  laid  and  an  accom- 
modation running  in  connection  with  the  construction  train,  as  far  west  as 
Kent,  in  February,  1863,  the  first  through  passenger  train  did  not  reach  that 
town  until  Saturday,  March  7,  1863.  The  passengers  consisted  of  President 
Marvin  Kent,  Chief  Engineer  Thomas  W.  Kennard  and  other  officials  of  the 
road,  who  made  the  trip  from  New  York  to  Kent  without  change.  Up  to 
March  80,  1863,  there  were  only  three  trains  weekly  each  way,  but  on  that 
date  daily  trains  began  running.  Business  grew  rapidly,  and  by  the  18th  of 
May  the  company  found  it  necessary  to  put  on  two  daily  passenger  trains  each 
way  to  accommodate  the  traveling  public.  On  the  26th  of  May,  1863,  the  line 
was  completed  to  Akron,  December  27th  to  Gallon,  and  in  June,  1864,  to  Day- 
ton, there  taking  the  broad  gauge  track  on  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton 
Railroad  to  Cincinnati,  which  had  been  prepared  for  a  connection  to  the  new 
line.  In  August  of  the  same  year  a  train  was  run  from  New  York  to  St. 
Louis,  1,200  miles  of  broad  gauge,  in  forty-seven  hours. 

Under  an  agreement  of  August  19,  1865,  the  three  companies  of  Ohio 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York  were  consolidated  as  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western 
Railway  Company.  On  the  1st  of  April,  1867,  the  road  went  into  the  hands 
of  a  receiver,  and  December  7,  1868,  it  was  leased  to  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  for  the  term  of  twelve  years,  but  was  only  operated  by  them  four 
months,  when  at  the  suits  of  creditors  the  courts  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  again  placed  the  road  in  the  hands  of  receivers.  The  Erie  Railway 
Company  leased  the  road   in  February,  1870,  but   in  July,  1871,  it  was  sold, 


296  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  purchasers  re-organizing  as  the  A-tlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  Com- 
pany. The  road  again  went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  December  10,  1874, 
and  January  6,  1880,  was  sold  and  its  name  changed  to  the  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania &  Ohio  Raih-oad.  The  track  has  been  changed  to  the  standard  gauge 
of  the  country.  In  March,  1883,  it  was  leased  for  ninety-nine  years  to  the  New 
York,  Lake  Erie  &  Western  Railroad  Company,  who  still  operate  it.  It  strikes 
the  east  line  of  Portage  County  in  Lot  50,  Windham  Township,  and  taking  a 
general  southwest  course  through  Windham,  Freedom,  Charlestown,  Ravenna 
and  Franklin,  leaves  the  county  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Brimfield  Township. 
The  machine  shops  at  Kent,  which  employ  a  large  number  of  men,  were 
located  at  that  point  by  the  Board  of  Directors  April  5,  1854,  though  they  were 
not  built  for  many  years  afterward. 

The  Cleveland,  Youngstown  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  which  passes  up  the 
eastern  side  of  Deerfield  and  Palmyra  Townships  and  across  the  southeast 
corner  of  Paris,  sprung  from  the  Lake  Erie,  Alliance  &  Wheeling  Railroad, 
chartered  February  19,  1874,  to  run  from  Fairport,  on  Lake  Erie,  to  Wheeling, 
W.  Va.  Early  in  1876  the  work  of  construction  was  begun,  and  the  road  was 
completed  the  same  year  from  Alliance,  Stark  County,  through  Portage,  to 
Newton  Falls,  in  Trumbull  County,  and  the  following  summer  to  Braceville. 
On  the  9th  of  May,  1878,  the  road  was  sold,  and  on  the  31st  the  purchasers 
reorganized  as  the  Alliance  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad  Company,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1879  completed  the  road  to  Phalanx.  It  was  originally  a  narrow  gauge, 
but  July  14,  1882,  a  consolidation  was  effected  with  some  other  companies, 
under  the  title  of  the  Cleveland,  Youngstown  &  Pittsburgh,  and  the  road 
changed  to  a  standard  gauge. 

The  Connotton  Valley  Railway  Company  was  formed  by  a  consolidation  of 
the  Connotton  Valley  Railroad  Company  and  the  Connotton  Northern  Railway 
Company.  The  Youngstown  &  Connotton  Valley  Railroad  Company  was 
incorporated  August  29,  1877,  to  construct  a  line  of  road  from  Bowerstown  to 
Youngstown.  In  1878  this  company  purchased  the  Ohio  &  Toledo  Railroad, 
which  consisted  of  a  finished  track  from  Dell  Roy  to  Minerva,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1879  the  route  and  terminus  of  the  Youngstown  &  Connotton  Valley  was 
changed,  making  Canton  instead  of  Youngstown  the  northern  terminus.  By 
a  decree  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  issued  November  20,  1879,  the  name 
of  the  corporation  was  changed  to  the  Connotton  Valley  Railroad  Company. 
The  Connotton  Northern  Railway  Company  was  chartei-ed  March  23,  1879,  lo 
build  a  road  from  Canton  to  Fairport  on  Lake  Erie,  but  the  northern  terminus 
was  afterward  changed  to  Cleveland.  When  the  Connotton  Valley  was  built 
to  Canton,  and  the  Connotton  Northern  in  course  of  construction,  the  two 
companies  saw  that  their  interests  would  be  better  conserved  by  uniting,  and 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1880,  the  consolidation  was  effected  as  the  Connotton 
Valley  Railway  Company.  The  road  is  a  narrow  gauge,  which  entering  Port- 
age County  on  the  southern  line  of  Suffield  Township,  takes  a  general  northerly 
course  through  Suffield,  Brimfield,  Franklin  and  Streetsboro  Townships,  and 
crosses  into  Summit  County  on  Lot  7,  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Aurora 
Township.  It  was  completed  and  trains  running  as  far  north  as  Mogadore  by 
the  close  of  June,  1881,  and  during  the  same  year  was  finished  and  opened 
through  to  Cleveland. 

The  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland  &  Toledo  Railroad  Company  was  incorporated 
April  28,  1882,  to  construct  a  road  from  Newcastle  Junction,  in  Lawrence 
County,  Penn. ,  to  Akron,  Ohio.  Work  was  begun  at  once  and  pushed  vigor- 
ously throughout  1882  and  1883,  the  track  being  laid  through  Portage  County 
in  the  summer  of  the  latter  year.      The  road  was  opened  for  business  February 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  297 

1,  1884,  but  regular  trains  did  not  begin  running  until  the  4th  of  March  fol- 
lowing. It  follows  the  abandoned  bed  of  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal, 
through  Paris,  Charlestown,  Ravenna  and  Franklin  Townships,  and  has  proven 
quite  an  acquisition  to  the  railroad  facilities  of  the  country  through  which  it 


The  foregoing  are  the  only  completed  railroads  which  touch  Portage  County 
territory,  but  from  1853  to  1856  considerable  grading  was  done"  on  a  proposed 
road  called  the  Clinton  Air  Line.  It  entered  the  State  at  Kinsman  on  the 
Pennsylvania  line,  and  passed  southwest  through  Trumbull,  Geauga,  Portage, 
and  Summit  Counties,  thence  onward  in  the  same  general  direction.  It  struck 
the  northern  boundary  of  Hiram  Township,  in  Lot  4,  and  passed  southwest 
through  Hiram,  Mantua  and  Aurora  Townships  to  Hudson,  Summit  County, 
crossing  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad  near  the  boundary  line 
between  Mantua  and  Aurora.  Some  efforts  have  recently  been  made  to  revive 
the  project,  but  so  far  nothing  definite  has  been  effected,  and  it  is  very  doubt- 
ful if  the  road  will  ever  be  built.  Portage  County,  however,  is  well  supplied 
with  railroads,  few  counties  in  the  State  being  able  to  point  to  six  roads  pass- 
ing through  their  territory.  Randolph  and  Shalersville  are  the  only  town- 
ships in  the  county  not  touched  by  a  railroad,  yet  railroad  communications  are 
so  close  at  hand  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  two  townships  probably  derive 
as  much  real  benefit  from  the  roads  as  if  they  passed  within  sight  of  their 
doors. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Education  in  Ohio— Lands  Granted  fok  Educational  Purposes— Commis- 
sioners OF  Schools  and  School  Lands  in  1822— The  School  Lands  Sold 
AND  A  School  Fund  Established— Pioneer  Schools,  Schoolhouses, 
Teachers  and  Books  in  Portage  County— Hoav  Teachers  were  Em- 
ployed and  Paid— An  Amusing  Agreement— Growth  of  Education- 
Government  AND  Progress  of  Schools  Prior  to  1851— Schools  for  Col- 
ored Youth  Established— Re-organization  of  Schools  under  the  laws 
of  1853— Present  Government  of  Schools. 

THE  most  casual  observer  cannot  but  have  noticed,  notwithstanding  the 
privation  and  discomforts  attending  the  lives  of  the  early  settlers,  the  zeal 
they  manifested  in  education,  and  that,  as  soon  as  a  sufiicient  number  of  pupils 
could  be  collected  and  a  teacher  secured,  a  house  was  erected  for  the  purpose. 
The  period  just  preceding  the  Revolution  was  characterized  by  its  number  of 
literary  men,  and  the  interest  they  gave  to  polite  learning;  and  the  patriots 
who  were  conspicuous  in  that  sti'Uggle  for  human  liberty  were  men  not  only 
of  ability,  but  of  no  ordinary  culture.  We  can  readily  understand  that  the 
influence  of  their  example  had  its  weight  in  molding  public  sentiment  in  other 
respects  besides  that  of  zeal  for  the  patriot  cause.  To  this  may  be  added  that, 
for  the  most  part,  the  early  pioneers  were  men  of  character,  who  endured  the 
dangers  and  trials  of  a  new  country,  not  solely  for  their  own  sakes,  but  for 
their  children,  and  with  a  faith  in  what  the  future  would  bring  forth,  clearly 
saw  the  power  and  value  of  education.  Then  we  find,  from  the  beginning, 
this  object  kept  steadily  in  view,  and  provision  made  for  its  successful  prose- 
cution; and  the  express  declaration  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State 
enjoins  that  "  the  principal  of    all  funds  arising  "from  the  sale  or  other  distri- 


298  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

bution  of  lands  or  other  property,  granted  or  intrusted  to  the  State  for  educa- 
tional purposes,  shall  forever  be  pi'eserved  inviolate  and  undiminished,  and 
the  income  arising  therefrom  shall  be  faithfully  applied  to  the  specific  objects 
of  the  original  grants  or  appropriations,  and  the  General  Assembly  shall  make 
such  provisions  by  taxation  or  otherwise  as,  from  the  income  arising  from  the 
school  trust  fund,  shall  secure  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  common 
schools  throughout  the  State." 

The  act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  admission  of  Ohio  into  the  Union 
offered  certain  educational  propositions  to  the  people.  These  were,  first,  that 
Section  16  in  each  township,  or,  in  lieu  thereof,  other  contiguous  or  equiva- 
lent lands,  should  be  granted  for  the  use  of  schools;  second,  that  thirty-eight 
sections  of  land,  where  salt  springs  had  been  found,  should  be  granted  to  the 
State,  never  to  be  sold,  or  leased  for  a  longer  term  than  ten  years;  and  third, 
that  one-twentieth  of  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  in  the 
State  should  be  applied  toward  the  construction  of  roads  from  the  Atlantic 
to  and  through  Ohio.  Those  propositions  were  offered  on  the  condition  that 
the  public  lands  sold  by  the  United  States  after  the  30th  of  June,  1802,  should 
be  exempt  from  State  taxation  for  five  years  after  sale.  The  ordinance  of 
1787  had  already  provided  for  the  appropriation  of  Section  16  to  the  support 
of  schools  in  every  township  sold  by  the  United  States.  This,  therefore, 
could  not,  in  1802,  be  properly  made  the  subject  of  a  new  bargain  between  the 
United  States  and  Ohio;  and  by  many  it  was  thought  that  the  salt  reserva- 
tions and  one-twentieth  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  public  lands  were  inad- 
equate equivalent  for  the  proposed  surrender  of  a  right  to  tax  for  five  years. 
The  convention,  however,  accepted  the  propositions  of  Congress,  on  their 
being  so  modified  and  enlarged  as  to  vest  in  the  State,  for  the  use  of  schools, 
Section  16  in  each  township  sold  by  the  United  States,  and  three  other  tracts 
of  land,  equal  in  quantity  respectively  to  one  thirty-sixth  of  the  Virginia  Mil- 
itary Eeservation,  of  the  United  States  Military  Tract  and  of  the  Connecticut 
Western  Keserve,  and  to  give  3  per  cent  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
sold  within  the  State  to  the  construction  of  roads  in  Ohio,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Legislature.  Congress  agreed  to  the  proposed  modifications,  and  thus 
was  established  the  basis  of  the  common-school  fund  of  Ohio. 

We  have  seen  in  the  foregoing  how  Congress,  by  a  compact  with  the  peo- 
ple, gave  them  one  thirty-sixth  part  of  all  of  the  lands  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River  for  school  purposes.  The  lands  for  this  purpose  set  apart  were,  how- 
ever, often  appropriated  by  squatters,  and  through  unwise,  careless  and  some- 
times corrupt  legislation,  these  squatters  were  vested  with  proprietorship. 
Caleb  Atwater,  in  his  history  of  Ohio,  in  speaking  on  this  subject  says: 
"  Members  of  the  Legislature  not  unfrequently  got  acts  passed  and  leases 
granted,  either  to  themselves,  their  relatives  or  to  their  partisans.  One  Sena- 
tor contrived  to  get,  by  such  acts,  seven  entire  sections  of  land  into  either  his 
own  or  his  children's  possession."  From  1803  to  1820  the  General  Assembly 
spent  a  considerable  portion  of  every  session  in  passing  acts  relating  to  these 
lands,  without  advancing  the  cause  of  education  to  any  degree. 

In  1821  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  appointed  five  of  its  members,  viz., 
Caleb  Atwater,  Loyd  Talbot,  James  Shields,  Roswell  Mills  and  Josiah  Barber, 
a  Committee  on  Schools  and  School  Lands.  This  committee  subsequently 
made  a  report,  rehearsing  the  wrong  management  of  the  school  land  trust  on 
behalf  of  the  State,  warmly  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  educa- 
tion and  the  adoption  of  measures  which  would  secure  for  the  people  the 
rights  which  Congress  intended  they  should  possess.  In  compliance  with  the 
recommendation  of  the  committee,  the  Governor  of  the  State,  in  May,  1822, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  299 

having  been  authorized  by  the  Legislature,  appointed  seven  Commissioners  of 
Schools  and  School  Lands,  viz. :  Caleb  Atwater,  Rev.  John  Collins,  Rev. 
James  Hoge,  N.  Guilford,  Ephraim  Cutler,  Josiah  Barber  and  James  M.  Bell. 
The  reason  why  seven  persons  were  appointed  was  because  there  were  seven 
different  sorts  of  school  lands  in  the  State,  viz. :  Section  16  in  every  township 
of  the  Congress  lands,  the  United  States  Military  lands,  the  Virginia  Military 
lands,  Symmes'  Purchase,  the  Ohio  Company's  Purchase,  tte  Refugee  lands 
and  the  Connecticut  Western  Reserve.  This  commission  of  seven  persons  was 
reduced  by  various  causes  to  one  of  three,  Messrs.  Atwater,  Collins  and  Hoge, 
who  performed  the  arduous  duties  incumbent  upon  them  with  but  little  remu- 
neration and  (at  the  time)  but  few  thanks. 

The  Legislature  of  1822-28  broke  up  without  having  taken  any  definite 
action  upon  the  report  presented  by  the  commission,  but  during  the  summer 
and  autvimn  of  182-4  the  subject  of  the  sale  of  the  school  lands  was  warmly 
agitated,  and  the  friends  of  the  measure  triumphed  over  the  opposition  so  far 
as  to  elect  large  majorities  to  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly  in  favor 
of  its  being  made  a  law.  The  quantity  of  land  set  apart  was  ascertained  in 
1825  to  be  a  little  more  than  half  a  million  acres,  and  was  valued  at  less  than 
$1,000,000.  The  school  lands  were  finally  sold  and  the  proceeds  taken  charge 
of  by  the  State,  the  interest  accruing  from  the  moneys  derived  from  the  sale 
of  the  different  classes  of  lands  to  be  annually  distributed  among  the  counties 
in  the  respective  land  districts,  according  to  the  school  enumeration  of  each 
county.  It  might  be  well  to  state  here  that  the  school  age  at  this  time  was 
fi'om  four  to  sixteen,  which  was,  however,  changed  whenever  the  General 
Assembly  considered  such  a  change  necessary  or  judicious.  From  the  time 
the  school  lands  were  sold  up  to  the  present,  each  county  in  the  State  has 
received  annually  its  quota  of  the  interest  obtained  from  this  school  fund. 
Nearly  one-half  of  the  counties  of  Ohio  pay  more  money  into  the  common 
school  fund  of  the  State  than  they  receive  back  again,  the  surplus  thus  raised 
going  to  poor  or  sparsely  settled  counties.  This  has  been  the  case  in  Portage 
County  for  many  years.  In  1875  she  paid  $16,412.86  and  received  $12,537.60, 
or  $3,875.26  less  than  she  paid  in.  In  1880  she  paid  $15,785.11,  and  received 
$11,662.50,  or  $4,122.61  less  than  paid  into  the  State  fund.  These  two  years 
will  serve  to  illustrate  what  this  county  has  been  doing  for  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, for  besides  educating  her  own  youth  she  has  and  is  paying  annually  for 
the  instruction  of  the  school  youth  in  other  counties  of  the  State. 

In  the  early  development  of  Portage  County  a  great  variety  of  influences 
were  felt  in  the  way  of  general  education.  The  settlements  were  and  for 
years  continued  to  be  sparse.  The  people,  as  the  pioneers  of  all  new  counties 
are,  were  poor,  and  lacked  the  means  of  remunerating  teachers.  Their  poverty 
compelled  all  who  were  able  to  labor,  and  the  work  of  the  females  was  as 
important  and  toilsome  as  that  of  the  men.  Added  to  these,  both  teachers 
and  books  were  scarce.  This  condition  of  things  continued  perhaps  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Taking  these  facts  into  consideration,  it  is  sur- 
prising that  they  had  any  schools  whatever. 

The  interest  awakened  in  literature  and  science  immediately  after  the  Rev- 
olution followed  the  pioneers  to  their  Western  homes;  but  to  make  their 
efforts  productive  of  useful  results  time  became  absolutely  necessary.  Just 
as  soon  as  the  settlements  were  prepared  for  the  experiment,  schools  were 
opened;  but  at  every  step  it  was  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  under  difficul- 
ties. Everything  connected  with  them  was  as  simple  and  primitive  as  were 
their  dwellings,  food  and  clothing.  Houses  were  built  in  the  various  neigh- 
borhoods as  occasion   made  necessary,  not  by  subscription   in  money,  but  by 


300  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

labor.  Ou  a  given  day  the  neighbors  assembled  at  some  place  previously- 
agreed  upon,  and  the  work  was  done.  Timber  was  abundant;  they  were  skilled 
in  the  use  of  the  ax,  and  having  cut  logs  of  the  required  length,  the  walls 
were  soon  raised.  The  roof  was  made  of  clapboards,  kept  in  place  by  heavy 
poles  reaching  the  length  of  the  building.  The  door  was  of  clapboards  and 
creaked  on  wooden  hinges;  the  latch  of  wood  and  raised  by  a  string.  The 
floor  was  "puncheon,"  or  trees  split  in  the  middle,  tolerably  true,  the  edge  and 
face  being  dressed  with  the  ax.  The  crevices  between  the  logs  forming  the 
walls  were  filled  with  "  chinks,"  or  split  sticks  of  wood,  and  daubed  with  mud. 
The  tire-place  was  equally  rude,  but  of  ample  dimensions,  built  on  the  out- 
side of  the  house,  usually  of  stone  to  the  throat  of  the  flue,  and  the  remain- 
der of  the  chimney  of  split  sticks  of  wood,  daubed  with  puddled  clay  within 
and  without.  Light  was  admitted  through  the  door  and  by  means  of  an 
opening  made  by  cutting  out  one  of  the  logs,  reaching  almost  the  entire  width 
of  the  building.  This  opening  was  high  enough  from  the  floor  to  prevent  the 
boys  from  looking  out,  and  in  winter  was  covered  with  paper  saturated  with 
grease,  to  keep  out  the  cold,  as  well  as  to  admit  light. 

In  the  rural  districts  school  "  kept "  only  in  winter.  The  furniture  corre- 
sponded with  the  simplicity  of  the  house.  At  a  proper  distance  below  the 
windows  auger  holes  were  bored  in  a  slanting  direction  in  one  of  the  logs,  and 
in  these  strong  wooden  pins  were  driven,  and  on  the  pins  a  huge  slab  or 
puncheon  was  placed,  which  served  as  a  writing  desk  for  the  whole  school. 
For  seats,  they  used  the  puncheon,  or  more  commonly  the  body  of  a  smooth, 
straight  tree,  cut  ten  to  twelve  feet  in  length,  and  raised  to  a  height  of  twelve 
to  fifteen  inches  by  means  of  pins  securely  inserted.  It  has  been  said  that 
not  infrequently  the  pins  were  of  unequal  length,  and  the  bench  predisposed  to 
"  wabble. "  Many  of  the  pioneer  teachers  were  natives  of  Ireland,  who  had 
fled  from  the  oppression  of  the  English  Government,  prior  to  and  succeeding 
the  struggle  for  Irish  independenee,  in  1798,  and  here  in  this  land  of  freedom 
were  putting  to  good  use  that  education  obtained  in  their  native  isle.  Dr. 
Johnson's  notion  that  most  boys  I'equired  learning  to  be  thrashed  into  them 
was  practically  carried  out  in  the  pioneer  schoolhouse.  The  pupils  sat  with 
their  faces  toward  the  wall,  around  the  room,  while  the  teacher  occupied  the 
middle  space  to  superintend  each  pupil  separately.  In  some  rooms  a  separate 
bench  was  furnished  for  those  too  young  to  write.  Classes,  when  reciting, 
sat  on  a  bench  provided  for  this  purpose. 

The  books  were  as  primitive  as  the  surroundings.  The  New  Testament 
was  a  common  reading  book;  the  "English  Reader"  was  occasionally  found, 
and  sometimes  the  "  Columbian  Orator."  No  one  book  was  common  in  all  the 
families.  The  reading  class  recited  paragraphs  alternately,  and  the  book  in 
use  was  made  common  property,  passing  from  hand  to  hand  during  recitation. 
It  was  not  unusual  for  the  teacher  to  assist  a  pupil  in  one  of  his  "  sums,"  dis- 
cipline a  refractory  scholar,  and  hear  the  reading  class  at  one  and  the  same 
time.  Dabold,  Smiley  and  Pike's  arithmetics  were  commonly  used,  with 
the  examples  for  practice  almost  exclusively  in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence, 
and  a  marked  absence  of  clear  rules  and  definitions  for  the  solving  of  the  dif- 
ferent divisions.  Webster's  "American  Speller"  was  the  ordinary  spelling- 
book,  which  afterward  made  way  for  Webster's  "Elementary  Speller."  This 
latter  book  maintained  its  popularity  for  half  a  century.  The  spelling  class 
closed  the  labors  of  the  day.  All  who  could  spell  entered  the  "  big  class,"  and 
the  rivalry  was  sharp  as  to  who  should  rank  first  as  good  spellers.  The  class 
was  numbered  in  the  order  in  which  they  stood  in  line,  and  retained  the  num- 
ber until  a  miss  sent  some  one  above  them.      Spelling-matches  were  frequent, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  301 

and  contributed  largely  to  make  good  spellers.  Grammar  was  not  often  taught, 
partly  for  the  reason  that  books  were  hard  to  get,  and  partly  because  some 
of  the  teachers  were  Qot  proficient  in  this  branch  of  learning.  When  the  sci- 
ence was  taught,  the  text-book  was  the  earlier  and  larger  edition  of  Murray, 
which,  by  the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  was  largely  superseded 
by  Kirkham,  which,  though  of  little  real  merit,  stimulated  a  taste  for  grammar. 
The  boys  and  girls  went  to  the  same  school,  but  sat  on  opposite  benches. 

It  occasionally  happened  that  teachers  were  employed  who  had  learned  that 
an  elephant  may  be  led  by  a  hair,  or  more  probably  were  blessed  with  gentle 
natures,  and  won  the  hearts  and  life-long  affection  of  their  pupils  by  their 
pleasant  and  loving  ways;  but  these  were  exceptions.'  The  standard  of  excel- 
lence was  often  measured  by  the  ability  and  swiftreadiness  to  thrash  the  schol- 
ars on  any  provocation.  Disobedience  and  ignorance  were  equal  causes  for  the 
use  of  the  "birch."  "Like  master,  like  boy."  The  characteristics  of  the  one 
tended  to  develop  a  corresponding  spirit  in  the  other,  and  the  cruelty  of  the 
one,  with  the  absence,  too  frequently,  of  all  just  discrimination  in  the  use  of 
the  rod,  excited  animosities  which  lasted  through  life.  There  were  few  boys 
of  that  day  who  did  not  cherish  the  purpose  to  "whale  the  master"  on  sight 
at  some  future  time. 

The  schools  were  supported  by  subscription,  the  charge  being  from  $1  to 
$3  per  term  of  three  months  during  the  winter,  to  begin  at  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  with  an  hour  to  an  hour  and  a  half  recess  at  noon,  and  close  at  5 
o'clock.  One-half  of  Saturdays,  or  alternate  Saturdays,  made  part  of  thfe  term. 
Writing  was  taught  to  all  the  larger  pupils,  and  the  only  pen  used  was  the 
goose  or  turkey  quill,  made  into  a  pen  by  the  skillful  hand  of  the  teacher. 
Mending  the  pens  was  an  essential  part  of  the  work.  Copy-books  were  made 
of  sheets  of  foolscap  paper  stitched  together,  and  copies  were  "set"  by  the 
teacher  during  recess,  which  were  commonly  taken  from  the  maxims  in  use 
from  time  immemorial.  Sometimes  the  teacher  was  partly  paid  in  produce  or 
other  commodities,  which  were  the  equivalent  to  him  for  money,  while  his  sup- 
port was  often  obtained  by  "boarding  around."  As  an  illustration  of  the 
mode  of  employing  teachers  during  the  pioneer  days  of  Portage  County,  the 
writer  inserts  the  following  amusing  agreement  made  December  3,  1823, 
between  the  Directors  of  a  school  in  Edinburg  Township,  and  Austin  Loomis: 

Agreed  with  Austin  Loomis,  of  Atwater,  to  teach  school  in  Edinburg  three  months, 
for  twelve  bushels  of  wheat  per  month ;  one-half  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  three  months  in 
grain,  and  the  remainder  iti  some  other  trade,  such  as  cattle,  sheep  and  w7iisky. 

It  would  bother  a  modern  school  teacher  to  cipher  out  how  twelve  bushels 
of  wheat  could  be  paid  in  "cattle,  sheep  and  whisky,"  but  probably  the  arith- 
metic now  is  not  as  it  used  to  be,  and  the  pioneer  teacher  may  have  had  little 
difficulty  in  solving  the  problem  to  his  own  satisfaction.  The  early  settlers 
were  forced  to  resort  to  many  expedients  in  the  transaction  of  business, 
because  of  the  stringency  of  the  money  market.  That  necessary  ingredient 
was  very  scarce,  and  to  m&ke  change  it  was  the  common  usage  to  halve  and 
quarter  pieces  of  silver  coin.  The  introduction  of  schools  in  one  settlement 
was  an  incentive  to  their  speedy  adoption  in  others,  and  the  foregoing  descrip- 
tion applies  to  all  of  the  earliest  schoolhouses  erected  in  this  county.  The  build- 
ing of  saw-mills,  and  the  opening  up  of  wagon-roads,  brought  about  a  better 
order  of  things,  and  plank,  weather-boarding  and  glass  took  the  places  of 
clapboards,  puncheon  floors  and  desks,  log  beeches  and  greased  paper  win- 
dows. The  first  schools  opened  in  the  different  townships  of  Portage  County 
are  spoken  of  in  the  township  sketches,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for 
further  information  on  the  subject. 


302  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

The  gradual  development  and  progress  of  education  in  Ohio  was  encour- 
aged and  fostered  by  State  laws  that  were  the  germs  from  which  came  forth 
the  present  common  school  system,  and  believing  that  a  brief  synopsis  of  those 
enactments  would  be  valuable  for  future  reference,  the  writer  has  compiled  the 
following  facts  from  the  Ohio  statutes,  trusting  they  will  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  more  thoroughly  the  history  of  the  schools  on  the  Western  Reserve 
up  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1851.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1806, 
three  Trustees  and  a  Treasurer  were  authorized  to  be  elected  in  each  township, 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  charge  of  the  school  lands,  or  the  moneys  arising 
therefrom,  and  applying  the  same  to  the  benefit  of  the  schools  in  said  town- 
ship. In  1810  this  act  was  more  fully  defined,  and  in  1814  every  scholar  was 
entitled  to  his  or  her  share  of  said  school  funds,  even  when  attending  a  school 
outside  of  their  own  township.  In  1815  those  moneys  were  distributed  accord- 
ing to  the  time  of  school  attendance,  an  account  of  which  each  teacher  was 
required  to  furnish  to  the  Trustees,  and  the  apportionment  made  accordingly. 
No  act  of  any  importance  was  then  passed  until  January  22,  1821,  when  a  vote 
was  ordered  to  be  taken  in  every  township  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  for  or 
against  organizing  the  same  into  school  districts;  also  for  the  election  of  a 
School  Committee  of  three  persons,  and  a  Collector,  who  was  also  Treasurer  in 
each  district.  The  inhabitants  were  authorized  to  erect  schoolhouses  in  their 
respective  districts  on  land  donated  or  purchased  for  that  purpose,  said  schools 
to  be  paid  for  by  donations  and  subscriptions,  together  with  the  taxes  raised 
for  that  object.  This  act  authorized  that  all  lands  located  in  said  districts 
liable  to  State  or  county  taxation  were  also  liable  to  taxation  for  erecting 
schoolhouses,  and  for  educating  the  children  of  those  unable  to  pay  for  school- 
ing. Parents  and  guardians  were  assessed  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
children  sent  to  school  by  them,  but  those  unable  to  pay  had  their  assessment 
remitted,  and  such  deficiency  was  paid  out  of  the  fund  raised  by  taxation.  Of 
course,  the  moneys  accruing  from  the  school  lands  went  into  the  school  fund 
held  by  the  Treasurer  of  each  district. 

The  first  general  school  law  was  passed  February  5,  1825,  and  it  provided 
"that  a  fund  shall  hereafter  be  annually  raised  among  the  several  counties  in 
the  State,  in  the  manner  pointed  out  by  this  act,  for  the  use  of  common  schools, 
for  the  instruction  of  youth  of  every  class  and  grade  without  distinction,  in 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  other  necessary  branches  of  a  common 
education."  This  was  in  harmony  with  the  constitution,  which  asserted  that 
schools  and  the  means  of  instruction  should  forever  be  encouraged  by  legisla- 
tive provision.  This  act  provided  for  a  general  tax  to  be  levied  for  the  foster.- 
ing  of  common  schools  throughout  the  State,  which  was  to  be  collected  annu- 
ally and  used  for  general  educational  purposes.  Three  School  Directors  were  to 
be  elected  annually  in  each  district,  to  transact  the  business  of  said  schools,  erect 
buildings,  employ  teachers,  receive  and  expend  all  moneys  derived  from  any 
source,  etc.  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  each  county  was  authorized  to 
appoint  annually  "three  suitable  persons  to  be  called  Examiners  of  Common 
Schools,"  whose  duties  it  was  to  examine  teachers  for  qualification  and  grant 
certificates,  also  to  visit  and  examine  the  schools  throughout  the  county.  If 
any  district  neglected  to  keep  a  school  therein,  at  any  one  time  for  the  space 
of  three  years,  its  proportion  of  the  school  fund  was  divided  among  the  other 
districts  in  said  township  that  employed  teachers.  The  school  fund  of  each 
county  was  taken  charge  of  by  the  Auditor,  who  distributed  the  same  between 
the  several  townships.  In  1827,  this  act  was  amended.  The  Directors  were 
instructed  to  appoint  a  Treasurer  for  each  school  district.  Fines  imposed  by 
any  Justice  of  the  Peace,  for  offenses  committed  in  any  given  district,  were  to 


'•X'f^%-'^%'* 


^^y:^<^s^. 


:r£V 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  305 

be  paid  to  the  Treasurer,  to  be  used  for  the  support  of  education  in  said  dis- 
trict. Taxes  were  levied  to  build  new  houses  and  repair  old  ones.  Every 
householder,  whose  tax  was  less  than  $1,  had  to  pay  that  amount,  or  give  two 
days'  labor  toward  the  building  or  repairing  of  schoolhouses.  The  number  of 
Examiners  was  increased,  but  at  no  time  were  they  to  exceed  the  number  of 
townships  in  the  county. 

In  February,  1829,  a  law  was  enacted  providing  more  fully  for  general 
education,  but  the  children  of  black  or  mulatto  persons  were  not  permitted  to 
attend  these  schools,  nor  wore  such  persons  compelled  to  pay  taxes  toward  their 
support.  The  official  term  of  Examiners  was  designated  as  two  years,  and 
their  number  to  be  not  less  than  five  in  each  county,  nor  more  than  one  in  each 
township  thereof.  Whenever  the  regular  school  fund  ran  short,  the  teachers, 
if  not  paid  by  voluntary  subscription,  were  to  be  paid  by  those  sending  schol- 
ars to  said  schools.  Often  the  regular  fund  did  not  pay  for  more  than  three 
months'  schooling  annually,  so  that  even  then  the  schools,  though  slowly 
improving,  were  anything  but  flourishing.  The  act  of  1830  did  not  materially 
improve  them,  and  in  March,  1831,  the  following  clause  appears  in  a  law 
relative  to  raising  the  school  fund.  It  says  a  general  fund  shall  be  raised  "for 
the  instruction  of  the  white  youth  of  every  class  and  grade,"  so  that,  although 
Ohio  was  a  free  State,  a  black  man  was  debarred  from,  the  educational  advan- 
tages accorded  to  his  white  brother,  and  though  his  body  was  not  kept  in 
slavery  his  mind  was  kept  in  ignorance  as  far  as  the  State  laws  had  the  power 
to  do  so.  With  all  this  injustice  the  property  of  negroes  was  exempt  from 
taxation  for  school  purposes,  which  was  at  least  a  small  grain  of  justice  to  the 
despised  race.  The  school  age  was  changed  so  as  to  include  those  between 
four  and  twenty-one  years,  and  the  number  of  Examiners  read  "not  less  than 
five  in  each  county,  nor  more  than  two  in  each  township."        ' 

On  the  2d  of  March,  1831,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  establish- 
ment of  a  fund  to  be  designated  "  The  Common  School  Fund,"  the  income  to 
be  used  for  the  support  of  common  schools.  All  moneys  arising  from  the  sale 
of  school  lands  were  to  be  put  into  this  fund,  and  the  State  guaranteed  a  cer- 
tain interest  on  all  such  moneys  paid  into  the  State  Treasury.  The  County 
Auditors  were  authorized  to  draw  said  interest  and  distribute  it  among  the 
several  districts  in  their  respective  counties,  to  which  said  lands  originally 
belonged.  ,  Donations  and  bequests  were  also  put  into  this  fund  and  used  for 
the  same  general  purpose.  These  moneys,  however,  were  to  be  funded  annu- 
ally, until  January  1,  1835,  after  which  date  the  interest  was  divided  among 
the  several  counties  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  males  over  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  residing  therein. 

tip  to  this  time  women  were  not  eligible  as  school  teachers,  for  we  find 
that  an  act  was  passed  December  23,  1831,  allowing  Directors  to  employ 
female  teachers,  but  the  Directors  had  to  signify  in  writing  to  the  School 
Examiners  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  district  to  employ 
"  a  female  teacher  for  instructing  their  children  in  spelling,  reading  and 
writing  only. "  The  Examiners  were  then  empowered  to  give  the  lady  "a 
special  certificate"  to  teach  those  branches.  It  is  unnecessary  for  the  writer 
to  comment  on  this  injustice;  he  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  most  illiberal  of 
men  will  agree  with  him  that  this  discrimination  against  women  was  a  griev- 
ous wrong  and  unworthy  of  this  great  Commonwealth.  In  1833  other  provis- 
ions and  amendments  were  made  to  the  school  laws,  whose  object  was  to 
increase  their  influences,  but  no  material  changes  were  made  in  former  ones. 

The  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  created  March  7,  1837, 
and  made  permanent  a  year  from  that  date.      He  was  elected  by  the  General 

17 


306  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Assembly  for  a  term  of  five  years,  but  on  the  23d  of  March,  1840,  the  office 
was  abolished,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  required  to  perform  the  duties 
thereof.  In  1838  a  fund  of  $200,000  was  provided  for,  to  be  annually  dis- 
tributed among  the  several  counties,  according  to  the  number  of  white  youth, 
unmarried,  between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty-one.  It  was  known  as  the 
"State  Common  School  Fund,"  was  reduced,  March  7,  1842,  to  $150,000  and 
again  raised  to  $300,000  on  the  24th  of  March,  1851.  By  Article  VI  of  the 
Constitution  of  1851  it  is  declared  that  the  principal  of  all  funds  accruing 
from  school  lands,  donations  or  bequests,  "shall  forever  be  preserved  inviolate 
and  undiminished."  It  was  enacted  by  the  law  of  1838  that  the  Township 
Clerk  should  be  Superintendent  of  Schools  within  his  township,  and  this  law 
remained  in  force  until  the  re-organization  of  the  school  laws,  in  1853.  By 
this  same  law  the  County  Auditor  was  endowed  with  the  position  of  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools  throughout  the  county.  The  number  of  School  Examiners 
was  reduced  to  three  members  for  each  county,  who  were  appointed  by  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1839,  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  night  schools  in  towns,  wherein  male  youth  over  twelve  years  of  age, 
who  could  not  attend  school  in  the  daytime,  might  be  instructed.  This  law 
also  enacted  that  scholars  could  attend  German  schools  and  yet  receive  their 
quota  of  school  money.  Subsequently  the  German  language  was  introduced 
into  the  schools  as  a  part  of  the  regular  studies. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  1848,  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  the  estab- 
lishment of  separate  schools  for  colored  children.  This  law  was  amended  in 
1849,  and  was  thought  by  many  to  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  constitution, 
but  the  Supreme  Court  declared  it  constitutional.  Separate  school  districts 
were  authorized  to  be  organized  and  managed  by  Directors  chosen  by  the 
adult  male  colored  tax-payers,  whose  property  was  alone  chargeable  for  the  sup- 
port of  said  schools.  Colored  children  were  not  really  debarred  under  the  con- 
stitution at  that  time  from  attending  the  schools  provided  for  white  children,  but 
it  amounted  to  about  the  same  thing  as  the  objection  of  any  parent  or  guardian 
whose  children  attended  said  school  prevented  the  attendance  of  colored 
youth.  Thus  the  law  existed  until  1853,  when  the  schools  for  colored  chil- 
dren were  placed  upon  the  same  basis  as  those  for  white.  By  the  law  of  1853, 
^Boards  of  Education  were  directed,  whenever  the  colored  youth  in  any  school 
district  numbered  more  than  thirty,  to  establish  a  school  for  them.  This  law 
was  so  amended  in  1864  that  two  or  more  districts  could  unite  for  the  same 
purpose.  Much  trouble  has  been  caused  in  different  towns  by  the  colored  peo- 
ple insisting  on  sending  their  children  to  the  schools  for  whites.  In  some 
places  little  or  no  opposition  has  been  manifested,  while  in  others  a  bitter 
struggle  resulted.  In  the  country  districts  and  smaller  towns  white  and  col- 
ored children  usually  attend  the  same  schools,  and,  as  far  as  the  writer  has 
investigated  the  plan,  it  seems  to  work  harmoniously. 

The  school  law  of  1853  made  ample  provision  for  the  education  of  every 
class  and  grade  of  youth  within  the  State.  We  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
pages  that  those  who  participated  in  the  organization  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, and  subsequently  the  State,  recognized  religion,  morality  and  knowledge 
as  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind.  We  have 
also  seen  the  gradual  development  of  education  from  its  earliest  inception  in 
the  State  up  to  its  present  permanent  foundation  through  the  law  of  1853. 
Under  the  present  law  the  State  is  divided  into  school  districts  as  follows: 
City  districts  of  the  first  class,  city  districts  of  the  second  class,  village  dis- 
tricts, special  districts  and  township  districts.     To  administer  the  affairs  of 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  307 

the  districts,  and  to  look  after  and  promote  the  educational  interests  therein, 
the  law  has  provided  for  the  establishment  of  Boards  of  Education  in  each 
district.  These  boards  may  acquire  real  or  personal  property  for  the  use  of 
their  districts,  and  are  required  to  establish  schools  for  free  education  of  the 
youth  of  school  age,  and  may  establish  schools  of  a  higher  grade  than  the 
primary  schools.  They  are  to  determine  the  studies  to  be  pursued  and  the 
text-books  to  be  used  in  the  schools  under  their  control;  to  appoint  superin- 
tendents of  schools,  teachers  and  other  employes,  and  fix  their  salaries.  They 
are  authorized  to  make  such  rules  and  regulations  as  they  may  deem  expedient 
and  necessary  for  the  government  of  the  board,  their  appointees  and  pupils. 

The  State  Commissioner  of  common  schools  is  elected  by  the  people,  and 
his  official  term  is  three  years.  He  is  required  to  superintend  and  encourage 
teachers'  institutes,  confer  with  Boards  of  Education  or  other  school  officers, 
counsel  teachers,  visit  schools  and  deliver  lectures  calculated  to  promote  popu- 
lar education.  He  is  to  have  a  supervision  over  the  school  funds,  and  has 
power  by  law  to  require  proper  returns  to  be  made  by  the  officers  who  have 
duties  to  perform  pertaining  to  schools  or  school  funds.  It  is  his  duty  to  give 
instruction  for  the  organization  and  government  of  schools,  and  to  distribute 
the  school  laws  and  other  documents  for  the  use  of  school  officers.  He  is 
required  by  law  to  appoint  a  Board  of  State  Examiners,  consisting  of  three 
persons,  who  hold  their  office  for  two  years.  This  board  is  authorized  to  issue 
life  certificates  to  such  teachers  as  may  be  found,  upon  examination,  to  have 
attained  "eminent  professional  experience  and  ability."  These  certificates 
are  valid  in  any  school  district  in  the  State,  and  supersede  the  necessity  of  all 
other  examinations  by  the  county  or  local  Boards  of  Examiners.  Each  appli- 
cant for  a  State  certificate  is  required  to  pay  a  fee  of  $3. 

There  is  in  each  county  in  the  State  a  Board  of  Examiners  appointed  by 
the  Probate  Judge,  their  official  term  being  three  years.  The  law  provides 
that  "  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Examiners  to  fix  upon  the  time  of  holding 
the  meetings  for  the  examination  of  teachers,  in  such  places  in  their  respective 
counties  as  will,  in  their  opinion,  best  accommodate  the  greatest  number  of 
candidates  for  examination,  notice  of  all  such  meetings  being  published  in 
some  newspaper  of  general  circulation  in  their  respective  counties,  and  at  such 
meetings  any  two  of  said  board  shall  be  competent  to  examine  applicants  and 
grant  certificates:  and  as  a  condition  of  examination,  each  applicant  for  a 
certificate  shall  pay  the  Board  of  Examiners  a  fee  of  50  cents."  The  fees 
thus  received  are  set  apart  as  a  fund  for  the  support  of  teachers'  institutes. 

In  city  districts  of  the  first  and  second  class  and  village  districts  having  a 
population  of  not  less  than  2,500,  the  Examiners  are  appointed  by  the  Boards 
of  Education.  The  fees  charged  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  County  Boards, 
and  are  appropriated  for  the  same  purpose. 

There  are,  in  the  different  townships,  subdistricts,  in  which  the  people  elect, 
annually,  a  local  Director,  whose  term  of  office  continues  for  three  years. 
From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  each  subdistrict  has  a  board  consisting  of  three 
Directors.  These  Directors  choose  one  of  their  number  as  Clerk,  who  presides 
at  the  meetings  of  local  Directors,  and  keeps  a  record  thereof.  He  also  keeps 
a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  annual  school  meetings  of  the  subdistrict. 
The  Board  of  Education  of  each  township  district  consists  of  the  Township 
Clerk  and  the  local  Directors,  who  have  been  appointed  Clerks  of  the  sub- 
districts. 

The  law  provides  that  "  in  every  district  in  the  State,  there  shall  be  taken, 
between  the  first  Monday  in  September  and  the  first  Monday  in  October,  in 
each  year,  an  enumeration  of  all  unmarried  youth,  noting  race  and  sex,  between 


308  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

six  and  twenty-one  years  of  age,  resident  within  the  district,  and  not  tempo- 
rarily there,  designating  also  the  number  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  the  number  residing  in  the  Western  Reserve,  the  Virginia  Military 
District,  the  United  States  Military  District,  and  in  any  original  surveyed 
township  or  fractional  township  to  which  belongs  Section  16,  or  other  land  in 
lieu  thereof,  or  any  other  lands  for  the  use  of  schools  or  any  interest  in  the 
proceeds  of  such  land:  Provided,  that  in  addition  to  the  classihed  return  of 
all  the  youth  residing  in  the  district,  that  the  aggregate  number  of  youth  in 
the  district  resident  of  any  adjoining  county,  shall  be  separately  given,  if  any 
such  there  be,  and  the  name  of  the  county  in  which  they  reside."  The  Clerk 
of  each  Board  of  Education  is  required  to  transmit  to  the  County  Auditor  an 
abstract  of  the  returns  of  enumeration  made  to  him,  on  or  before  the  second 
Monday  of  October. 

The  County  Auditor  is  required  to  transmit  to  the  State  Commissioner,  on 
or  before  the  5th  day  of  November,  a  duly  certified  abstract  of  the  enumera- 
tion returns  made  to  him  by  Clerks  of  school  districts.  The  law  provides  that 
"the  Auditor  of  State  shall,  annually,  apportion  the  common  school  funds 
among  the  different  counties  upon  the  enumeration  and  returns  made  to  him 
by  the  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  and  certify  the  amount  so 
apportioned  to  the  County  Auditor  of  each  county,  stating  from  what  sources 
the  same  is  derived,  which  said  sum  the  several  County  Treasurers  shall  retain 
in  their  respective  treasuries  from  the  State  funds;  and  the  County  Auditors 
shall,  annually,  and  immediately  after  their  annual  settlement  with  the  County 
Treasurers,  apportion  the  school  funds  for  their  respective  counties  accord- 
ing to  the  enumeration  and  returns  in  their  respective  offices." 

The  law  ])rovides  that  the  school  year  shall  begin  on  the  Ist  day  of  Sep- 
tember of  each  year,  and  close  on  the  31st  of  August  of  the  succeeding  year. 
A  school  week  shall  consist  of  five  days,  and  a  school  month  of  four  school 
weeks.  The  law  also  provides,  in  relation  to  common  schools,  that  they  shall 
be  "free  to  all  youth  between  six  and  twenty- one  years  of  age  who  are  children, 
wards  or  apprentices  of  actual  residents  of  the  school  district,  and  no  pupil 
shall  be  suspended  therefrom  except  for  such  time  as  may  be  necessary  to  con- 
vene the  Board  of  Education  of  the  district,  or  local  Director  of  the  subdis- 
trict,  nor  be  expelled  unless  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  said  Board  of  local 
Directors,  after  the  parent  or  guardian  of  the  offending  pupil  shall  have  been 
notified  of  the  proposed  expulsion,  and  permitted  to  be  heard  against  the 
same;  and  no  scholar  shall  be  suspended  or  expelled  from  the  privilege  of 
schools  beyond  the  current  term:  Provided,  that  each  Board  of  Education  shall 
have  power  to  admit  other  persons,  not  under  six  years  of  age,  upon  such 
terms,  or  upon  the  payment  of  such  tuition  as  they  prescribe;  and  Boards  of 
Education  of  city,  village  or  special  districts  shall  also  have  power  to  admit, 
without  charge  or  tuition,  persons  within  the  school  age  who  are  members  of 
the  family  of  any  freeholder  whose  residence  is  not  within  such  district,  if  any 
part  of  such  freeholder's  homestead  is  within  such  district;  and  provided  fur- 
ther, that  the  several  Boards  of  Education  shall  make  such  assignments  of  the 
youth  of  their  respective  districts  to  the  schools  established  by  them,  as  will, 
in  their  opinion,  best  promote  the  interests  of  education  in  their  districts;  and 
provided  further,  that  nothing  contained  in  this  section  shall  supersede  or 
modify  the  provisions  of  Section  31  of  an  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  re-or- 
ganization, supervision  and  maintenance  of  common  schools,  passed  March  14, 
1853,  as  amended  March  18,  1864." 

Provision  is  made  by  law  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  teach- 
ers'  institutes,  which   are  established    for  the  professional    improvement    of 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  309 

teachers.  At  each  session  competent  instructors  and  lecturers  are  employed 
to  assist  the  State  Commissioner,  who  is  required  by  law  to  superintend  and 
encourage  such  institutes.  They  are  either  county,  city  or  joint  institutes  of 
two  or  more  counties,  and  the  examination  fees  paid  by  teachers  to  Boards 
of  Examiners  are  devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  these 
instructions. 

History  teaches  us  that  no  art  or  science,  wealth  or  power  will  compensate 
for  the  lack  of  moral  and  intellectual  stability  in  the  minds  of  a  nation.  Hence 
it  is  admitted  that  the  strength  and  perpetuity  of  this  Republic  must  consist 
in  the  morality  and  intelligence  of  its  people.  Every  youth  in  Ohio  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age  may  have  the  benefit  of  a  public  school  education,  and 
since  the  system  of  graded  and  high  schools  has  been  adopted,  may  obtain  a 
general  knowledge  from  the  alphabet  to  the  classics.  The  enumerated  branches 
of  study  in  the  public  schools  of  this  State  are  about  thirty-four,  including 
mathematics  and  astronomy,  French,  German  and  the  classics.  Thus  Ohio, 
which  was  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  has  been 
a  State  only  eighty-two  years,  now  presents  to  the  world  not  merely  an  unriv- 
aled development  of  material  prosperity,  but  a  good  system  of  popular  educa- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Public  Officers— Members  of  Congress— State  Senators— Territorial 
AND  State  Representatives  —  County  Commissioners— Treasurers- 
Clerks— Recorders— Auditors — Sheriffs— Coroners— Surveyors  —  Pro- 
bate Judges— Seat  of  Justice  and  Public  Buildings— Prison  Bounds- 
County  Infirmary— Political  Statistics  of  Portage  County— First 
Election  Held;  with  the  Names  of  the  Candidates  and  Voters- 
Gubernatorial  AND  Presidential  Vote. 

AFTER  much  labor  and  research  among  the  musty,  age-dimmed  records 
stowed  away  in  the  Court  House  vaults,  we  have  carefully  compiled  the 
roster  of  Portage  County  officials  embraced  in  this  chapter,  together  with  their 
respective  terms  of  service,  from  the  organization  of  the  county  up  to  the  pres- 
ent. In  regard  to  the  members  of  Congress,  State  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives, the  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  they  respectively  represent  the  district 
of  which  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Portage  County  formed  a  part  since 
the  organization  of  the  second  grade  of  Territorial  government  in  1799.  The 
latter  lists  were  obtained  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
and  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  reliable.* 

Members  of  Congress. — "William  H.  Harrison,  of  Harbilton  County,  1799, 
resigned  in  1800,  to  accept  the  Governorship  of  the  Territory  of  Indiana; 
William  McMillan,  of  Hamilton  County,  vice  Harrison,  resigned,  1800  to 
1801;  Paul  Fearing,  of  Washington  County,  1801  to  1803;  Jeremiah  Mor- 
row, of  Warren  County,  1803  to  1813;  John  S.  Edwards,  of  Trumbull  County, 
1813,  resigned  in  April,  1813;  Rezin  Beall,  of  Wayne  County,  vice  Edwards, 
resigned,  April,  1813,  Beall  also  resigning  in  August,  1813;  David  Clendeneu, 
of  Trumbull  County,  vice  Beall  resigned,  August,  1813  to  1817;  Peter  Hitch- 
cock, of  Geauga  County,  1817  to  1819;  John  Sloan,  of  Wayne  County,  1819 
to  1823;  Elisha    Whittlesey,  of  Trumbull    County    (now   Mahoning),  1823  to 

*  For  Common  Pleas  and  Associate  Judges,  and  Prosecuting  Attorneys  see  Chapter  X. 


310  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

1833;  Jonathan  Sloane,  of  Portage  County,  1833  to  1837;  John  W.  Allen,  of 
Cuyahoga  County,  1837  to  1841:  Sherlock  J.  Andrews,  of  Cuyahoga  County, 
1841  to  1843:  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  of  Portage  County,  1843  to  1847;  John 
Crowell,  of  Trumbull  County,  1847  to  1851;  Eben  Newton,  of  Mahoning 
County,  1851  to  1853;  George  Bliss,  of  Summit  County,  1853  to  1855;  Ben- 
jamin F.  Leiter,  of  Stark  County,  1855  to  1859;  Sidney  Edgerton,  of  Summit 
County,  1859  to  1863;  James  A.  Garfield,  of  Portage  County,  1863  to  1879; 
William  McKinley,  Jr.,  of  Stark  County,  1879  to  1881;  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  of 
Trumbull  County,  1881,  third  terni  expires  in  1887. 

State  Senators.- — Samuel  Huntington,  district  Trumbull  County,  1803; 
Benjamin  Tappan,  same  district,  1803  to  1804:  George  Tod,  same  district, 
1804  to  1806;  Calvin  Cone,  district  Trumbull  and  Geauga,  1806  to  1808; 
David  Abbott,  district  Portage  and  Geauga,  1808  to  1810;  David  Abbott,  dis- 
trict Portage,  Geauga  and  Cuyahoga,  1810  to  1812;  Peter  Hitchcock,  district 
Portage,  Geauga,  Cuyahoga  and  Ashtabula,  1812  to  1816;  Aaron  Wheeler  and 
Almon  Buggies,  district  Portage,  Geaaga,  Cuyahoga,  Ashtabula  and  Huron, 
1816  to  1818;  Aaron  Wheeler  and  John  Campbell,  same  district,  including 
Medina  County,  1818  to  1819;  John  Campbell  and  Almon  Ruggles,  same  dis- 
trict, 1819  to  1820;  Jonathan  Foster,  district  Portage  and  Medina,  1820  to 
1822;  Jonathan  Sloane,  same  district,  1822  to  1824,  Aaron  Norton,  same  dis- 
trict, 1824  to  1825;  Elkanah  Richardson,  vice  Aaron  Norton,  deceased,  same 
district,  1825  to  1826;  Jonathan  Sloane,  same  district,  1826  to  1828;  Darius 
Lyman,  district  Portagef  1828  to  1832;  Chauncy  Eggleston,  same  district, 
1832  to  1834;  Darius  Lyman,  same  district,  1834  to  1835;  Frederick  Wads- 
worth,  same  district,  1835  to  1836;  Daniel  Upson,  same  district,  1836  to 
1838;  Gregory  Powers,  same  district,  1838  to  1839;  Simon  Perkins,  Jr.,  same 
district,  1839  to  1840;  Elisha  N.  Sill,  same  district,  1840  to  1841;  Elisha  N. 
Sill,  district  Portage  and  Summit,  1841  to  1842;  John  E.  Jackson,  same  dis- 
trict, 1842  to  1844;  William  Wetmore,  same  district,  1844  to  1846;  Asahel 
H.  Lewis,  same  district,  1846  to  1848;  Lucian  Swift,  same  district,  1848  to 
1850;  Darius  Lyman,  same  district,  1850  to  1851. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  1851  the  State  was  divided  into  fixed  Senatorial 
districts.  Portage  and  Summit  were  designated  as  the  Twenty-sixth  District, 
and  have  so  remained  to  the  present  time.  The  Senators  since  then  have 
been  as  follows:  Ransom  A.  Giilett,  1852  to  1854;  William  H.  Upson,  1854 
to  1856;  Oliver  P.  Brown,  1856  to  1858;  George  P.  Ashmun,  1858  to  1860; 
James  A.  Garfield,  1800  to  1862;  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  1862  to  1864;  Luther 
Day,  1864,  resigned  in  the  summer  of  1864,  and  was  succeeded  the  following 
October  by  Alphonso  Hart,  who  served  until  1866;  N.  T.  Tibbals,  1866  to 
1868;  Philo  B.  Conant,  1868,  resigned  in  August,  1868,  and  was  succeeded  by 
William  Stedman,  who  served  until  1870;  Henry  McKinney,  1870  to  1872; 
Alphonso  Hart,  1872  to  1874;  N.  W.  Goodhue,  1874  to  1876;  Marvin  Kent, 
1876  to  1878;  David  D.  Beebe,  1878  to  1882;  S.  P.  Wolcott,  1882,  second 
term  expires  in  1886.  Senator  Wolcott,  under  the  apportionment  of  1881, 
was  chosen  to  represent  the  Twenty -fourth  and  Twenty-sixth  Districts,  the 
former  embracing  the  counties  of  Ashtabula,  Lake  and  Geauga,  and  the  latter 
Summit  and  Portage. 

Territorial  and  State  Representatives. — James  Pritchard,  district  Jeffer- 
son County,  1799  to  1801;  Edward  Paine,  district  Trumbull,  1801  to  1803; 
Ephraim  Quimby  and  Aaron  Wheeler,  same  district,  1803;  David  Abbott  and 
Ephraim  Quimby,  same  district,  1803  to  1804;  Amos  Spotford  and  Homer 
Heine,  same  district,  1804  to  1805;  Homer  Heine  and  James  Kingsbury,  same 
district,  1805  to  1806;  John  P.  Bissell    and  James  Kingsbury,  district  Trum- 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  311 

bull  and  Geauga,  1806  to  1807;  John  W.  Seeleyand  James  Montgomery,  same 
district,  1807  to  1808;  Abel  Sabin,  district  Portage,  1808  to  1809;  Benjamin 
Whedon,  same  district,  1809  to  1810;  Elias  Harmon,  same  district,  1810  to 
1812;  Rial  McArthur,  same  district,  1812  to  1815;  Moses  Adams,  same  dis- 
trict, 1815  to  1816;  Darius  Lyman,  same  district,  1816  to  1818;  Darius  Lyman, 
district  Portage  and  Medina,  1818  to  1820;  Jonathan  Sloane  and  James 
Moore,  same  district,  1820  to  1822;  George  B.  DePeyster  and  Joseph  Harris, 
same  district,  1822  to  1823;  George  B.  DePeyster  and  James  Moore,  same 
district,  1823  to  1824;  William  Coolman,  district  Portage,  1824  to  1828; 
Van  R.  Humphrey,  same  district,  1828  to  1830;  Thomas  Earl,  same  district, 
1830  to  1832;  Gregory  Powers,  same  district,  1832  to  1833;  Roan  Clark, 
same  district,  1833  to  1834;  Amos  Seward,  same  district,  1834  to  1835;  Joseph 
Lyman,  same  district,  1835  to  1836;  William  Quimby  and  Thomas  C  Shreve, 
same  district,  1836  to  1837;  Solomon  Day  and  William  Wetmore,  same  dis- 
trict, 1837  to  1838;  Elisha  Garrett  and  George  Kirkum,  same  district,  1838  to 
1839;  Rufus  P.  Spalding  and  Ephraim  B.  Hubbard,  same  district,  1839  to 
1840;  Jason  Streator  and  Hiram  Giddings,  same  district,  1840  to  1841;  John 
Streator,  same  district,  1841  to  1842;  Thomas  Earl  and  Samuel  H.  Pardee, 
same  district,  1842  to  1843;  Plimman  C.  Bennett,  same  district,  1843  to  1844; 
Robert  F.  Paine,  same  district,  1844  to  1845;  David  Mcintosh  and  Thomas  C. 
Shreve,  district  Portage  and  Summit,  1845  to  1846;  Luther  Russell,  district 
Portage,  1846  to  1847;  William  Coolman  and  Amos  Seward,  district  Portage 
and  Summit,  1847  to  1848;  George  Sheldon,  district  Portage,  1848  to  1850; 
Lorin  Bigelow,  same  district,  1850  to  1851. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1851,  Portage  County  has  com- 
posed a  separate  legislative  district,  and  has  been  represented  in  the  Lower 
House  by  the  following  citizens:  Lorin  Bigelow,  1852  to  1854;  L.  W.  Coch- 
ran, 1854  to  1856;  Erasmus  Needham,  1856  to  1858;  Cyrus  Laughlin,  1858  to 
1860;  William  Stedman  and  A.  J.  Squire,  1860  to  1862;  David  L.  Rockwell, 
1862  to  1864;  Samuel  E.  M.  Kneeland,  1864  to  1866;  William  Stedman, 
1866  to  1868;  Reuben  P.  Cannon,  1868  to  1872;  Joseph  R.  Conrad,  1872  to 
1874;  Orvil  Blake,  1874  to  1878;  Charles  R.  Harmon,  1878  to  1882;  Egbert 
S.  Woodworth,  1882  to  1884;  Aaron  JM.  Sherman,  1884,  term  expires  in  1886. 

County  Commissioners. — Abel  Sabin,  from  June  8,  1808,  to  October,  1808; 
Joel  Gay  lord,  June  8,  1808,  to  October,  1809;  Lewis  Day,  June  8,  1808,  to 
October,  1810;  Joseph  Harris,  October,  1808,  to  October,  1811;  Oliver  Snow, 
October,  1809,  to  October,  1812;  Samuel  King,  October,  1810,  to  October, 
1813;  John  T.  Baldwin,  October,  1811,  to  October,  1814;  Oliver  Snow  (re- 
elected), October,  1812,  to  October,  1815;  Owen  Brown,  October,  1813,  to 
October,  1816;  John  T.  Baldwin  (re-elected),  October,  1814,  to  October,  1817; 
Amzi  Atwater.  October,  1815,  to  October,  1818;  Owen  Brown  (re-elected), 
October,  1816,  to  October,  1819;  Rufus  Ferris,  October,  1817,  resigned  March, 
1818;  Alexander  K.Hubbard,  April,  1818,  to  October.  1820;  Dillingham  Clark, 
October,  1818,  to  October,  1821;  George  Clark,  October,  1819, to  October,  1822; 
Asa  K.  Burroughs,  October,  1820,  to  October,  1823;  James  Coe,  October,  1821,  to 
October,  1824;  Elkanah  Richardson,  October,  1822,  to  October,  1825;  Asa  K. 
Burroughs  (re-elected),  October,  1823,  to  October,  1826;  James  Coe  (re- elected), 
October,  1824,  to  October,  1827;  Asaph  Whittlesey,  October,  1825,  to  October, 
1828;  Owen  Brown,  October,  1826,  to  October,  1829;  James  Coe  (re  elected), 
October,  1827,  to  October,  1830;  Hiram  Giddings,  October,  1828,  to  October, 
1831;  Jonathan  Foster,  October,  1829,  to  October,  1832;  Edwin  Wetmore,  Octo- 
ber, 1830,  to  October,  1833;  Andrew  Bassett,  October,  1831,  to  October,  1834; 
Elisha  Garrett,  October,  1832,  to    October,  1835;  Alanson    Baldwin,  October, 


312  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

1833,  to  October,  1836;  Solomon  Day,  October,  1834,  to  October,  1837;  Henry 
Chittenden,  October,  1835,  to  October,  1838;  Royal  Taylor,  October,  1836,  to 
October,  1839;  EphraimL.  Williams,  October,  1837,  to  October,  1840;  Henry 
Chittenden  (re-elected),  October,  1838,  resigned  June,  1840;  Moses  Eggleston, 
October,  1839,  to  October,  1842;  Arthur  Anderson,  June,  1840,  to  October, 
1840;  Miner  Merrick,  October,  1840,  to  October,  1841;  Leverett  Norton,  Octo- 
ber, 1840, to  October,  1843;  Miner  Merrick  (re-elected),  October,  1841,  to  Octo- 
ber, 1844;  Moses  Eggleston  (re-elected),  October,  1842,  to  October,  1845; 
William  R.  Kelso,  October,  1843.  to  October,  1846;  Benjamin  Marshall, 
October,  1844,  to  October,  1847;  Caleb  Carleton,  October,  1845,  to  October, 
1848;  William  R.  Kelso  (re-elected),  October,  1846,  to  October,  1849;  Orsa- 
mus  L.  Drake,  October,  1847,  to  October,  1850;  Carnot  Mason,  October,  1848, 
to  October,  1851;  Hiram  Spencer,  October,  3849,  to  October,  1852;  Joel  H. 
Curtis,  October,  1850,  resigned  December,  1852;  Moses  A.  Birchard,  Decem- 
ber, 1851,  to  December,  1854;  Ebenezer  S.  Harmon,  November,  1852,  to  Decem- 
ber, 1855;  David  K.  Wheeler,  December,  1852,  to  December,  1850;  Sylvester 
Huggins,  December,  1854,  to  December,  1857;  Evan  E.  Davis,  December, 
1855,  to  December,  1858;  Charles  Goodsell,  December,  1856,  to  December, 
1859;  Horace  Adams,  December,  1857,  resigned  January,  1858;  David  K. 
Wheeler,  February,  1858,  to  December,  1858;  S.  A.  Hinman,  December,  1858, 
to  December,  1860;  E.  D.  Carlton,  December,  1858,  to  December,  1861;  A. 
H.  Weatherbee,  December,  1859,  to  December,  1862;  L.  C.  Merrill,  December, 
1860,to  December,  1863;  Thomas  Gorby,  December,  1861,  to  December,  1864; 
E.  D.  Carlton  (re-elected),  December,  1862,  to  December,  1865;  P.  P.  Daw- 
ley,  December,  1863,  to  December,  1866;  Joseph  R.  Conrad,  December,  1864, 
to  December,  1867;  Ozias  Allyn,  December,  1865,  to  December,  1868;  P.  P. 
Dawley  (re-elected),  December,  1866,  to  December,  1869:  Joseph  R.  Conrad 
(re-elected),  December,  1867,  to  December,  1870;  H.  J.  Noble,  December, 
1868,  to  December,  1871;  N.  B.  Jennings,  December,  1869,  to  December, 
1872;  Smith  Sanford,  December,  1870,  to  December,  1873;  Isaac  Brown, 
December,  1871,  to  December,  1874;  Luther  H.  Parmelee,  December,  1872, 
resigned  December,  1874;  Smith  Sanford  (re-elected),  December,  1873,  to 
December,  1876;  Edward  A.  Parsons,  December,  1874,  to  December,  1875; 
Wanzer  Holcomb,  December,  1874,  to  December,  1877;  Edward  A.  Parsons, 
December,  1875,  to  December,  1878;  Edgar  Whittlesey,  December,  1876,  to 
December,  1879;  P.  C.  Nichols,  December,  1877,  to  December,  1880;  A.  B. 
Merrill,  December,  1878,  to  December,  1881;  Edgar  Whittlesey  (re-elected), 
December,  1879,  to  December,  1882;  P.  C.  Nichols  (re-elected),  December, 
1880,  to  December,  1883;  A.  B.  Merrill  (re-elected),  December,  1881, to  Decem- 
ber, 1884;  Orrin  Smyth,  December,  1882,  term  expires  in  December,  1885; 
J.  L.  Thompson,  December,  1883,  term  expires  in  December,  1886;  Wanzer 
Holcomb,  December,  1884,  term  expires  in  December,  1887. 

Treasurers. — Elias  Harmon,  June,  1808,  resigned  November,  1810;  Gersham 
Bostwick,  from  November,  1810,  to  June,  1814;  Hemaii  Oviatt,  June,  1814,  to 
June,  1815;  Gersham  Bostwick,  June,  1815,  to  June,  1816;  William  Wetmore, 
June,  1816,  to  June,  1824;  Isaac  Swift,  June,  1824,  to  June,  1832;  Frederick 
Williams,  June,  1832,  to  June,  1840;  Henry  L.  Tilden,  June,  1840,  to  June, 
1846;  Enos  P.  Brainerd,  June,  1846,  to  June,  1848;  Jackson  T.  Green,  June, 
1848,  to  June,  1852;  Charles  Green,  June,  1852,  to  June,  1856;  Lyman  Bryant, 
June,  1856,  to  June,  1858;  Harvey  C.  Newberry,  June,  1858,  to  September, 
1860;  George  Sanford,  September,  1860,  to  September,  1862;  Samuel  D.  Har- 
ris, September,  1862,  to  September,  1866;  Gustavus  P.  Reed,  September, 
1866,  to  September,  1870;  Edward  G.  Hinman,  September,  1870,  to  Septem- 


^A&O^^UCy^    '^(f-C-\A^\ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  315 

ber,  1874;  John  C.  Beatty,  September,  1874,  to  September,  1878;  Nathan  H. 
Smith,  September,  1878,  to  September,  1882;  Wilbur  A.  Jenkins,  September, 
1882,  second  term  expires  in  September,  1886. 

Clerks. — Benjamin  Whedon,  August,  1808,  to  December,  1809;  William 
Wetmore,  December,  1809,  to  March,  1813;  Ira  Hudson,  March,  1813,  to  Octo- 
ber, 1817;  Seth  Day,  October,  1817,  to  October,  1831;  George  Kirkum,  Octo- 
ber, 1831,  to  October,  1838;  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  October,  1838,  to  June, 
1845;  Horace  Y.  Beebe,  July,  1845,  to  February,  1852;  Ebenezer  Spalding, 
February,  1852,  to  February,  1855;  Edmund  Bostwick,  February,  1855,  to 
February,  1861;  Horace  M.  Clark,  February,  1861,  to  February,  1867; 
Andrew  Jackson,  February,  1867,  to  February,  1873;  John  Meharg,  February, 
1873,  to  February,  1882;  John  Porter,  February,  1882,  second  term  expires 
in  February,  1888. 

i?ecorders.— Titus  Wetmore,  October,  1808,  to  April,  1810;  William  Wet- 
more,  May,  1810,  to  February,  1813;  Ira  Hudson,  March,  1813,  to  September, 
1817;  Seth  Day,  October,  1817,  to  August,  1831;  John  N.  Skinner,  August, 
1831,  to  October,  3849;  Rodolphus  Bard,  October,  1849,  to  October,  1852; 
Andrew  Jackson,  October,  1852,  to  October,  1855;  Joshua  T.  Catlin,  October, 
1855,  to  January,  1862;  James  Norton,  January,  1862,  to  January,  1868; 
George  W.  Barrett,  January,  1868,  to  January,  1877;  Philo  Bierce,  January, 
1877,  third  term  expires  in  January,  1886. 

Auditors. — This  office  was  created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed 
February  8,  1820.  the  duties  then  belonging  to  the  position  having  previously 
been  performed  by  a  clerk  appointed  by  the  Commissioners.  Under  the  old 
regime  but  six  men  filled  the  office,  viz.:  Abel  Sabin  and  Seth  Day,  in  1808; 
Seth  Day,  1809;  Oliver  C.  Dickinson,  1810-11:  Stephen  Mason,  1812-17; 
Alexander  K.  Hubbard,  1818;  Orvill  Crane,  1819  to  February,  1820.  Since 
that  time  the  Auditors  have  been  as  follows:  Rial  McArthur,  February,  1820, 
to  February,  1823;  Samuel  D.  Harris,  March,  1823,  to  February,  1831;  Sam- 
uel Foljambe,  March,  1831,  to  February,  1841;  George  B.  De  Peyster.  March, 
1841,  to  January,  1844;  Charles  L.  Rhodes,  February,  1844,  to  February, 
1847;  Caleb  Atwater,  March,  1847,  to  February,  1849;  John  G.  McBride, 
March,  1849,  to  February,  1853;  Lorenzo  Frost,  March,  1853,  to  February, 
1855;  Thomas  W.  Browning,  March,  1855,  to  February,  1857;  H.  L.  Carter, 
March,  1857,  to  February,  1859;  Alfred  Baldwin,  March,  1859,  to  February, 
1861;  Frank  L.  Sawyer,  March,  1861,  to  February,  1863;  Henry  H.  Stevens, 
March,  1863,  to  February,  1869;  William  Grinnell,  February,  1869,  to  Novem- 
ber, 1880;  Le  Grand  A.  Olin,  November,  1880,  second  term  expires  in  Novem- 
ber, 1886. 

Sheriffs. — Alva  Day,  June  8,  1808,  to  December,  1810;  John  Campbell, 
January,  1811,  to  November,  1812;  Stephen  Mason,  November,  1812,  to  Novem- 
ber, 1816;  Asa  K.  Burroughs,  November,  1816,  resigned  in  March,  1820; 
William  Coolman,  April,  1820,  to  November,  1824;  John  King,  November, 
1824,  to  November,  1826;  James  Perry,  November,  1826,  to  November,  1830; 
Frederick  Wadsworth,  November,  1830,  to  November,  1834;  George  Y.  Wal- 
lace, November,  1834,  to  November,  1838;  Laurin  Dewey,  November,  1838,  to 
November,  1842;  Willam  Frazer,  November,  1842,  to  November,  1844;  David 
W.  Jennings,  November,  1844,  to  November,  1846;  John  Gillis,  November, 
1846,  to  November,  1850;  James  Woodward,  November,  1850,  to  November, 
1854;  Ferris  Couch,  November,  1854,  to  November,  1856;  Ira  Gardner, 
November,  1856,  to  January,  1859;  Thomas  R.  Williams,  January,  1859,  to 
January,  1863;  William  F.  Parsons,  January,  1863,  to  January,  1865;  Henry, 
C.  Jennings,  January,  1865,  to  January,  1869;  Otis  B.  Paine,  January,  1869,  to 


316  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

January,  1873:  O.  C.  Risdon,  January,  1873,  to  January,  1877;  Benjamin  F. 
Keller,  January,  1877,  to  January,  1881;  William  Wilcox,  January,  1881,  to 
January,  1885;  H.  T.  Sheldon,  January,  1885,  term  expires  in  January,  1887. 

Coroyier's. — Lewis  Day,  June  8,  1808,  to  October,  1808;  Lewis  Elv,  October, 
1808,  to  1814;  William  Frazer,  1820,  to  1823;  J.  V.  Gardner,  1832,  to  1839; 
William  Frazer,  1840,  to  1841;  E.  M.  Crane,  1842,  to  1843;  R.  J.  Thompson, 
1844,  to  1845;  A.  W.  Stocking,  1846.  to  1847;  E.  Needham,  1848,  to  1849;  J. 
M.  Tilden,  1850,  to  1851;  E.  B.  Babcock,  1852,  to  November,  1854;  Ephraim 
B.  Hubbard,  November,  1854,  to  November,  1856;  D.  R.  Bissell,  November, 
1856,  to  October,  1857;  George  Sanford,  October,  1857,  to  January,  1860; 
James  O.  Gurlej'^,  January,  1860,  to  January,  1862;  D.  C.  Stockwell,  January, 
1862,  to  January,  1864;  Chauncy  B.  Curtis,  January,  1864,  to  January,  1866; 
E.  W.  Crain,  January,  1866,  to  February,  1866;  Luther H.  Parmelee,  March, 
1866,  to  January,  1869;  Recellus  Root,  January,  1869,  to  January,  1871; 
Lyman  Bryant,  January,  1871,  to  January,  1874;  Thomas  R.  Williams,  Jan- 
uary, 1874,  to  January,  1876;  Aaron  M.  Sherman,  January,  1877,  to  January, 
1879;  A.  H.  Barlow,  January,  1879,  to  January,  1885;  O.  D.  Olds,  January, 
1885,  term  expires  in  January,  1887. 

Surveyors. — Among  the  first  Surveyors  of  Portage  County  were  Amzi 
Atwater,  Rial  McArthur,  Abel  Sabin  and  A.  K.  BuiToughs,  who  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  office  for  the  first  seven  years  of  the  county's  history,  since 
which  time  the  following  citizens  have  filled  the  position:  John  Harmon, 
1815  to  1827;  Orrin  Harmon,  1828  to  1832;  Samuel  D.  Harris,  1833,  to  1835; 
John  E.  Jackson,  1836,  to  1838;  Samuel  D.  Harris,  1839,  to  1840;  Daniel 
Woodruff,  1840,  to  1843;  Samuel  D.  Harris,  1844,  to  1857;  Ruggles  Bostwick 
1858  to  1863;  Isaiah  Linton,  1864  to  1866;  C.  J.  Gillis,  1867  to  1869;  Jede- 
diah  Cole,  1870  to  1884;  C.  B.  Wadsworth,  1885,  term  expires  in  December, 
1887. 

Probate  Judges. — Luther  L.  Brown,  February,  1852,  to  February,  1855; 
Darius  Lyman,  February,  1855,  to  February,  1864;  Oliver  P.  Brown,  February, 
1864,  resigned  in  May,  1864;  Joshua  T.  Catlin,  May,  1864,  to  February, 
1867;  Jacob  V.  Mell,  February,  1867,  to  February,  1873;  Gideon  Seymour, 
February,  1873,  to  February,  1882;  Cornelius  A.  Reed,  February,  1882,  sec- 
ond term  expires  in  February,  1888. 

Seat  of  Justice  and  Public  Buildings. — The  act  erecting  Portage  County 
designated  the  house  of  Benjamin  Tappan  as  the  place  for  holding  the  courts 
of  said  county  until  a  permanent  seat  of  justice  should  be  established.  This 
house,  the  second  one  occupied  by  Judge  Tappan,  was  a  frame  building,  which 
then  stood  about  a  mile  east  of  Ravenna  on  what  is  now  the  Marcus  Heath 
farm,  and  was  erected  by  John  McManus  for  Tappan  about  1804.  A  tradition 
exists  that  on  the  first  meeting  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  August  23, 1808, 
this  house  was  found  in  ruins,  having  been  burned  down  the  previous  night. 
The  journal  of  that  date  does  not  mention  where  the  Court  first  met,  but  says 
that  after  organizing  and  accepting  the  report  of  the  Commissioners,  Robert 
Simison,  Samuel  Hunter  and  Rezin  Beall,  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to 
select  a  seat  of  justice  for  Portage  County,  it  adjourned  to  meet  the  same 
afternoon  at  the  house  of  Robert  Eaton.  The  journal  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Portage  County  shows  that  their  first  session  was  held  at  tbe  house  of  Robert 
Eaton  on  the  8th  of  June,  1808.  The  Eaton  house,  which  is  yet  standing  in 
a  fair  state  of  preservation,  is  located  about  two  miles  and  a  half  southeast  of 
Ravenna,  and  is  now  (January,  1885,)  the  residence  of  R.  J.  Thompson,  Esq. 
It  is  a  two  story  frame  structure  of  large  dimensions,  and  was  utilized  for 
both  Court  House  and  Jail  until  tbe  completion  of  the  first  public  buildings  at 
Ravenna  in  1810. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  317 

Eavenna  was  laid  out  by  Benjamin  Tappan  early  in  1808,  and  tbe  plat 
acknowledged  by  him  April  22  of  that  year  before  Henry  O'Neill,  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  of  Franklin  Township,  Trumbull  Co.  (now  in  Portage),  Ohio,  which 
township  then  embraced  a  large  scope  of  territory  in  Portage  County,  subse- 
quently divided  into  several  townships.  The  State  Commissioners  previously 
mentioned  soon  afterward  selected  Ravenna  as  the  seat  of  justice  for  Portage 
County,  and  reported  the  result  of  their  labors  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
of  said  county  at  its  first  session  the  following  August.  The  original  town 
plat  contained  192  lots,  four  of  which  were  donated  by  Judge  Tappan  for  pub- 
lic uses,  viz.:  Nos.  22  and  78  for  school  sites,  and  Nos.  52  and  108  for  churches. 
He  also  gave  a  piece  of  ground  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  town  plat 
for  a  grave-yard,  for  which  purpose  it  was  used  several  years.  On  the  25th  of 
April,  1809,  the  Commissioners  of  Portage  County  purchased  of  Judge  Ben- 
jamin Tappan,  as  the  agent  of  his  father,  Benjamin  Tappan,  of  Northampton, 
Mass.,  Lots  Nos.  55,  56  and  57,  whereon  the  Court  House  and  Jail  now  stand, 
for  the  sum  of  $300,  the  acknowledgment  of  the  deed  for  said  lots  being 
made  by  Judge  Tappan  on  the  same  date  before  Joseph  Harris,  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  of  Portage  County.  The  next  things  necessary  were  a  Court  House 
and  Jail,  and  under  the  date  of  December  5,  1809,  the  following  item  appears 
on  the  Commissioner's  journal: 

Mr.  William  Tappan  entered  into  an  agreement  in  behalf  of  himself  and  John  Tap- 
pan,  to  erect  at  the  seat  of  justice  in  Ravenna  at  their  own  expense  a  Court  House  forty 
feet  long,  thirty  feet  wide  and  twenty  feet  high,  the  lower  story  to  be  finished  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  Court,  etc. ;  and  to  build  a  log  Jail  two  stories  high,  twenty-five  feet 
long  and  twenty  feet  wide,  the  lower  story  to  contain  three  rooms,  and  a  chimney  to  con- 
tain two  tire-places,  one  on  each  story;  and  the  said  William  and  John,  on  the  completion 
of  the  said  Court  House  and  Jail,  are  to  receive  those  lots  given  by  Benjamin  Tappan  for 
the  use  of  the  county. 

From  the  wording  of  this  agreement  we  would  naturally  infer  that  Ben- 
jamin Tappan  had  donated  some  lots  to  the  county,  but  there  is  not  the  stroke 
of  a  pen  on  record  to  show  that  Portage  County  ever  received  a  foot  of  land 
from  Judge  Tappan  or  from  any  other  member  of  the  Tappan  family,  only 
what  she  paid  for.  We  have  already  shown  that  the  lots  upon  which  the 
Court  House  and  Jail  now  stand  were  purchased  of  Judge  Tappan  for  the 
sum  of  $300,  a  copy  of  the  deed  for  which  may  be  found  in  the  Recorder's 
office,  and  this  is  the  only  transaction  on  record  relating  in  the  remotest 
degree  to  the  subject,  as  the  lots  given  for  the  sites  of  churches  and  schools,  as 
well  as  the  block  of  land  for  burial  purposes,  were  for  the  use  of  the  citizens 
of  Ravenna  and  not  for  Portage  County.  Judge  Tappan,  however,  may  have 
agreed  to  donate  certain  lots  for  public  uses,  though  never  legally  transferring 
them  to  the  county,  and  the  Commissioners  concluding  to  locate  the  public 
buildings  on  their  present  site,  turned  over  their  right  to  said  lots  to  William 
and  John  Tappan,  to  whom  the  deed  was  subsequently  made,  yet  there  is  not 
an  iota  of  evidence  on  record  to  give  any  foundation  for  this  theory,  only  the 
agreement  for  erecting  the  Court  House  and  Jail  made  between  the  Tappans 
and  the  County  Commissioners  December  5,  1809. 

The  buildings  were  completed  in  the  summer  of  1810.  The  Court  House 
was  a  frame  structure,  and  stood  a  little  northwest  of  the  present  commodious 
building.  The  Courier  in  its  issue  of  October  21,  1826,  thus  comments  on 
this  structure:  "Portage  County  can  boast,  on  the  score  of  public  build- 
ings, nothing  but  a  shell,  which  is  alternately  occupied  by  bipeds  and  quad- 
rupeds, and  which,  from  its  dilapidated  state,  is  equally  easy  of  access  to  both 
— and  in  which,  we  may,  at  different  times,  hear  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel, 
the  expounders  of  the  law,  and  the  birch  of  the  schoolmaster,  and  consequently 


318  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  squalls  of  the  children,  the  squealing  of  the  pigs  and  the  bleating  of 
sheep.  'Tis,  in  fact,  occupied  as  a  Court  House  and  meeting-house,  and  we  all 
know  it  has  become  proverbial  as  the  county  sheep-pen." 

In  1829  it  was  sold  to  Gen.  Samuel  D.  Harris,  who  removed  it  to  the  site  of 
Merts  &  Riddle's  factory.  After  standing  unoccupied  for  several  years  it  was 
purchased  by  James  Clark  &  Co.,  who  converted  it  into  a  carriage-shop,  which 
was  subsequently  owned  and  operated  by  N.  D.  Clark  &  Co.  The  factory 
passed  thence  into  the  possession  of  Merts  &  Riddle,  and  was  burned  down 
August  11,  1871.  The  first  story  of  the  Jail  was  built  of  hewn  logs,  eighteen 
inches  square,  and  was  floored  and  roofed  in  the  same  manner.  The  Sheriff's 
residence  was  in  one  side  of  the  building,  while  the  second  story  over  the  Jail 
proper  was  also  occupied  by  that  officer.  This  building  stood  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  present  Jail  site,  but  was  removed  soon  after  the  completion 
of  the  second  Jail,  in  November,  1819.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  given  very 
good  satisfaction,  judging  from  the  following  protests  made  to  the  Commis- 
Hioners  by  two  successive  Sheriffs. 

Portage  County,  July  16,  1810. 

To  the  Clerk  of  Commissioners  of  Portage  Go^inty. — I  protest  against  the  Jail  of  this 
couuty  with  my  solemn  declaration  that  it  is  an  insufficient  Jail.     Alva  Day,  Sheriff. 

Portage  County,  February  9,  1811. 

I,  the  subscriber,  do  hereby  protest  against  the  Jail  of  Portage  County,  it  being 
entirely  insufficient  to  secure  a  prisoner.  John  Campbell,  Sheriff'. 

A  few  years  after  the  erection  of  the  first  Court  House  and  Jail,  a  very  sub- 
stantial one-story  brick  building,  30x60,  was  erected  upon  the  site  of  the  new 
portion  of  the  present  Court  House.  It  contained  two  rooms,  which  were 
occupied  as  the  offices  of  the  Recorder,  the  Clerk,  and  the  Commissioners' 
Clerk.  This  building  continued  in  use  until  the  second  Court  House  was  in 
process  of  erection,  when  it  was  torn  down,  and  the  material  used  in  the  walls 
of  the  new  structure. 

In  April,  1818,  steps  were  taken  by  the  Commissioners  toward  the  erection 
of  a  new  Jail,  and  three  lots  in  Ravenna,  viz..  No.  175,  176  and  177,  were  pur- 
chased of  William  Tappan  for  the  sum  of  |90,  the  purchase  being  agreed  to 
December  31,  1818,  and  the  contract  consummated  on  the  5th  of  January  fol- 
lowing. On  the  last  day  of  December,  1818,  a  contract  was  made  with  Oviatt 
&  Kent  for  the  erection  of  a  frame  Jail,  to  cost  $1,520.  As  these  old  buildings 
are  of  some  historic  interest  to  the  present  generation,  we  here  give  a  partial 
copy  of  the  agreement.  Oviatt  &  Kent  having  given  bond  in  the  sum  of 
$3,050  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  contract,  the  agreement  goes  on  to 
say: 

The  conditions  of  the  above  obligation  are  such  that,  whereas,  the  above  bound  Oviatt 
&  Kent  hath  undertaken  to  build  a  good  and  sufficient  Jail  for  the  county  of  Portage, 
thirty-two  feet  in  width  by  thirty-four  feet  in  length,  two  stories  high,  and  furnish  them- 
selves with  all  the  materials,  and  finish  it  off  complete  for  the  sum  of  $1,520,  the  building 
to  be  divided  in  the  following  manner,  viz. :  The  lower  story,  fourteen  feet  off  one  end  to 
be  built  of  good  sound  white  oak  timber,  hewn  fourteen  inches  square,  without  wane,  and 
divided  into  two  rooms,  witli  a  space-way  between  of  four  feet  in  the  clear,  and  floored 
under  and  over  with  timber  of  the  same  description  as  the  walls,  with  one  fifteen-light 
window  in  the  back  end  of  the  hall,  in  two  sashes  and  very  strongly  grated  with  iron;  one 
door  out  of  the  space-way  into  each  of  the  prison  rooms,  and  one  into  the  other  part  of 
the  house,  all  made  double  with  two-inch  white  oak  plank  and  covered  on  the  inside  with 
sheet-iron  at  least  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick,  and  doubled  over  the  edge  of  the  door  and 
very  strongly  nailed  with  stout  nails,  and  hung  with  large  iron  hinges  suitable  for  doors  of 
such  weight  and  size,  and  one  large  and  sufficient  lock  on  each  of  the  three  doors.     *    * 

Those  two  prison  rooms  were  supplied  with  ventilation  and  light  through  an 
iron-grated  hole,  fourteen  inches  in  height  by  three  feet  in  length,  cut  through 
the  log  walls  into  the  dividing  hall-way.  When  the  reader  is  informed  that 
under  each  of  those  cells,  and  connecting  therewith,  were  the  closets  or  sinks 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  319 

used  by  the  prisoners,  the  excrement  being  allowed  to  filter  through  a  stoned 
drain,  he  can  readily  discern  the  great  improvements  that  have  been  made  in 
the  sanitary  condition  of  our  prisons  during  the  past  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury. This  portion  of  the  building  was  to  have  a  solid  hard-head  atone  foun- 
dation, the  remainder  to  be  of  common  stone  well  laid.  The  other  twenty 
feet  of  the  lower  story  was  divided  into  four  rooms:  a  Sheriff's  office,  a  bed- 
room, a  kitchen  and  a  buttery,  a  large  fire-place  at  the  end  of  the  building 
serving  the  two-fold  purpose  of  cooking  and  heating.  A  strongly- walled  cel- 
lar, fourteen  feet  square,  was  constructed  under  the  kitchen,  and  the  second 
story  was  reached  by  a  stairway  from  the  same  room.  The  upper  story  was 
divided  into  seven  apartments.  Two  debtors'  rooms  were  constructed  imme- 
diately over  the  lower  prison  cells,  and  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  lower 
ones,  but  each  was  provided  with  an  iron-grated  window  from  which  the 
inmates  might  view  their  fellow  citizens  upon  the  outside  who  had  not  the 
misfortune  to  be  burdened  with  the  crime  of  poverty.  Those  rooms  also  pos- 
sessed a  small  fire-place,  while  the  occupants  of  the  lower  cells  had  to  get 
along  without  tire.  On  the  opposite  end  from  the  debtors'  prison  Avere  four 
rooms,  two  of  which  were  used  as  sleeping  apartments,  and  the  others  for 
various  purposes.  The  building  was  covered  on  the  outside  with  two-inch 
white  oak  plank  laid  on  perpendicularly,  and  framed  into  the  sill  and 
upper  plate,  and  pinned  on  the  joists,  and  then  weather-boarded  with  common 
siding.  This  Jail  was  completed  according  to  contract  by  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber, 1819,  and  stands  across  the  alley  from  the  Congregational  Church,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Meridian  and  Oak  Streets.  Upon  the  erection  of  the  pres- 
ent Jail  the  log  portion  was  removed,  and  the  building  converted  into  a  dwell- 
ing, which  is  now  (December,  1884,)  occupied  as  the  residence  of  S.  L.  Jen- 
nings, Esq. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1826,  the  Commissioners  took  into  consideration 
the  expediency  of  building  a  new  Court  House,  and  gave  public  notice  that 
sealed  proposals  would  be  received  at  the  Auditor's  office  until  the  first  Mon- 
day in  December  for  furnishing  materials  for  the  new  structure.  In  the  latter 
month  the  Commissioners  advertised  for  proposals  for  150,000  bricks  to  be 
delivered  near  the  Court  House  in  Ravenna  by  the  first  Monday  of  March,  1828. 
The  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  building  was  finally  let  to  Zenas  Kent  in 
the  spring  of  1828,  and  on  the  11th  of  February,  1830,  it  was  completed  and 
accepted  by  the  Commissioners,  having  cost  in  full  about  $7,000.  It  was  a 
long,  two-story  brick  building  of  the  Grecian  Temple  order,  six  wooden  col- 
umns on  the  front  upholding  a  projecting  roof,  which  was  surmounted  by  a 
cupola.  The  county  offices  were  located  in  the  lower  story,  while  the  court- 
room is  the  same  one  now  occupied.  In  the  erection  of  the  new  Court  House 
about  twenty  feet  were  cut  off  the  front  part  of  the  old  one  to  make  room  for 
the  more  modern  structure. 

The  present  two-story  stone  Jail  on  the  public  square  bad  its  inception 
June  13,  1836,  when  the  Commissioners  concluded  to  take  the  necessary  meas- 
ures toward  the  erection  of  a  new  Jail,  and  bids  were  ordered  to  be  advertised 
for  in  the  county  papers.  The  plan  of  the  Jail,  adopted  September  6,  1836, 
was  drawn  by  Mr.  Medbury,  Warden  of  the  Ohio  Penitentiary,  while  the  small 
residence  adjoining  it  on  the  west  was  an  after  consideration,  added  to  the 
plans  by  John  N.  Skinner,  the  Recorder,  and  Samuel  Foljambe,  the  Auditor. 
On  the  20th  of  October,  1836,  the  bid  of  Ebenezer  Rawson  was  accepted,  but 
it  was  not  until  the  8th  of  December  following  that  the  contract  was  let  to 
Rawson,  for  the  sum  of  $9,100.  Toward  the  completion  of  the  building  a  dis- 
agreement arose  between  the  contractor  and  the  Commissioners  as  to  the  proper 


320  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

remuneration  for  certain  work  needed  on  the  Jail,  which  the  specifications  did 
not  expressly  stipulate.  The  matter  was  left  to  a  board  of  arbitration,  which 
on  the  16th  of  July,  1839,  decided  that  Rawson  should  put  in  certain  extras 
and  receive  $284.68  over  and  above  the  original  contract  price  of  the  Jail. 
Rawson  was  evidently  dissatisfied  with  the  decision,  for  he  neglected  to  f alfiU 
its  terms,  and  the  building  was  finally  comj)leted,  in  May,  1840,  by  William 
Stinaff,  whom  the  Commissioners  employed  to  carry  out  the  decision  of  the 
arbitration.  The  building  has  fully  answered  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
erected,  but  its  location  for  many  reasons  is  objectionable,  and  it  is  only  a 
question  of  a  few  years  when  it  will  be  replaced  by  a  more  modern  one, 
located  on  a  more  eligible  site.  On  the  13th  of  October,  1856,  the  Commis- 
sioners purchased  of  John  G.  DeWolf  Lot  58,  upon  which  the  engine  house 
now  stands,  for  $1,500;  and  July  13,  1857,  the  legal  right  to  the  public  alley, 
which  originally  ran  east  and  west  in  the  rear  of  the  Court  House,  was  obtained, 
and  the  alley  became  the  property  of  the  county. 

The  elegant  and  commodious  Court  House  now  adorning  the  public  square 
in  Ravenna,  was  built  by  authority  of  a  special  act  of  the  Legislature  passed 
March  11,  1881,  "  to  authorize  the  Commissioners  of  Portage  County  to  build 
a  fire  proof  addition  and  to  remodel  and  repair  the  present  Court  House  in  said 
county  and  to  issue  bonds  therefor.''  The  design  of  the  building  was  pre- 
pared by  Samuel  W.  Lane,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  the  contract  for  the 
erection  of  the  new  structure  and  remodeling  the  old  one  was  awarded  to  Mr. 
P.  B.  Carpenter,  of  Conneautville,  Penn.,  in  June,  1881,  for  the  sum  of  $32,- 
226,  but  subsequent  changes  in  the  specifications  ran  the  cost  up  to  $39,622.90. 
The  new  building  was  completed  and  occupied  in  September,  1882,  and  the 
old  portion  subsequently  remodeled  and  finished.  The  following  figures  are 
an  authentic  estimate  of  the  original  cost  of  the  Court  House:  Contractor, 
$39,622.90;  architect's  labor,  $1,540;  steam-heating  apparatus,  $4,600;  vaults, 
$619.35;  furniture,  $3,815;  clock,  $1,250;  grates  and  mantels,  $435;  gas  fix- 
tures, $340.22;  carpets  for  court  room,  $293.13;  stone  pavement  in  front  of 
Court  House,  $444;  total  cost,  $52,959.60.  It  is  a  handsome  brick  structure, 
two  stories  and  a  half  in  height,  with  a  lofty  mansard  roof  (making  the  build- 
ing more  than  three  stories  high),  and  with  its  artistic  stone  trimmings,  both 
modern  in  design  and  finish,  will  favorably  compare  with  the  best  county 
buildings  of  the  State.  A  fine  clock  occupies  the  tower,  and  a  large  figure 
of  justice  surmounts  the  dome.  At  the  main  entrance  is  a  substantial 
stone  portico,  upheld  by  six  handsome  stone  pillars,  adding  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  front  view  of  the  building.  On  the  first  floor  are  the  offices 
of  the  Recorder,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Commissioners,  Sheriff,  Prosecuting 
Attorney  and  Surveyor;  and  on  the  second  floor  those  of  the  Probate  Judge 
and  Clerk,  also  the  court  room  and  jury  rooms.  The  whole  interior  is  hand- 
somely finished  in  black  walnut  and  butternut,  and  the  stairways  partly  in 
cherry,  while  the  large,  well-lighted  offices,  furnished  in  black  walnut,  and 
possessing  fire-proof  vaults,  where  the  valuable  records  are  absolutely  safe 
fl'om  destruction,  harmonize  thoroughly  with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the 
age.  The  halls  and  stairways  are  wide,  and  the  ceilings  high  and  airy,  while 
a  general  air  of  utility  and  comfort  pervades  throughout  the  building. 

Prison  Bounds. — Upon  the  establishment  of  the  American  Government, 
many  of  the  laws  previously  existing  under  English  rule  were  partly  or  wholly 
retained  on  the  statute  books  of  the  young  Republic.  Imprisonment  for  debt 
was  one  of  those  relics  of  barbarism  which  existed  for  seventy-five  years  after 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  This  law  was  an  outrage  upon  honest  pov- 
erty, and  the  cause  of  untold  misery  to  hundreds  of  struggling  pioneer  families. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  321 

The  prisoner  confined  for  debt,  upon  giving  good  security  to  his  creditors,  was 
allowed  his  freedom  inside  of  a  certain  defined  limit  surrounding  the  Jail 
known  as  the  "prison  bounds,"  but  by  crossing  the  established  line  he  forfeited 
even  this  small  grain  of  liberty.  In  1799  a  law  was  enacted  by  the  Terri- 
torial Assembly  establishing  200  yards  as  the  dimensions  of  the  prison  bounds. 
This  was  increased  in  1800  to  440  yards,  but  reduced  in  1805  to  400.  In  1821 
the  village  or  town  limits  became  the  boundary  line,  and  in  1833  the  "bounds" 
were  made  co-extensive  with  the  county.  Thus  they  remained  until  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  1851,  when  the  law  having  almost  become  a  "dead 
letter,"  was  expunged  from  the  statutes  of  Ohio.  At  the  April  term  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage  County,  in  1809,  the  Court  assigned  the 
following  prison  bounds:  "Beginning  at  a  stake  and  stones  eleven  chains 
north,  forty-five  degrees  east  from  said  prison,  thence  south  twenty  chains; 
thence  west  fifteen  chains;  thence  north  twenty  chains;  thence  east  fifteen 
chains  to  the  first  bounds."  The  action  of  the  Court  was  in  conformity  with 
the  then  existing  State  law;  but  with  the  progress  of  civilization  all  such  laws 
become  obnoxious  to  the  spirit  of  humanity  which  true  civilization  engenders, 
and  therefore  give  way  to  a  more  just  and  enlightened  policy. 

County  Infirmary. — Throughout  the  pioneer  days  of  Portage  County  each 
township  supported  its  own  poor,  but  finally  this  duty  devolved  upon  the  county, 
and  the  indigent  were  "farmed  out"  to  those  who  would  keep  them  the  cheap- 
est. This  method  did  not  prove  very  satisfactory,  as  the  unfortunate  poor 
were  in  many  cases  treated  badly.  It  was  finally  decided  by  the  Commission- 
ers to  establish  a  county  farm  where  the  poor  could  be  collectively  supported, 
and  at  the  annual  election  held  in  April,  1839,  the  citizens  of  Portage  voted 
in  favor  of  the  proposed  institution.  The  Commissioners  advertised  at  once 
for  a  cultivated  farm  of  from  125  to  200  acres  on  which  to  erect  a  "County 
Poor  House,"  and  on  the  29th  of  April  accepted  the  proposal  of  David  Mcin- 
tosh, to  sell  them  his  farm  in  Shalersville  Township,  consisting  of  162  acres 
of  land,  in  Lots  Nos.  62  and  79,  with  buildings,  stock  and  farming  imple- 
ments thereon,  for  the  sum  of  $5,000.  On  the  3d  of  May  following  the  pur- 
chase was  completed  and  possession  given,  and  on  the  same  date  the  Commis- 
sioners appointed  Darius  Lyman,  David  Mcintosh  and  Frederick  Williams,  a 
Board  of  Directors  to  take  charge  of  and  manage  the  affairs  of  said  poor 
farm. 

For  ten  years  no  additions  were  made  to  the  farm,  which  was  found  ample 
for  the  necessities  of  the  institution;  but  the  number  accepting  its  benefits 
kept  increasing  with  the  growth  in  population,  and  in  April,  1849,  the  Com- 
missioners purchased  of  Erastus  Chapman  an  additional  tract  of  129.47  acres, 
located  in  Lots  Nos.  63  and  64,  for  the  sum  of  $2,524.60.  In  June,  1850,  they 
exchanged  56.41  acres  of  land  in  Lot  No.  62,  being  the  north  part  of  the 
original  farm,  with  Noble  Haven  for  the  same  amount  in  Lot  No.  61,  adjoining 
the  farm  on  the  south.  The  buildings  finally  became  inadequate,  and  a  new 
one  was  regarded  as  a  necessity,  therefore,  in  April,  1858,  the  Commissioners 
advertised  for  bids  to  erect  a  new  brick  Infirmary  building.  The  plans  of  H. 
N.  Bostwick,  Esq.,  were  adopted,  and  in  May  the  contract  was  let  to  Samuel 
H.  Bloomer,  Abraham  Bloomer,  Elisha  Brigham  and  J.  S.  Brigham,  for  the 
sum  of  $4,988,  the  building  to  be  completed  by  the  25th  of  November,  1858. 
This  structure,  together  with  the  frame  buildings  standing  there  when  the 
farm  was  purchased,  served  the  purposes  of  the  institution  for  about  fourteen 
years,  but  on  the  8th  of  February,  1872,  the  contracts  for  an  additional  wing 
to  the  main  Infirmary  building  were  let  as  follows:  The  masonry,  brick  work, 
etc.,  to  Messrs.  Brigham  &  Jennings,  for  the  sum  of  $5,400,  and  the  carpeu- 


322  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

tering,  painting,  glazing,  etc.,  to  Johnson  &  Babcock  for  $4,588.  The  addi- 
tion was  completed  in  the  fall  of  1872,  but  extras  ran  the  cost  a  good  deal 
above  the  original  contract  price.  Brigham  &  Jennings  were  paid  in  Novem 
ber,  1872,  $1,091.59  for  flagging  and  repairs;  while  Peter  Martin,  of  Cleve- 
land, received  $4,000  for  putting  in  the  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus, 
making  the  total  expense  of  the  improvements  carried  out  in  1872  over  $15,- 
000.  The  main  Infirmary  building  is  an  L  shaped  brick  structure,  two  and  a 
half  stories  high,  but  a  portion  of  the  original  building  purchased  with  the 
farm  is  yet  standing  and  in  use.  The  farms  now  contain  about  300  acres  of 
first-class  land,  while  the  institution  is  self-supporting,  and  pays  a  good  inter- 
est on  the  capital  invested,  besides  having  furnished  through  the  passing  years 
a  comfortable  home  for  hundreds  of  unfortunate  poor. 

Political  Statistics. — The  political  history  of  Portage  County,  even  if 
written  correctly  and  devoid  of  prejudice,  would  be  of  very  little  utility  to  the 
average  reader,  and  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  utter  impossibility  of 
accomplishing  such  a  task,  we  think  it  best,  for  the  sake  of  historical  truth,  to 
illustrate  the  county's  political  complexion  by  simply  giving  the  vote  it  cast 
for  each  Gubernatorial  candidate  since  1808,  together  with  that  polled  in  a 
few  of  the  Presidential  contests.  It  may,  however,  be  of  some  interest  to  the 
present  and  future  generations  to  know  who  the  candidates  for  the  several 
county  offices  were  at  the  first  election,  held  June  8,  1808,  also  the  names  of 
the  voters  at  that  election.  The  polling  place  was  at  the  house  of  Benjamin 
Tappan,  which  stood  where  Marcus  Heath's  residence  now  stands,  east  of 
Ravenna.  Eighty -seven  votes  were  cast,  distributed  as  follows:  For  Commis- 
sioners, Abel  Sabin,  of  Randolph,  86;  Joel  Gaylord,  of  Hudson,  84;  Lewis 
Day,  of  Deerfield,  49;  Elias  Harmon,  of  Mantua,  42.  For  Sheriff,  Alva  Day, 
of  Deerfield,  47;  John  Campbell,  of  Charlestown,  38  (these  two  gentlemen 
were  again  the  candidates  for  Sheriff  in  October,  1808,  with  the  following 
result:  Alva  Day,  151;  John  Campbell,  140).  For  Coroner,  Lewis  Day,  of 
Deerfield,  38;  Samuel  Andrews,  of  Rootstown,  31;  David  Root,  of  Rootstown, 
14.  All  of  the  successful  candidates  were  supporters  of  President  Jefferson's 
administration. 

The  following  list  of  voters  at  the  election  of  June  8,  1808,  together   with 
the  present  names  of  the  townships  in  which  they  then  resided,  were  copied 
from  the  returns  made  at  that  time,  and  are  therefore  reliable.  John  Campbell 
and  Abel  Sabin,  though  candidates,  did  not  vote: 
Silas  Tinker,  Jr.,  Mantua.  Heman  Oviatt,  Hudson. 

Frederick  Caris,  Jr.,  Rootstown.  Stephen  Upson,   Suffield. 

Benjamin  Tappan,  Ravenna.  Horatio  Day,  Deerfield. 

Frederick  Caris,  Sr. ,  Rootstown.  Joel  Baker,  Shalersville. 

John  Caris,  Rootstown.  John  Creighton,  Ravenna. 

William  Chard,  Ravenna.  David  Hudson,  Hudson. 

Samuel  Bishop,  Hudson.  Benjamin  Whedon,  Hudson. 

Samuel  Simcox,  Ravenna.  Josiah  Ward,  Randolph. 

Moses  Thompson,  Hudson.  Isaac  Mills,  Nelson. 

James  Robinson,  Northampton.  Jonathan  Foster,  Suffield. 

Aaron  Norton,  Tallmadge.  Oliver  Dickinson,  Randolph. 

Robert  Walker,  Ravenna.  Delaun  Mills,  Nelson. 

David  Jennings,  Ravenna.  John  Goss,   Randolph. 

John  Boosinger,  Ravenna.  John  Wright,  Sr.,  Ravenna. 

Daniel  Haynes,  Ravenna.  William  Wetmore,   Stow. 

John  Chapman,  Deerfield.  Jacob  Eatinger,  Ravenna. 

Thomas  Wright,  Ravenna.  Jacob  Stough,  Ravenna. 


/-  A 


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Jpy^y'co^o-^T^i^;^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


325 


Arthur  Anderson,  Ravenna. 
Phillip  Willyard,  Eootstown. 
Michael  Simcox,  Ravenna. 
Nathan  Chapman,  Rootstown. 
John  Wright,  Jr.,  Ravenna. 
Abraham  Toms,  Ravenna. 
Jotham  Atwater,  Mantua. 
Abel  Forsha,  Ravenna. 
Samuel  Baldwin,  Aurora. 
John  Ward,  Ravenna. 
Jotham  Blakesly,   Ravenna. 
Samuel  McCoy,  Rootstown. 
Oliver  Mills,  Hiram. 
James  Laughlin,  Deerfield. 
Samuel  Moore,  Mantua. 
Oliver  Forward,  Aurora. 
Henry  Rogers,   Deerfield. 
George  W^ilber,  Atwater. 
Samuel  H.  Ferguson,  Aurora. 
Beman  Chapman,  Rootstown. 
Nathan  Muzzy,  Deerfield. 
Ephriam  Chapman,  Rootstown. 
Asa  Betts,  Deerfield. 
Enoch  Harrymon,  Ravenna. 
Stephen  Mason,  Deerfield. 
Joseph  Murrill,  Deerfield. 


Calvin  Ward,  Randolph. 
Henry  Ely,  Randolph. 
Jeremiah  Sabin,  Randolph. 
Ebenezer  Goss,  Randolph. 
Joseph  Harris,  Randolph. 
Amzi  Atwater,  Mantua. 
Joel  Gaylord,  Hudson. 
Samuel  Andrews,  Rootstown. 
David  Goss,  Randolph. 
Elias  Harmon,  Mantua. 
Lewis  Day,  Deerfield. 
Seth  Day,  Deerfield. 
David  Root,  Rootstown. 
Bazel  Windsor,  Jr.,  Mantua. 
Bela  Hubbard,  Randolph. 
John  McWhorter,  Ravenna. 
Henry  O'Neil,  Rootstown. 
William  Price,  Ravenna. 
Asa  D.  Keyes,  Shalersville. 
Conrad  Boosinger,  Ravenna. 
Henry  Sapp,  Ravenna. 
Aaron  Weston,  Randolph. 
Robert  Campbell,  Ravenna. 
David  Moore,  Ravenna. 
Gersham  Bostwick,  Rootstown. 
Reuben  Tupper,  SufiQeld. 


Alva  Day,  Deerfield. 

1808 — Vote  for  Governor:  Samuel  Huntington,  118;  Thomas  Worthington, 
152;  Thomas  Kirker,  9.      Total,  279. 

1810 — Vote  for  Governor:  Return  J.  Meigs,   250;  Thomas  Worthington, 
28.     Total,  278. 

1812— Vote  for    Governor:    Return    J.   Meigs,    295;    Thomas  Scott,   000. 
Total,  295. 

1814 — Vote  for  Governor:  Thomas  Worthington,  367;  Othniel  Looker,  78. 
Total,  445. 

1816 — Vote  for  Governor:  Thomas  Worthington,  99;  James  Dunlap,  000; 
Ethan  Allen  Brown,  320.     Total,  419. 

1818 — Vote   for  Governor:    Ethan  Allen   Brown,    558;  James  Dunlap,  1. 
Total,  559. 

1820 — Vote  for  Governor:  Ethan  Allen  Brown,  679;  Jeremiah  Mon-ow,  24; 
William  Heory  Harrison,  28.      Total,  731. 

1822— Vote   for   Governor:    Jeremiah  Morrow,  833;    Allen  Trimble,  202; 
William  W.  Irvin,  16.     Total,  1,051. 

1824 — Vote  for   Governor:    Jeremiah  Morrow,  60;  Allen  Trimble,  1,090. 
Total,  1,150. 

1826— Vote  for  Governor:  Allen  Trimble,   1,055;  John  Bigger,  2;  Alexan- 
der Campbell,  1;  Benjamin  Tappan,  7.      Total,  1,065. 

1828 — Vote  for  Governor:  Allen  Trimble  (National  Republican),  1,414; 
John  W.  Campbell  (Democrat),  437.     Total,  1,851. 

1828 — Vote  for  President:    John  Quincv  Adams  (National  Republican), 
2,110;  Andrew  Jackson  (Democrat),  853.     Total,  2,963. 

1830 — Vote  for  Governor:  Duncan  McArthur  (National  Republican),  1,562; 
Robert  Lucas  (Democrat),  625.     Total,  2,187. 

18 


326  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

1832 — Vote  for  Governor:  Darius  Lyman  (Whig  and  Anti-Mason),  2,084; 
Robert  Lucas  (Democrat),  1,368.     Total,  3,452. 

1832 — Vote  for  President:  Andrew  Jackson  (Democrat),  1,406;  Henry 
Clay  (Whig),  2,327;  William  Wirt  (Anti-Mason),  2.     Total,  3,735. 

1834 — Vote  for  Governor:  Robert  Lucas  (Democrat).  2,074;  James  Find- 
lay  (Whig  and  Anti -Mason),  2,362.     Total,  4,436. 

1836 — Vote  for  Governor:  Joseph  Vance  (Whig  and  Anti- Mason),  3,056; 
Eli  Baldwin  (Democrat),  2,525.     Total,  5,581. 

1836— Vote  for  President:  William  Henry  Harrison  (Whig),  3,302;  Mar- 
tin Van  Buren  (Democrat),  2,683.     Total,  5,985. 

1838 — Vote  for  Governor:  Wilson  Shannon  (Democrat),  3,051;  Joseph 
Vance  (Whig  and  Anti-Mason),  3,252.     Total,  6,303. 

1840 — Vote  for  Governor:  Thomas  Corwin  (Whig),  2,544;  Wilson  Shan- 
non (Democrat),  2,120.     Total,  4,664. 

1840 — Vote  for  President:  William  Henry  Harrison  (Whig),  2,542;  Mar- 
tin Van  Buren  (Democrat),  1,963;  James  G.  Birney  (Liberty),  16.    Total,  4,503. 

1842 — Vote  for  Governor:  Wilson  Shannon  (Democrat),  2,181;  Thomas 
Corwin  (Whig),  2,301;  Leicester  King  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  133.  Total, 
4,615. 

1844— Vote  for  Governor:  Mordecai  Bartley  (Whig),  2,467;  David  Tod 
(Democrat),  2,360;  Leicester  King  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  234.     Total,  5,061. 

1846— Vote  for  Governor:  William  Bebb  (Whig),  1,858;  David  Tod 
(Democrat),  1841 ;  Samuel  Lewis  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  163.     Totai,  3,862. 

1848— Vote  for  Governor:  John  B.  Weller  (Democrat),  2,234;  Seabury 
Ford  (Whig),  2,249.     Total,  4,483. 

1850 — Vote  for  Governor:  Reuben  Wood  (Democrat),  2,104;  William 
Johnston  (Whig),  1,249;  Edward  Smith  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  000.  Total, 
3,353. 

1851 — Vote  for  Governor:  Reuben  Wood  (Democrat),  2,198;  Samuel  F. 
Vinton  (Whig),  1,117;  Samuel  Lewis  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  787.  Total, 
4,102. 

1853— Vote  for  Governor:  William  Medill  (Democrat),  2,160;  Nelson 
Barrere  (Whig),  682;  Samuel  Lewis  (Abolition  or  Free  Soil),  1,222.  Total, 
4,064. 

1855— Vote  for  Governor:  William  Medill  (Democrat),  1,861;  Salmon  P. 
Chase  (Republican),  2,660;  Allen  Trimble  (American  or  Know-nothiug),  10. 
Total,  4,531. 

1857 — Vote  for  Governor:  Salmon  P.  Chase  (Republican),  2,696;  Henry 
B.  Payne  (Democrat),  1,956;  Philip  Van  Trump  (Know-nothing),  000.  Total, 
4,652. 

1859 — Vote  for  Governor:  William  Dennison  (Republican),  2,620;  Rufus 
P.  Ranney  (Democrat),  2,038.     Total,  4,658. 

1860 — Vote  for  President:  Abraham  Lincoln  (Republican),  3,065;  Stephen 

A.  Douglas  (Democrat),   1,970;  John  C.  Breckinridge  (Democrat),  117;  John 
Bell  (American  or  Union),  7.     Total,  5,159. 

1861— Vote  for  Governor:  David  Tod  (Republican),  3,274;  Hugh  J.  Jewett 
(Democrat),  559.     Total,  3,833. 

1863— Vote  for  Governor:  John  Brough  (Republican),  3,677;  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham  (Democrat),  1,788.     Total,  5,465. 

1864 — Vote  for  President:  Abraham  Lincoln  (Republican),  3,478;  George 

B.  McClellan  (Democrat),  1,918.     Total,  5,396. 

1865 — Vote  for  Governor:  Jacob  D.  Cox,  (Republican),  2,853;  George  W. 
Morgan  (Democrat),  1,932.     Total,  4,785. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  327 

1867— Vote  for  Governor:  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  (Republican),  3,342;  Allen 
G.  Tharman  (Democrat),  2,817.     Total,  5,659. 

1868 — Vote  for  President:  Ulysses  S.  Grant  (Republican),  3,604;  Horatio 
Seymour  (Democrat),  2,362.     Total,  5,966. 

1869— Vote  for  Governor:  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  (Republican),  3,213: 
George  H.  Pendleton  (Democrat),  2,241.     Total,  5,454. 

1871— Vote  for  Governor:  Edward  F.  Noyes  (Republican),  2,970;  George 
W.  McCook  (Democrat),  2,139;  Gideon  T.  Stewart  (Prohibition),  47.  Total, 
5,156. 

1872 — Vote  for  President:  Ulysses  S.  Gi'ant  (Republican),  3,478;  Horace 
Greeley  (Independent  Republican  and  Democrat),  2,438;  James  Black  (Green- 
back), 27;  Charles  O'Connor  (Independent  Democrat),  50.     Total,  5,993. 

1873— Vote  for  Governor:  Edward  F.  Noyes  (Republican),  2,285;  William 
Allen  (Democrat),  2,056;  Gideon  T.  Stewart  (Prohibition),  272;  Isaac  Collins 
(Liberal),  24.     Total,  4,637. 

1875 — Vote  for  Governor:  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  (Republican),  3,402; 
William  Allen  (Democrat),  2,859;  Jay  Odell  (Prohibition),  54.     Total,  6,315. 

1876— Vote  for  President:  Samuel  J.  Tilden  (Democrat),  3,006;  Ruther- 
ford B.  Hayes  (Republican),  3,712;  G.  Clay  Smith  (Prohibition),  27;  Peter 
Cooper  (Greenback),  14.     Total,  6,759. 

1877— Vote  for  Governor:  William  H.  West  (Republican),  3,031;  Richard 
M.  Bishop  (Democrat),  2,624;  Stephen  Johnson  (Greenback),  287;  Henry  A. 
Thompson  (Prohibition),  69.     Total,  6,011. 

1879 — Vote  for  Governor:  Charles  Foster  (Republican),  3,652;  Thomas 
Ewing  (Democrat),  3,104;  A.  Sanders  Piatt  (Greenback),  114;  Gideon  T. 
Stewart  (Prohibition),  56.     Total,  6,926. 

1880— Vote  for  President:  James  A.  Garfield  (Republican),  3,990;  Win- 
field  Scott  Hancock  (Democrat),  3,147;  James  B.  Weaver  (Greenback),  86; 
Neal  Dow,  (Prohibition),  36.     Total,  7,259. 

1881 — Vote  for  Governor:  Charles  Foster  (Republican),  3,365;  John  W. 
Bookwalter  (Democrat),  2,548;  Abraham  R.  Ludlow  (Prohibition),  116;  John 
Seitz  (Greenback),  70.     Total,  6,099. 

1883 — Vote  for  Governor:  Joseph  B.  Foraker  (Republican),  3,381;  George 
Hoadly  (Democrat),  3,002;  Ferdinand  Schumacker  (Prohibition),  167; 
Charles  Jenkins  (Greenback),  41.      Total,  6,591. 

1884 — Vote  for  President:  Grover  Cleveland  (Democrat),  3,273;  James  G. 
Blaine  (Republican),  3,931;  John  P.  St.  John  (Prohibition),  217;  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  (Greenback  Labor  Reform),  122.     Total,  7,543. 


328  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Judiciary— Organization  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Ohio,  and 
ITS  Subsequent  Changes— Pioneer  Courts  of  Portage  County— Sessions 
of  1808-09,  AND  the  Juries  and  Trials  of  Those  Two  Years— Anecdotes 
OF  Pioneer  Justice  in  This  County— Common  Pleas  Judges— Associate 
Judges— Prosecuting  Attorneys— Eiding  the  Circuit — Pioneer  Resi- 
dent AND  Visiting  Lawyers— Brief  Sketches  of  Leading  Members  of 
the  Bench  and  Bar— Present  Bar  of  Portage  County— The  Portage 
County  Medical  Association. 

AS  people  often  fail  to  agree  respecting  their  rights  and  duties,  and  as  they 
sometimes  violate  their  agreements,  and  even  disobey  those  rules 
and  regulations  prescribed  for  their  conduct,  it  is  necessary  that  tribunals 
should  be  provided  to  administer  justice,  to  determine  and  declare  the  rights 
of  disagreeing  parties,  to  investigate  and  decide  whether  the  laws  are  observed 
or  violated,  and  to  pronounce  judgment  according  to  law  and  the  just  deserts 
of  the  citizen.  These  determinations  are  called  judicial.  Upon  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Northwest  Territory,  courts  were  established  and  laws  promul- 
gated for  its  proper  government.  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  the  first  to 
take  shape,  being  established  by  the  Governor  and  Judges  at  Marietta,  August 
23,  1788.  This  Court  was  first  composed  of  not  less  than  three  and  not  more 
than  five  Justices,  appointed  by  the  Governor  in  each  county,  and  known  as  the 
"County  Court  of  Common  Fleas,"  but  in  1790  the  number  of  Justices  was 
increased  to  not  less  than  three  and  not  more  than  seven  in  each  county,  and  the 
regular  sessions  were,  by  the  same  act,  increased  from  two  to  four  annually. 
When  Ohio  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  its  judiciary  was  re-organized.  The 
State  was  divided  into  circuits,  for  each  of  which  a  Judge,  who  had  to  be  a 
lawyer  in  good  standing,  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  whose  term  of 
office  was  seven  years.  Three  Associate  Judges  were  chosen  in  each  county  by 
the  same  body,  and  for  the  same  length  of  service,  and  were  usually  farmers 
or  intelligent  business  men.  The  President  Judge  with  the  Associates  com- 
posed the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  each  county,  and  thus  this  Court  remained 
until  the  re-organization  of  the  judiciary  under  the  Constitution  of  1851. 
That  instrument  provided  for  the  division  of  the  State  into  judicial  districts, 
and  each  district  into  subdivisions.  It  abolished  the  office  of  Associate  Judge, 
and  directed-  that  in  each  sub-division  one  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  who  had  to  be  a  resident  thereof,  should  be  elected  by  its  qualified  elec- 
tors. The  official  term  was  fixed  at  five  years,  and  the  Legislature  reserved 
the  power  to  increase  the  number  of  Judges  in  each  subdivision  whenever  such 
became  necessary. 

Prior  to  the  erection  of  Portage  County,  all  of  its  judicial  business,  except- 
ing that  transacted  by  its  Justices  of  the  Peace,  was  done  at  Warren,  the 
county  seat  of  Trumbull  County.  The  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  in  this  county  left  the  following  record  of  its  preliminary  proceedings: 

"State  of  Ohio,  County  of  Portage,  Tuesday,  August  23,- 1808.  This 
being  the  day  appointed  by  law  for  the  sitting  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
for  said  county,  the  Court  opened,  present  Calvin  Pease,  Esq. ,  President,  and 
William  Wetmore,  Aaron  Norton  and  Amzi  Atwater,  Esqs.,  Associate  Judges. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  329 

"The  report  of  Robert  Simison,  Samuel  Hunter  and  Rezin  Beall,  Com- 
missioners appointed  to  fix  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  County  of  Portage,  was 
made  to  the  Court,  which  being  read  was  ordered  to  be  recorded. 

"  Ordered  that  the  Court  adjourn  till  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  to  meet  at 
the  house  of  Robert  Eaton. 

"  Tuesday,  2  o'clock,  afternoon,  the  Court  opened  pursuant  to  adjournment, 
present,  the  same  judges  as  in  the  morning. 

"The  grand  jury  being  called,  came  to-wit:  Ebenezer  Pease,  Samuel 
Bishop,  David  Hudson,  Robert  Bissel,  Moses  Thompson,  Stephen  Baldwin, 
Samuel  Andrus,  Jacob  Reed,  John  Campbell,  Wiley  Hamilton,  Ethelbert 
Baker,  Alfred  Wolcott,  John  Hutton,  Jeremiah  Root  and  David  Abbott.  The 
Court  appointed  David  Hudson,  Esq.,  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  and  the 
jury  being  sworn  and  affirmed,  were  charged  by  the  Court  and  sent  out." 

The  act  erecting  the  county  designated  the  house  of  Benjamin  Tappan  as 
the  place  for  holding  the  courts  until  a  seat  of  justice  should  be  selected;  but 
tradition  says  that  when  the  Court  met  at  the  appointed  place  on  Tuesday 
morning,  August  23,  1808,  Tappan's  residence  was  a  smoldering  rain,  having 
been  burned  to  the  ground  the  previous  night,  and  that  the  Court  organized  in 
the  open  air  under  the  spreading  branches  of  a  large  tree.  The  writer  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  or  falsity  of  this  pioneer  tradition,  but  it  is,  however,  a 
fact,  that  after  organizing  and  accepting  the  report  of  the  Commissioners 
appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  select  the  site  for  the  county  seat,  the  Court 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Robert  Eaton's  house  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day. 
This  building,  which  is  yet  standing  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  is  now 
(January,  1885,)  the  residence  of  R.  J.  Thompson,  Esq.,  and  is  located  about 
two  miles  and  a  half  southeast  of  Ravenna.  It  was  utilized  by  the  Common 
Pleas'  and  Commissioners'  Courts  until  the  completion  of  the  first  Court  House 
in  1810,  and  is  therefore  very  closely  identified  with  the  early  history  of  the 
county. 

The  first  case  that  came  before  the  Court  at  this  session  was  the  petition  in 
chancery  of  James  Beatty  vs.  Benjamin  Tappan  and  Benjamin  Tappan,  Jr  ,  which 
was  continued  until  the  succeeding  term.  The  second  case  was  a  petition  for  par- 
tition of  Ezekiel  Williams,  Jr.,  and  others  vs.  Timothy  Burr  and  others,  which 
was  also  continued  to  allow  notice  of  said  petition  to  be  advertised  in  the  Westeim 
Herald,  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  the  American  Mercury,  of  Hartford,  Conn. 
The  next  business  was  the  appointment  of  Joel  Walter  as  administrator  of 
the  estate  of  Heman  Lucas,  deceased,  of  Hudson,  with  David  Hudson,  Owen 
Brown  and  Abraham  Thompson,  appraisers  of  said  estate.  The  Court  then 
appointed  Asa  D.  Keyes  Prosecuting  Attorney,  which  position  he  filled  until 
the  close  of  1808.  John  Cochrane  and  Amzi  Atwater,  administrators  on  the 
estate  of  Solomon  Cochrane,  were  given  authority  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  a  con- 
tract previously  entered  into  by  the  deceased,  in  the  sale  of  fifty  acres  of  land 
to  James  Nutt.  By  this  time  the  evening  of  the  first  day  was  fast  approaching, 
and,  the  whisky  bottle  having  circulated  pretty  freely,  some  of  the  audience  had 
grown  boisterous.  The  Court  thereupon  decided  to  uphold  its  dignity,  which 
the  following  official  item  attests: 

State   of  Ohio,  ) 

vs.  >•  Summary  proceeding  for  contempt. 

Samuel  Taylor.  ) 
This  day  came  the  said  Samuel  Taylor  in  custody  of  the  Sheriff,  and  is  set  to  the 
bar  of  the  Court,  to  receive  the  sentence  of  the  law  for  a  contempt  this  day  committed  in 
open  court,  by  disorderlj'  and  contemptuous  behavior,  of  which  the  said  Samuel  is  con- 
victed on  the  personal  view  of  the  Court,  whereupon  it  is  considered  by  the  Court  that  the 
said  Samuel  for  the  contempt  aforesaid  pay  a  fine  of  $5  into  the  treasury  of  the  County  of 
Portage,  and  the  cost  of  prosecution,  and  stand  committed  until  sentence  is  performed. 


330  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

The  last  business  of  the  first  day's  proceedings  was  a  cas'e  in  debt  of  Zebina 
Wetherbee  vs.  John  Haymaker  and  George  Haymaker,  which  was  continued 
till  the  next  term.  The  Court  then  adjourned  until  the  following  morning, 
Wednesday,  August  24,  which  was  largely  ta^en  up  with  probate  business  and 
suits  in  debt,  the  latter  being  generally  continued.  The  grand  jury,  however, 
appeared  with  two  indictments  against  William  Simcox,  of  Franklin  Township, 
one  for  larceny  and  one  for  "breach  of  the  Sabbath,"  after  which  it  was  dis- 
charged. The  larceny  case  consisted  of  an  accusation  that  Wilcox  shot  a  tame 
deer,  valued  at  |3,  belonging  to  David  Jennings,  of  Franklin  Township,  and 
took  the  carcass  to  his  home.  The  following  jury  was  impaneled  and  tried  the 
case:  Abraham  Thompson,  George  W.  Holcomb,  Oliver  Forward,  William 
Skinner,  William  Kennedy,  Jr.,  William  Price,  John  Campbell,  Frederick 
Caris,  William  Calhoon,  John  Whittlesey,  Enos  Davis  and  Ephraim  B.  Hub- 
bard. The  accused  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  though  vigorously  prosecuted  by 
Prosecutor  Keyes,  he  was  so  found  by  the  jury,  and  discharged  from  custody. 
The  second  charge  against  Simcox  was,  that  on  the  15th  of  June,  1808,  he  "wick- 
edly and  maliciously  interrupted,  molested  and  disturbed  the  religious  society 
of  said  Franklin  Township,  while  meeting,  assembled  and  returning  from 
divine  worship,  by  sporting  and  hunting  game  with  guns  and  hounds."  We 
would  be  apt  to  conclude  upon  reading  this  serious  charge,  that  the  defendant 
was  what  is  now  commonly  known  as  a  "  bad  man,''  but  those  were  the  days 
when  any  deviation  from  the  Puritanical  ideas  of  the  majority  of  the  first  set- 
tlers, was  looked  upon  as  a  heinous  crime.  Simcox  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge 
of  Sabbath  breaking,  and  was  fined  $1.50  and  costs,  the  latter  amounting  to 
$5.  This  closed  the  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Portage 
County. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1808,  the  second  session  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  opened,  with  William  Wetmore,  Aaron  Norton  and  Amzi  Atwater, 
Associate  Judges,  on  the  bench,  and  lasted  three  days.  The  grand  jury 
called  at  this  term  was  composed  of  the  following  pioneers:  David  Daniels, 
Ira  Morse,  David  Jennings,  Amos  Lusk  (foreman),  Moses  Pond,  John  Red- 
ding, Titus  Wetmore,  George  Darrow,  Sr.,  Nathan  Moore,  George  Taylor, 
Enoch  Judson,  Caleb  Wetmore,  David  Hudson,  Jeremiah  Root  and  Stephen 
Mason.  It  found  but  one  indictment,  viz. :  Against  John  Boosinger,  for 
assault,  who  acknowledged  his  guilt,  and  was  fined  $4  and  costs,  the  whole 
coming  to  $9.21.  The  three  days  were  principally  taken  up  in  probate  busi- 
ness, cases  of  debt,  petitions  in  chancery  and  partition,  most  of  the  suits  being 
continued  until  the  following  term. 

The  proceedings  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  during  the  second  year 
were  almost  a  repetition  of  the  first,  though  breaches  of  the  peace  became 
more  numerous  as  the  population  increased,  and  at  every  session  there  were 
more  or  less  cases  tried  in  which  muscular  development  had  attempted  to 
invade  the  rights  of  the  law  by  settling  disputes  in  the  old-fashioned  way  of 
personal  combat.  The  April  term,  1809,  was  held  by  the  three  Associates  who 
presided  at  the  previous  December  sitting,  with  Thomas  D.  Webb  as  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney.  The  grand  jurors  called  at  this  session  were  Elias  Harmon 
(foreman),  James  Carter,  Gersham  Bostwick,  Owen  Brown,  Hiram  Roundy, 
Nathan  Sears,  Ebenezer  Goss,  Bela  Hubbard,  David  Waller,  Gersham  Jud- 
son, James  M.  Hendry  (now  spelled  Henry),  Stephen  Upson,  Timothy  Bishop, 
Jacob  Reed  and  David  Root.  Indictments  were  returned  against  Epaphrodi- 
tus  Stiles  and  John  McManus  for  assault  and  battery.  The  term  lasted  four 
days,  from  the  25th  to  the  28th  inclusive,  and  the  only  petit  jury  empaneled 
were  as  follows:  Pascal  R.  Mcintosh,  Oliver  Dickinson,  Oliver   C.  Dickinson, 


HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY.  331 

Benjamin  Oviatt,  Mahlon  Calvin,  Ezra  Wyatt,  Daniel  Stow,  Thomas  Vanhy- 
ning,  Silas  Waller,  Asher  Ely,  David  Baldwin  and  Stephen  Cotton,  before 
whom  James  Walker  was  tried  for  an  assault  upon  Robert  Campbell,  and  con- 
victed. 

The  next  session  was  held  August  22,  23  and  24,  1809,  by  Hon.  Calvin 
Pease  and  the  three  Associates  of  the  previous  terms.  The  grand  jury  was 
composed  of  the  following  citizens:  Gamaliel  Kent,  Isaac  Mills,  John 
Rudolph,  David  Jennings,  Arthur  Anderson,  Ebenezer  Bostwick,  James  Laugh- 
lin,  Aaron  Miller,  David  Hudson  (foreman),  Jonathan  Sprague,  Raphael  Hurl- 
but,  George  Darrow,  Jr.,  Amos  Lusk,  Lewie  Ely  and  Samuel  Bishop.  The 
first  petit  jury  of  this  term  tried  a  non-assumpsit  case  of  John  Wright,  Sr., 
vs.  Frederick  Caris,  and  decided  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff.  The  jurors  of  this 
panel  were  Jeremiah  Root,  David  Pond,  Moses  Smith,  Anson  Beman,  Mun 
Day,  Adam  Vance,  Henry  Vanhyning,  Elisha  Perkins,  Reuben  Parker,  Henry 
Bryan,  William  Neil  and  Joseph  Fisher.  The  second  petit  jury  tried  and 
convicted  John  McManus  for  assault  and  battery.  Its  members  were  Reuben 
Parker,  Joseph  Fisher,  Henry  Vanhyning,  Frederick  Caris,  Jr.,  Jeremiah 
Root,  William  Neil,  David  Pond,  Elisha  Perkins,  Moses  Smith,  Anson  Beman, 
Mun  Day  and  Henry  Bryan.  The  third  jury  trial  of  this  session  was  a  no7i- 
assumpsit  suit  of  Caleb  Wetmore  vs.  Elijah  Wadsworth,  the  jury  being  the 
•same  as  in  the  second  panel,  excepting  John  Wright,  Jr.,  and  Adam  Vance 
replacing  Moses  Smith  and  Anson  Beman.  The  case  was  decided  in  favor  of 
the  defendant.  The  fourth  jury  of  this  term  was  also  the  saoje  as  the  second, 
excepting  Adam  Vance  instead  of  Anson  Beman,  and  tried  a  non-assumpsit 
suit  of  James  Arbuckle  for  the  use  of  John  Keating  vs.  William  and  Titus 
Wetmore,  which  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff. 

The  last  session  of  the  second  year  was  held  December  26,  27  and  28,  1809, 
the  same  President  and  Associate  Judges  being  on  the  bench,  except  Judge 
Wetmore,  who  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  the 
vacancy  on  the  bench  was  not  filled  until  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in 
1810.  The  grand  jurors  of  this  session  were  Lewis  Ely,  Robert  Campbell, 
John  Blair,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  Josiah  Starr,  Joseph  Darrow,  Heman  Oviatt, 
(foreman),  James  Robinson,  Josiah  Mix,  Henry  Chittenden,  Champlin  Minard, 
Benjamin  Stow,  Erastus  Carter,  John  Oviatt  and  Jeremiah  Root.  Indictments 
were  found  against  John  Bolles,  David  Wright  and  Philip  W^ard,  for  assault 
and  battery;  against  Joshua  King  for  selling  liquors  in  less  quantities  than 
allowed  by  his  license;  and  against  Isaac  Bacon  for  a  breach  of  the  revenue 
laws.  The  case  against  David  Wright  for  an  assault  upon  Jacob  Vanhyning, 
was  tried  before  the  following  jury:  Joel  Walter,  Stephen  Cotton,  Elisha 
Sears,  John  McWhorter,  Gideon  Chittenden,  Jacob  Reed,  Erastus  Skinner, 
Joel  Gaylord,  David  Root,  Wiley  Hamilton,  Ebenezer  Bostwick  and  Arthur 
Anderson,  who  found  Wright  guilty  as  chai'ged  in  the  indictment.  We  have 
now  run  through  the  first  two  years  of  the  record  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  and  given  a  brief  outline  of  its  proceedings.  In  giving  the  lists  of  the 
several  juries,  the  sole  object  the  writer  has  in  view  is  to  furnish  the  reader 
with  the  names  of  those  pioneers  M'ho  took  the  most  active  part  in  the  judicial 
affairs  of  Portage  County  during  the  earlier  years  of  its  history. 

The  pioneers  troubled  their  brains  very  little  about  the  written  code,  but 
were  a  law  unto  themselves.  As  good  illustrations  of  their  peculiar  mode  of 
administering  justice  in  their  inferior  courts,  the  following  cases  will  serve 
our  purpose.  A  man  in  Randolph  Township  was  arrested  for  breaking  the 
Sabbath,  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  Jail  for  six  hours. 
But  the  joke  of  it  was  there  was  no  Jail,  and  the  prisoner  wa,s  set  free  and  the 


332  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

complainant  ordered  by  the  Court  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  trial.  Another  amus- 
ing case  was  tried  July  8,  1815,  before  Elijah  Alford,  the  first  Justice  of  the 
Peace  of  Windham  Township,  being  that  of  Hiram  Messenger  vs.  Thatcher 
F.  Conant,  "for  the  value  of  an  otter's  hole."  In  going  to  Garrett's  Mill, 
Messenger  tracked  an  otter  into  its  hole,  and,  as  he  supposed,  fastened  him  in 
with  a  stone,  and  then  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.  Meeting  Conant  he  sold 
his  claim  to  him  for  $3.  The  purchaser  had  no  trouble  in  finding  the  hole, 
but  if  it  ever  had  contained  an  otter  the  animal  had  vanished,  and  Conant, 
therefore,  refused  to  pay  for  the  empty  hole.  Messenger  sued  him  before 
Squire  Alford,  and  recovered  judgment  for  the  $3.  Conant  thereupon  gave 
notice  of  appeal,  which  the  Squire  prevented  by  paying  Messenger  the  money, 
and  remitting  the  costs  of  the  suit.  Thus  the  case  was  settled  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  both  parties,  and  the  only  loser  in  the  affair  was  the  good- 
natured  Justice  of  the  Peace,  who  took  this  means  of  preventing  an  expensive 
lawsuit,  and  at  the  same  time  upholding  the  justice  of  his  decision. 

Common  Pleas  Judges. — Calvin  Pease,  from  August,  1808  to  December,  1809; 
Benjamin  Ruggles,  January,  1810,  to  October,  1815;  George  Tod,  October,  1815, 
to  February,  1830;  Reuben  Wood,  February,  1830,  to  February,  1833;  Mathew 
Birchard,  February,  1833,  to  January,  1837;  Van  R.  Humphrey,  January,  1837, 
to  February,  1844;  Eben  Newton,  February,  1844,  to  January,  1847;  Ben- 
jamin F.  Wade,  February,  1847,  to  March,  1851;  George  Bliss,  April,  1851,  to 
January,  1852.  As  previously  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  the  Judges  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  prior  to  1851,  were  chosen  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  State,  but  the  constitution  framed  that  year  abolished  the  Associate 
Judgeship,  and  divided  the  State  into  judicial  districts  and  the  districts  into 
subdivisions.  The  counties  of  Portage,  Trumbull  and  Mahoning  then 
became  the  second  subdivision  of  the  Ninth  Judicial  District,  and  have  so 
remained  up  to  the  present.  The  Judges  elected  by  the  people  in  this  subdi- 
vision since  that  time,  together  with  their  respective  terms  of  service  are 
as  follows:  Luther  Day,  from  February,  1852,  to  February,  1857;  Benjamin  F. 
Hoffman,  February,  1857,  to  February,  1862;  Charles  E.  Glidden,  February, 
1862,  to  January,  1867;  George  M.  Tuttle,  January,  1867,  to  January,  1872; 
Philo  B.  Conant,  (extra  Judge),  October,  1868,  to  October,  1878;  Charles  E. 
Glidden,  February,  1872,  to  February,  1877;  Frank  G.  Servis,  elected  in  the 
fall  of  1876,  died  in  March,  1877;  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  appointed  March  16,  1877 
(vice  Servis,  deceased),  and  elected  in  October,  1877,  resigned  in  September, 
1880;  William  T.  Spear,  October,  1878,  second  term  expires  in  October,  1888; 
George  F.  Arrel,  appointed  September  20,  1880  {vice  Taylor,  resigned), 
elected  in  the  fall  of  1881,  term  expires  in  February,  1887. 

Associate  Judges. — William  Wetmore,  February,  1808,  resigned  in 
December,  1809;  Aaron  Norton,  from  February,  1808,  to  February,  1815;  Amzi 
Atwater,  February,  1808,  to  February,  1815;  Samuel  Forward  {vice  Wetmore 
resigned),  February,  1810,  to  February,  1815;  Elias  Harmon,  February,  1815, 
to  February,  1836;  Samuel  King,  Jr.,  February,  1815,  to  February,  1820;  Alva 
Day,  February,  1815,  to  February,  1829;  Augustus  Baldwin,  February,  1820, 
to  February,  1827;  Elkanah  Richardson,  February,  1827,  to  February,  1834; 
George  B.  DePeyster,  February,  1829,  to  February,  1836;  Charles  Sumner, 
February,  1834,  to  February,  1840;  Ira  Selby,  February,  1836,  to  February, 
1843;  Joseph  Lewis,  February,  1836,  to  February,  1843;  Jeremiah  Moulton, 
March,  1840,  to  March,  1847;  Jonathan  Foster,  February,  1843,  to  February, 
1850;  Thomas  B.  Selby,  February,  1843,  to  February,  1850;  Isaac  Swift, 
March,  1847,  to  January,  1852;  Isaac  Bray  ton,  February,  1850,  to  January, 
1852;  Luther  L.  Brown,  March,  1850,  to  January,  1852. 


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HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  337 

Prosecuting  Attorneys. — Asa  D.  Keyes,  1808;  Thomas  D.  Webb,  from 
January,  1809,  to  April,  1810;  Benjamin  Tappan,  1810;  Thomas  D.  Webb, 
1811,  to  1812;  Peter  Hitchcock,  1813,  to  1814;  Calvin  Pease,  1815,  to  Febru- 
ary, 1816;  Darius  Lyman,  March,  1816,  to  1818;  Jonathan  Sloane,  1819; 
Darius  Lyman,  1820,  to  1828;  Lucius  V.  Bierce,  January,  1829,  to  January, 
1889;  Daniel  E.  Tilden,  January,  1839,  to  January,  1844;  Luther  Day,  Janu- 
ary, 1844,  to  January,  1846;  Robert  F.  Paine,  January,  1846,  to  January, 
1848;  Luther  Day,  January,  1848,  to  January,  1851;  Samuel  Strawder,  Janu- 
ary, 1851,  to  January,  1856;  Ezra  B.Taylor,  Januai-y,  1856,  to  January,  1858; 
Joseph  D.  Horton,  January,  1858,  to  January,  1860;  Philo  B.  Conant,  Janu- 
ary, 1860,  to  January,  1862;  Alphonso  Hart,  January,  1862,  to  January,  1865; 
Horace  H.  Willard,  January,  1865,  to  January,  1868;  E.  L.  Webber,  Janu- 
ary, 1868,  to  January,  1870;  C.  A.  Heed,  January,  1870,  to  January,  1874; 
George  F.  Robinson,  January,  1874,  to  January,  1878;  O.  S.  Ferris,  January, 
1878,  to  January,  1880;  Joseph  D.  Horton,  January,  1880,  to  September, 
1882;  John  Meharg,  September,  1882,  to  January,  1884;  I.  T.  Siddall,  Janu- 
ary, 1884,   term  expires  in  January,  1887. 

In  the  early  days  of  mud  roads  and  log-cabins,  the  lawyers  rode  the  circuit 
with  the  Judge,  on  horseback,  from  county  to  county,  equipped  with  the  old- 
fashioned  leggins  and  saddle-bags.  The  party  usually  had  their  appointed  stop- 
ping places  where  they  were  expected,  and,  on  their  arrival,  the  chickens,  dried 
apples,  maple  sugar,  corn  dodgers  and  old  whisky  suffered,  while  the  best  story- 
tellers regaled  the  company  with  humor  and  anecdotes.  Among  the  pioneers 
of  Portage  County  were  some  who  possessed  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  law,  and 
two  at  least  who  were  full-fledged  lawyers — Benjamin  Tappan  and  Asa  D. 
Keyes.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  county,  and  the  selection  of  Ravenna  as 
the  seat  of  justice,  lawyers'  offices  began  to  make  their  appearance  in  the  vil- 
lage. The  disciples  of  Blackstone  and  Kent  seem  to  have  alwa3'8  looked  upon 
Ravenna  as  a  fruitful  field  for  their  profession,  for  there  has  been  no  period 
of  its  history  when  it  has  not  contained  one  or  more  of  the  leading  attorneys 
of  northeastern  Ohio. 

Hon.  Benjamin  Tappan  was  the  first  lawyer  to  locate  in  Portage  County. 
He  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1773,  received  a  good  education  in  his  native 
State,  and  there  read  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  the  summer  of 
1799  he  located  in  what  is  now  the  southeast  corner  of  Ravenna  Township,  and 
built  the  first  log-cabin  in  that  subdivision.  In  the  summer  of  1800  he  went 
to  Connecticut,  and  married  Miss  Nancy  Wright,  and  with  his  young  bride 
returned  to  his  cabin  in  the  primeval  forest  of  this  county.  In  1803  he  was 
chosen  to  represent  the  Trumbull  district  in  the  Ohio  Senate,  and  served  one 
term.  The  act  erecting  Portage  County  designated  his  house  as  the  temporary 
place  for  holding  the  courts  of  said  county,  until  a  seat  of  justice  should  be 
selected.  By  this  time  he  had  removed  to  the  second  residence  built  by  him, 
which  stood  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Marcus  Heath,  about  one  mile  east  of 
Ravenna.  His  father  was  the  owner  of  the  south  division  of  lots  in  Ravenna 
Township,  and  had  appointed  his  son  Benjamin  as  his  agent,  and  as  such  the 
latter  laid  out  the  old  town  plat  of  Ravenna,  early  in  1808,  which  was  sub- 
sequently selected  by  the  State  Commissioners  for  the  seat  of  justice  of  Port- 
age County.  About  1809  Judge  Tappan  left  this  county  and  located  at 
Steubenville,  though  for  several  years  afterward  he  attended  court  at  Ravenna, 
and  was  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1810.  He  became  President  Judge  of 
the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  and  in  1833  was  made  United  States  District  Judge. 
His  name  is  widely  known  as  the  compiler  of  " Tappan' s  Reports."  In  1826 
Judge  Tappan  was  one   of    four  Gubernatorial   candidates,  yet  strange  to  say 


338  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

received  only  seven  votes  in  Portage  County.  In  December,  1838,  he  was 
elected  as  a  Democrat  to  the  United  States  Senate,  Thomas  Ewing  being  his 
Whig  opponent,  and  served  until  1845.  After  a  long  and  useful  public  career, 
Judge  Tappan  retired  from  active  life,  and  died  in  1857,  at  the  ripe  age  of 
eighty-four. 

Asa  D.  Keyes,  whose  father,  Daniel  Keyes,  settled  in  Shalersville  Town- 
ship in  1807-08,  was,  doubtless,  the  second  resident  attorney  of  the  county. 
He  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  a  young  man  of  considerable  talent  but  of 
intemperate  habits.  At  the  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 
Portage  County,  beginning  August  23,  1808,  Mr.  Keyes  was  appointed  Prose- 
cuting Attorney  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  close  of  the  year.  Little 
further  is  known  of  him,  and  he  must  have  removed  from  the  county  at  an 
early  day.  He  once  hired  a  horse  of  Judge  Amzi  Atwater  to  go  to  AVarren, 
and  on  his  return  said  to  the  Judge,  that  he  believed  he  had  changed  the 
bridle.  "  Yes,"  said  Judge  Atwater,  "  and  the  horse  too — that  is  a  better  horse 
than  I  let  you  have."  It  was  afterward  discovered  that  Keyes,  and  a  Squire 
Tyler,  of  Hubbard,  had  been  imbibing  pretty  freely  all  day,  and  on  getting 
ready  to  leave  Warren  were  so  "  full"  that  each  mounted  the  other's  horse, 
and  rode  home  without  having  the  faintest  knowledge  of  the  comical  blunder. 

Hon.  Darius  Lyman  was  the  next  attorney  to  open  an  office  in  Ravenna. 
He  was  born  in  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  July  19,  1789,  graduated  at  Will- 
iams College,  in  1810,  studied  law  in  Norfolk,  Conn.,  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice and  came  to  Ravenna  in  1814.  He  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  from  1816 
to  1818,  and  again  from  1820  to  1828,  and  represented  Portage  County  in  the 
Ohio  Legislature  from  1816  to  1820.  From  1828  to  1832  he  served  in  the 
State  Senate,  and  was  elected  to  the  same  position  in  1833  and  in  1849,  serving 
one  term  at  each  period.  In  1832  he  was  the  Whig  and  Anti- Masonic  candi- 
date for  Governor  of  Ohio,  but  was  defeated  by  Robert  Lucas,  the  Democratic 
nominee.  He  continued  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Ravenna  until  his  election 
to  the  office  of  Probate  Judge  in  the  fall  of  1854,  in  which  position  he  served 
nine  years.  Judge  Lyman  was  neither  an  orator  nor  a  brilliant  advocate,  but 
his  love  of  justice  and  unswerving  integrity  gave  him  influence  with  Court  and 
jury,  and  made  him  a  formidable  competitor.  After  retiring  from  the  Probate 
Judgeship,  in  1864,  he  removed  to  Cleveland,  where  he  died  about  ten  years 
ago.  He  was  twice  married  aud  was  the  father  of  six  children.  His  eldest  son. 
Prof.  Darius  Lyman,  Jr.,  has  served  twenty  years  in  the  Treasuiy  Department 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  a  grandson,  Henry  D.  Lyman,  has  been  Second  As- 
sistant Postmaster  General. 

Hon.  Jonathan  Sloane  settled  in  Ravenna  in  1816,  where  he  continued  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  until  1837,  in  which  year  he  retired  from  active 
life.  He  was  born  in  Pelham,  Mass.,  in  November,  1785,  and  graduated  at 
Williams  College  in  the  class  of  1812.  Soon  after  graduating  he  commenced 
reading  law  in  the  office  of  Jonathan  Lyman,  Esq.,  of  Northampton,  Mass., and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1816.  He  then  came  West,  took  up  his  residence 
in  Ravenna,  and  soon  gained  an  honorable  position  at  the  bar.  He  was  Pros- 
ecuting Attorned'  in  1819,  a  member  of  the  Legislatvire  in  1820-22,  was  in 
the  Ohio  Senate  1822-24  and  1826-28,  and  represented  the  Fifteenth 
Congressional  District  in  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives 
from  1833  to  1837.  From  the  commencement  of  Mr.  Sloane'a  resi- 
dence in  Ravenna,  he  was  the  general  agent  of  the  Tappan  family  for 
the  sale  of  their  lands  in  this  section,  which  position  he  held  many  years, 
and  by  means  of  which  he  became  well  and  favorably  known  to  most  of  the 
early  settlers,  being  always  lenient  and  obliging  to  those  who  purchased  land 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  339 

of  him.  He  took  an  active  part  in  obtaining  the  charter  of  the  Pennsylvania 
&'Ohio  Canal,  and  the  successful  completion  of  this  then  important  public 
work  was  greatly  due  to  his  influence  and  efficient  efforts  in  its  behalf.  At 
the  expiration  of  his  second  term  in  Congi-ess  he  gave  up  the  practice  of  law. 
and  gradually  withdrew  from  business  life.  He  never  married,  and  physical 
infirmities  growing  upon  him,  he  retired  from  society  many  years  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  April  25,  1854,  always  relishing,  however,  the  visits  of 
his  old  friends  and  associates.  Mr.  Sloaue  possessed  none  of  the  graces  of 
oratory,  but  during  his  prime  he  was  a  forcible,  energetic  advocate,  and  a 
sound  and  able  counsellor,  achieving  the  distinction  of  being  the  best  Chancery 
lawyer  on  the  Western  Reserve. 

Gen.  Lucius  V.  Bierce  comes  next  in  the  order  of  time.  He  was  a  native 
of  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  but  came  to  Ohio  when  young;  graduated  from 
the  Ohio  University  at  Athens,  where  he  subsequently  studied  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Ravenna  in  September,  1825.  Gen.  Bierce  became  quite 
distinguished  as  a  criminal  lawyer  throughout  northern  Ohio,  and  was  Prose- 
cuting Attorney  of  Portage  County  from  1829  to  1839.  He  remained  in 
Ravenna  until  October,  1851,  at  which  time  he  removed  to  Akron,  where  he 
followed  the  practice  of  his  profession  until  his  death,  about  ten  years  ago. 
From  1862  to  1864  he  represented  the  Twenty-sixth  Senatorial  District  in  the 
Ohio  Assembly,  and  held  various  other  offices.  He  was  twice  married,  but  left 
no  children.  He  devoted  considerable  time  to  writing  historical  sketches  of 
the  Western  Reserve,  exhibiting  considerable  taste  and  ability  in  literary 
pursuits. 

At  the  close  of  182o  we  find  but  three  resident  attorneys  in  what  is  now 
Portage  County,  viz. :  Darius  Lyman,  Jonathan  Sloane  and  Lucius  V.  Bierce. 
But  there  were  a  number  of  visiting  attorneys  who  practiced  regularly  at  this 
bar  from  the  time  the  county  was  organized,  among  the  most  prominent  of 
whom  might  be  mentioned  John  S.  Edwards,  Robert  S.  Parkman,  Elderkin 
Potter,  Calvin  Pease,  Thomas  D.  Webb,  Peter  Hitchcock,  Benjamin  Tappan, 
John  C.  Wright,  Elisha  Whittlesey,  Reuben  Wood,  Van  R.  Humphrey, George 
D.  Norton,  Andrew  W.  Loomis  and  a  Mr.  Metcalf,  all  of  whom  won  their  way 
to  high  positions.  Among  later  visiting  lawyers  we  find  Gregory  Powers,  D. 
K.  Carter,  Wyllis  Sillman,  Samuel  W.  McClure,  Eben  Newton,  Henry  McKin- 
ney  and  Milton  Sutliff. 

William  Turner  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Ravenna  in  January,  1828,  and 
about  the  same  time  John  Pearson  opened  an  office  in  the  village.  Turner  was 
a  fine  classical  scholar,  and  after  many  years'  practice  removed  to  Wooster, 
abandoned  the  profession  and  subsequently  died  in  Cleveland.  Little  is 
remembered  of  Pearson,  who  did  not  remain  long  in  this  county. 

William  S.  C.  Otis  was  also  one  of  the  pioneer  lawyers  of  Portage  County. 
He  came  to  Ravenna  at  an  early  day,  and  was  associated  in  law  practice  with 
Hon.  Jonathan  Sloane,  under  the  firm  name  of  Sloane  &  Otis.  Through  legal 
ability  Mr.  Otis  attained  to  an  eminent  position  at  the  bar  in  Portage  and 
surrounding  counties.  He  removed  to  Akron  and  afterward  to  Cleveland,  and 
became  somewhat  famous  as  a  railroad  lawyer,  devoting  most  of  his  time  to 
that  branch  of  practice.  Mr.  Otis  died  in  Cleveland  a  few  years  ago.  A  more 
exhaustive  sketch  of  this  gentleman  will  be  found  among  Ravenna  Township 
biographies. 

Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding  was  born  at  West  Tisbury,  Mass.,  May  3.  1798, 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1817,  read  law  in  the  office  of  Chief  Justice 
Zephaniah  Swift,  of  Connecticut,  and  was  there  admitted  to  practice.  In  1820 
he  opened  an  office  at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  but  after  remaining  there  a  year  and 


340  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

a  half,  returned  East  and  located  at  Warren,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio.  He 
continued  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Warren  until  1838,  when  he  removed 
to  Ravenna,  whei'e  he  soon  became  recognized  as  a  leading  attorney,  and 
represented  Portage  County  in  the  Ohio  Legislature  from  1839  to  1840.  In 
the  latter  year  he  removed  to  Akron,  and  in  1841-42  seryed  another  term  in 
the  Legislature,  representing  the  new  county  of  Summit.  The  General 
Assembly  of  1848-49  elected  him  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  for 
the  term  of  seven  years,  but  through  the  Constitution  of  1851  the  office  became 
elective  by  the  people,  and  his  term  thus  expired  after  three  years'  service.  On 
leaving  the  bench  he  removed  to  Cleveland,  and  in  October,  1862,  was  elected, 
as  a  Republican,  to  Congress,  re-elected  in  1864  and  again  in  1866.  Upon 
the  expiration  of  his  third  term  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  law.  He  has 
been  twice  married,  three  children  surviving  from  the  first  marriage.  Judge 
Spaulding,  though  yet  living  in  Cleveland,  has  not  been  engaged  in  active 
practice  for  some  years,  as  he  is  now  (March,  1885,)  within  two  months  of 
being  eighty-seven  years  old.  As  a  lawyer  and  statesman  he  achieved  a  wide 
reputation.  He  possessed  in  his  prime  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  law, 
great  power  as  a  debater,  and  the  ability  of  strongly  impressing  both  courts 
and  juries,  while  his  dignified  appearance  and  manner  heightened  the  effect  of 
his  arguments. 

Hon.  Daniel  R.  Tilden  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  November,  1807, 
came  to  Ohio  about  1830,  studied  law  with  Rufus  P.  Spalding  at  Warren, 
Ohio,  and  was  there  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1837.  The  same  year  he  entered 
into  partnership  with  his  preceptor,  and  in  1838  both  came  to  Ravenna, 
opened  an  office  and  remained  in  law  practice  together  until  1839.  In  1839-40 
he  was  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Sloane  &  Otis,  and  from  1839  to  1844  was 
Prosecuting  Attorney  of  this  county.  About  this  time  he  went  into  partnership 
with  John  L.  Ranney,  under  the  firm  name  of  Tilden  &  Ranney,  which  con- 
tinued until  his  removal  to  Akron  in  1850.  He  practiced  his  profession  in 
Aki'on  until  1852,  when  he  removed  to  Cleveland.  Mr.  Tilden  was  elected  to 
Congress  from  the  Portage  District  in  1842,  re-elected  in  1844  and  served 
until  1847.  Soon  after  settling  in  Cleveland  he  was  elected  Probate  Judge, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  present  term  will  have  held  the  position  thirty-three 
years.  During  all  the  years  of  Mr.  Tilden's  legal  practice,  he  sustained  the 
reputation  of  being  an  able  advocate,  a  good  lawyer  and  an  honorable  member 
of  the  profession.  As  a  legislator  he  was  loyal  to  his  own  convictions  of  right, 
and  the  best  interests  of  his  constituents. 

John  L.  Ranney  was  born  in  Blandford,  Mass.,  November  14,  1815,  and  in 
1824  his  father  removed  with  his  family  from  the  East,  to  Freedom  Township, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio.  The  educational  advantages  of  John  L.  were  limited  to 
the  common  schools,  and  a  brief  academic  course.  He  read  law  in  Jefferson, 
Ashtabula  County,  with  his  brother  Judge  R.  P.  Ranney  and  Senator  B.  F. 
Wade.  After  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  settled  in  Ravenna,  and  soon  after 
formed  a  partnership  with  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  under  the  firm  name  of  Tilden 
&  Ranney.  This  law  firm  continued  business  until  Mr.  Tilden's  removal  to 
Akron  in  1850.  Subsequently  the  firm  of  Ranney  &  Taylor  was  organized, 
and  later  the  law  firm  of  J.  L.  &  H.  C.  Ranney,  which  continued  until  Febru- 
ary 22,  1866,  the  time  of  J.  L.  Ranney' s  death.  He  was  the  Democratic  can- 
didate for  Congress  in  1858,  and  was  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Ravenna  from  its  organization  to  the  close  of  his  life.  If  not  so  distinguished 
as  his  brother.  Judge  Rufus  P. ,  he  may  be  safely  classed  among  the  leading 
lawyers  of  his  time  in  this  county.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  high  intelligence, 
strict  integrity  and  untiring  industry  in  the  prosecution  of  his  professional 
labors. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  341 

Hou.  Luther  Day.  For  biography  of  this  gentleman  see  personal  sketches 
under  heading  of  Ravenna  Township. 

Ebenezer  Spalding  came  from  Connecticut  to  Ravenna  about  1840,  where 
he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  He  was  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  from  1852  to  1855,  and  subsequently  followed  his  profession  until 
November,  1861,  when  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  he  died  in  August, 
1866. 

Christopher  P.  Wolcott  located  in  Ravenna  a  few  years  after  Ebenezer 
Spaulding,  whence  he  removed  to  Akron.  He  became  quite  a  prominent  law- 
yer, and  was  Attorney- General  of  Ohio  from  1856  to  1861. 

Hon.  Robert  F.  Paine  studied  law  with  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  was  admitted  to 
practice,  and  opened  his  first  office  at  Garrettsville,  whence  in  March,  1846,  he 
came  to  Ravenna.  He  represented  Portage  County  in  the  Ohio  Legislature  in 
1844-45,  and  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1846-48.  In  the  latter  year  he 
removed  to  Cleveland,  where  he  was  subsequently  elected  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas.  If  not  profound,  Judge  Paine  is  adroit  and  successful  as 
a  jury  lawyer,  and  has  won  and  retained  a  large  practice  at  the  Cleveland  bar, 
of  which  he  is  still  an  active  member. 

Hon.  Ezra  B.  Taylor  was  born  in  Nelson  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio, 
July  9,  1823.  He  acquired  an  academic  education,  and  studied  law  at  Gar- 
rettsville with  Hon.  Robert  F.  Paine.  After  his  admission  to  the  bar,  in 
August,  1845,  he  commenced  practice  in  Garrettsville,  whence  he  removed  to 
Ravenna  in  1847,  and  for  some  years  was  the  partner  of  John  L.  Ranney.  He 
was  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1856-58,  and  for  many  years  was  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  Portage  County  bar.  He  removed  to  War- 
ren in  1861,  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  vice  Judge 
Servis,  deceased,  and  in  October,  1877,  elected  as  his  own  successor.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1880,  he  resigned  the  Judgeship,  and  the  same  fall  was  elected  to 
Congress  by  the  Republican  party,  and  has  been  twice  re-elected,  being  now 
in  his  third  term. 

Hon.  O.  P.  Brown  was  born  in  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  March  11,  1817, 
and  in  1829  removed  with  his  parents  to  St.  Catharines,  Canada,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  to  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio.  He  received  a  good  common  school 
education,  and  taught  for  several  winters  to  assist  him  in  completing  his 
higher  scholastic  and  professional  studies.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  entered 
the  law  office  of  Wade  &  Ranney  in  Jefferson,  Ohio,  and  read  with  this  cele- 
brated firm  until  1839,  when  he  was  admitted  to  practice.  He  immediately 
opened  an  office  in  Chardon,  Geauga  County,  and  was  soon  regarded  as  a  ris- 
ing young  man  of  fine  promise.  While  at  Chardon  he  assisted  in  establishing 
the  Jeffersonian  Democrat,  which  he  edited  one  year.  In  the  fall  of  1850  he 
ran  against  Hon.  Peter  Hitchcock  for  a  seat  in  the  Constitutional  Convention, 
and  after  a  splendid  campaign  was  defeated  by  only  180  votes.  In  1852  he 
removed  to  Ravenna,  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Samuel  Strawder.  He 
was  the  first  Mayor  of  Ravenna,  elected  in  1853,  and  re-elected  the  following 
year.  He  was  the  State  Senator  from  the  Portage -Summit  District  in  1856- 
58,  and  in  September  of  the  latter  year  was  one  of  the  Republican  candidates 
in  this  district  for  Congressional  nomination,  and  on  the  twenty-second  ballot 
received  exactly  half  the  votes  of  the  convention,  but  after  the  next  ballot  he 
withdrew  from  the  contest.  In  the  fall  of  1863  he  was  elected  Probate  Judge 
of  Portage  County,  and  took  his  office  in  February*  1864,  but  disease  had  laid 
its  heavy  hand  upon  him,  and  being  unable  to  attend  to  his  official  duties,  he 
resigned  on  the  9th  of  May  following,  and  died  June  25,  1864.  Judge  Brown 
was  a  genial  man  of  fine  natural  endowments,  and  highly  gifted  as  a  popular 


342  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

speaker.  Rising  at  times  to  true  eloquence,  lie  then  exhibited  great  powers  of 
persuasion,  and  produced  a  marked  effect  upon  his  audience.  He  was  at  once 
the  champion  of  temperance  and  freedom,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  stem  the 
tide  of  strong  drink  and  abolish  the  curse  of  slavery. 

Hon.  Philo  B.  Conant,  though  yet  an  active  member  of  the  bar,  has  been 
80  long  and  prominently  associated  with  it  that  he  can  with  propriety  be 
classed  among  its  later  pioneers.  He  was  born  in  Windham  Township,  Por- 
tage Co.,  Ohio,  August  3,  1837;  studied  law  with  a  maternal  uncle,  Alexander 
Bierce,  in  Canton,  Ohio,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Ravenna  in  1850.  He 
began  practice  in  1853,  and  in  1860-62  served  as  Prosecuting  Attorney.  In 
1867  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  but  resigned  in  August,  1868,  to 
accept  the  Common  Pleas  Judgeship,  in  which  position  he  served  ten  years. 
Judge  Conant  is  recognized  as  a  lawyer  of  good  abilities,  and  both  upon  the 
bench  and  at  the  bar  has  ever  been  guided  by  conscientious  convictions  of 
justice  and  right.  Upon  retiring  from  the  bench  in  October,  1878,  he  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  in  which  he  has  since  been  actively  engaged. 

Joseph  D.  Horton  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio, 
January  3,  1833.  For  several  years  he  lived  in  Nelson  Township,  there 
enjoyed  brief  academic  advantages,  and  followed  teaching  a  short  time.  In 
1853  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Ranney  &  Taylor,  in  Ravenna,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1855.  Soon  after  his  admission  the  firm  of  Taylor  & 
Horton  was  formed,  and  subsequently  Judge  Luther  Day  became  a  member  of 
the  firm,  which  as  Day,  Taylor  &  Horton,  existed  three  years.  The  old  firm 
of  Taylor  &  Horton  was  then  resumed,  but  subsequently  took  in  John  Meharg, 
who,  however,  retired  from  the  firm  upon  taking  the  office  of  Clerk  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  but  which  he  again  entered. in  1882.  Mr.  Horton 
died  September  14,  1882,  after  a  professional  experience  of  twenty-seven  years. 
He  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1858-60,  and  again  in  1880-82.  He  was 
Mayor  of  Ravenna  several  terms,  and  dm-ing  the  early  part  of  the  war  was 
Military  Commissioner  of  the  county.  He  represented  Portage  County  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1873,  ranking  as  one  of  its  ablest  members.  In 
his  professional  life,  Mr.  Horton  was  engaged  in  nearly  every  prominent  trial, 
and  among  the  members  of  the  bar  his  conclusions  and  opinions  upon  points 
of  law  were  usually  accepted  as  sound.  As  an  illustration  of  the  position  he 
occupied  in  his  profession,  the  following  anecdote  is  told  by  one  who  knew 
him  well.  Some  years  ago  a  group  of  lawyers  were  discussing  a  knotty  point 
of  law,  and  none  could  clear  it  up.  "There  comes  Horton,"  said  Judge  Tay- 
lor, "ask  him,  he  knows  more  law  than  all  of  us."  This  frank  expression  of 
Judge  Taylor's  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  nearly  every  lawyer  who  knew  Mr. 
Horton,  for  his  assistance  was  generally  sought  whenever  intricate  questions 
were  involved. 

Hon.  Alphonso  Hart  came  to  Ravenna  from  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in 
July,  1854,  and  with  R.  E.  Craig  purchased  the  Portage  Sentinel  of  Samuel 
D.  Harris,  Jr.,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  paper.  He  conducted  the  Sentinel 
until  the  close  of  1857,  but  during  this  time  had  read  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  In  1863  the  firm  of  Hart  &  Reed  was  formed  and  lasted  ten  years. 
Mr.  Hart  soon  gained  a  prominent  position  at  the  bar,  was  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney from  1862  to  1865,  State  Senator  in  1864-66,  and  again  represented  this 
district  in  the  Ohio  Senate  in  1872-74.  He  was  the  Presidential  Elector  from 
this  Congressional  district. in  1872,  and  cast  his  vote  for  Grant  and  Wilson. 
In  1873  he  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Ohio,  and  in  that  year  removed 
to  Cleveland.  He  afterward  went  from  Cleveland  to  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  where 
he  was  elected  to  Congress.  During  his  term  in  Congress  he  was  recognized 
as  a  sound  thinker  and  an  able,  ready  debater. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  343 

Among  the  attorneys  who  have  been  members  of  this  bar  in  the  past  are 
Samuel  Strawder,  Lyman  W.  Hall,  F.  W.  Tappan,  Archibald  Servoss,  N.  L. 
Jeffries,  E.  Ferry,  H.  H.  Willard,  J.  W.  Tyler,  O.  W.  Strong,  Edward  P.  Bas- 
sett,  Lester  L.  Bond,  J.  S.  Hinman,  James  Hall,  B.  F.  Curtiss,  William  Mc- 
Clintock,  H.  B.  Foster,  G.  F.  Brown,  L.  D.  "Woodworth,  H.  C.  Ranney,  J. 
Crowell,  O.  A.  Taylor,  C.  W.  Leffingwell,  J.  G.  Hole,  A.  AV.  Beman,  H.  A. 
Waldo,  J.   H.   Terry,  E.  L.  Webber,  S.  E.  Fink,  E.  W.   Stuart,  Will  Pound, 

A.  A.  Thayer,  I.  N.  Frisbee,  F.  O.  Wadsworth,  A.  J.  Dyer,  W.  L.  Marvin, 
H.  C  Sanford,  M.  G.  Garrison  and  M.  A.  Norris. 

The  present  bar  of  Portage  County  embraces  twenty -nine  attornej's,  some 
of  whom,  however,  are  not  very  actively  engaged  in  the  profession.  The  law- 
yers of  Ravenna  are  Philo  B.  Conant,  Michael  Stuart,  William  B.  Thomas, 
Cornelius  A.  Reed,  John  Meharg,  Andrew  Jackson,  Gideon  Seymour,  John 
Porter,  George  F.  Robinson,  David  L.  Rockwell,  Seth  D.  Norton,  Isaac  T. 
Siddall,  Bradford  Howland,  John  H.  Dussel,  Augustus  S.  Cole,  James  H. 
Nichols,  Isaac  H.  Phelps,  Orion  P.  Sperry,  Arthur  E.  Seaton,  Mark  W.  Phelps 
and  James  W.  Holcomb.  In  Kent  there  are  S.  P.  Wolcott,  O.  S.  Rockwell, 
W.  W.  Patton  and  T.  W.  Peckinpaugh.     In  Garrettsville  we  find  O.  S.  FeiTis, 

E.  W.  Maxson  and  R.  S.  W^ebb;  and  C.  D.  Ingell,  at  Mantua  Station. 

The  Portage  County  Medical  Association  was  organized  at  a  meeting  of 
physicians  held  at  the  Gillett  House,  in  Ravenna,  in  June,  1866.  The  meet- 
ing was  called  to  order  by  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  upon  which  Dr.  P.  C.  Ben- 
nett was  elected  Chairman,  and  Dr.  F.  F.  McCreary  Secretary.  The  Chair 
appointed  Drs.  A.  M.  Shermao,  E.  Warrington  and  O,  Ferris  a  committee  to 
draft  a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  the  government  of  the  society,  which  were 
subsequently  reported  and  adopted.  The  following  physicians  then  signified 
their  intention  of  becoming  members  of  the  association  viz. :  Drs.  P.  C.  Ben- 
nett, A.   Belding,  J.  G.  Lewis,  O.  Ferris,    J.  W.  Shively,  Charles    E.  Poe,  G. 

B.  Baldwin,  George  Sadler,  A.  M.  Sherman,  P.  H.  Sawyer,  Joseph  Waggoner, 

B.  F.  Pitman,  Ezra    Rose,   E.  Warrington,  A.  W.  Alcorn,   C.  S.  Leonard   and 

F.  F.  McCreary.  After  their  names  were  recorded  they  at  once  proceeded  to 
the  election  of  oflScers,  with  the  following  result:  Dr.  P.  C.  Bennett,  Presi- 
dent; Dr.  A.  Belding,  Vice  President;  Di-.  F.  F.  McCreary,  Secretary;  Dr.  C, 
S.  Leonard,  Treasurer.  The  several  committees  were  then  appointed,  and  Dr. 
P.  Barron  admitted  as  an  honorary  member,  after  which  the  society  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Ravenna,  January  27,  1867.  On  that  date  Drs.  Joseph  Price,  F.  C. 
Applegate  and  W.  S.  Hough  were  admitted  to  membership.  Dr.  Isaac  Swift, 
who  located  in  Ravenna  in  1815,  was  made  an  honorary  member  the  same  day, 
and  at  the  succeeding  June  meeting  Dr.  Joseph  DeWolf,  who  opened  an  office 
in  Ravenna  in  1810,  was  also  admitted  to  an  honorary  membership. 

The  officers  of  the  society  elected  each  June  since  1866,  have  been  as  fol- 
lows:  1867 — Dr.  A.  Belding,  President;  Dr.  Joseph  Price,  Vice-President;  Dr. 

C.  S.  Leonard,  Secretary;  Dr.  Charles  E.  Poe,  Treasurer.  1868 — Dr.  Joseph 
Price,  President;  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  Vice-President;  Dr.  George  Sadler, 
Secretary;  Dr.  O.  Ferris,  Ti-easurer.  1869 — Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  President; 
Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman,  Vice-President;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  Secretary;  Dr.  E. 
Warrington,  Treasurer.  1870 — Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman,  President;  Dr.  C.  S. 
Leonard,  Vice-President;  Dr.  E.  W.  Price,  Secretary;  Dr.  P.  H.  Sawyer, 
Treasurer.  1871 — Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  President;  Dr.  G.  B.  Baldwin,  Vice- 
President;  Dr.  John  Ewing,  Secretary;  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  Treasurer. 
1872— Dr.  G.  B.  Baldwin,  President;  Dr.  P.  H.  Sawyer,  Vice-President;  Dr. 
A.  W.  Alcorn,  Secretary;  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  Treasurer.  1873 — Dr.  E. 
Warrington,    President;    Dr.    F.    C.    Applegate,     Vice-President;    Dr.   A.   W. 


344  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Alcorn,  Secretary;  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  Treasurer.  1874 — Dr.  F.  C.  Apple- 
gate,  President;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  Vice-President;  Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  Secre- 
tary; Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  Treasurer.  1875 — Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  President:  Dr. 
O.  Ferris,  Vice-President;  Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  Secretary;  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard, 
Treasurer.  1876 — Dr.  O.  Ferris,  President;  Dr.  George  M.  Proctor,  Vice- 
President;  Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  Secretary;  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonai'd,  Treasurer.  1877 
— Dr.  George  M.  Proctor,  President;  Dr.  E.  W.  Price,  Vice-President;  Dr.  H. 
P.  Hugus,  Secretary;  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  Treasurer.  1878 — Dr.  E.  W.  Price, 
President;  Dr.  B.  B.  Laughead,  Vice-President;  Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  Secretary; 
Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  Treasurer.  1879 — Dr.  B.  B.  Laughead,  President;  Dr.  H. 
P.  Hugus,  Vice-President;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  Secretary;  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard, 
Treasurer.  1880 — Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  President;  Dr.  H.  H.  Spiers,  Vice-Presi- 
dent; Dr.  F.  R.  Morath,  Secretary;  Dr.  George  M.  Proctor,  Treasvirer. 
1881— Dr.  H.  H.  Spiers,  President;  Dr.  W.  G.  Smith,  Vice-President;  Dr.  H. 
P.  Hugus,  Secretary;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  Treasurer.  1882— Dr.  W.  G.  Smith, 
President;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  First  Vice-President;  Dr.  Charles  A.  May,  Sec- 
ond Vice-President;  Dr.  F.  E.  Morath,  Secretary;  Dr.  H.  P.  Hugus,  Treas- 
urer. 1883 — Dr.  Charles  A.  May,  President;  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  First 
Vice-President;  Dr.  Joseph  Price,  Second  Vice-President;  Dr.  Joseph  Wag- 
goner, Secretary;  Dr.  B.  B.  Laughead,  Treasurer.  1884 — Dr.  G.  O.  Frazier, 
President;  Dr.  A.  W.  Alcorn,  First  Vice-President;  Dr.  George  M.  Proctor, 
Second  Vice-President;  Dr.  Joseph  Waggoner,  Seci'etary;  Dr.  B.  B.  Laughead, 
Treasurer. 

The  principal  object  of  the  society  is  to  stimulate  and  encourage  the  dis- 
semination of  medical  science  among  its  members,  and  so  control  their  mode 
of  practice  as  to  bring  it  within  the  code  of  medical  ethics  usually  adopted 
by  the  societies  of  the  "regular"  school  of  medicine.  The  most  important 
feature  of  such  societies  is  the  interchange  of  thought  and  discussion  which 
takes  place  between  the  members  at  their  meetings.  ,Any  strange  or  diflScult 
cases  that  may  have  come  under  their  observation  are  reported  and  discussed, 
and  opinions  exchanged  as  to  the  most  successful  mode  of  treatment  to  be  fol- 
lowed. A  well-conducted  medical  society  thus  becomes  a  training  school  for 
the  profession,  and  the  meetings  are  looked  forward  to  with  much  pleasure  and 
interest.  The  greater  number  of  the  "regular"  physicians  of  this  county 
have  belonged  to  the  Portage  County  Medical  Association  at  some  period  of  its 
existence.  Some  have  died,  others  have  removed  from  the  county,  and  still 
others  have  severed  their  connection  with  the  society,  and  no  longer  take  any 
interest  in  its  doings.  The  society,  however,  is  continually  receiving  new 
members,  and  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition.  It  contains  at  this  writing 
(March,  1885,)  twenty-two  members,  whose  names  are  as  follows:  Drs.  Joseph 
Waggoner,  A.  W.  Alcorn,  C.  S.  Leonard  and  B.  B.  Laughead,  of  Ravenna; 
Drs.  A.  M.  Sherman,  J.  W.  Shively,  E.  W.  Price  and  J.  D.  Davis,  of  Kent; 
Dr.  E.  Warrington,  of  Atwater;  Drs.  Joseph  Price,  G.  O.  Frazier  and  C.  S. 
Hiddleson,  of  Randolph;  Drs.  W.  G.  Smith,  L.  C.  Rose,  William  Jenkins, 
and  B.  B.  Davis,  of  Palmyra;  Dr.  F.  C.  Applegate,  of  Windham;  Dr.  Seth 
L.  Sloan,  of  Freedom;  Dr.  George  M.  Proctor,  of  Shalersville;  Dr.  Charles 
A.  May,  of  Streetsboro;  Dr.  W.  H.  McConnell,  of  Brimfield,  and  Dr.  H.  H. 
Spiers,  of  Edinburg.  In  1866  and  1867,  the  meetings  of  the  society  were 
semi-annual,  in  1868,  quarterly,  but  ever  since  the  latter  year  they  have  been 
monthly,  and  are  productive  of  great  benefit  to  the  members  of  the  association. 


'^^c^J^'%^z^cJ2^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  347 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Most  Noted  Criminal  Events  in  the  History  of  Portage  County- 
Trials  AND  Sentences  of  the  Culprits— The  Alleged  Crime  of  John 
McManus— The   Murder    of   Mathews  by  Aunghst— The  Murder   of 

CUMMINGS    BY     BARRIS— THE    MURDER    OF    CATHERINE    McKlSSON    BY    HER 

Brother-in-law,  David  McKisson— The  Heathman  Manslaughter  Case 
— Alanson  Baldwin  Stabbed  to  Death  by  His  Nephew,  Lemuel  W. 
Price— Attempted  Killing  of  Prentiss  by  Flower— The  Shorts-Wil- 
son Shooting— The  Murder  of  John  Khodenbaugh  by  Jack  Cooper 
AND  Joel  Beery— Harriet  Musson  Murdered  by  Wilson  S.  Roof- 
Shooting  OF  Alfred  L.  Harris  by  His  Father- The  Kelso-Montague 
Case— The  Newell-Roberts  Affair. 

ALL  organized  communities,  it  matters  not  what  may  be  their  geographical 
location  or  their  general  moral  and  religious  status,  have  criminal  rec- 
ords, some  of  which  are  replete  with  deeds  of  violence  and  bloodshed,  while 
others  are  not  quite  so  bad.  There  are  many  facts  of  a  criminal  character  of 
such  importance  belonging  to  the  legitimate  history  of  Portage  County,  that 
they  cannot  with  historical  propriety  be  left  out  of  this  work.  It  is  not  the 
intention  of  the  writer  to  give  a  record  of  all  the  deeds  of  a  criminal  nature 
that  have  been  committed  in  this  county,  but  only  those  where  life  was  taken, 
or  where  the  culprit  was  tried  for  murder  or  intent  to  commit  that  crime. 

The  first  murder  trial  that  occurred  in  Portage  County  took  place  at  the 
October  term  of  the  Coiu't  of  Common  Pleas,  in  1813,  whereof  Hon.  Benjamin 
Ruggles  was  President  Judge,  and  Aaron  Norton,  Amzi  Atwater  and  Samuel 
Forward,  Associates.  John  McManus  was  the  defendant  in  this  case,  being 
indicted  for  the  murder  of  Betsy  McManus,  his  wife,  and  lived  on  what  was 
then  and  since  known  as  the  Bell  lot,  in  Ravenna  Township.  The  indictment 
charged  that  McManus  assaulted  his  wife  while  she  was  lying  in  bed,  soon  after 
the  birth  of  a  child,  and  struck  her  with  a  boot- jack,  breaking  the  shoulder- 
blade  and  one  of  the  ribs  upon  the  right  side,  making  a  wound  eight  inches 
long  and  six  inches  wide,  and  that  he  also  kicked  her.  The  injuries  were  in- 
flicted on  the  12th  of  May,  1813,  and  the  woman  died  upon  the  27th  of  the 
same  month.  Benjamin  Whedon  was  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  finding 
the  indictment.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  jurors  before  whom  the 
case  was  tried:  Gipson  McDaniels,  Jr.,  Palmyra;  Isaac  Osmun,  Boston;  Paul 
Williams,  Portage;  James  McCormick,  Springfield;  Asher  Gurley,  Rootstown; 
W^illiam  Sprague,  Tallmadge;  Theophilus  Anthony,  Atwater;  George  Walker, 
Hudson;  Jonathan  Foster,  Mantua;  Robert  Taylor  and  David  W'ay,  SuflSeld; 
William  Price,  Ravenna.  The  case  was  conducted  by  Peter  Hitchcock  as 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  and  by  Benjamin  Tappan  and  John  C.  Wright  for  the 
defense.  After  a  protracted  and  exciting  trial,  the  defense  claiming  that  the 
woman  died  of  child-bed  fever,  the  accused  was  acquitted  of  the  charge  of 
murder,  and  discharged.  McManus  is  described  as  a  quarrelsome  man,  who 
was  perpetually  in  trouble,  and  indicted  for  assault  and  battery  several  times. 
He  was  a  volunteer  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  from  ailments  contracted  in  that 
service  died  in  1814  or  1815. 

The  first  premeditated  murder  in  this  county  was  the  killing  of  Epaphras 
Mathews  by  Henry  Aunghst,  August  20,  1814.     Capt.   Waller,    of  Palmyra 


348  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Township,  while  on  his  way  to  Ravenna,  discovered  the  body  of  a  man  lying 
behind  a  log,  in  the  woods,  near  the  schoolhouse  now  standing  on  the  corners 
of  the  Charlestown  and  Edinburg  roads,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  east  of  Ra- 
venna. The  body  proved  to  be  that  of  Epaphras  Mathews,  a  peddler,  of 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.  An  investigation  proved  that  Mathews  was  last  seen  at  the 
tavern  at  Campbellsport,  on  the  20th  of  A-Ugust,  and  on  the  same  day  by  a 
pax'ty  grinding  scythes  in  front  of  the  present  residence  of  Richard  J.  Thomp- 
son. It  was  noticed  that  a  man  was  traveling  with  him,  and  to  this  man  sus- 
picion attached  as  the  murderer.  On  the  night  of  August  19,  Mathews  and  the 
strange  man,  who  afterward  proved  to  be  Henry  Aunghst,  stayed  at  the  tavern 
of  Jabez  Gilbert,  in  Palmyra.  Taking  these  facts  as  a  starting  point,  Robert 
Eaton  and  Lewis  Ely  started  in  pursuit  of  the  murderer,  whom  they  followed 
about  a  month,  and  arrested  in  a  blacksmith  shop  in  Center  County,  Penn. 
They  were  paid  by  the  county  $222.87  for  their  services  and  damages  inflicted 
upon  their  horses  in  apprehending  and  bringing  the  culprit  back  to  Ravenna. 
Mr.  Ely  was  also  paid  the  $100  reward  which  had  been  offered  for  the  capture 
of  Aunghst,  and  Abraham  Reed  was  paid  $28.50  for  eight  days  spent  in  hunt- 
ing for  the  murderer.  The  meshes  of  the  inevitable  fatality  surrounding  a 
murderer  seemed  woven  about  Aunghst,  and  without  any  of  the  modern  resources 
for  tracing  a  great  criminal,  his  pursuers  at  once  struck  his  trail,  and  steadily 
followed  him  until  their  pursuit  culminated  in  his  capture. 

Some  weeks  prior  to  the  murder,  Mathews  and  Aunghst  left  Pittsburgh  in 
company,  and  traveled  together  until  the  hour  of  the  murder.  What  pretext 
Aunghst  gave  to  his  victim  is  unknown,  but  upon  his  confession  he  stated  that 
his  purpose  was  to  effect  a  robbery  of  his  friend  and  companion.  At  first  his 
plan  was  to  seize  and  bind  Mathews  to  a  tree  in  the  woods,  rob  him  and  flee, 
but  chance,  or  destiny,  fi-ustrated  the.  purpose  in  each  instance.  Once,  when 
in  the  woods  near  Poland,  when  a  suitable  moment  seemed  to  have  arrived, 
Deacon  Sacket,  of  Tallmadge,  traveling  with  his  wife,  came  upon  them.  The 
Deacon  knew  Mathews  well,  and  the  meeting  was  an  agreeable  one  between 
the  two  friends,  and  formed  an  important  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence  against 
the  murderer,  as  Deacon  Sacket  afterward  visited  Aunghst  in  jail  and  recog- 
nized him  as  the  man  he  saw  with  Mathews  in  the  woods  near  Poland.  At 
times  on  their  travels,  when  going  into  a  village,  Aunghst  would  take  some 
goods  and  visit  a  few  of  the  houses  making  sales,  giving  the  money  up  to 
Mathews.  The  idea  of  murdering  Mathews,  Aunghst  stated,  first  occurred  to 
him  about  the  time  they  reached  Campbellsport.  So  many  times  had  various 
plans  of  robbery  been  frustrated,  that,  grown  desperate,  when  this  suggested 
itself  he  acted  upon  it  at  the  first  opportunity.  The  murder  was  committed 
with  a  blue  beech  fence  stake  or  club,  which  the  murderer  purloined  from  the 
premises  of  Gen.  John  Campbell,  at  the  *'  Port."  Coming  to  the  spot  where 
the  murder  was  committed,  he  dealt  his  victim  a  vigorous  blow  with  the  club. 
Seeing  at  once  he  had  given  his  victim  a  death-blow,  he  seized  the  body,  threw 
it  over  a  log  and  the  club  after  it;  next  unharnessed  the  horse  and  turned  it 
loose  in  the  woods,  dropping  the  harness  on  the  thills,  rifled  the  wagon  and 
walked  off.  The  money  obtained  consisted  of  $270  or  thereabouts,  in  coin, 
which  the  murderer  tied  up  in  a  pocket  handkerchief.  Coming  to  Ravenna, 
Aunghst  stopped  at  Greer's  Tavern,  got  a  drink  of  whisky  and  enquired  the 
road  to  Pittsburgh.  While  at  the  tavern  he  placed  his  handkerchief  of  coin 
on  the  bar.  He  was  next  seen  at  Daniel  Collins',  in  Rootstown,  and  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day  in  Randolph,  and  the  next  day  in  Deerfield,  enquir- 
ing, from  point  to  point,  the  road  to  Pittsburgh.  Next  we  hear  of  him  at 
Canfield,  where  he  bought  a  horse,  paying  for  it  in  silver.     Next  at  Petersburg, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  349 

where  he  fell  in  with  Gen.  Simon  Perkins  and  Judge  Calvin  Austin.  With 
Gen.  Perkins  he  exchanged  the  greater  portion  of  his  silver  for  paper  money, 
stating  that  he  had  made  it  boating  on  the  river,  and,  intending  to  buy  some 
land  near  Wooster,  had  brought  the  silver,  supposing  he  could  do  better  with 
it  than  with  paper  money.  Not  liking  the  country  as  well  as  he  expected,  he 
was  going  back,  and  had  got  tired  of  "lugging  the  coin  "  So  the  General 
gave  him  all  the  paper  money  he  had  with  him  for  coin.  So  from  point  to 
point  he  was  traced  on  his  route  to  Pittsburgh,  and  from  that  city  to  the  forge 
in  Center  County,  where  he  was  arrested. 

At  the  January  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  in  1815,  the  grand 
jury,  of  which  Wiley  Hamilton  was  foreman,  found  an  indictment  against 
Aunghst.  He  was  arraigned  and  plead  not  guilty,  and  the  case  continued.  At 
the  October  term,  1815,  Hon.  George  Tod,  Presiding  Judge,  his  counsel,  John 
C.  Wright,  jnoved  his  discharge  in  consequence  of  some  error  in  the  indict- 
ment. The  Court  overruled  t^ie  motion.  The  grand  jury,  however,  of  which 
Erastus  Carter  was  foreman,  found  a  new  indictment,  which  was  certified  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  prisoner  electing  to  be  tried  by  that  court. 

At  the  June  term,  1816,  he  was  again  indicted,  Lewis  Day  being  foremaa 
of  the  grand  jury,  and  Darius  Lyman  Prosecuting  Attorney.  These  proceed- 
ings were  certified  to  the  Supreme  Court.  This  last  indictment  proved  to  be 
sound,  and  at  the  September  term,  1816,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Hon.  Ethan 
Allen  Brown,  of  Cincinnati,  and  Hon.  Jessup  N.  Couch,  of  Chillicothe,  upon 
the  bench,  the  trial  was  had.  Darius  Lyman  and  Benjamin  Tappan  were  the 
attorneys  for  the  State,  and  John  C.  A\'righfr  for  the  defense.  A  motion  for 
change  of  venue  to  Columbiana  County  was  made,  it  being  alleged  that  the 
prisoner  could  not  have  an  impartial  trial  in  this  county.  The  motion  was 
overruled,  and  the  trial  proceeded. 

The  following  persons  out  of  a  panel  of  thirty-six  were  chosen  as  the  jury 
to  try  the  case:  Daniel  Collins,  Rootstown;  Simeon  Crane,  Lyman  Hine,  Asa 
K.  Burroughs,  and  David  Hine,  of  Shalersville;  David  Thompson,  Ravenna; 
Benoni  Thompson,  Shalersville;  Joseph  Lewis,  Palmyra;  Daniel  Burroughs, 
Shalersville;  Elijah  Burroughs,  Shalersville;  Frederick  Willard,  Franklin;  J, 
F.  Wells,  of  Ravenna.  The  trial  terminated  in  finding  the  accused  gailtj 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree;  whereupon  the  following  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced : 

It  is  considered,  by  the  Court,  that  the  said  Henry  Aunghst  be  taken  from  hence  to  the 
Jail  of  the  County  of  Portage,  from  whence  he  came,  there  to  remain  until  the  last  Satur- 
day of  November  next,  being  the  30th  day  of  November,  on  which  day  he  be  taken  to  the 
place  of  execution,  between  the  hours  of  12  o'clock  at  noon  and  2  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  there  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  he  be  dead. 

Aunghst  was  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  years  of  age,  and  was  six  feet, 
seven  inches  high.  He  was  a  man  of  powerful  muscular  organization  and 
great  strength.  He  was  a  foundry-man,  or  iron- worker,  by  trade,  but  natur- 
ally sluggish  in  his  motions  and  movements.  It  was  told  of  him  that  when  at 
work  in  Pittsburgh  he  would  pick  up  a  trip-hammer,  weighing  500  pounds,  and 
lift  it  into  an  old-fashioned  Pennsylvania  wagon.  He  was  a  man  of  easy  dis- 
position. The  Jail  in  which  he  was  confined, was  a  log  one,  and  the  Jailer  wae 
in  the  habit  of  storing  some  of  his  household  effects  in  the  prison  portion  of 
the  Jail.  One  day  the  Jailer's  wife — Mrs.  Mason — went  into  the  prison  t® 
deposit  a  spinning-wheel.  Aunghst  pushed  her  aside  at  the  door  and  ran  out. 
Mrs.  Mason  gave  the  alarm,  and  immediate  pursuit  was  made.  After  running 
a  short  distance  Aunghst  gave  out  and  turned  back  to  his  pursuers,  laughing, 
and  gave  up  the  race,  and,  puffing  and  blowing,  came  back  to  the  Jail.      This 


350  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

old  log-building  in  which  Aunghst  was  confined  from  the  time  of  capture 
until  his  execution,  was  the  first  Jail  erected  in  the  county.  The  prisoner  was 
a  German,  or  a  "  Pennsylvania  Dutchman,"  and  Howard  Carter  says  that 
though  he  feigned  his  inability  to  speak  or  understand  English  during  the 
trial,  could  subsequently  converse  glibly  enough  with  the  school  children  who 
would  stand  upon  a  barrel  and  talk  through  the  iron  grating  covering  the  win- 
dow of  his  cell. 

When  the  day  of  execution  arrived,  November  80,  1816,  Asa  K.  Burroughs 
was  Sheriff  of  the  county,  and  William  Coolman,  William  Frazer  and  Almon 
Babcock  his  deputies.  A  militia  force  was  called  out,  under  command  of  Col. 
Solomon  Day,  of  Deerfield,  as  special  guard  on  the  occasion.  The  gallows 
was  erected  in  the  center  of  what  is  now  Sycamore  Street,  near  the  corner  of 
Spruce,  and  about  1,800  people  witnessed  the  execution.  Upon  the  gallows 
Aunghst  made  a  partial  confession,  the  substance  of  which  the  writer  has  given 
in  the  foregoing  account.  The  neck  of  the  wretched  man  was  dislocated,  but 
not  broken  by  the  drop,  and  after  being  pronounced  dead,  the  body  was  cut 
down  and  buried  near  the  foot  of  the  scaffold. 

The  night  after  the  execution  the  body  was  dug  up  by  some  parties,  who 
doubtless  desired  it  for  anatomical  purposes.  They  were  discovered  soon  after 
the  body  was  out  of  the  cofiin,  and  attempted  to  flee  with  it.  Hot  pui-suit  was 
made,  and  they  were  forced  to  drop  their  prize,  and  left  it  on  what  is  now  the 
corner  of  Oak  and  Meridian  Streets.  The  body  was  carried  to  the  Court  House 
and  guarded  that  night.  The  next  day  a  party  of  German  residents  of  the 
town  took  the  body  with  the  intention  of  sinking  it  in  "  Mother  Ward's  Pond," 
to  "keep  it  from  the  doctors."  William  Tappan,  an  erratic  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  pursued  this  party,  and  commanded  them,  in  the  name  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  to  return  the  body.  This  they  did  with  fear  and  trembling,  and  again 
the  body  lay  in  state  at  the  Court  House,  surrounded  by  the  Sheriff's  posse. 
It  was  finally  re-interred  in  the  original  grave,  the  coffin  being  filled  with 
lime,  and  the  largest  log  possible  placed  upon  it.  It  was  ru.mored  that  the 
doctors  got  the  body  after  all,  but  Homer  Frazer  says:  "I  was  present  when 
the  grave  was  opened  many  years  afterward,  and  the  skeleton  was  found  in  a 
fair  state  of  preservation." 

The  next  murder  trial  on  record  is  that  of  Abner  S.  Barris  for  the  murder 
of  Nathan  Cummings,  December  9,  1832.  This  murder  was  committed  on  the 
canal  north  of  the  village  of  Akron,  which  was  then  included  in  Portage 
County,  and  the  victim  was  a  lad  who  drove  the  horses  for  the  canal-boat. 
Barris,  it  seems,  had  had  a  quarrel  with  the  helmsman  of  the  boat,  and  in 
order  to  have  his  revenge  had  secreted  himself  at  the  side  of  the  tow-path,  with 
a  gun,  intending  to  shoot  the  helmsman.  As  the  boat  came  up,  putting  him 
in  range  of  his  adversary,  Barris  took  aim  and  fired,  missing  his  intended 
mark,  the  shot  taking  effect  upon  the  left  side  of  the  neck  of  the  lad,  Nathan 
Cummings,  causing  almost  instant  death.  Suspicion  at  once  attached  to  Barris, 
and  with  but  little  delay  he  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail  at  Ravenna.  At 
the  session  of  the  March  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  whereof  Matthew 
Birchard  was  President  Judge,  and  Elkanah  Richardson,  Elias  Harmon  and 
George  B.  De  Peyster  were  Associate  Judges,  an  indictment  for  murder  was 
found  against  Barris  by  the  grand  jury,  of  which  Jonathan  Metcalf,  of  Hud- 
son, was  foreman. 

The  prisoner,  electing  to  be  tried  in  the  Supreme  Court,  was  tried  at  the 
September  term  of  that  court,  1833.  Hon.  Ebenezer  Lane,  of  Norwalk,  pre- 
sided at  this  term,  and  Lucius  V.  Bierce  was  Prosecuting  Attorney.  The  fol- 
lowing persons  constituted  the  jury  before  whom  the  trial   took  place,  having 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  351 

been  selected  from  a  panel  of  thirty-six  men:  Elisha  Garrett,  Garrettsville; 
William  N.  Merwin,  Palmyra;  Daniel  Everett,  Nelson;  George  Y.  Wallace, 
Northfield;  Lyman  Hine,  Shalersville;  Enoch  Drake,  Freedom;  Caleb 
Atwater  and  John  A.  Whittlesey,  Atwater;  Jonah  Hine,  Randolph;  Abel 
Sabin,  Randolph;  Merrick  Ely,  Deerfield;  Joseph  Lewis,  Palmyra.  The  trial 
was  not  protracted,  and  scarcely  any  witnesses  were  examined  save  the  hands 
upon  the  canal-boat.  The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the 
second  degree.      The  Court  sentenced  Barris  to  the  penitentiary  for  life. 

Barris  never,  according  to  the  writer's  information,  denied  the  commission 
of  the  murder,  and  a  remark  he  made  when  brought  to  Ravenna  will  show  his 
own  conviction  on  the  subject.  When  tirst  brought  to  town  he  was  taken  to 
the  Globe  Tavern,  kept  by  William  Coolman,  Esq.  Mr.  Coolmau  recognizing 
Barris,  said  to  him  that  he  was  told  he  was  charged  with  a  desperate  crime. 
Barris  looked  at  him  a  moment,  drew  himself  up,  and  then  replied,  "  It  was 
not  Abner  Barris  that  did  it,  it  was  whisky."  Barris  was  a  day  laborer,  a 
rather  passionate  man,  and  about  forty  years  of  age.  He  worked  in  Ravenna 
by  the  month  about  a  year,  not  long  previoias  to  this  occurrence.  It  is  under- 
stood that  Barris  died  a  number  of  years  ago  in  the  penitentiary. 

TheMcKisson  murder  was  committed  in  the  township  of  Northfieldin  what 
is  now  Summit  County,  on  Monday,  July  24,  1837.  The  victim  of  this  mur- 
der was  Mrs.  Catherine  MoKisson,  the  wife  of  Robert  McKisson,  a  stout, 
robust  woman  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  weighed  175  pounds.  The 
murder  was  committed  about  11  o'clock  at  night.  Robert  McKisson,  the  hus- 
band, was  absent  from  home  at  the  time,  and  the  family  consisted  of  Mrs. 
McKisson  and  her  daughter  (by  a  former  marriage),  Lucinda  Croninger,  and 
a  man  named  John  Johnson.  The  two  women  slept  in  the  same  room  in  dif- 
ferent beds  and  Johnson  up  stairs.  That  night  Johnson  went  to  bed  about 
dark,  the  two  women  between  9  and  10  o'clock.  The  miirderer  entered  Mrs. 
McKisson' s  room  and  in  doing  so  aroused  Lucinda,  who  was  rendered  tempor- 
arily senseless  by  a  blow  on  the  head,  but  recovered  enough  to  see  the  last  blow 
that  was  struck  her  mother.  The  murderous  weapon  used  was  an  axe,  with  which 
the  blows  were  given  Mrs.  McKisson,  one  on  her  back,  one  on  the  top  of  her 
head  and  one  on  the  side  of  her  head.  The  mortal  wound  was  upon  the  right 
side  of  the  head,  about  two  inches  deep^  four  inches  long  and  half  an  inch 
wide.  Mrs.  McKisson  lived  until  the  next  day — July  25 — and  declared  the 
murderer  to  be  Samuel  McKisson,  the  father  of  her  husband.  Lucinda,  the 
daughter  (aged  about  eighteen),  was  also  positive  that  Samuel  McKisson  was 
the  murderer.  Samuel  McKisson  was  arrested  the  next  day  by  Col,  Arthur. 
He  was  a  man  about  seventy-two  years  old,  and  was  somewhat  crippled  in  his 
hand.  He  manifested  no  trepidation  and  even  went  to  his  son's  house  and 
kissed  the  corpse. 

Suspicion  was  attached  to  David  McKisson,  son  of  Samuel  and  brother  of 
Robert.  He  was  seen  in  the  neighborhood  the  evening  of  the  murder,  and  it 
was  well  known  that  in  the  March  previous  he  had  a  bitter  quarrel  with  his 
brother,  and  entertained  ill  will  toward  his  wife.  Col.  Arthur  set  out  in  pur- 
suit of  David,  and,  the  Saturday  after  the  murder,  arrested  him  on  Turtle  Island, 
in  Maumee  Bay.  When  found  by  Col.  Arthur  be  was  on  a  pile  driver,  and 
was  told  he  must  go  with  the  Colonel.  He  did  so  without  demur,  said  good- 
bye to  some  of  the  workmen,  saying,  "  I  shall  never  see  you  again,"  or  "  I  never 
expect  to  see  you  again."  This  was  before  he  was  told  why  Col.  Arthur  wanted 
him.  After  being  brought  back  he  had  an  interview  with  his  brother  Robert, 
who  said  to  him,  "What  have  you  brought  us  to,  David?"  "What  have  I 
brought  you  to,  Robert ? "    was  the  reply.     "No,  these  hands  never   did  that 


352  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

deed."  When  David  first  caught  sight  of  Robert  he  extended  his  hands  and 
cried  out,  '"Oh,  my  wronged  brother,  my  poor  wronged  brother,  but  you  can't 
be  righted."  David  seemed  much  distressed  and  said  to  Robert,  "  I  little 
thought  the  words  we  had  in  the  lane  would  put  me  in  irons,  did  you?"  Fur- 
ther than  these  things  David  McKissou  never  admitted  his  guilt,  but  asserted 
his  innocence  to  the  end,  and  upon  the  scafi^old  said  "these  hands  never  did 
the  deed," 

At  the  September  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  1837 — Hon.  Van  R. 
Humphrey,  President  Judge,  Charles  Sumner,  Ira  Selby  and  Joseph  Lewis, 
Associates — the  grand  jury  indicted  both  Samuel  and  David  McKisson  for 
murder.     Both  plead  not  guilty,  and  were  allowed  separate  trials. 

The  trial  of  Samuel  McKisson  commenced  on  the  4th  of  October,  before  the 
following  jury:  Jonathan  Brown,  Edward  Sumner,  Hiram  Collins,  Ezra  S. 
Bassett,  Urial  Case,  David  Collins,  William  N.  Merwin,  Isaac  Ozmun,  Bowen 
Blair,  Moses  Eggleston,  Harvey  Baldwin  and  Jonathan  Metcalf.  A  portion 
of  the  evidence  in  the  case  developed  the  fact  that  the  accused  had  a  quarrel 
with  Robert  and  his  wife  about  a  cow,  and  the  evening  before  the  murder,  in 
passing  the  two  women  at  a  spring  on  their  premises  had  uttered  a  threat  to 
them.  They  wore  laughing  at  the  time,  and  the  old  man  cried  out — "Laugh 
on!  your  laughing  will  soon  be  turned  to  trouble  and  sorrow."  The  case  was 
conducted  by  L.  V.  Bierce  and  Eben  Newton  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  by  D. 
K.  Carter  and  Wyllis  Silliman  for  the  defense.  The  jury  were  out  but  a  short 
time  and  returned  the  verdict  of  not  guilty,  and  the   accused  was  discharged. 

The  trial  of  David  McKisson  was  commenced  on  the  6th  of  October,  before 
the  following  jury:  Charles  Reed,  Peter  Mason,  Silas  Comstock,  Ashbel  Bost- 
wick,  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  A.  K.  Hubbard,  Miner  Merrick,  Hugh  Judson, 
Jonathan  Foster,  John  N.  Whittlesey,  Alva  Day  and  Daniel  Trowbridge. 
This  trial  was  conducted  with  spirit  and  ability  by  L.  V.  Bierce  and  Eben 
Newton  on  the  part  of  the  State,  and  by  R.  P.  Spalding,  David  Tod  and  N. 
M.  Humphrey  for  the  accused.  It  was  proven  by  a  witness  on  this  trial,  that 
in  May  previous  to  the  murder,  David  had  said  to  his  sisters  Mary  and  Mar- 
garet, at  Cleveland — "I  will  kill  Robert's  wife.  By  G — d  I  will;  and  then  if 
Lucinda  has  a  mind  to  have  me  she  may,  or  she  may  go  to  hell."  The  jury 
found  the  prisoner  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  the  sentence  of  the 
Court  was  pi'onounced  that  he  should  be  hung  upon  the  9th  day  of  February, 
1838.  The  gallows  was  erected  between  what  is  now  Prospect  and  Walnut 
Streets,  immediately  east  of  the  Disciples'  Church,  in  Ravenna. 

From  the  Ohio  Star'  of  February  15,  1838,  the  following  account  of  the 
execution  is  taken:  "On  Friday  afternoon,  the  9th  inst. ,  David  McKisson 
was  executed  for  the  murder  of  his  brother's  wife.  From  the  day  of  his  con- 
viction to  the  last  moment  of  his  existence  he  declared  himself  innocent  of  the 
crime  laid  to  his  charge,  but  his  conduct  seems  more  indicative  of  great  deprav- 
ity than  of  innocence.  Until  the  day  previous  to  his  execution,  he  almost 
uniformly  spoke  of  bis  situation  in  the  most  indifferent  manner,  and  studi- 
ously banished  from  his  mind  all  thoughts  of  his  condition.  On  that  day  he 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  affected  at  the  near  approach  of  death,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  execution  he  requested  the  presence  of  Elder  Stevens.  To  the 
Elder,  who  visited  him  in  his  cell  and  accompanied  him  to  the  gallows,  he 
professed  that  he  had  asked  for  and  obtained  mercy,  and  declared  that  he  could 
die  in  peace.  On  his  way  to  the  place  of  execution  McKisson  appeared  sol- 
emn and  thoughtful,  and  when  he  first  arrived  in  sight  of  the  gallows  he  was 
evidently  overcome  by  the  spectacle  and  swooned  away,  but  recovered  himself 
and  sat  firm  and  erect  on  his  seat.      He  then  handed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Graham, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  353 

who  also  accompanied  him,  his  farewell  address  which  he  had  prepared, 
remarking  that,  he  intended  to  read  it  upon  the  gallows,  but  that  he  should 
not  be  able  to  do  it.  On  arriving  at  the  gallows  he  got  out  of  the  carriage  with- 
out assistance,  requested  Elder  Stevens  and  Mr.  Graham  to  accompany  him 
upon  the  scaffold,  and  then  firmly  and  unhesitatingly  ascended  the  same  with 
the  Sheriff.  He  then  addressed  the  spectators  in  a  speech  of  nearly  a  half 
hour's  length,  consisting  partly  of  admonition  to  the  wicked  and  vicious,  and 
partly  of  an  examination  of  the  testimony  upon  which  he  was  convicted,  and 
concluded  by  declaring  his  innocence  and  his  preparation  for  death.  He 
then  i-equested  prayers,  and  he  appeared  to  respond  to  the  petition  which  was 
offered. 

"  The  rope  was  then  adjusted,  his  arms  pinioned,  and  the  cap  drawn  down 
over  his  face  by  the  Sheriff,  who  then  descended  from  the  scaffold;  as  he 
reached  the  bottom  he  trod  upon  the  spring  which  supported  the  platform, 
and  McKisson  suddenly  dropped  about  seven  feet.  Once  or  twice  he  shrugged 
his  shoulders,  and  four  or  five  times  he  drew  up  his  legs,  probably  in  conse- 
quence of  the  contraction  of  the  muscles,  and  all  was  over.  After  hanging 
until  he  was  dead,  his  body  was  taken  down  and  delivered  to  his  brother  Rob- 
ert, who  took  it  to  Northfield  for  interment.  An  immense  concourse  of  peo- 
ple attended  to  witness  the  execution.  The  number  is  variously  estimated  at 
from  1,500  to  3,000,  of  which,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  at  least  one-eighth  part  wei'O 
females.  What  there  can  be  in  such  a  spectacle  calculated  to  excite  the  curi- 
osity and  attract  the  presence  of  woman,  delicate  and  sensitive  woman,  we  are 
utterly  at  a  loss  to  determine." 

Sylvester  Heathraan  was  tried  and  convicted  of  manslaughter  at  the  Febru- 
ary term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1838.  It  appears  from  the  evidence 
that  on  the  day  when  the  disastrous  occurrence  took  place,  the  defendant,  with 
his  two  brothers,  John  and  Elisha,  had  been  absent  from  home  until  nearly 
night.  How  they  were  employed  was  not  apparent,  but  about  supper  time  John 
Heathman  (the  deceased)  returned  to  the  house  of  his  widowed  mother  much 
intoxicated,  and  was  seated  at  the  table  eating  his  supper  when  the  defendant 
(Sylvester)  entered  the  room.  John  immediately  addressed  Sylvester  with  the 
inquiry,  "  Where  is  Elisha?  "  "  He  has  gone  up  North."  "  You  are  a  d — d 
liar!  "  replied  John,  "  and  the  truth  is  not  in  you;  "  and  upon  uttering  these 
words  he  caught  up  his  fork  and  threw  it  at  the  head  of  his  brother,  and 
inflicted  something  of  a  wound  upon  his  nose.  This  violence  on  the  part  of 
John  was  followed  with  a  threat  that  if  Sylvester  came  up  stairs  that  night 
"  he  would  be  the  death  of  him"  About  this  time,  said  the  witness,  Mary 
Heathman  (a  sister,  and  the  only  person  in  the  room  at  the  time),  there  was 
heard  a  noise  resembling  the  rattling  of  knives  and  forks  near  the  place  where 
John  had  been  seated.  At  this  instant  Sylvester  seized  a  chair  and  with  it  struck 
John  a  severe  blow  on  his  side.  The  young  woman  then  left  the  room  for 
the  purpose  of  calling  her  mother.  Upon  their  entering  the  room  after  the 
space  of  a  minute  John  exclaimed,  "  Mother,  I  am  going  to  fall,"  and  imme- 
diately fell  to  the  floor.  At  this  time  blood  was  discovered  running  from  his 
shoes,  and  the  odor  of  whisky  pervaded  the  room.  Sylvester  advanced  to  the 
prostrate  body  of  his  brother  and  exclaimed,  "  John,  brother  John!"  "You 
may  call  him  now,"  said  the  poor  mother,  "  but  he  cannot  hear  you,  for  you 
have  killed  him."  Sylvester  then  endeavored  to  procure  the  attendance  of  a 
physician,  but  none  arrived  before  the  death  of  John,  which  took  place  about 
thirty  minutes  after  the  blow  was  inflicted. 

Upon  examination  it  was  ascertained  that  the  deceased  had,  in  his  right 
pantaloons  pocket,  at  the  time  of  the  blow,  a  junk  bottle  filled  with  whisky; 


354  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

that  the  chair  had  been  hurled  with  so  much  force  as  to  break  the  bottle  into 
small  pieces,  one  of  which  had  been  driven  into  the  groin  so  as  to  cut  the 
artery,  by  means  of  which  the  deceased  bled  to  death.  The  cause  was  argued 
to  the  jury  by  Messrs.  Bierce  and  Spalding  for  the  State,  and  Messrs.  Carter 
and  Newton  for  the  defendant.  A  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned  by  the  jury, 
and  the  culprit  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  one  year. 

The  murder  of  Alanson  Baldwin,  of  Aurora,  took  place  November  8,  1859, 
and  was  perpetrated  by  Lemuel  W.  Price,  also  a  resident  of  Aurora,  and  the 
nephew  of  his  victim.  Price  was  a  man  about  sixty,  a  hard  drinker  and  at 
times  uncontrollably  passionate.  On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  November  he 
became  offended  with  Mr.  Baldwin,  though  causelessly  so,  and  watching  his 
opportunity  stabbed  him  with  a  shoe  knife  upon  the  left  side  of  the  abdomen, 
the  wound  going  through  to  the  abdominal  cavity.  Mr.  Baldwin  died  the  next 
day  after  being  stabbed.  Price  was  indicted  at  the  December  term,  1859. 
The  case  began  before  Judge  Benjamin  F.  Hoffman,  February  23,  1860,  on 
an  indictment  for  murder  in  the  second  degree,  to  which  the  accused  pleaded 
not  guilty.  The  following  persons  were  the  jurors  in  the  case:  James  Hudson, 
Ravenna;  C.  O.  Brainerd,  Randolph;  O.  B.  Highley,  Windham;  C.  M.  Taylor, 
Hiram;  Silas  Clark,  Nelson;  A.  B.  Bristol,  Edinburg;  Alden  Bissell,  Roots- 
town;  Nathan  Sanford,  Edinburg;  H.  B.  Fenton,  Randolph;  E.  Hawley  and  T. 
Stewart,  Paris;  D.  C.  Davis,  Palmyra.  The  theory  of  the  defense  consisted  of 
two  points:  insanity,  and  death  from  other  causes.  During  the  trial  Price 
manifested  a  listless  indifference,  and  received  his  sentence  without  emotion. 
The  jury  were  out  but  forty-five  minutes,  and  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of 
murder  in  the  second  degree.  The  Court  sentenced  Price  On  the  25th  to  the 
penitentiary  for  life.  The  case  was  conducted  by  P.  B.  Conant  and  E.  B. 
Taylor  for  the  State.  Price  being  without  counsel,  the  Court  assigned  him 
Alphonso  Hart  and  O.  P.  Brown. 

To  keep  unbroken  the  chain  of  this  narrative,  brief  allusion  is  made  to  the 
murderous  assault  made  upon  J.  C.  Prentiss,  in  the  store  of  D.  M.  Clewell,  in 
Ravenna,  upon  the  morning  of  December  17,  1864,  by  W.  W.  Flower,  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  a  robbery  of  the  safe  in  the  store.  The  case  was  tried 
before  Judge  Charles  E.  Glidden,  at  the  January  term,  1865,  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas.  The  jury  were  in  deliberation  but  ten  minutes  and  returned 
a  verdict  of  guilty  of  assault  with  intent  to  murder.  The  Court  sentenced 
Flower  to  the  penitentiary  for  seven  years,  the  severest  penalty  prescribed  for 
the  crime  by  the  statutes  of  Ohio.  H.  H.  Willard  and  Alphonso  Hart  con- 
ducted the  case  for  the  State;  Luther  Day  and  P.  B.  Conant  for  the  accused. 

Upon  the  17th  of  March,  1865,  a  young  woman  named  Harriet  Shorts  was 
shot  in  her  mother's  house,  and  died  of  the  wound,  by  a  man  who  was  reported 
to  be  her  husband.  This  individual,  Joseph  N.  Boor,  alias  Charles  AVilson, 
was  arrested  for  murder,  but  set  up  the  defense  of  accidental  shooting.  The 
accused  in  the  case  was  indicted  at  the  May  term.  Trial  was  not  had  until  the 
September  term,  when  the  case  was  heard  before  Judge  Glidden  and  the  fol- 
lowing jury:  G.  B.  Purdy,  William  Stedman,  R.  F.  Gardner,  W.  J.  Gardner, 
H.  E.  Brush,  A.  J.  Shuman,  Reuben  Brobst,  Smith  Sanford,  A.  Chittenden, 
A.  H.  Barlow,  Arvin  Olin  and  H.  J.  Cannon.  The  indictment  charged  that  the 
accused,  "on  the  17th  of  March,  1865,  made  an  assavilt  upon  Harriet  Shorts 
with  a  shot-gun,  inflicting  upon  the  middle  of  her  back  one  mortal  wound  of 
the  length  of  one- half  of  one  inch,  and  the  depth  of  ten  inches,  of  which  mor- 
tal wound  she  immediately  died.  This  did  Joseph  N.  Boor,  alias  Wilson,  with 
premeditated  malice  to  kill  and  murder  the  said  Harriet  Shorts."  After  hear- 
ing the  testimony  and  arguments  of   counsel,    the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 


;if'- 


'    C^5<5  ^-^   '" 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  Sbl 

manslaughter.  The  Court  imposed  a  sentence  upon  the  prisoner  of  one  year 
in  the  penitentiary  from  the  19th  day  of  September,  1865.  The  case  was  con- 
ducted by  H.  H.  Willard  and  x\lphonso  Hart  for  the  State,  and  P.  B.  Conant 
and  E.  L.  Webber  on  behalf  of  the  accused. 

John  Rhodenbaugh,  a  citizen  of  Franklin  Township,  residing  upon  his  farm 
aboiat  three  miles  from  the  village  of  Kent,  in  that  township,  and  about  the 
same  distance  from  flavenna,  was  foully  murdered  between  7  and  8  o'clock  on 
the  night  of  October  24,  1865,  while  returning  home  from  Kent,  and  within  a 
little  more  than  a  mile  from  his  home.  The  spot  chosen  for  the  scene  of 
the  murder  was  upon  the  road  leading  from  Ravenna  to  Hudson,  passing 
between  Lakes  Brady  and  Pippin,  at  a  pointwhere  the  road  runs  parallel  with 
the  C.  &  P.  R.  R.,  and  within  a  few  rods  of  the  crossing  of  the  latter  with  the 
carriage  road  leading  to  Kent,  within  sight  of  the  lakes  and  the  farmhouse 
of  Joseph  Heighton.  Mr.  Rhodenbaugh  had  resided  in  Franklin  Township 
over  thirteen  years,  and  was  well  known  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  as  a 
public  auctioneer.  He  was  fifty-six  years  of  age  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1865,  and  left  a  family  consisting  of  a  wife,  four  sons  and  a  daughter,  all  of 
whom  were  present  at  the  trial.  He  was  fond  of  company  and  the  social  glass, 
and  at  times  drank  freely,  and  was,  under  such  circumstances,  apt  to  discourse 
largely  upon  his  pecuniary  means. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  murder,  commencing  at  about  3  o'clock, 
we  find  him  at  Kent  in  the  company  of  Cooper,  Beery  and  others,  playing 
cards,  drinking  and  the  like.  Leaving  Kelso's  billiard  and  drinking  saloon  at 
or  near  7  o'clock  on  that  evening,  soon  after  drinking  with  Cooper  and  Beery, 
he  set  out  for  home.  Having  proceeded  two-thirds  of  the  distance  alone  in  an 
open  wagon,  he  was  assaulted  and  dealt  two  blows  upon  the  head  (caus- 
ing instant  death)  with  a  heavy  club,  cut  near  the  scene  of  the  murder.  His 
person  was  robbed  of  a  watch  and  the  money  he  had  with  him,  supposed  to  be 
nearly  |200.  The  murder  was  discovered  shortly  after  its  committal  by  George 
Dewey,  a  resident  of  the  neighborhood.  A  Coroner's  inquest  was  held  on  the 
25th  before  Justice  D.  L.  Rockwell.  Suspicion  at  once  attached  to  Jack  Cooper 
and  Joel  Beery  as  the  perpetrators  of  the  awful  crime.  Before  9  o'clock  of  the 
25th  they  were  arrested  near  Ravenna  by  officers  R.  W.  Buck  and  S.  L.  Jen- 
nings, and  at  once  incarcerated  in  Jail.  An  affidavit  was  made  before  Justice 
Coolman  against  these  men,  and  an  examination  held  upon  Saturday,  October 
28,  occupying  from  9  A.  M.  to  5  P.  M. ,  the  result  of  which  was  that  the  accused 
were  committed  to  Jail  for  trial  at  the  next  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

The  grand  jury  at  the  January  term,  1866,  H.  M.  Lewis,  foreman,  found 
indictments  against  Cooper  and  Beery,  alleging  the  facts  previously  narrated. 
Being  arraigned  upon  Thursday,  February  1,  both  the  accused  plead  not 
guilty  thereto,  and  separate  trials  were  ordered  them.  Being  unable  to  pay 
counsel,  the  Court  assigned  Messrs.  E.  B.  Taylor,  J,  D.  Horton  and  P.  B. 
Conant  as  counsel  for  the  defense.  On  the  part  of  the  State  H.  H.  Willard, 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  assisted  by  Alphonso  Hart,  conducted  the  prosecution. 

The  trial  of  Jack  Cooper  was  commenced  on  Monday  afternoon,  February 
5,  1866,  before  Hon.  Charles  E.  Glidden.  The  first  proceeding  in  the  case 
was  the  impanneling  of  the  following  jury:  Franklin  H.  Snow,  Windham; 
E.  F.  Jagger,  Windham;  M.  P.  Higley,  Windham;  H.  S.  Johnson,  Nelson; 
R.  H.  Miller,  Garrettsville;  Charles  Goodsell,  Nelson;  Isaac  Stowell,  Gar- 
rettsville;  Jason  Rider,  Hiram;  Benjamin  Waters,  Hiram;  I.  J.  Rhodes,  Man- 
tua; Edwin  Sanford,  Mantua;  William  L.  Coe,  Edinburg.  As  soon  as  the 
jury  were  sworn,  Mr.  Willard,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  made  an  elaborate 
statement  of  the  case  to  the  jury,  detailing  the  items  of  proof  it  was  intended 


358  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

to  present.  Mr.  Taylor,  on  behalf  of  the  defense,  made  a  general  denial  of 
the  allegations  of  the  State,  meeting  them  all  with  the  simple  plea,  not  guilty. 
For  three  days  the  trial  progressed  with  unflagging  interest.  Thirty-six  wit- 
nesses were  examined,  and  elaborate  arguments  made  by  both  prosecution  and 
defense.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  the  attorneys'  pleas  were  finished, 
and  Judge  Glidden  delivered  his  charge  to  the  jury,  which  retired  at  6 
o'clock.  Near  the  hour  of  midnight  the  jury  returned  to  the  court-room  with 
a  verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree.  For  a  moment  Cooper  buried  his  face 
in  his  hands,  and  then  as  if  accepting  the  death-knell  of  his  doom  asked  to 
speak  to  some  of  the  jurors.  A  short  time  was  devoted  to  this,  and  the  doomed 
man,  encircled  by  stalwart  guards,  was  returned  to  his  prison  cell,  there  to 
meditate  and  prepare  as  best  he  could  for  the  consummation  of  the  dread 
penalty  of  that  law  he  bo  mercilessly  violated. 

The  trial  of  Joel  Beery  as  aider  and  abettor  of  Jack  Cooper  in  the  murder 
of  John  Rhodenbaugh,  the  next  scene  in  this  drama  of  crime,  was  commenced 
before  Judge  Glidden,  on  Thursday  morning,  February  8,  1866.  The  case  waa 
conducted  by  H.  H.  Willard  and  Alphonso  Hart  for  the  State,  and  Ezra  B. 
Taylor,  J,  D.  Horton  and  P.  B.  Conant  for  the  defense.  The  prisoner,  as  he 
sat  within  the  bar,  was  attended  by  his  mother,  and  his  brother,  H.  L.  Beery. 
The  pressure  of  attendance  during  the  trial  was  unabated,  and  the  court- room 
was  crowded  to  its  very  utmost  capacity  during  the  entire  progress  of  the  case. 
Beery  belonged  to  Portage  County,  and  had  many  relatives  and  friends  living 
here,  while  Cooper  was  a  comparative  stranger  and  but  little  known  in  this 
section.  The  following  jury  was  impaneled  and  sat  upon  the  case:  John 
Webber,  Deerfield;  Caleb  Steele,  Deerfield;  J.  V.  Mell,  Deertield;  George 
Webber,  Deerfield;  Stephen  Frazer,  Deerfield;  John  H.  Hofiinan,  Deerfield; 
J.  M.  Fry,  Deerfield;  T.  H.  Whittemore,  Deerfield;  John  Mansfield,  Atwater; 
Curtiss  Goddard,  Edinburg;  George  Brigden,  Edinburg;  Cornelius  Mott, 
Deerfield.  After  the  selecting  of  the  jurors  was  completed,  the  trial  was 
opened  by  a  full  statement  of  the  case  to  the  jury  by  Mr.  Hart,  on  behalf  of 
the  prosecution,  of  the  State  vs.  Joel  Beery,  for  aiding  and  abetting  Jack 
Cooper,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1865,  in  murdering  John  Ehodenbaugh. 
The  theory  of  the  defense  was  then  ably  presented  to  the  jury  by  Ezra  B. 
Taylor.  Nearly  fifty  witness  were  examined  on  this  trial,  which  also  lasted 
three  days,  and  untiring  efforts  were  put  forth  by  Beery's  counsel  to  clear  him. 
The  jury  was  charged  by  Judge  Glidden  on  Saturday  forenoon,  February  10, 
and  retired  at  half  past  12  o'clock.  For  more  than  twelve  hours  the  jury  wres- 
tled with  the  evidence  before  reaching  a  unanimous  conclusion.  At  a  quarter 
past  1  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  they  filed  into  the  court-room  with  a  verdict 
of  murder  in  the  second  degree.  The  verdict  was  received  by  the  people 
with  great  surprise,  as  it  was  the  general  opinion  that  Beery  was  equally 
guilty  with  Cooper,  and  should  have  received  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law; 
and  the  jury  was,  at  the  time,  considerably  criticised  and  blamed  for  letting 
him  off  so  easily. 

On  Monday  morning,  February  12,  the  convicted  murderers,  Cooper  and 
Beery,  were  brought  before  the  bar  to  receive  sentence.  The  latter  was  the 
first  to  appear  in  Court,  and  after  being  asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say  in  his 
own  behalf,  and  answering  that  he  had  not,  was  sentenced  to  hard  labor  in  the 
penitentiary  for  life,  where  he  was  soon  afterward  taken.  The  sentence  was 
received  with  but  little  or  no  emotion  by  the  prisoner,  and  as  no  effort  was 
made  by  his  counsel  to  get  a  new  trial,  we  can  readily  infer  that  both  they  and 
Beery  were  satisfied  with  the  lenient  justice  of  the  verdict.  Upon  receiving 
sentence,  Beery  was  returned  to  his  cell,  and  Cooper  brought  into  Court.     A 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  359 

motion  for  a  new  trial  was  made  by  Cooper's  counsel  and  promptly  overruled 
by  Judge  Glidden.  Before  pronouncing  sentence  the  Court  asked  the  prisoner 
if  he  had  anything  to  say  why  the  penalty  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced 
upon  him.  Thereupon,  Cooper  arose  and  answered  that  he  had  little  to  say 
about  his  innocence,  but  he  could  hardly  feel  as  if  he  had  been  fairly  dealt 
with,  or  he  would  not  have  been  convicted  of  murder.  He  said  he  was  not  a 
smart,  or  an  educated  man,  and  could  not  speak  very  well,  but  did  not  think 
on  the  evidence  against  him,  he  ought  to  be  hung.  The  prisoner  then  resumed 
his  seat,  and  Judge  Glidden,  after  an  able  and  exhaustive  summing  up  of  the 
evidence  upon  which  he  was  convicted,  and  showing  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt 
that  he  was  guilty  of  the  crime  charged,  sentenced  him  to  be  hanged  on  the 
6th  of  April,  1866. 

The  verdict  and  sentence  in  the  Cooper  case  gave  universal  satisfaction.  It 
was  the  third  in  which  the  death  penalty  was  pronounced  upon  a  criminal  in 
Portage  County;  and  a  full,  thorough,  unbiased  review  of  the  testimony  can 
leave  no  shadow  of  doubt  of  the  equal  justice  and  propriety  of  the  verdict, 
inflicting,  as  it  did,  upon  the  culprit,  the  direst  penalty  of  the  law.  The  ter- 
rible deed  was  deliberately  planned  and  cruelly  executed. 

In  the  management  of  the  Cooper  and  Beery  trials.  Judge  Glidden 
exhibited  an  impartiality  and  cleai'ness  upon  legal  questions  that  commended 
him  in  a  high  degree  to  the  bar,  and  the  many  hundreds  of  citizens  who 
watched  their  progress.  The  attorneys  for  the  State,  Messrs.  Willard  and 
Hart,  performed  their  duties  with  a  fitting  sense  of  the  responsibility  resting 
upon  them,  and  with  a  zealous  care  that  through  no  default  of  theirs  should 
the  interests  of  the  people  be  allowed  to  suffer.  Of  the  defense  made  for  the 
prisoners  by  Messrs.  Taylor,  Horton  and  Conant,  it  can  truly  be  said,  that  no 
man  could  have  been  defended  with  greater  ability,  pertinacity  or  zeal.  Had 
the  culpi'its  been  members  of  the  most  influential  or  wealthy  families,  instead 
of  having  to  depend  upon  the  cou.nty  for  their  defense,  greater  efi"orts  could 
not  have  been  made  in  their  behalf.  The  State  thus  throws  her  mantle  of 
protection  around  the  accused,  guaranteeing  him  every  chance  for  a  fair  and 
impartial  trial. 

After  Cooper's  conviction,  he  gave  a  history  of  his  career.  His  real  name 
was  Samuel  Wittum,  and  he  was  born  in  Elk  Creek  Township,  Erie  Co.,  Penn., 
a  few  miles  east  of  the  Ohio  line,  October  22,  1837.  His  father,  Artemus 
Wittum,  had  previously  resided  in  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  and  also  in  Indi- 
ana. Both  his  parents  died  when  Samuel  was  about  six  years  old,  and  he 
then  went  to  live  with  a  farmer  named  James  Bird  or  Baird.  This  man 
treated  him  badly,  and  one  of  his  sisters  learning  the  facts  came  and  took  him 
away.  He  began  life  for  himself  on  the  Beaver  &  Erie  Canal,  and  henceforth 
followed  a  wild,  roving  career.  He  was  twice  married,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  a  gambler,  counterfeiter,  horse  thief  and  murderer,  and  to  have  served  a 
term  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary,  ere  committing  the  deed  for  which  he  finally 
sufi"ered  death.  Wittum,  or  Cooper,  as  he  is  best  known  to  our  readers,  was 
respited  by  the  Governor  from  the  6th  until  the  27th  of  April,  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  a  sister  living  in  the  East  an  opportunity  to  visit  him.  Though  at 
first  professing  repentance  for  his  crime,  he  tried  to  break  Jail  three  times,  the 
last  being  a  desperate  attempt.  He  fiercely  attacked  Sheriff  Jennings,  secured 
a  fastening  bar  used  on  one  of  the  doors,  and  calling  on  some  other  prisoners 
for  assistance,  which  they,  however,  refused,  made  a  superhuman  effort  to 
gain  his  freedom.  The  alarm  was  given  and  the  Jail  soon  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  of  excited  citizens,  and  Cooper,  seeing  that  escape  was  now  impossible, 
threw  down  the  bar  and  retired  to  his  cell  cursing  and  swearing  like  a  maniac. 


360  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

He  refused  to  allow  the  Sheriff  to  enter  his  cell  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
irons  on  his  hands  and  feet,  and  exhibiting  a  knife  which  he  had  in  some 
unknown  manner  secured,  swore  he  would  kill  any  man  who  would  attempt  to 
do  so.  Science  now  came  to  the  rescue,  and  a  physician  was  called  in  who 
with  a  syringe  drenched  Cooper  with  chloroform  until  he  lay  upon  the  floor 
in  a  senseless  condition.  He  was  then  heavily  ironed,  and  so  remained  until 
his  execution,  April  27,  1866,  on  a  gallows  erected  in  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  Jail. 

A  few  months  passed  by,  and  the  dark  crime  of  murder  once  more  stained 
the  record  of  Portage  County.  On  Monday,  November  26,  1866,  a  young 
man  named  Wilson  S.  Roof  entered  the  house  of  William  A.  Musson,  at  Mog- 
adore,  Suffield  Township,  and  shot  to  death  his  wife,  Mrs.  Harriet  Musson, 
while  she  was  engaged  in  her  daily  labors.  The  murderer  fled,  and  a  reward 
of  $550  was  offered  for  his  arrest,  which  was  effected  on  Thanksgiving  morn- 
ing, November  29,  in  Stark  County,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Lima  Sta- 
tion, on  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad.  The  culprit  was  captured  by 
James  Roath,  a  farmer  of  that  vicinity,  to  whom  he  confessed  that  he  was  the 
marderer  of  Mrs.  Musson.  Roath  and  William  Wiles  took  the  prisoner  in  a 
buggy  to  Lima  Station,  thence  by  train  to  Ravenna,  where  they  arrived  a  lit- 
tle after  noon,  and  delivered  him  to  the  Sheriff.  The  following  Saturday 
Roof  was  examined  before  Justice  Andrew  Jackson.  Prosecuting  Attorney 
H.  H.  Willard  and  J.  J.  Hall,  of  Akron,  appeared  for  the  State,  and  Alphonso 
Hart  and  C.  A.  Reed  for  the  defense.  The  prisoner  pleaded  not  guilty  to  the 
charge  of  murder,  and  upon  a  thorough  examination  was  remanded  to  Jail  to 
await  the  action  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

Soon  afterward  the  case  took  a  new  turn,  and  suspicion  began  to  center 
on  Milton  Moore,  a  wealthy  married  man  of  Mogadore,  doing  business  in 
Akron,  as  an  accomplice  in  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Musson.  In  March,  1867,  he 
was  indicted  for  prompting  and  procuring  Roof  to  commit  the  deed.  It  was 
rumored  around  Mogadore  that  Moore  was  a  trifle  too  intimate  with  Roof  's 
sister,  Hattie,  and  the  scandal  soon  became  common  gossip.  During  the 
absence  of  Mrs.  Moore  from  home,  Mrs.  Musson  (who  was  her  cousin)  it  is 
said,  wrote  her  regarding  the  talk  that  was  going  the  rounds,  and  upon  Mrs. 
Moore's  return  she  parted  temporarily  from  her  husband.  This  it  was  claimed 
led  up  to  the  commission  of  the  tragedy.  Moore  gave  bail  in  $50,000  security, 
and  the  case  came  to  trial  May  27,  1867,  before  Hon.  George  M.  Tuttle  and 
the  following  jury:  T.  G.  Austin,  R.  P.  Cannon,  C.  O.  Foot,  E.  W.  Grey,  A. 
B.  Griffin,  Clark  Norton,  Isaac  Brown,  Charles  Dudley,  Ira  Gardner,  John 
Gillis,  C.  A.  Mason  and  Joseph  Preston.  The  attorneys  for  the  State  were  H. 
H.  Willard,  A.  J.  Dyer.  George  Bliss,  John  McSweeney  and  Michael  Stuart;  and 
for  the  defense  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  S.  W.  McClure  and  J.  J.  Hall.  The  trial 
lasted  five  days,  and  though  Roof  swore  positively  to  Moore's  connection  with 
the  crime,  the  latter  was  acquitted  on  Friday,  May  31.  On  the  following  day 
Roof  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge  of  murder  in  the  second  degree,  and  was 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  1867,  Charles  E.  Harris  deliberately  shot  his 
son,  Alfred  L.,  a  young  business  man  of  Kent.  At  the  November  term  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  he  pleaded  guilty  to  the  indictment  of  "  shooting 
with  intent  to  kill,"  and  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  ten  years. 
The  father  s  intemperate  habits  was  the  cause  of  the  deed,  and  though  the  son 
apparently  recovered  at  the  time,  he  has  since  died,  it  is  claimed  from  the 
effects  of  the  shot. 


HISTORY-  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  361 

Frank  M.  Kelso,  of  Kent,  was  indicted  at  the  January  term,  1870,  for 
murder  in  the  second  degree,  James  Montague,  who  died  on  or  soon  after 
November  18,  1869,  being  the  victim.  The  trouble  occurred  through  Kelso 
accusing  Montague  of  stealing  whisky  from  his  (Kelso's)  saloon,  which  the 
latter  denied.  A  fight  ensued,  and  it  was  claimed  by  the  State  that  from 
injuries  then  received  Montague  subsequently  died,  his  body  being  found 
November  28,  in  a  cornfield  some  distance  from  the  scene  of  the  fight.  The 
trial  came  off  before  Hon.  P.  B.  Conant  in  the  fall  term  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  1870.  Kelso's  attorneys  were  Ezra  B.  Taylor  and  D.  L.  Rock- 
well, and  the  State  was  represented  by  Prosecuting  Attorney  C.  A.  Reed  and 
Alphonso  Hart.  The  accused  was  convicted  of  manslaughter,  and  sentenced 
to  the  penitentiary  for  one  year.  There  was  no  premeditation  in  this  affair, 
and  such  an  unfortunate  event  as  the  death  of  Montague  might  result  from 
one  blow  struck  in  passion  during  any  ordinary  quarrel.  Upon  the  expiration 
of  hi5  term,  Kelso  returned  to  Kent,  a  reformed  man,  claiming  that  he  could 
now  see  the  evil  results  of  liquor  selling,  and  said  that  his  imprisonment  was 
the  best  thing  for  him  that  could  have  happened.  He  engaged  in  railroading, 
and  soon  came  to  be  regarded  by  his  employers  as  one  of  the  most  peaceable 
and  trustworthy  men  on  the  road. 

The  shooting  of  E.  M.  Newell  by  Orlando  H.  Roberts  at  Mantua,  on  Sun- 
day, October  19,  1884,  is  the  last  killing  that  has  occurred  in  this  county. 
The  shot  was  fired  while  the  two  were  engaged  in  a  controversy  over  some 
chestnuts,  and  Newell  died  about  a  week  afterward.  Roberts  gave  himself  up 
on  the  day  of  the  shooting,  and  was  placed  in  the  county  Jail  at  Ravenna,  but 
subsequently  he  had  a  hearing  before  Justice  Smith,  who  discharged  him. 
Another  trial  took  place  before  Justice  Holcomb,  who  placed  him  under  bonds 
of  $1,000  to  appear  before  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  at  the  January  term. 
The  grand  jury  indicted  him  for  murder  in  the  second  degree,  and  the  trial 
began  before  Hon,  George  F.  Arrel  on  Monday,  February  2,  1885.  The  attor- 
neys for  the  State  were  Prosecutor  I.  T.  Siddall  and  J.  H.  Nichols;  and  Hon. 
Luther  Day  and  W.  B.  Thomas  for  the  defendant.  The  defense  labored  to 
establish  a  case  of  self-defense,  claiming  that  Newell  was  the  aggressor.  The 
jury  retired  on  Thursday  afternoon,  and  on  Friday  afternoon  returned  a  ver- 
dict of  guilty  of  assault  and  battery.  A  verdict  of  acquittal  would  have 
created  much  less  surprise  throughout  the  county,  and  the  general  opinion  is 
that  Roberts  escaped  with  a  very  light  sentence.  On  Saturday  morning,  Feb- 
ruary 7,  Judge  Arrel  sentenced  the  defendant  to  three  months  in  the  county 
jail,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  $100  and  costs. 


362  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Newspapers  of  the  Past  and  Pkesent— Ravenna  Papers — Western 
Courier  and  the  Western  Public  Advertiser— Ohio  Star— Watchman 
—Buckeye  Democrat— Western  Reserve  Cabinet  and  Family  Visitor 
— Plain  Dealer— Portage  Sentinel— Portage  County  Whig,  and  Home 
Companion  and  Whig— Portage  County  Democrat,  Republican-Demo- 
crat, AND  Ravenna  Republican — Independent  Press,  and  Reformer — 
Hickory  Flail  and  Fusion  Thresher— A.rgus— Democratic  Press— Por- 
tage County  Republican— Kent  Newspapers — Proposed  Franklin 
Gazette— The  Omnium  Gatherum  and  its  Successors  :  The  Family  Visitor, 
Literary  Casket,  Cuyahoga  Reporter,  Saturday  Review,  Commercial 
Bulletin,  Saturday  Bulletin,  and  Kent  Saturday  Bulletin— Kent 
News  of  1867— Present  Kent  News— Garrettsville  Newspapers— Gar- 

RETTSVILLE  MONTHLY   REVIEW — GaRRETTSVILLE  JOURNAL— HOME   BAZAR— 

Atwater  Newspapers— Sharp  Sickle— Atwater  News. 

FOR  seventeen  years  succeeding  its  organization,  Portage  County  had  not 
one  newspaper  published  within  her  limits,  but  in  1825  the  first  printing 
press  was  set  up  in  Ravenna,  thus  furnishing  another  link  toward  founding  a 
community  of  progressive  and  intelligent  people.  Just  sixty  years  ago  J.  B. 
Butler,  a  young  man  from  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  made  his  appearance  in  Ravenna 
with  a  press,  type  and  other  materials  of  a  newspaper  office,  and  April  23, 
1825,  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Western  Courier  and  The  Western  Public 
Advertiser.  It  was  a  four-page,  twenty-column  sheet,  20x26  inches  in  size, 
and  printed  on  the  coarse,  heavy  paper  of  those  early  days.  The  subscription 
price  was  $2.50  per  annum,  but  if  paid  "half  yearly  in  advance,"  $2  was  the 
amount  charged.  An  offer  was  made  by  the  editor  to  receive  in  payment  for 
subscriptions  "most  kinds  of  produce,  at  the  current  market  prices,  if  deliv- 
ered at  the  stores  of  Mr.  Z.  Kent  or  Perry  &  Prentiss,  in  Ravenna."  Mr. 
Butler  was  an  eccentric  young  man  of  some  talent,  an  admirer  of  Henry  Clay, 
and  yielded  his  support  to  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  which 
went  into  power  March  4,  1825.  The  Courier  was  started  on  a  subscription 
list  of  320,  which  at  the  end  of  the  first  six  months  had  grown  to  650.  It  was 
a  very  good  local  paper  for  those  days,  and  was  regarded  as  a  great  boon  by 
the  people  of  the  county,  irrespective  of  political  affiliations. 

Upon  the  close  of  Volume  II,  April  14,  1827,  Mr.  Butler  sold  the  Courier 
to  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  and  C.  B.  Thompson,  by  whom  its  publication  was 
continued.  In  May,  1828,  James  B.  Walker  bought  a  half  interest  in  the 
paper,  the  firm  being  Coolman,  Thompson  &  Walker.  The  Courier  at  this 
time  was  intensely  anti- Jackson,  and  in  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1828 
fought  ' '  old  Hickory  "  bitterly,  but  to  no  purpose,  for  he  swept  the  State  and 
Nation,  though  Adams  carried  Portage  County  by  a  majority  of  1,257.  Mr. 
Thompson  died  March  15,  1829,  leaving  Coolman  &  Walker  sole  owners.  On 
the  6th  of  June,  1829,  the  latter  disposed  of  his  interest  to  Mr.  Coolman,  who 
thus  obtained  the  full  ownership.  When  the  Ohio  Star  was  established  at 
Ravenna,  in  January,  1830,  the  Courier  became  the  Democratic  organ  of  the 
county,  and  so  remained  until  it  ceased  publication.  On  the  15th  of  January, 
1830,  a  Mr.  Harsha  purchased  an  interest,  and  the  firm  of  Coolman  &  Harsha 
existed  until  April,  1831,  when  the  latter  retired  and  Mr.  Coolman  was  once 
more  sole  owner.     In  August,  1832,    John  Harmon,  who   for   several   months 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  363 

previously  had  been  assistant  editor,  purchased  the  Courier  of  Mr.  Coolman. 
He  edited  and  published  the  paper  until  the  fall  of  1836,  when  he  sold  it  to 
Selby  &  Bobbins,  two  young  men  of  Ravenna,  who,  in  January,  1837,  raised 
the  subscription  price  to  $2  in  advance,  $2.50  within  six  months  and  $3  at  the 
close  of  the  year.  The  Courier  does  not  seem  to  have  prospered  under  its  new 
management  and  IVIr.  Harmon  again  took  control,  but  early  in  1838  it  ceased 
publication  and  was  never  revived. 

The  Ohio  Star  was  established  at  Ravenna  by  Lewis  L.  Rice,  and  first  issued 
January  6,  1830.  Mr.  Rice  was  a  printer  from  New  York,  but  without  means 
to  start  such  an  enterprise,  and  the  capital  to  bviy  the  press  and  type  was  fur- 
nished by  CyruB  Prentiss  and  Jonathan  Sloane,  two  well  remembered  pioneers 
of  Ravenna.  The  Star  was  a  four-page,  twenty- column  sheet,  20x30  inches  in 
dimensions,  the  annual  subscription  price  being  $2  in  advance  and  $2.50  if 
not  paid  before  the  expiration  of  the  year.  It  adopted  as  its  motto,  "  Be  Just 
and  Fear  Not."  The  first  prospectus  issued  by  Mr.  Rice  gave  its  title  as  the 
Western  Star,  but  subsequently  learning  that  a  paper  bearing  that  name  was 
located  at  Lebanon,  Ohio  (which  paper,  by  the  way,  was  established  by  John 
McLean  in  1806,  and  is  still  in  active  operation),  he  at  once  substituted  "Ohio" 
for  "Western,"  and  the  first  issue  came  out  as  the  Ohio  Star.  In  his  pros- 
pectus the  editor  says:  "We  are  opposed  to  all  secret  combinations  and  asso- 
ciations, under  whatever  plausible  character."  But  the  Star  was  especially 
an  anti-Masonic  paper,  the  workings  of  which  order  it  vigorously  attacked  and 
exposed  in  every  issue.  It  was  also  bitterly  opposed  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
In  August,  1832,  the  Star  was  enlarged  to  a  twenty-four  column  paper,  and 
otherwise  much  improved. 

On  the  Ist  of  January,  1834,  Mr.  Rice  retired  from  the  editorship,  hav- 
ing previously  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  Star  to  Laurin  Dewey,  who 
still  continued  the  anti-Masonic  and  anti-Catholic  warfare.  When  the 
Whig  party  succeeded  the  anti-Masonic,  embracing  the  elements  of  the 
latter  organization,  the  Star  became  the  local  organ  of  Whiggism  in 
Portage  County.  In  January,  1837,  the  subscription  price  was  increased 
to  $2  in  advance,  $2.50  within  six  months,  and  $3  at  the  close  of  the 
year.  On  the  8th  of  March,  1838,  Lyman  W.  Hall,  who  came  to  Ravenna  in 
September,  1830,  bought  an  interest  in  the  Star,  and  the  firm  became  Hall  & 
Dewey.  In  June,  1838,  the  paper  was  again  enlarged,  and  was  now  a  four- 
page,  twenty- eight-column  sheet,  24x36  inches  in  size.  Mr.  Dewey  being 
elected  Sheriff  of  Portage  County  in  October,  1838,  disposed  of  his  interest 
to  Mr.  Hall,  who  thus  became  sole  proprietor.  In  December,  1839,  he  sold 
the  Star  to  Root  &  Elkins,  who  engaged  A.  H.  Lewis  to  edit  the  paper.  In 
April,  1840,  Mr.  Elkins  bought  out  Root,  and  he  in  turn  retired  in  December, 
1842,  having  sold  the  office  to  Laurin  Dewey  and  William  Wadsworth.  Mr. 
Lewis  still  continued  as  editor  of  the  Star,  which  position  he  filled  continu- 
ously from  December,  1839,  until  December,  1843.  The  firm  of  Dewey  & 
Wadsworth  continued  until  April,  1844,  when  the  latter  purchased  Mi-.  Dew- 
ey's interest,  and  Mr.  Lewis  again  assumed  editorial  control;  but  the  follow- 
ing December  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the 
Ohio  General  Assembly,  and  gave  up  the  editorship  of  the  Star  to  accept  that 
position.  In  April,  1845,  Mr.  Lewis  obtained  an  interest  in  the  paper,  and 
the  firm  became  William  Wadsworth  &  Co.,  which  existed  until  October,  1847, 
when  the  senior  partner  bought  out  Mr.  Lewis,  who,  however,  filled  the  edito- 
rial chair  until  December,  in  which  month  he  finally  severed  his  connection 
with  the  paper. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1848,  Lyman  W.  Hall  again  got  full  ownership  of 


364  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  Star,  and  in  September,  1852,  enlarged  the  sheet,  making  it  25x39  inches 
in  dimensions.  He  remained  the  editor  and  proprietor  until  its  amalgamation 
with  the  Home  Companion  and  Whig,  in  April,  1854.  Soon  after  the  advent 
of  the  Free  Soil  or  Abolition  party,  the  Star,  though  previously  a  Whig  paper, 
became  an  advocate  of  the  principles  of  Free  Soil  ism.  This  was  its  political 
faith  at  the  time  of  the  amalgamation,  though  considerably  tinctured  with 
Know-nothiugism,  which  had  previously  made  its  appearance  in  the  political 
arena.  The  several  elements  embraced  in  the  Whig,  Free  Soil  and  Know-noth- 
ing parties  in  Portage  Counties,  had  drifted  so  closely  together  in  political 
sentiment,  that  the  amalgamation  of  the  tsio  papers  as  the  Portage  County 
Democrat,  was  a  judicious  move.  The  Democrat  was  therefore  their  lineal  suc- 
cessor in  the  journalistic  field. 

The  Watchman  was  a  small 'monthly  paper  of  free"  thought  or  infidel  ten- 
dencies, established  in  Ravenna  in  January,  1835,  by  John  Harmon.  It  was 
issued  from  the  Courier  office,  which  paper  Mr.  Harmon  was  then  publishing, 
and  lasted  only  a  brief  time,  as  the  community  would  not  at  that  period  give 
their  support  to  such  a  publication. 

The  Buckeye  Democrat  was  started  in  Ravenna  on  capital  furnished  by  a 
coterie  of  gentlemen,  among  whom  were  John  B.  King,  Rufus  P.  Spalding, 
Joseph  Lyman  and  Asahel  Tyler,  under  the  firm  name  of  John  B.  King  &  Co., 
with  Le  Grand  Byington  as  editor.  The  Democrat  was  intended  to  fill  the 
place  of  the  Courier,  which  had  discontinued  publication  the  previous  year, 
leaving  the  Democracy  of  Portage  County  without  a  local  organ.  Its  first 
number  made  its  appearance  May  24,  1838,  and  was  a  four-page,  twenty-four- 
column  paper,  22x32  inches  in  dimensions.  The  Democrat  was  thoroughly 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  after  an  existence  of 
about  nine  months  it  ceased  publication,  issuing  its  final  number  February 
14,  1839. 

The  Western  Reserve  Cabinet  and  Family  Visitor  was  first  issued  in  Ravenna 
January  1,  1840,  by  Lyman  W.  Hall,  who  previously  owned  and  edited  the 
Ohio  Star.  The  Cabinet  and  Visitor  was  a  small  twenty -column  sheet,  18x27 
inches  in  size,  a  kind  of  religio-political,  literary  and  scientific  paper,  started 
to  supply  a  supposed  craving  for  such  advanced  reading  matter.  The  sub- 
scription price  was  $1.50  per  annum.  The  initial  number  was  an  experiment, 
and  the  second  number  did  not  make  its  appearance  until  March  5,  1840. 
With  the  beginning  of  Volume  III  in  March,  1842,  the  paper  came  out  enlarged 
to  a  twenty-four-column  sheet,  21x33  inches  in  size,  but  upon  the  close  of  this 
volume,  February  21,  1843,  it  was  discontinued,  because  of  the  delinquency  of 
its  subscribers.  Judging  from  the  editor's  valedictory,  it  would  seem  that  there 
was  not  sufficient  encouragement  to  warrant  a  continuance  of  the  publication 
of  the  Cabinet  and  Visitor. 

The  Plain  Dealer  was  a  Democratic  paper  started  in  Ravenna  in  1844,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  a  helping  hand  toward  the  election  of  James  K.  Polk  to 
the  Presidency.  A  Mr.  Canfield  was  editor  and  publisher,  but  after  a  very 
brief  and  flickering  existence,  it  gave  up  the  struggle  and  ceased  publication. 

The  Portage  Sentinel,  the  next  journalistic  enterprise  in  Ravenna,  was 
established  by  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  and  Roswell  Batterson,  and  first  issued 
Jane  5,  1845,  as  the  local  Democratic  organ  of  Portage  County.  It  was  a 
four-page,  twenty- four-column  sheet,  22x32  inches  in  dimensions,  and  had 
placed  at  its  head  the  following  motto  taken  from  the  inaugural  of  President 
Polk:  "The  Constitution — The  Safeguard  of  our  Federal  Compact."  Its 
subscription  price  was  $1.50  in  advance,  $2  if  paid  within  the  year  and  $2,50 
after  that  period.       In  June,   1847,   the  Sentinel  came  out  in  a  new  dress, 


-^ 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  367 

enlarged  to  a  four-page,  twenty-eight-column  sheet  of  24x36  inches,  and  flying 
the  following  suggestive  motto  from  Jetferson:  "Opposition  to  Tyranny  is 
Obedience  to  God."  Oa  the  24th  of  March,  1851,  Mr.  Batterson,  on  account 
of  poor  health,  severed  his  connection  with  the  paper,  leaving  Mr.  Harris  sole 
proprietor.  With  the  issue  of  August  2,  1854,  he  too  retired  from  the  <Sen^ineZ, 
having  previously  sold  the  office  to  Alphonso  Hart  and  R.  E.  Craig,  under  the 
firm  title  of  Hart  &  Craig,  who  began  a  new  series,  Vol.  I,  No.  1.  On  the 
24th  of  August,  1854,  the  name  of  the  paper  was  changed  to  the  Weekly 
Portage  Sentinel,  and  also  somewhat  enlarged.  In  January,  1855,  Mr.  Hart 
became  sole  owner,  but  with  the  beginning  of  Volume  III,  August  14,  1856,  he 
sold  an  interest  in  the  Sentinel  to  James  W.  Somerville.  The  partnership  of 
Hart  &  Somerville  continued  until  December  31, 1857,  when  Mr.  Hart  disposed 
of  his  interest  to  the  junior  partner.  Throughout  Mr.  Hart's  editorial  control 
the  Sentinel  was  intensely  Democratic,  opposing  the  American  and  new-born 
Republican  parties,  and  their  local  organ,  the  Portage  County  Democrat,  with 
an  unsparing  pen. 

The  Sentinel,  after  a  publication  of  nearly  seventeen  years,  issued  its  final 
number  February  8,  1862.  By  virtue  of  a  mortgage,  Samuel  D.  Harris  took 
charge  of  the  office,  sold  the  material  to  Lyman  W.  Hall,  of  the  Portage 
County  Democrat,  and  thus  the  Sentinel  became  extinct. 

The  Portage  County  Whig  was  established  in  Ravenna  by  John  S.  Herrick 
in  August,  1848.  It  was  a  four-page  paper,  of  twenty  eight  columns,  printed 
on  a  sheet  23x35  inches  in  dimensions,  and  published  at  $1.50  per  annum  in 
advance,  and  %2  at  the  end  of  the  year.  It  advocated  the  political  principles 
of  the  Whig  party,  and  soon  gained  a  respectable  circulation.  On  the  24th  of 
August,  1853,  the  beginning  of  Volume  VI,  the  name  of  the  paper  was 
changed  to  the  Home  Companion  and  Whig,  and  so  remained  until  its  amal- 
gamation with  the  Ohio  Star  in  April,  1854. 

The  Portage  County  Democrat  sprung  from  the  amalgamation  of  the  Ohio 
<Stor,  owiaed  and  edited  by  Lyman  W.  Hall,  and  the  Home  Companion  and 
Whig,  of  which  John  S.  Herrick  was  the  editor  and  proprietor.  It  was  estab- 
lished by  the  firm  of  Hall,  Herrick  &  Wadsworth,  the  last- mentioned  gentle- 
man having  been  connected  with  the  Ohio  Star  from  December,  1842,  until 
July,  1848.  The  Democrat  was  first  issued  April  5,  1854,  and  wos  a  four- 
page,  thii'ty-two-column  paper,  26x40  inches  in  size,  published  at  $1.50  per 
annum  in  advance,  or  $2  at  the  close  of  the  year.  The  new  paper  took  for  its 
motto  Jefi"erson'8  saying:  "Resistance  To  Tyrants  Is  Obedience  To  God,"  which 
had  previously  been  the  motto  of  the  Sentinel.  In  tbe  State  election  of  1855 
the  Know-nothings  and  the  new-born  Republican  party  united  on  all  of  the 
candidates  excepting  Governor,  and  the  Democrat  supported  the  combination 
ticket,  and  Salmon  P.  Chase,  the  Republican  Gubernatorial  nominee. 

In  1858,  three  years  after  its  organization,  the  Republican  party  of  Ohio 
embraced  within  its  fold  most  of  the  strength  of  the  Whig,  Free  Soil,  and 
Know-nothing  parties,  previously  the  opponents  of  the  Democracy.  Tbe 
Democrat  was  its  local  organ  in  Portage  County  throughout  this  gathering- in 
process,  and,  with  the  changes  in  name,  has  so  remained  up  to  the  present. 

With  the  issue  of  April  30,  1856,  Mr.  Wadsworth's  connection  with  the 
Democrat  ceased,  H.  R.  W.  Hall,  son  of  the  senior  partner,  taking  his  place, 
the  firm  becoming  Hall,  Herrick  &  Co.  In  March,  1859,  Mr.  Herrick  sold  his 
interest  to  the  Halls,  and  the  title  of  the  firm  changed  to  L.  W.  Hall  &  Son, 
who  continued  the  business,  raising  the  subscription  price  to  $1.50  in  advance, 
12  at  the  end  of  six  months,  and  $2.50  after  that  period.  In  April,  1861,  the 
junior  partner  severed  his  relations  with  the  Democrat,  retiring  on  account  of 

20 


368  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

his  physical  health  becoming  impaired.  Lyman  W.  Hall  continued  as  editor 
and  proprietor,  giving  his  earnest  and  vigorous  support  to  the  Union  cause.  In 
March,  1862,  he  took  his  son  into  the  office  as  associate  editor.  The  high 
price  of  labor,  paper,  and  all  other  materials  during  the  war,  necessitated  the 
advancement  of  the  subscription  price,  which,  in  March,  1864,  was  raised  to 
$2  in  advance,  and  the  following  December  to  $2.50.  In  March,  1866,  H.  R. 
W.  Hall  again  obtained  an  interest  in  the  paper,  and  the  firm  became  once 
more  L.  W.  Hall  &  Son.  On  the  18th  of  April,  1866,  the  Democrat  came  out 
enlarged,  and  in  an  entirely  new  dress,  printed  from  new  type.  It  was  now  a 
four-page,  thirty-six-column  paper,  28x44  inches  in  size.  In  November,  1868, 
ih&  Democrat  announced  as  its  terms  $2  in  advance,  $2.50  within  the  year, 
and  $3  if  not  paid  until  the  end  of  the  year.  On  the  9th  of  March,  1870,  the 
junior  partner  retired  from  the  firm,  his  father  continuing  alone  until  April, 
1871,  when  he  turned  over  the  office  to  his  son,  H.  R.  W.  Hall;  but  in  April, 
1873,  the  elder  Hall  again  assumed  joint  control,  L.  W.  Hall  &  Son  composing 
the  firm. 

Since  December  9,  1868,  the  paper  had  at  its  head  the  cut  of  a  printing- 
press  placed  between  "Portage"  and  "County,"  and  over  the  press  the  word 
"Republican."  In  July,  1875,  they  placed  at  the  head  of  the  first  column, 
on  page  1,  the  '"''Portage  County  Repuhlican-Democrat.''''  In  March, 
1877,  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Beimblicayi- Democrat,  and  an  eight- 
page  style  adopted,  containing  fifty-six  columns,  printed  on  a  sheet 
35x48  inches  in  dimensions,  but  the  subscription  price  remained  as  before  the 
change.  Financial  disaster  finally  overtook  the  long-time  publishers  of  the 
paper,  and  with  the  issue  of  February  27,  1878,  it  passed  from  their 
ownership  and  control  into  the  hands  of  J.  D.  Horton  and  C.  A.  Reed, 
assignees  of  L.  W.  Hall  &  Son.  who  engaged  H.  R.  W.  Hall  to  edit  and  man- 
age it.  On  the  2d  of  May,  1878,  the  assignees  sold  the  paper  and  office  to  the 
Republican-Democrat  Publishing  Company,  a  stock  company  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  it,  and  who  are  now  the  owners,  although  some  changes 
have  occurred  in  the  personnel  of  the  company.  The  sheet  was  at  once 
reduced  in  size  to  30x44  inches;  and  in  July,  1878,  the  subscription  price  was 
established  at  $2  in  advance.  Mr.  Hall  continued  to  edit  and  manage  the 
Repuhlican-Democrat  until  September,  1882,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Arthur 
Mosley,  Esq.,  the  present  efficient  editor  and  manager. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1882,  the  company  bought  out  the  Portage  County 
BcjnibUcan,  a  Republican  paper  which  had  been  in  operation  in  Ravenna 
about  fovir  years,  and  on  the  2d  of  May,  1883,  the  paper  came  out  as  the 
Ravenna  Republican,  the  publishers  regarding  that  title  as  more  consistent 
and  euphonious  than  the  old  one,  which  was  both  unwieldy  and  misleading. 
The  Republican  was  enlarged  April  30,  1884,  and  is  now  an  eight-page,  fifty- 
six-column  paper,  35x48  inches  in  dimensions.  The  annual  subscription,  how- 
ever, remains  at  $2,  and  like  its  predecessor,  it  is  issued  every  Wednesday. 
During  its  long  and  varied  career,  this  paper,  under  its  several  names,  has 
always  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  country  journals,  aud  it  is  still  the  aim  and 
earnest  efibrt  of  the  publishers  and  its  present  editor  and  manager  to  keep  the 
Republican  fully  abreast  with  the  progressive  journalistic  spirit  of  the  age. 
In  connection  with  the  paper  is  operated  a  first-class  job  office,  equipped  with 
the  best  and  most  approved  machinery  and  printing  appliances.  The  Repub- 
lican is  the  official  organ  of  Portage  Countv,  and  claims  a  circulation  of  about 
2,300. 

The  Independent  Press,  subsequently  called  the  Reformer,  was  first  issued 
from  its  office  in  Ravenna,  April  25,  1855,  as   "a  religious  and  anti-slavery 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY,  369 

journal,  independent  of  party  or  sect,"  with  W.  B.  Orvis  editor  and  publisher. 
I  was  a  four-page,  twenty-eight-column  sheet,  24x36  inches  in  size,  and  was 
published  at  $1.50  per  annum.  In  December,  1855,  the  paper  came  out  as 
the  Independent  Press  and  Reformer,  and  A.  Pryne  became  associated  with 
Mr.  Orvis  in  its  publication.  The  latter  retired  in  January,  1856,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Willard  Burr.  The  following  February  the  name  of  the  paper 
was  reversed,  being  then  named  the  Reformer  and  Independent  Press,  and  in 
April  the  latter  part  of  the  title  was  dropped.  In  September,  1856,  James 
Gregg  took  the  place  of  Mr.  Burr  on  the  paper.  With  the  beginning  of  Vol- 
ume III,  the  Reformer  was  reduced  in  size  and  also  in  price  to  $1  per  annum. 
But  those  changes  do  not  seem  to  have  been  judicious,  as  the  paper  soon  after- 
ward gave  up  the  struggle  and  was  numbered  among  the  many  dead  news- 
paper enterprises  whose  wrecks  are  to  be  found  in  every  town  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific. 

The  Hickory  Flail  and  Fusion  Thresher  was  a  small  Democratic  humor- 
ous campaign  paper  published  in  Ravenna  during  the  Gubernatorial  campaign 
of  1855.  It  was  a  four-page,  sisteen-colnmn  sheet,  17x23  inches  in  size. 
The  Hickory  Flail  supported  William  Medill  for  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  was 
edited  and  published  by  a  coterie  of  Democrats  with  the  sole  purpose  of  accom- 
plishing that  object,  but  though  the  Democracy  of  the  State  made  a  gallant 
tight  they  were  defeated,  and  the  F'lail  went  down  at  the  same  time. 

The  Argus  was  started  in  Ravenna  by  H.  A.  Waldo,  some  time  after  the 
demise  of  the  Sentinel,  and  was  intended  to  take  the  place  of  that  paper  as  a 
local  Democratic  organ.  The  writer  has  been  unable  to  find  a  copy  of  the 
Argus,  and  therefore  can  tell  nothing  of  its  size  or  exact  date  of  publication; 
but  it  made  very  little  impression  in  the  newspaper  field,  and  ran  only  a  few 
months. 

The  Democratic  Press  was  established  in  Ravenna  by  the  veteran  editor 
and  publisher,  Samuel  D.  Harris,  and  first  issued  September  3,  1868.  It  has 
always  been  a  four-page  paper,  27x39  inches  in  size,  issued  every  Thursday, 
and  containing  thirty-two  columns  of  matter.  Mr.  Harris  had  been  absent 
from  the  editorial  chair  for  about  fourteen  years,  or  since  retiring  from  the 
Sentinel,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders,  August  2,  1854;  but  a 
local  Democratic  paper  in  Portage  County  became  a  necessity,  and  he  concluded 
to  go  into  the  enterprise.  The  Press  was  started  at  $2  per  annum  in  advance, 
and  $2.50  if  the  subscription  was  allowed  to  run,  but  in  August,  1878,  the 
price  was  reduced  to  $1.50  and  $2  respectively.  With  the  beginning  of  Vol- 
ume XIII,  in  August,  1880,  Mr.  Harris  gave  his  son  an  interest  in  the  Press, 
and  the  firm  has  since  been  S.  D.  Harris  &  Son. 

The  Press  began  its  career  on  a  subscription  list  of  300,  but  grew  rapidly 
under  the  good  management  of  Mr.  Harris  until  to-day  it  possesses  a  circula- 
tion of  about  1,000  copies,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  Democratic 
country  papers  in  northeastern  Ohio.  Mr.  Harris  is  one  of  the  oldest  editors 
and  publishers  in  the  State,  born  in  Ravenna  Township,  Portage  County,  May 
17,  1816,  his  whole  life  has  been  passed  on  his  native  heath,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  it  in  Ravenna.  His  memory  goes  back  to  the  days  when  Portage 
County  was  almost  a  wilderness,  and  possessed  not  a  single  newspaper  of  any 
sort.  He  worked  as  a  printer  on  the  Courier,  the  Ohio  Star,  and  the  Buckeye 
Democrat,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  newspapers  of  this  county  is  more  extensive 
than  that  of  any  other  man  now  living  within  her  boundaries.  He  distinctly 
remembers  seeing  the  old  press  of  the  Courier  hauled  into  Ravenna,  and  laughs 
over  the  avidity  with  which  its  tirst  issue  (April  23,  1825)  was  scanned  by  the 
few  people  then  living  in  the  village.     May  he  long  continue  to  fill  the  editorial 


370  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

chair  which  his  experience  has  done  so  much  toward  establishing  on  a  firm 
foundation. 

The  Portage  County  Republican  was  the  last  newspaper  enterprise  estab- 
lished in  Ravenna.  It  was  started  as  a  Republican  paper  in  April,  1878,  by 
J.  H.  Fluhart,  in  opposition  to  the  Republican- Democrat.  The  Republican 
was  first  an  eight-page,  30x44  inch  sheet,  but  about  two  months  before  it  was 
sold  it  was  enlarged  to  35x48  inches.  It  was  printed  on  the  co-operative  plan, 
with  patent  inside.  On  the  first  of  March,  1S82,  the  office  and  paper  was  pur- 
chased by  the  Republican-Democrat  Publishing  Company,  and  absorbed  by  that 
institution. 

Kent  Newspapers. — The  first  effort  made  toward  establishing  a  paper  at 
Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  occurred  in  May,  1836,  when  D.  Radebaugh,  fore- 
man of  the  Courier  office  in  Ravenna,  issued  a  prospectus  for  a  paper  to  be 
founded  by  him  at  that  village,  and  to  be  called  the  Franklin  Gazette.  The 
principal  object  intended  by  the  enterprise  was  to  advocate  the  election  of 
Martin  Van  Buren  to  the  Presidency,  but  for  want  of  funds  the  scheme  did 
not  fully  materialize,  and  nothing  further  than  issuing  the  prospectus  was  ever 
accomplished. 

The  Omnium  Gatherum  was  the  pioneer  paper  of  Kent,  and  was  established 
by  Dr.  Alonzo  Dewey,  with  W.  W.  Beach  as  editor,  and  first  issued  September 
7,  1859.  It  was  a  small  four-page,  twenty-column  sheet  20x26  inches  in  size, 
politically  independent  and  issued  weekly  at  $1.25  per  annum.  It  ran  under 
the  above  title  aboiat  two  months,  but  November  17,  1859,  changed  its  name 
to  the  Family  Visitor,  which  was  the  same  size  and  price.  The  Visitor  was 
issued  irregularly  for  three  months,  and  on  the  16th  of  February,  1860,  the 
paper  was  changed  to  a  monthly,  called  the  Literary  Casket,  with  Marshall 
Dewey  as  editor  and  publisher.  It  was  subsequently  issued  semi-monthly, 
changing  back  and  forth,  in  size  and  time  of  issue,  as  the  circumstances  and 
patronage  justified.  In  connection  with  this  venture  Mr.  Dewey  started,  in 
May,  1860,  the  Cuyahoga  Reporter,  also  a  semi-monthly,  of  which  only  a  few 
numbers  were  issued.  For  about  five  years  the  Casket  ran  along  in  a  sort  of 
"  a  half  dead  and  alive  "  manner,  but  Mr,  Dewey  was  evidently  determined  to 
keep  up  the  fight,  and  December  2,  1865,  the  paper  came  out  as  the  Saturday 
Review.  It  was  issued  weekly,  and  December  16  the  sheet  was  increased  in 
size,  though  still  a  five  column  folio.  The  Revieiu  ran  along  through  the 
summer  of  1866  and  was  then  for  a  short  time  suspended.  Mr.  Dewey  again 
resolved  on  a  change  of  name,  and  in  October,  1866,  sent  forth  the  Commer- 
cial Bulletin,  a  small  four-column  folio,  which  increased  in  size  with  the 
passing  years  until  it  became  quite  a  respectable  looking  newspaper.  In  the 
meantime  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Saturday/  Morning  Bulletin  and  after- 
ward to  the  Saturday  Bulletin,  the  paper  having  by  this  time  grown  to  a  four- 
page,  22x30  inch  sheet  of  twenty-four  columns.  The  Bulletin  was  edited  and 
published  by  Mr.  Dewey  up  to  the  issue  of  May  1,  1876,  though  for  some  years 
previously  its  financial  condition  was  at  a  low  ebb,  its  annual  subscription 
price  changing  according  to  circumstances,  being  but  $1  when  Mr.  Dewey  sold 
the  office. 

The  present  editor  and  proprietor,  Mr.  N.  J.  A.  Minich,  before  purchasing 
the  Bulletin  of  Mr.  Dewey,  was  President  of  the  Akron  Daily  Argus  Publish- 
ing Company.  With  the  first  issue,  May  6,  1876,  Mr.  Minich  changed  the 
name  to  the  Kent  Saturday  Bulletin  and  increased  the  price  to  $1.50  per  annum 
in  advance,  at  which  figure  the  subscription  has  ever  since  remained.  On  the 
29th  of  July,  1876,  the  Bulletin  was  enlarged  to  a  four-page,  twenty-eight- 
column  paper,  23x35  inches  in  dimensions,  and  on  the  16th  of  November,  1878, 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  371 

it  was  still  further  enlarged  to  a  26x39  inch  sheet  of  thirty-two  columns. 
Thus  it  remained  until  October  29,  1881,  when  the  Bulletin  was  changed  from 
a  folio  to  a  quarto — an  eight-page  paper  of  forty-eight  columns.  The  progress 
made  under  the  editorship  and  management  of  Mr.  Minich  was  very  noticeable 
from  the  moment  he  took  the  helm.  The  Bulletin  had  then  a  very  small  sub- 
scription list  and  little  advertising  patronage.  He  soon  infused  new  life  and 
vigor  into  the  concern,  and  to-day  the  paper  is  enjoying  a  more  liberal  patron- 
age than  ever  before.  The  best  evidence  of  the  Bulletiti^s  prosperity  is  the 
steady  increase  in  its  subscription  list  and  the  general  growth  of  the  business 
from  comparative  insignificance  to  its  present  high  position  among  the  news- 
paper properties  of  Portage  County.  In  the  fall  of  1884  the  office  was  refitted 
with  new  steam  printing  machinery,  and  it  now  possesses  all  the  conveniences 
of  a  first-class  job  office.  The  policy  of  the  Bulletin  under  Mr.  Minich  has 
always  been  thoroughly  independent,  and  it  now  claims  a  circulation  of  about 
1,400  copies. 

The  Kent  Neivs,  established  by  L.  D.  Durban  &  Co.,  and  first  issued  Octo- 
ber 26,  1867,  was  the  next  newspaper  started  in  Kent.  It  was  a  four  page, 
twenty-eight-column  paper,  24x36  inches  in  size,  published  at  $2  per  annmn 
and  advocated  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party.  The  News  began  on  a 
subscription  list  of  about  600,  and  Mr.  Durban,  who  published  a  paper  at 
Newcastle,  Penn. ,  put  his  son  in  charge  of  the  office.  The  paper  did  not  pros- 
per under  the  young  man's  management,  and  after  a  career  of  about  one  year, 
the  father  gave  up  the  experiment,  and  removed  the  printing  material  to  his 
own  office  at  Newcastle. 

The  present  Kent  News  is  the  only  Democratic  paper  ever  published  in 
Kent.  It  was  established  by  A.  C.  Davis  and  Richard  Field,  and  first  issued 
July  8,  1881.  The  News  was  then  a  four-page,  sixteen-column  paper,  printed 
on  a  sheet  15x21  inches  in  dimensions.  The  fii'm  of  Davis  &  Field  existed 
only  a  short  time,  the  latter  retiring  from  the  business.  On  the  5th  of  August, 
1881,  the  News  came  out  in  quarto  form — an  eight-page,  thirty-two-column 
sheet  30x42  inches  in  size.  In  June,  1882,  the  News  Publishing  Company 
purchased  the  office,  with  Paul  B.  Conant  as  editor  and  publisher;  but 
the  following  fall  he  was  succeeded  by  O.  S.  Rockwell,  who  has  since  edited 
and  published  the  paper.  On  the  15th  of  December,  1882,  the  News  was 
enlarged  to  a  four-page  sheet,  24x35  inches  in  size,  and  containing  twenty- 
eight  columns  of  mattei*.  Its  issues  of  May  11  and  18,  1883,  were  published, 
as  an  experiment,  as  the  Penny  Neivs  (being  the  same  size  as  its  first  number 
issued  two  years  before)  and  sold  at  one  penny.  The  experiment,  however, 
does  not  seem  to  have  proven  successful,  for  after  two  numbers  the  paper 
went  back  to  its  old  title,  appearing  on  the  25th  of  May,  1883,  as  a  fifty -six- 
column  quarto,  which  made  it  one  of  the  largest  newspapers  in  this  section  of 
the  State.  On  the  16th  of  May,  1884,  the  Neivs  was  somewhat  reduced  in  size, 
and  has  since  been  an  eight-page,  forty-eight-column  paper,  30x44  inches  in 
dimensions.  In  1884  the  office  was  re-equipped,  a  Campbell  steam  printing 
press  introduced,  and  the  present  comfortable  quarters  in  the  Rockwell  Block 
occupied.  The  News  has  always  been  thoroughly  Democratic,  and  complete  in 
the  cui'rent  news  of  the  day.  Under  Mr.  Rockwell's  management  it  has  made 
itself  felt  in  the  local  political  arena,  and  though  it  has  had  an  uphill 
struggle  for  existence,  is  now  safely  established,  claiming  a  circulation  of  about 
1.000  copies,  at  a  subscription  price  of  $1  per  annum  in  advance.  The  News 
has  come  to  stay,  for  its  columns  are  full  of  life  and  energy. 

Garrettsville  NeivspajJers.  — The  first  newspaper  published  in  the  bustling 
town  of  Garrettsville  was  the  Garrettsville  Monthly  Review,  by  Warren  Peirce, 


372  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  first  issued  in  April,  1865.  The  ofiSce  was  in  an  old  frame  building,  now 
(January,  1885,)  a  part  of  the  structure  occupied  by  the  postoffiee.  Mr.  Peirce 
was  born  in  Windham  Township,  Portage  County;  came  to  Garrettsville  in 
1851,  and  soon  after  opened  a  small  job  printing  office.  For  a  while  he  man- 
ufactured his  own  presses,  and  did  job  work.  Prior  to  1865  he  purchased  a 
small  hand-press  of  the  Cleveland  Herald  Company,  and  with  it  published  the 
first  and  subsequent  editions  of  the  Review,  which  was  a  four-page  sheet, 
12x20  inches  in  dimensions.  He  continued  the  Review  about  sixteen  months 
at  50  cents  per  annum,  and  then  gave  up  its  publication. 

The  Garrettsville  Journal  was  also  established  by  Mr.  Peirce,  and  first 
issued  July  10,  1867,  as  a  four-page  twenty- four-column  paper,  22x32  inches 
in  size.  In  1870  he  enlarged  it  to  a  26x40  inch  sheet  of  thirty-two  columns, 
published  at  $1.50  per  year.  A  short  time  before  this  enlargement  he  pur- 
chased a  large  cylinder  power  press,  which  is  now  operated  by  steam.  On  the 
15th  of  September,  1873,  Mr.  Peirce  sold  the  Journal  to  Charles  B.  Webb, 
who,  October  25,  1883,  changed  it  to  an  eight-page  paper  of  forty-eight  col- 
umns, printed  on  a  sheet  30x44  inches.  By  his  energy  and  persistent  efforts 
Mr.  Webb  has  increased  the  patronage  of  the  Journal,  until  he  now  claims  a 
circulation  of  about  1,200  copies.  During  its  entire  existence  the  Journal 
has  been  independent  in  politics,  its  owners  devoting  their  energies  toward 
publishing  a  good  local  paper  for  their  readers,  irrespective  of  their  political 
opinions.  The  presses  and  job  office  are  still  owned  and  operated  by  Mr. 
Peirce,  who  does  quite  a  large  business  in  the  job  printing  line. 

The  Home  Bazar  was  another  Garrettsville  publication,  started  by  Mr. 
Peirce  in  January,  1869.  It  was  a  literary  magazine,  9x12  inches  in  dimen- 
sions, and  contained  sixteen  pages.  He  ran  it  for  two  years  at  a  subscription 
price  of  50  cents  and  75  cents  per  year  respectively,  and  then  pold  it  to  the 
Rev.  W.  Clouse,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  who  removed  the  office  to  Cleveland, 
where  the  Bazar  soon  afterward  failed  for  want  of  patronage. 

Atwater  Neivspapers.  —  Two  papers  have  been  established  at  Atwater, 
viz. :  the  Sharp  Sickle  and  the  Atwater  News.  The  Sickle  was  published  by  a 
Mr.  Hicks  for  some  time  prior  to  his  death  in  1879,  and  the  press  used  is  now 
in  possession  of  William  JStratton,  of  Atwater.  The  Neivs  was  first  issued  in 
July,  1884,  but  ceased  publication  after  a  few  numbers.  Owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  Neivs  was  printed  at  Alliance,  full  postal  rates  were  collected  at  the 
Atwater  postoffiee,  which  was  the  main  reason  for  its  discontinuance. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  373 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Portage  County  in  the  Rebellion— The  Patriotic,  Feeling  of  Her  People 
AT  THE  Beginning  of  the  Great  Struggle  for  National  Life — Meetings 
Held  to  Denounce  Treason  and  to  Support  the  Government— Enroll- 
ment OF  Volunteers  Under  the  President's  First  Call,  and  Their 
Departure  for  Camp  Taylor— Good  Work  of  the  Relief  Committees, 
■  and  Generosity  of  the  Citizens— The  Number  of  Men  Sent  Into  the 
War  by  Each  Toavnshjp,  and  the  Commands  in  Which  They  Served — 
Official  Roster  of  Commissioned  Officers  From  This  County— Amount 
of  Money  Annually  Expended  for  War  Purposes  by  Portage  County 
From  1861  to  I860— Closing  Scenes  of  the  War— Public  Demonstrations 
of  Great  Joy  Over  Its  Glorious  Termination— The  Rejoicings  of  the 
People  Suddenly  Turned  to  Grief  by  the  Assassination  of  President 
Lincoln. 

WHEN  the  news  of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  flashed  over  the  wires,  a 
deep  feeling  of  patriotic  indignation  filled  the  hearts  of  the  loyal  mil- 
lions of  the  North,  and  in  nearly  every  city,  town  and  hamlet,  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  meetings  were  held  for  the  purpose  of  giving  public  expres- 
sion to  that  feeling.  Portage  County  was  not  behind  the  rest  of  the  Nation 
in  this  respect,  for  the  thrilling  news  had  scarcely  grown  cold  before  her  citi- 
zens assembled  in  the  several  towns  and  villages,  and  passed  ringing  resolu- 
tions of  fealty  to  the  Union.  Ravenna  being  the  seat  of  justice,  the  action 
taken  in  that  city  will  be  a  fair  illustration  of  the  sentiment  which  prevailed 
throughout  the  county  during  that  momentous  period  of  our  history.  On 
Monday  evening,  April  15,  18(31,  the  citizens  of  Ravenna  and  vicinity,  irre- 
spective of  party,  in  response  to  a  call  for  a  Union  meeting  issued  the  same 
afternoon,  came  promptly  together  as  if  moved  by  the  one  common  impulse  of 
upholding  the  flag.  The  Town  Hall  was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  men  of 
every  shade  of  political  belief  vied  with  each  other  in  patriotic  ardor.  The 
hearts  of  all  those  present  beat  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  as  all  pledged  them- 
selves to  maintain  the  Union  and  to  uphold  the  constitutionally  elected  execu- 
tive in  his  proper  efforts  to  sustain  the  Government  and  execute  the  laws.  It 
was  a  very  noticeable  fact  that  the  strongest  condemnation  of  the  firing  on 
Fort  Sumter,  the  most  emphatic  expressions  of  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  the 
most  decided  and  cordial  pledges  to  sustain  the  Government,  uttered  by  the 
several  speakers,  met  with  the  loudest  cheers  and  the  most  hearty  and  decisive 
responses  from  the  people. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  when  Hon. 
Darius  Lyman  was  appointed  Temporary  Chairman,  and  J.  W.  Somerville,  Sec- 
retary. On  motion,  a  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  O.  P.  Brown,  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  John  C.  Beatty,  H.  C.  Ranney 
and  J.  G.  Willis,  was  appointed  by  the  Chair.  A  Committee  on  Resolutions 
was  also  appointed  by  the  Chair,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Alphonso  Hart,  Lyman 
"W.  Hall,  Horace  Y.  Beebe,  J.  T.  Catlin  and  Luther  Day.  After  a  short  recess, 
the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  reported  as  follows:  Darius  Ly- 
man, President;  J.  G.  Willis,  R.  J.  Thompson  and  Charles  Lawrence,  Vice- 
Presidents;  J.  W.  Somerville  and  H.  R.  W.  Hall,  Secretaries.  The  report  of 
the  committee  was  accepted  and  adcjpted.  The  Committee  on  Resolutions 
made  the  following  report: 


374  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Resolved,  That  in  utter  and  patriotic  disregard  of  past  partisan  differences,  we,  the  cit- 
izens of  Ravenna,  here  assembled  without  distinction  of  party,  declining  now  to  pause  to 
recount  the  causes  which  have  brought  upon  us  the  crisis  which  imperils  the  existence  of 
the  Nation,  do  emphatically  declare,  that  every  other  feeling  should  give  way  to  love  of 
country,  and  a  desire  for  the  preservation  of  tlie  Union,  and  now,  when  war  is  waged  by 
rebel  forces,  and  rebellion  to  constitutional  law  and  constitutional  government  is  openly 
proclaimed,  and  secession,  whicli  is  but  another  name  for  revolution,  is  undermining  the 
Natonal  fabric,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  American  citizen  to  stand  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
and  to  uphold  the  Federal  authorities  in  ever3' constitutional  effort  to  enforce  the  laws  and 
maintain  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  Confederacy. 

Resolved,  That  the  wanton  and  improvoked  attack,  by  rebels  in  arms,  against  the 
authority  of  the  National  Government,  in  the  warlike  attack  on  Sumter,  having  inaugu- 
rated civil  war,  we  hereby  cordially  pledge  our  support  and  co-operation  to  the  Federal 
authorities  in  every  legitimate  effort  by  them  put  forth  to  suppress  rebellion  and  maintain 
the  Federal  authority  in  every  part  of  the  Union. 

These  resolutions  were  accepted,  and,  after  short  patriotic  addresses  by 
Alphonso  Hart,  Lttther  Day,  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  O.  P.  Brown,  Rev.  J.  C. 
Hart,  Rev.  E.  J.  L.  Baker,  Michael  Stuart  and  L.  D.  Woodworth,  were  unan- 
imously adopted  amidst  great  enthusiasm.  Three  hearty  cheers  for  the  Union 
were  then  given,  and  the  meeting  adjourned.  The  magnanimous  forgetfulness 
by  the  Democratic  speakers  of  all  the  bitter  partisan  conflicts  of  the  past,  was 
equaled  only  by  the  cordial  spirit  of  fraternization  with  which  they  were  met 
by  the  Republican  speakers,  and  by  the  hearty  res{)onse  of  the  assembled  hun- 
dreds.     The  scene  was  truly  creditable  and  exhibited  the  loftiest  patriotism. 

The  people  of  Portage  County  were  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and,  in 
response  to  the  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  75,000  volunteers,  the  work  of 
organizing  military  companies  began  at  once.  A  few  croakers  here  and  there 
exhibited  tbeir  opposition  to  the  war  measures  of  the  Government,  btit  men 
no  longer  acted  in  the  spirit  of  party,  or  with  the  aims  of  partisans;  they  no 
longer  felt  themselves  Republicans  or  Democrats,  but  awoke  to  the  full  con- 
Bciousness  that  they  were  American  citizens,  that  they  had  a  common  interest 
in  the  perpetuation  of  the  Union,  and  an  equal  weight  of  responsibility  and 
of  duty  in  upholding  a  constitutional  government  in  its  efforts  to  protect  its 
projierty  and  enforce  its  laws  against  the  assaults  of  armed  traitors. 

Meetings  were  held  in  the  Town  Hall  in  Ravenna,  on  Wednesday,  Friday 
and  Saturday,  April  17,  19  and  20,  1861.  The  AVednesday  evening  meeting 
was  called  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  artillery  company.  Judge  Luther 
Day  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  meeting,  and  H.  H.  Willard,  Secretary. 
On  taking  the  chair,  Jttdge  Day  made  a  few  remarks  full  of  the  patriotism 
required  by  the  occasion,  which  infused  a  similar  spirit  through  the  audience, 
and  the  entire  evening  was  a  continued  outburst  of  enthtisiastic  devotion  to  the 
Union.  A  Committee  of  Finance  was  chosen,  consisting  of  Alphonso  Hart, 
Ezra  B.  Taylor  and  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.  Messrs.  Hart  and  Taylor  were 
called  out  and  spoke  briefly,  but  with  the  spirit  demanded  by  the  crisis. 
Twenty  volunteers  for  Capt.  C.  S.  Cotter's  Artillery  Company  were  enrolled, 
and  the  meeting  adjourned  amid  loud  cheers  from  the  audience. 

The  meeting  on  Friday  evening  had  for  its  main  object  the  enlistment  of  a 
rifle  company.  At  the  hour  announced  the  Town  Hall  was  filled  with  an  inter- 
ested audience.  Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler  was  chosen  Chairman,  and  Samuel  D.  Har- 
ris, Jr.,  and  T.  W.  Browning,  Secretaries.  Brief  addresses  were  delivered  by 
Ezra  B.  Taylor,  Alphonso  Hart,  Philo  B.  Couant,  Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler  and  T. 
W.  Browning,  earnestly  urging  the  necessity  of  prompt  action  in  regard  to  the 
specific  purpose  of  the  meeting.  Those  sentiments  were  heartily  endorsed  by  the 
audience,  and  a  fine  list  of  volunteers  went  forward  and  enrolled  their  names 
on  the  recruiting  papers  held  by  Capt.  H.  H.  Willard. 

At  4  o'clock  P.  M.  on  Saturday,  a  telegram  was  received  from  Hon.  James 


'ftv^ 


'^c^6a)r//^ 


HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY.  379 

A.  Garfield,  of  Hiram  Township,  and  Hon.  "William  Stedman,  of  Kandolph 
Township,  who  then  respectively  represented  Portage  County  in  the  upper  and 
lower  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio,  announcing  that  they  would  be 
glad  to  meet  the  citizens  of  Ravenna  that  evening  in  one  of  the  public  halls  of 
the  town.  The  news  was  proclaimed  upon  the  streets  and  the  Town  Hall  was 
too  small  by  far  to  contain  all  who  came  to  the  meeting.  Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler 
was  chosen  Chairman,  and  T.  W.  Browning,  Secretary.  Representative  Sted- 
man first  spoke.  He  said  he  came  not  to  say,  but  to  do;  not  to  talk,  but  to 
enlist;  the  peril  of  the  Nation  demanded  men,  not  words,  and  he  was  ready  for 
his  part  of  the  duty.  Senator  Garfield  was  the  next  speaker.  His  hand  as 
well  as  his  heart  was  in  the  work,  and  in  a  very  effective  manner  he  sought  to 
impress  and  inspire  the  audience  with  the  generous,  patriotic  and  burning 
emotions  which  animated  his  own  nature.  His  soul-stirring  address  was 
received  with  the  wildest  demonstrations,  his  ringing  remarks  nerving  every 
heart  to  deeds  of  heroism.  Judge  Luther  Day  was  next  called  out,  and 
responded  in  a  similar  strain  and  with  like  effect.  He  was  followed  by  Gen. 
John  B.  King,  of  Ravenna,  who  wanted  to  know  what  such  men  as  he,  who 
were  not  exactly  the  stripe  for  "fighting  men,"  could  do;  not  that  his  heart 
did  not  want  to  fight;  but  what  could  he  do  for  his  country;  he  must  do  some- 
thing. A  motion  was  at  once  made  and  enthusiastically  adopted,  that  Gen. 
King  be  empowered  to  raise  a  Home  Guard,  and  drill  and  command  the  same. 
Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler  made  a  few  remarks  in  conclusion,  and  after  appropriate 
music  by  the  Ravenna  Martial  Band,  the  audience  dispersed  to  their  homes, 

"  Their  souls  in  arms, 
All  eager  for  the  fray." 

During  the  evening  a  resolution  was  passed  at  the  meeting  that  a  "mass 
county  convention"  be  called  at  Ravenna  on  Monday,  April  22,  at  1  o'clock  P. 
M.,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  vohinteer  companies.  Hand  bills  were  at  once 
issued,  and  runners  dispatched  into  every  township  in  Portage  County  request- 
ing that  the  notice  be  read  in  all  the  churches  on  the  following  day.  This  call 
was  promptly  responded  to,  and  from  every  portion  of  the  county  streams  of 
patriotic  people  came  pouring  into  town  on  Monday  morning,  and  by  the 
appointed  hour  sitch  a  large  concourse  had  seldom  been  seen  in  Ravenna.  The 
Windham  Township  delegation,  bearing  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  made  the  wel- 
kin ring  with  their  huzzas  for  the  Union.  The  Brimfield  Volunteers  marched 
in  holding  aloft  the  flag  under  which  they  had  enlisted  to  do  battle.  This 
township  also  sent  a  fine  delegation  of  her  citizens,  which  appeared  in  the  pro- 
cession. Franklin  Township  was  represented  by  a  long  procession  of  aboiat 
100  teams  lined  with  flags  and  banners,  and  led  by  the  Franklin  Band  and  the 
Franklin  Volunteers,  forty  in  number,  with  Dr.  E.  W.  Crain,  himself  a  volun- 
teer, marching  proudly  at  their  head.  Raveana,  Franklin,  Garrettsville,  Charles- 
town,  Brimfield  and  Edinburg  each  contributed  a  band,  and  soul-stirring  mar- 
tial notes  filled  the  air  upon  that  bright  and  buoyant  April  day. 

At  a  morning  citizens'  meeting  T.  R.  Williams,  Andrew  Jackson,  E.  H. 
Witter, AV.  R.  Alcorn  and  J.  T.  Catlin  were  chosen  as  a  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments; and  George  Bostwick  and  R.  B.  Witter,  Marshals.  At  1  o'clock  P.  M. 
the  volunteers  were  marched  from  the  Town  Hall  to  the  stand  in  front  of  the 
Court  House,  escorted  by  Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler,  the  Ravenna  Light  Artillery  and  the 
several  bands.     A  salute  was  then  fired  by  the  artillery,  after  which  Gen.  John 

B.  King,  of  Ravenna,  President  of  the  day,  was  introduced  to  the  assembled 
multitude  by  T.  R.  Williams,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 
The   other  officers  consisted  of  Vice-Presidents  Gen.  David  Mcintosh,  Shalers- 


380  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ville  Township;  Col.  O.  L.  Drake,  Freedom  Township;  Col.  John  E.  Jackson, 
Aurora  Township;  and  Col.  W.  R.  Hallock,  Rootstown  Township;  Secretaries 
H.  R.W.  Hall  and  J.  W.  Somerville,  Ravenna;  and  Rev.  J.  C.  Hart, Chaplain.  The 
meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Gen.  King,  and  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev. 
Hart.  The  large  assemblage  was  then  addressed  by  Hon.  Luther  Day,  Hon. 
William  Stedman,  Hon.  Alphonso  Hart,  Hon.  James  A.  Garfield  and  Gen.  E. 
B.  Tyler  in  the  order  named,  all  breathing  the  same  patriotic  sentiments  of 
undying  devotion  and  fidelity  to  the  dear  old  flag.  They  spoke  as  men  speak 
whose  hearts  bleed  for  their  country,  whose  souls  are  enlisted  in  the  cause 
they  advocate,  and  who,  appreciating  the  justice  of  their  position,  and  the 
purity  of  their  motives,  launch  forth  upon  an  irresistible  tide  of  argument, 
unanswerable  because  inspired  of  God  and  approved  by  man.  Every  speaker 
was  greeted  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  loud  cries  of  "  lead  us  to  the  field  " 
filled  the  air.  Volunteers  were  called  for  and  came  forward  readily,  soon  fill- 
ing the  quota  at  that  time  required  of  Portage  County.  Every  man  seemed 
anxious  to  be  on  duty,  and  all  would  have  gladly  marched  on  the  morrow  to 
the  field  of  battle. 

In  the  meantime  Brig. -Gen.  E.  B.  Tyler  had  been  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Second  Brigade,  Ninth  Division,  Ohio  Volunteer  Militia,  consisting  of 
the  counties  of  Portage,  Trumbull  and  Mahoning,  with  headcjuarters  at 
Ravenna.  His  staff  was  composed  of  the  following  officers:  Brigade-Major, 
J.  B.  Willis,  vice  D.  C.  Coolman  absent  from  the  State;  Major,  H.  C.  Ranney; 
Acting  Surgeon,  C.  S.  Leonard;  Aid-de-carap,  Capt.  Joseph  King.  During  a 
temporary  absence  of  Maj.  Willis,  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  served  as  Brigade- 
Major.  Gen.  Tyler  issued  enlisting  orders  for  infantry  to  Capts.  W.  B.  Bing- 
ham, of  Ravenna  Township,  and  William  Stedman,  of  Randolph  Township; 
for  riflemen,  to  Capts.  H.  H.  Willard  and  J.  C.  Giddings,  of  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, and  to  David  C.  Stockwell,  of  Shalersville  Township;  and  for  artillery  to 
Capt.  C.  S.  Cotter,  of  Ravenna. 

The  days  succeeding  the  mass  meeting  at  Ravenna  were  days  of  great 
excitement  throughout  the  county.  War  was  the  topic  of  the  hour,  volunteers 
were  enrolling  and  departing  for  camp,  and  general  business  was  almost  sus- 
pended. The  Franklin  Mills  Rifle  Company  was  organized  on  Tuesday,  April 
23,  by  the  election  of  John  Morris,  of  Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  Captain;  John 
Rouse,  of  Franklin  Mills,  First  Lieutenant;  and  Isaac  N.  Wilcox,  of  Wind- 
ham Township,  Second  Lieutenant.  This  company  received  orders  to  report 
at  Camp  Taylor,  Cleveland,  aod  on  Wednesday  evening,  April  24,  left  Ravenna 
for  the  camp,  being  the  first  organized  company  from  Portage  County  to  reach 
that  rendezvous.  Upon  the  regimental  organization  of  the  Seventh  Regiment, 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  into  which  the  Franklin  Mills  company  had  been 
mustered  as  Company  F,  April  30,  Capt.  Morris  was  chosen  Quartermaster 
on  Col.  Tyler's  staff,  and  William  .Stedman  became  Captain  of  the  company. 

On  Thursday  morning,  April  25,  orders  came  to  Ravenna  for  another  com- 
pany of  volunteers  to  report  at  Camp  Taylor,  and  at  an  early  hour  the  Tyler 
Guards  was  organized  at  the  Town  Hall,  and  so  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  E.  B. 
Tyler.  The  officers  elected  were  Frederick  A.  Seymour,  Captain;  William 
H.  Robinson.  First  Lieutenant;  Elliott  S.  Quay,  Second  Lieutenant,  all  of 
Ravenna.  The  company  left  for  Camp  Taylor  the  same  evening,  and  on  the 
30th  of  April  was  mustered  into  the  Seventh  Regiment  as  Company  G.  At 
the  Ravenna  railroad  depot,  just  before  departure,  Capt.  Seymour  was  pre- 
sented with  a  "navy  six-shooter"  by  Judge  Luther  Day,  on  behalf  of  his 
Ravenna  friends,  while  to  each  man  in  the  command  was  given  a  small  silver 
shield,  with  the  emblematic  stars,  the  name  of  his  company  and  his  own  name 


HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY.  381 

engraved  thereon.  Those  shields  were  the  gift  of  Gen.  Tyler,  in  token  of 
his  appreciation  of  the  company  receiving  his  name.  On  the  23d  of  May  Capt. 
Seymour  returned  from  Camp  Dennison,jWhither  the  regiment  had  removed,  to 
Ravenna,  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting  his  command,  and  by  the  27th  the 
requisite  number  was  ready  for  service.  Those  volunteers  came  chiefly  from 
Garrettsville,  Palmyra,  Edinburg,  Atwater  and  Deerfield  Tovs^nships. 

By  midnight  on  Thursday,  April  25,  an  order  came  for  the  Ravenna  Light 
Artilleiy,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  C.  S.  Cotter  and  Lieut.  C.  J.  Gillis. 
The  muster  drum  was  beaten,  the  members  called  together  and  the  following 
morning  the  company  departed  for  Camp  Taylor.  Before  leaving.  Miss 
Sereptha  Mason,  on  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  Ravenna,  presented  to  Capt. 
Cotter  a  box  containing  a  rosette  for  each  member  of  the  command,  also  $12 
with  which  to  purchase  a  flag.  By  request  of  Gen.  Tyler,  Ezra  B.  Taylor 
then  presented  Capt.  Cotter  and  Lieut.  Gillis  each  a  fine  navy  revolver,  after 
which  the  train  sped  onward  and  the  people  returned  to  their  daily  avocations. 
The  battery  remained  at  Camp  Taylor  until  June  3,  when,  pursuant  to  orders 
it  returned  to  Ravenna  and  partially  disbanded.  Soon  afterward,  Capt.  Cotter 
went  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  he  received  orders  for  active  service.  Return- 
ing home  he  reorganized  and  recruited  his  command,  which  was  regularly 
mustered  into  the  service  at  Camp  Chase,  near  Columbus,  Ohio,  July  2,  1861. 
On  the  following  day  it  left  for  the  front,  and  July  17  participated  in  a 
skirmish  on  Scarey  Creek,  W.  Va.,  where  John  Haven,  of  Shalersville,  was 
mortally  wounded, being  the  first  Portage  County  man  who  lost  his  life  in  battle. 

The  Ravenna  Martial  Band  escorted  each  command  to  the  depot,  and  the 
departures  were  signalized  by  patriotic  speech -making,  and  tender,  tearful 
adieus.  Every  household  in  the  town  was  represented,  and  no  series  of  events 
in  the  history  of  Portage  County  have  ever  brought  her  people  so  closely 
together  in  heartfelt  sympathy.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  were  displayed  at  every 
available  point,  and  unbounded  enthusiasm  in  the  Union  cause  filled  the  hearts 
of  all  good  citizens.  In  the  Portage  County  Democrat  of  May  1,  1861,  the 
writer  found  the  following  beautiful  poem,  which  fully  expresses  the  feelings 
of  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  this  county  at  that  time: 

TO  THE  PORTAGE  COUNTY  VOLUNTEERS. 

Dear  ones,  farewell!    With  trembling  voice,  and  low 

We  bid  you  hasten  at  a  Nation's  call! 

How  we  shall  miss  you — He  alone  can  know, 

Who  bends  from  Heaven  to  watch  our  tear-drops  fall, 

The  while  with  close-clasped  hands  we  kneel  and  pray, 

God's  blessing,  and  his  tender  care  to  be 

The  shield  of  those  we  love — while  far  away 

With  strong,  true  hearts — they  fight  for  Liberty! 

And  yet  we  hide  our  pain — and  as  we  take 
Perchance  fhe  last  sweet  meaning  from  proud  eyes, 
W^e  thank  our  God  that  for  our  country's  sake, 
Our  woman  hearts  may  make  such  sacrifice! 
And  oh!  if,  where  the  star-gem'd  bar.ners  wave — 
Where  sword  and  spear  gleam  in  the  noonday  sun, 
One — wildly  worshiped — finds  an  early  grave, 
And  sleeps  in  death,  ere  victory  is  won; 

Still — though  our  lips  be  white  as  winter's  snow. 

Still — though  we  drink  from  wasting  sorrow's  cup 

And  die  in  anguish — not  a  tear  shall  flow 

In  vain  repentance  that  we  gave  you  up! 

Go!     He  who  rules  our  Nation's  destiny — 

Who  whispered  "Peace"  and  the  wild  waves  were  still. 

Will  lead  our  loved  ones  on  to  victory, 

And  give  us  strength  to  say  again— farewell. 


382  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

During  this  period  of  martial  excitement  another  good  work  was  effectually 
pushed  forward,  which  was  only  second  in  importance  to  the  raising  of  volun- 
teers. This  was  the  organization  at  different  points  in  the  county  of  Relief 
Committees,  and  the  collection  of  clothing  and  money  for  the  equipment  of 
the  volunteers,  or  the  relief  of  their  families.  On  Friday,  April  26,  H.  Y. 
Beebe,  of  the  Ravenna  Relief  Committee,  having  procured  in  Ravenna  a 
sufficient  number  of  blankets  to  give  one  to  each  man  in  the  Tyler  Guards 
and  Ravenna  Light  Artillery,  took  them  to  Camp  Taylor  for  the  buys  of  those 
commands.  Three  trunks  filled  with  flannel  shirts,  lint  and  bandages,  made 
by  the  women  of  Ravenna,  at  the  Town  Hall,  on  Saturday  and  Sunday  fol- 
lowing the  departure  of  the  volunteers,  were  also  forwarded  to  Camp  Taylor. 
Through  the  efforts  of  Mrs.  John  L.  Ranney  and  Mrs.  Beckwith,  the  women 
raised  a  fund,  purchased  a  handsome  flag  for  the  Tyler  Guards,  and  on  the 
30th  of  April  sent  it  to  that  company.  The  citizens  of  Franklin  Mills  (Kent), 
headed  by  Marvin  Kent,  pledged  $5,000  to  be  paid  as  needed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  members  and  families  of  the  Franklin  Mills  Rifle  Company,  each  man 
being  also  provided  with  a  blanket  and  other  camp  necessaries  by  their  friends 
at  home. 

The  Seventh  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  into  which  the  first  two 
companies  raised  in  Portage  County  were  mustered,  effected  the  following 
regimental  organization  on  the  2d  of  May,  18G1:  E.  B.  Tyler,  of  Ravenna, 
Colonel;  William  R.  Creighton,  of  Cleveland,  Lieutenant-Colonel;  John  S. 
Casement,  of  Painesville,  Major. 

From  this  time  forward  volunteering  and  recruiting  progressed  rapidly, 
and  every  township  in  the  county  was  soon  represented  in  the  Union  armies 
by  a  greater  or  less  number  of  volunteers.  A  martial  spirit  prevailed  in 
nearly  every  household,  and  each  family  vied  with  their  neighbors  in  the 
exhibition  of  military  ardor  and  patriotism.  The  war  had  now  begun  in  earn- 
est, and  the  most  sanguine  soon  discovered  that  putting  down  the  great  Rebell- 
ion was  no  holiday  task.  Most  of  the  three  months'  men  re-enlisted  for  three 
years,  and  the  places  of  the  few  who  returned  were  at  once  filled  from  the 
ranks  of  the  many  anxiously  awaiting  at  home  the  call  to  arms.  Thus  the 
days  passed  in  Portage  County  during  the  first  stages  of  the  war,  but  as 
months  lengthened  into  years,  and  the  many  brave  boys  who,  when  the  tocsin 
of  war  first  sounded,  went  forth  in  all  their  vigorous  manhood  to  do  battle  for 
their  country's  unity,  came  back  no  more,  then  indeed  was  there  deep  anguish 
and  mourning  in  many  a  previously  happy  home. 

The  military  record  of  Pox'tage  County  will  compare  favorably  with  any 
other  county  in  Ohio.  The  census  of  1860  gave  it  a  population  of  24,208,  out 
of  which  more  than  2,000  men  went  into  the  army,  more  than  300  of  whom 
laid  down  their  lives  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  their  country.  According 
to  a  military  record  book  in  the  Auditor's  office  in  Ravenna,  the  following 
number  of  soldiers  was  furnished  by  the  several  townships  of  the  county: 
Atwater,  107;  Aurora,  82;  Brimfield,  88;  Charlestown,  59;  Deertield,  113; 
Edinburg,  46;  Franklin,  159;  Freedom,  55;  Hiram,  120;  Mantua,  85;  Nel- 
son, 118;  Palmyra,  38;  Paris,  79;  Randolph,  210;  Ravenna,  235;  Rootstown, 
61;  Shalersville,  72;  Streetsboro,  96;  Suffield,  132;  Windham,  115.  Total, 
2,070. 

The  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  mustered  into  the  three  months' 
service  at  Camp  Taylor,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  April  30,  1861,  embraced  two 
full  companies  from  this  county,  F  and  G,  and  this  regiment  subse- 
quently re-enlisted  for  three  years  almost  to  a  man.  The  Forty-first  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry,  mustered  into  the  service  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  October 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  383 

31,  1861,  was  largely  recruited  from  the  northern  section  of  Portage  County; 
while  Companies  A  and  F,  of  the  Forty- second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
organized  at  Camp  Chase,  near  Columbus,  Ohio,  November  26,  1861,  were 
also  raised  in  Portage.  The  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, mustered  into  the  service  at  Camp  Massillon,  near  Massillon,  Ohio,  August 
30,  1862,  contained  two  companies,  D  and  I,  from  this  county.  The 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  mustered  in  at  Camp 
Taylor,  October  6,  1862,  contained  one  company,  D,  principally  recruited  in 
Portage  County.  The  Kavenna  Light  Artillery,  composed  of  Portage  County 
men,  went  out  in  April,  1861,  and  September  25,  1861,  was  mustered  into  the 
First  Ohio  Light  Artillery  as  Battery  A,  for  the  term  of  three  years.  The 
Sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  organized  in  October,  1861,  at  Camp  Hutchins, 
Warren  Co.,  Ohio,  was  mostly  recruited  upon  the  Western  Reserve,  Portage 
County  being  well  represented  in  that  gallant  regiment.  Several  other  com- 
panies in  the  foregoing  regiments,  besides  those  mentioned,  contained  soldiers 
from  this  county,  but  none  were  so  purely  representative  of  this  portion  of  the 
State  as  the  ones  given. 

The  brave  boys  of  Portage  County  went  into  every  arm  of  the  service,  and 
nothing  illustrates  so  well  their  deep  devotion  to  the  Union  cause  as  this  fact. 
Their  patriotism  could  not  wait  until  they  were  needed  to  fill  up  the  decimated 
ranks  of  the  first  companies  that  went  into  the  field,  and  many  left  the  county 
and  joined  other  commands  or  branches  of  the  service.  We  find  the  county 
represented  in  the  following  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  Regiments:  First,  Third, 
Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth,  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  Twentieth, 
Twenty-first,  Twenty-third,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  Twenty-seventh, 
Twenty-ninth,  Thirty-third,  Thirty-seventh,  Forty-first,  Forty-second,  Forty- 
third,  Forty-fifth,  Forty-sixth,  Fifty-first,  Fifty-second,  Fifty -seventh,  Fifty- 
eighth,  Sixtieth,  Sixty-first,  Sixty-third,  Sixty-fourth,  Sixty-fifth,  Sixty- 
eighth,  Seventy -first,  Seventy-second,  Eightieth,  Eighty-second,  Eighty- 
fourth,  Eighty-fifth,  Eighty  sixth,  Eighty- eighth,  One  Hundredth,  One  Hun- 
dred and  First,  One  Hundred  and  Third,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifth,  One  Hundred  and  Seventh,  One  Hundred  and  Eighth,  One 
Hundred  and  Ninth,  One  Hundred  and  Tenth,  One  Hundred  and  Eleventh, 
One  Hundred  and  Twelfth,  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth,  One  Hundred  and 
Fifteenth,  One  Hundred  and  Eighteenth,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty -second, 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty -fourth.  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-sixth,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-seventh  (colored),  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty- eighth,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth,  One  Hundred 
and  Thirty-fifth,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-eighth,  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third,  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy-seventh,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-eighth,  One  Hundred 
and  Eighty-fourth,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty -sixth,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- 
seventh,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-eighth,  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-first,  One 
Hundred  and  Ninety -third,  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-sixth,  One  Hundred  and 
Ninety-seventh,  and  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-eighth.  Portage  County  men 
served  in  the  Third,  Seventh,  Fifteenth  and  Twenty-second  Michigan  Infantry 
Regiments,  the  Fifth  Virginia,  Fifteenth  Pennsylvania,  Seventeenth  Wiscon- 
sin, Twenty  third  New  York,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois,  Eighty-fifth  Indiana,  and 
in  the  First  and  Twenty-seventh  Colored  Infantry.  The  First,  Second,  Fourth, 
Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,*  Ninth,  Tenth  and  Twelfth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry 
Regiments  contained  many  Portage  County  boys;  while  the  Sixth  United  States 
Cavalry,  the  First  and  Third  Michigan  Cavalry,  the   Fifth  Pennsylvania,   and 


384  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry  had  each  some  men  from  this  county.  The  county  was 
largely  represented  in  the  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  and  had  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  her  sons  in  the  Third,  Fourth,  Seventh,  Ninth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth, 
Sixteenth,  Nineteenth,  Twenty-fifth  and  Twenty-sixth  Ohio  Independent  Bat- 
teries; also  in  the  First  and  Sixth  United  States,  and  in  the  Fifth  New  York 
and  the  Eleventh  Michigan  Artillery  Regiments,  besides  having  many  of  her 
citizens  in  the  United  States  Marines  and  Navy. 

The  following  list  of  commissioned  officers,  who  were  citizens  of  Portage 
County  at  the  time  they  entered  the  service  has  been  compiled  from  White- 
law  Reid's  "Ohio  In  The  War."  As  we  have  already  given  in  this  chapter  the 
names  and  rank  of  the  several  officers  who  went  into  the  three  months'  service 
from  this  county,  it  is  unnecessary  to  again  refer  to  them,  and  we  will,  there- 
fore, continue  the  list  after  that  period: 

Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — Erastus  B.  Tyler  became  Colonel  June 
19,  18G1,  was  promoted  to  Brigadier-General  May  20,  1862.  Frederick  A. 
Seymour  became  Captain  June  14,  1861,  was  promoted  to  Major  March  2, 
1863,  Major's  commission  revoked,  and  again  issued  August  13,  1863,  resigned 
March  29,  1864.       W'illiam  H.   Robinson  became  First  Lieutenant  June  14, 

1861,  and  died  at  Gauley  Bridge,  W.  Va.,  of  typhoid  fever,  October  8,  1861. 
John  B.  Rouse  became  First  Lieutenant  June  19,  1861,  and  resigned  August 
8,  1861.  John  Morris  became  First  Lieutenant  June  19,  1861,  and  resigned 
December  5,  1861.  Elliott  S.  Quay  became  Second  Lieutenant  June  19, 1861, 
was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  November  30,  1861,  subsequently  to  Assist- 
ant Adjutant-General  on  Gen.  Tyler's  stafi'  in  May,  1862,  resigned  in  October, 

1862,  and  died  at  Ravenna,  October  20,  1863.  A.  H.  Day  became  Second 
Lieutenant  June  19,  1861,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  April  1,  1862, 
to  Captain  November  2,  1862,  and  resigned  January  18,  1863.  Seymour  S. 
Reed  became  Second  Lieutenant  December  12,  1861,  was  promoted  to  First 
Lieutenant  May  20,  1862,  and  mustered  ovit  November  ],  1862.  Frank  John- 
son became  Second  Lieutenant  April  1,  1862,  and  was  killed  at  Cedar  Moun- 
tain AiTgust  9,  1862.  Henry  M.  Dean  became  Second  Lieutenant  September 
1,  1862,  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  November  1,  1863,  and  mustered  out 
July  6,  1864.  H.  C.  Ranney  appointed  Assistant  Adjutant- General  on  Gen, 
Tyler's  staft'  in  October,  1862,  vice  Quay  resigned.  J.  G.  Willis  appointed 
Quartermaster  of  the  regiment  in  the  fall  of  1862,  was  afterward  Brigade 
Quartermaster  on  Gen.  Tyler's  staff,  and  resigned  in  the  fall  of  1863. 

Forty-first  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — William  B.  Hazen,  Captain  in  the 
Eighth  United  States  Infantry,  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Forty-first  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry  August  7,  1861,  and  Brigadier- General  November  29,  1862, 
which  rank  he  now  holds  in  the  Regular  Army.  C  W.  Goodsell  became  Captain 
October  29,  1861,  and  resigned  January  30,  1862. 

Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — James  A.  Garfield  was  appointed 
Colonel  August  14,  1861,  promoted  to  Brigadier-General  in  March,  1862,  to 
Major-General  in  September,  1863,  and  resigned  December  5,  1863.  Frederick 
A.  Williams  became  Captain  September  20,  1861,  was  promoted  to  Major 
March  14,  1862,  and  died  at  Ravenna  of  camp  fever  July  25,  1862.  Horace 
H.  Willard  became  Captain  November  18,  1861,  and  was  honorably  discharged 
January  3,  1864.  Howard  S.  Bates  became  First  Lieutenant  September  20, 
1861,  and  resigned  February  8,  1862.  Orlando  C.  Risdon  became  First 
Lieutenant  October  7,  1861,  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Fifty-third  United 
States  Colored  Infantry  in  May,  1863,  and  breveted  Brigadier-General  March 
13,  1865.  William  H.  Clapp  became  Second  Lieutenant  September  20,  1861, 
was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  March  14,  1862,  and  to  Captain  and  Assistant 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  385 

Adjutant -General  May  15,  1863,  and  is  now  a  Captain  in  the  Regular  Army. 
Samuel  H.  Cole  became  Second  Lieutenant  October  5,  1861,  and  resigned 
May  9,  1862.  Henry  C.  Jennings  became  Second  Lieutenant  March  9,  1862, 
First  Lieutenant  December  16,  1863,  and  resigned  as  Second  Lieutenant.  J. 
S.  Ross  became  Second  Lieutenant  March  14,  1862,  was  promoted  to  First 
Lieutenant  July  25,  1862,  to  Captain  May  1,  1863,  and  mustered  out  September 
80,  1864.  Charles  E.  Henry  became  Second  Lieutenant  July  25,  1862,  was 
promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  May  1,  1863,  and  mustered  out  with  the  regiment 
in  the  fall  of  1864.  Horace  S.  Clark  became  Second  Lieutenant  May  25, 
1864,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  July  25,  1864,  and  mustered  out  the 
following  autumn. 

Forty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  —  Samuel  H.  Cole  became  First 
Lieutenant  August  12,  1862,  and  resigned  June  17,  1863.  Frederick  L. 
Dunning  became  Second  Lieutenant  February  18,  1864.  was  promoted  to  First 
Lieutenant  October  12,  1864,  and  to  Captain  June  16,  1865,  but  mustered 
out  with  the  regiment  as  First  Lieutenant  June  15,  1865. 

Fifty-eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — Henry  Boehl  became  First  Lieu- 
tenant January  8.  1862,  and  resigned  November  28,  1862. 

Sixty-first  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — Joseph  R.  Mell  became  Second 
Lieutenant  January  1,  1863,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  April  29,  1864 
transferred  to  the  Eighty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  with  the  same  rank 
April  29,  1864,  and  mustered  out  with  that  regiment  July  24,  1865. 

Eightieth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — George  F.  Robinson  became  Second 
Lieutenant  March  21,  1862,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  January  15, 
1863,  to  Captain  July  22.  1863,  and  mustered  out  March  12,  1865. 

Eighty-eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — Edwin  L.  Webber  became  Major 
December  31,  1862;  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  July  25,  1863,  and 
mustered  out  with  the  regiment  July  3,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  — Lorin  D.  Woodworth 
became  Major  August  9,  1862,  and  resigned  December  9,  1862.  Rev.  Buel 
Whitney  became  Chaplain  September  10,  1864,  and  was  mustered  out  with  the 
regiment  June  17,  1865.  John  A.  Wells  became  Captain  January  26,  1862, 
and  resigned  March  27,  1863.     Marcus  C.  Horton  became  Captain  November 

21,  1862,  and  was  killed  near  Dallas.  Ga.,  May  28,  1864.  David  D.  Bard 
became  First  Lieutenant  August  23,  1862,  was  promoted  to  Captain  May  29, 
1863,  and  killed  at  Franklin,  Tenn.,  November  30,  1864.  Lewis  D.  Booth 
became  First  Lieutenant  August  17,  1862,  and  honorably  discharged  February 

22,  1864.  Edward  E.  Tracy  became  Second  Lieutenant  July  17,  1862,  was 
promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  February  27,  1864,  to  Captain  January  6,  1865, 
and  resigned  April  1,  1865.  Luther  R.  Sanford  became  Second  Lieutenant 
August  5,  1862,  and  died  February  26,  1863.  William  Grinnell  was  promoted 
from  the  ranks  to  Second  Lieutenant,  and  to  First  Lieutenant  March  27, 1863, 
to  Captain  January  9,  1864,  and  honorably  discharged  as  First  Lieutenant 
May  28,  1864,  on  account  of  wounds  received  at  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Horace  L.  Reed  became  Second  Lieutenant  May  29,  1863,  was  promoted  to 
First  Lieutenant  August  19,  1864,  and  mustered  out  May  15,  1865.  G.  P. 
Reed  was  promoted  from  the  ranks  to  Second  Lieutenant  August  19,  1864,  and 
having  lost  a  leg  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  January  11,  1864,  was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — Isaac  D.  Spauld- 
ing  became  Captain  November  11,  1862,  and  resigned  April  6,  1863.  Ephraim 
P.  Evans  became  Second  Lieutenant  September  20,  1862,  was  promoted  to 
First  Lieutenant  April  23,  1863,  to  Captain  July  13,  1864,  and  was  killed  in 


386  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

battle.  Freeman  Collins  became  Second  Lieutenant  March  3,  1SG4,  and  was 
killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  June  27,  1864. 

One  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. — George  M. 
Phillips  became  Second  Lieutenant  November  23,  1863,  was  promoted  to  First 
Lieutenant  March  29,  1865,  and  mustered  out  with  the  regiment  July  17, 1865. 
Lewis  R.  Ranney  became  Second  Lieutenant  March  29,  1865,  and  was  mus- 
tered out  with  the  regiment  July  17  following  his  promotion. 

One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  ( National  Guards). — 
Surgeon,  Fred  C.  Applegate,  May  7, 1864;  Capt., Cyrus  A.  Mason,  May  5,1864; 
Second  Lieut.,  A.W.  Alcorn,  May  5,  1864;  and  Second  Lieut.,  Frank  H.  Snow, 
May  5,  1864,  all  of  whom  were  mustered  out  with  the  regiment  August  20, 
1864. 

First  Ohio  Volunteer  Light  Artillery. — Charles  S.  Cotter  became  Captain 
August  5,  1861,  was  promoted  to  Major  June  9,  1862,  to  Lieutenant-Colonel 
October  20,  1864,  to  Colonel  November  26,  1864,  and  discharged  August  10, 
1865.  Albert  L.  Beckley  became  First  Lieutenant  August  5,  1861,  and  resigned 
April  24,  1862.  Charles  G.  Mason  became  Second  Lieutenant  August  5,  1861, 
was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  March  12,  1862,  and  resigned  April  26,1862. 
Allen  W.  Pinney  became  Second  Lieutenant  August  5,  1861,  and  resigned 
March  15,  1862.  Joseph  D.  King  became  First  Lieutenant  March  13,  1862, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  November  14,  1862.  Edmund  B.  Belding 
became  Second  Lieutenant  March  12,  1862,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant 
April  24,  1862,  to  Captain  October  20,  1864,  and  mustered  out  with  Battery  E 
July  22,  1865.  Charles  W.  Scoville  became  Second  Lieutenant  March  15,1862, 
was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  June  9,  1862,  to  Captain  October  20,  1864, 
and  mustered  out  with  Battery  A  July  31,  1865.  Roland  G.  Day  became  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant  April  26,  1862,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  March  3, 

1864,  and  mustered  out  with  Battery  B  July  22,  1866.  Clark  Scripture  became 
Second  Lieutenant  November  14,  1862,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant 
April  13,  1864,  and  mustered  out  with  Battery  E  July  22,  1865.  B.  K.  Davis 
became  Second  Lieutenant  March  30,  1863,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant 
May  2,  1865,  and  mustered  out  with  Battery  I  July  24,  1865.  Lewis  B.  Max- 
well became  Second  Lieutenant  May  2,  1865,  and  was  mustered  out  with  Bat- 
tery H  June  14,  1865. 

Sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry. — William  Stedman  became  Major  October 
21,  1861,  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  August  3,  1863,  to  Colonel  Jan- 
uary 1,  1864,  mustered  out  October  6,  1864,  and  breveted  Brigadier-General 
March  13,  1865.  William  H.  Bettes  became  First  Lieutenant  December  16, 
1861,  and  resigned  March  23,  1862.  E.  S.  Austin  became  First  Lieutenant 
January  29,  1863,  was  promoted  to  Captain  May  9,  1864,  and  killed  at 
Hutchin's  Run,  October  27,  1864. 

Charles  H.  Bill  became  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Second  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry  July  15,   1862,  First   Lieutenant  May    19,  1863,   Captain    May   11, 

1865,  and  w^as  mustered  out  September  11,  1865.  B.  T.  Spelman  became 
Captain  in  the  Tenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry  January  15,  1863,  and  resigned 
May  31,  1864.  William  H.  Smith  became  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Four- 
teenth Ohio  Battery  September  10,  1861,  and  resigned  April  16,  1862. 

Fifty-third  United  States  Colored  Infantry. — First  Lieutenant  Orlando  C. 
Risdon,  of  the  Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  appointed  Colonel 
of  the  Fifty-third  in  May,  1863,  and  breveted  Brigadier-General  March  13, 
1865.  M.  H.  Judd  and  Isaac  R.  Barton  were  appointed  Captains  of  the  same 
regiment.     All  these  officers  were  from  Shalersville  Township. 

Capt.  Clifton  Bennett,  of  Freedom  Township,  served  in  the  First  United 


'#;Si 


"^    *^ 


«p:. 


.Iv'g?? 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  389 

States  Colored  Regiment,  and  Second  Lieut.  D.  L.  Rockwell  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  which  w^s  also  composed 
of  colored  soldiers. 

The  following  summary  of  the  money  paid  out  by  Portage  County  during 
the  war  for  war  purposes  furnishes  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  toward 
demonstrating  the  earnestness  displayed  bv  her  citizens  in  the  Union  cause: 
She  expended  as  a  "  War  Fund"  inl862/^3,737.19;  1863,  $3,956.48;  1864, 
$1,239.28;  1865.  $1,292.75.  Total  "  War  Fund,"  $10,225.70.  The  "Relief 
Fund  for  Families  of  Volunteers"  paid  out  was,  in  1862,  $6,354.79;  1863, 
$11,278.81;  1864,  $24,556.95;  1865,  $25,855.06.  Total  "Relief  Fund," 
$68,045.61.  The  "Soldiers'  Bounty  Tax,"  was,  in  1863,  $11,240.65;  1864, 
$38.13;  1865,  $76,878.63.  Total  "Bounty  Tax?'  $88,157.41;  making  the 
combined  public  expenditures  for  war  purposes,  from  1861  to  1865  inclusive, 
reach  a  grand  total  of  $166,428.72,  or  about  $6.85  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  then  residing  in  the  county.  And  this  was  not  all,  for  from  the  close  of 
the  war  up  to  the  present  the  several  townships  have  continued  to  levy  a  tax, 
when  necessary,  to  pay  bounties  to  soldiers  who  have  not  received  but  are 
entitled  tu  them. 

The  closing  scenes  of  the  great  struggle  aroused  all  over  the  North  much 
of  the  same  spirit  of  excitement  that  characterized  its  early  stages.  The 
people  of  Portage  County  manifested  no  slight  interest  in  the  stirring  events 
of  each  day,  and  the  good  news  of  victories  won  was  welcomed  with  the  most 
profound  sentiments  of  joy.  The  fall  of  Richmond  and  its  occupation  by 
Grant's  forces,  was  duly  celebrated  by  a  large  gathering  at  Ravenna  on  Tues- 
day evening,  April  4,  1865.  Speeches  were  made,  patriotic  songs  were  sung, 
bonfires  blazed,  cannon  belched  forth  their  deep  toned  hallelujahs,  and  the 
peojDle  truly  rejoiced  over  the  glorious  news.  Upon  Friday  afternoon,  April 
7,  when  the  news  of  the  deeds  of  the  gallant  Phil  Sheridan,  "On  whose  bright 
plume  of  fame  not  a  spot  o'  the  dark  is,"  was  announced  at  Ravenna,  and  the 
brilliant  captures  his  army  had  made  were  briefly  detailed,  the  excitement  was 
intense.  Bells  were  rung,  drums  beaten,  minute  guns  fired,  flags  flashed  out 
from  every  available  point,  business  was  suspended,  and  all  suri'endered  to 
the  jubilant  spirit  of  the  hour.  At  Franklin  Mills  (Kent),  Garrettsvillo,  and 
in  nearly  every  township  in  the  county,  as  the  glad  tidings  made  their  way, 
similar  demonstrations  took  place  over  the  success  of  the  Union  armies.  The 
following  poem  very  appropriately  illustrates  the  spirit  then  uppermost  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people: 

RICHMOND  IS  OURS! 

Richmond  is  ours!    Richmond  is  ours! 

Hark!  to  the  jubilant  chorus! 
Up,  through  the  lips  that  no  longer  repress  it, 
Up,  from  the  heart  of  the  people!     God  bless  it! 

Swelling  with  loyal  emotion, 

Leapeth  our  joy,  like  an  ocean! — 
Richmond  is  ours!  Richmond  is  ours! 
Babylon  falls,  and  her  temples  and  towers 

Crumble  to  ashes  before  us! 

Glory  to  Grant!     Glory  to  Grant! 

Hark!  to  the  shout  of  our  Nation! 
Up,  from  the  Irish  heart,  up  from  the  German — 
Glory  to  Sheridan! — Glory  to  Sherman! — 

Up,  from  all  peoples  uniting — 

Freedom's  high  loyalty  plighting— 
Glory  to  all!     Glory  to  all!— 
Heroes  who  combat,  and  martyrs  who  fall! 

Lift  we  our  joyous  ovation! 


390  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Fling  out  the  flag!    Flash  out  the  flag! 

tip  from  each  turret  and  steeple! 
^p,  from  the  cottage,  and  over  the  mansion, 
Fling  out  the  symbol  of  Freedom's  expansion! 

Victory  crowneth  endeavor! 

Liberty  seals  us  forever! 
Up  from  each  valley,  and  out  from  each  crag. 
Fling  out  the  flag!    Flash  out  the  flag! 

Borne  on  the  breath  of  the  people! 

Richmond  is  ours!    Richmond  is  ours! 

Hark!  how  the  welkin  is  riven! 
Hark!  to  the  joy  that  our  Nation  convulses, 
Timing  all  hearts  to  the  cannon's  loud  pulses; 

Voices  of«  heroes  ascending, 

Voices  of  martyred  ones  blending; 
Mingling  like  watchwords  on  Liberty's  towers, 
Richmond  is  ours!    Richmond  is  ours! 
Freedom  rejoiceth  in  Heaven! 

A.    J.    H.    DUGANNE. 

The  masses  of  the  people  of  Ohio  exhibited  a  grand  self-sacrificing  devotion 
and  fervor  in  the  support  of  the  Government  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Rebell- 
ion, and  the  God  of  battles  and  of  justice  blessed  them  in  their  noble  efforts 
and  their  unselfish  sacrifices.  With  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox 
Court  House,  April  9,  1865,  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  wars  was  virtually 
ended.  The  news  of  the  surrender  was  received  by  the  loyal  people  of  the 
North  with  the  greatest  demonstrations  of  joy.  Gov.  Brough,  of  Ohio,  in  har- 
mony with  President  Lincoln's  proclamation,  recommended  that  Friday,  April 
14,  the  anniversary  of  the  fall  of  Sumter,  be  observed  in  this  State  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  and  general  rejoicing;  that  religious  assemblages  mark  the  day, 
the  evening  to  be  given  up  to  bonfires,  illuminations,  tiring  of  salutes,  public 
meetings,  and  such  other  manifestations  as  would  appropriately  celebrate  the 
heroic  deeds  of  the  armies  and  the  general  joy  of  the  people  over  the  dawn  of 
a  glorious  peace.  In  pursuance  to  this  proclamation  the  day  was  observed  in 
Ravenna  and  many  other  points  in  Portage  County  by  the  general  suspension 
of  business,  religious  services  and  evening  demonstrations.  The  Committee 
of  Arrangements  of  the  Ravenna  celebration  were  H.  Y.  Beebe,  L.  C.  Dodge, 
H.  C.  Ranney  and  J.  H.  Terry,  under  whose  directions  the  affair  was  planned 
and  carried  out.  As  the  shadows  of  evening  drew  on,  the  ringing  of  bells, 
booming  of  cannon  and  music  of  the  band  announced  the  commencement  of  the 
programme  that  was  to  fittingly  close  the  day.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  salute 
of  fifty  guns — the  number  with  which  Maj.  Robert  Anderson  saluted  his  flag 
as  he  withdrew  from  Fort  Sumter  four  years  before — a  very  fine  display  of  fire- 
works took  place.  The  people  then  assembled  in  front  of  the  Court  House, 
where  speeches  were  made  and  patriotic  songs  indulged  in.  An  immense  bon- 
fire was  lighted  on  the  public  square,  and  amid  the  cheering  of  the  assembled 
hundreds,  and  the  stirring  notes  of  the  band,  the  ceremonies  of  that  historic 
day  were  concluded. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1861,  Maj.  Robert  Anderson  and  his  patriot  band 
lowered  the  National  flag  at  Fort  Sumter;  but  on  the  14th  of  April,  1865,  he 
raised  over  the  battered  walls  of  that  fort  the  same  identical  flag  that  at  the 
bidding  of  a  rebel  foe  four  years  before  was  trailed  in  the  dust.  In  1861  the 
South  asserted  the  right  to  throw  off  her  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
Government;  but  in  four  short  years  she  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  victors,  shat- 
tered and  bleeding  from  every  pore,  thousands  of  her  sons  slain,  her  cities 
sacked  and  burned,  and  her  four  millions  of  slaves  proclaimed  freemen,  in 
all  of  which  may  be  traced  the  finger  of  an  Omnipotent  God. 


HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY.  391 

The  graad  operations  of  the  Union  armies  had  brought  victories  most  sig- 
nal, and  the  last  great  battle  had  been  fought  and  won.  The  glad  tidino-s 
multiplied.  The  brave,  the  strong,  the  hopeful,  the  faint-hearted  and  indif- 
ferent,  all  participated  in  the  inspiration  of  the  great  Union  triumphs.  The 
sun  of  the  Nation's  destiny  rode  in  a  cloudless  sky. 

"But  e're  our  songs  had  died  away. 

Our  triumphs  o'er  our  foes, 
There  comes  a  knell  to  every  heart. 
That  speaks  a  Nation's  woes." 

An  appalling  sorrow  suddenly  overshadowed  the  land,  which  throughout 
its  length  and  breadth  became  as  a  house  of  mourners.  The  beloved  Lincoln 
was  dead — assassinated  !  The  heart  that  dictated  and  the  hand  that  penned 
the  immortal  proclamation  of  freedom  were  pulseless  forever.  The  plain, 
unassuming  man,  whose  gentle  virtues,  pure  and  unselfish  patriotism,  clear 
intellect  and  honest  heart,  made  him  emphatically  the  soul  of  the  Nation,  had 
finished  the  work  which  the  Master  had  given  him  to  do.  Strong  men  were 
stricken  speechless.  In  all  the  many  bitter  sorrows  of  the  previous  four  years, 
none  proved  so  startling  and  horrible  as  this,  and  every  true  heart  was  filled 
with  consternation  at  the  inhuman  desperation  of  the  crime. 

The  succeeding  days  in  Portage  County  were  days  of  sadness  and  gloom, 
and  everywhere  might  be  seen  the  insignia  of  deep  mourning.  On  Wednes- 
day, April  19,  Ravenna  foi-med  one  poiut  in  the  long  line  of  mourners,  who, 
from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  assembled  at  the  same  hour  to  make 
public  expression  of  their  sorrow  over  the  death  of  the  President.  At 
an  early  hour  in  the  morning  all  places  of  business  were  closed  for  the  day. 
The  public  buildings  and  business  hoiises  were  heavily  draped,  and  on  every 
hand  was  displayed  the  emblem  of  sorrow.  Draped  flags  were  placed  at  half 
mast,  and  though  there  was  no  ostentation  or  parade,  the  people  of  this  county 
bore  witness  to  their  deep  sorrow  at  the  Nation's  bereavement.  The  public 
exercises  of  the  day  at  Ravenna  took  place  in  front  of  the  Court  House,  and  were 
attended  by  one  of  the  largest  audiences  ever  assembled  in  the  town.  Rev.  J. 
E.  Wilson  was  chosen  by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  to  preside.  The 
invocation  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Hall,  after  which  the  people  joined 
in  singing,  "God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way."  A  prayer  was  then  offered  by 
the  Rev.  Mason,  and  Rev.  Tribby  read  selected  portions  of  the  Scriptures. 
Appropriate  and  touching  addresses  were  next  delivered  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Wilson, 
Hon.  Alphonso  Hart,  Revs.  Mason  and  Tribby  and  Hon.  Philo  B.  Conant. 
After  singing  and  prayer,  the  benediction  was  given  by  Rev.  Wilson,  and  the 
large  audience  quietly  dispersed  to  their  homes.  The  occasion  was  one  of  deep 
solemnity,  and  every  breath  seemed  to  whisper,  "This  is  the  funeral  day  of 
Abraham  Lincoln."  The  events  of  those  days  cannot  easily  be  forgotten,  and 
the  impression  made  by  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  so  closely  associated  as  it 
was  with  the  great  Rebellion,  can  never  be  effaced  from  the  memory  of  the  Nation. 


392  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XIV.'J  "-, 
ATWATER   TOWNSHIP. 

Arrival  of  Atwater  and  Others — Early  Privations— Birth  of  First 
Child— Another  Lone  Settler— Organization— Marriages  and  Deaths 
—Some  Old  and  New  Things— An  Ancient  Mfsket— Early  Churches 
AND  Preacheus—Schools— Newspapers— Industries,  Etc.— Officers  and 
Statistics. 

ATWATER  is  one  of  tlie  five  townships  in  which  a  settlement  was  made  as 
early  as  June,  1799,  and  is  second  only  to  Mantua,  which  antedated 
Atwater  only  about  six  months.  The  township  was  laid  off  in  the  surveys  as 
Town  1,  Range  7,  which  fell  to  the  lot,  as  well  as  two  or  three  other  town- 
ships and  parts  of  townships,  of  Capt.  Caleb  Atwater,  one  of  the  original  pro- 
prietors of  the  W^estern  Reserve.  He  gave  this  township  to  his  only  son, 
Joshua  Atwater,  who,  however,  did  not  visit  his  land  till  1805. 

In  April,  1799,  Capt.  Caleb  Atwater,  in  company  with  Jonathan  Merrick, 
Peter  Bunnell,  Asahel  Blakesley  and  Asa  Hall  and  his  wife,  left  Wallingford, 
Conn.,  and  after  a  long  and  tedious  journey  arrived  in  what  is  now  the  town- 
ship of  Atwater.  The  entire  party  remained  till  the  following  fall,  when  they 
all  returned  to  the  East  with  the  exception  of  Asa  Hall  and  wife,  who  came 
for  permanent  settlement,  and  having  put  up  a  cabin  during  the  spring,  settled 
down  to  make  themselves  as  comfortable  as  the  circumstances  would  admit, 
and  from  that  time  till  the  spring  of  1801  they  were  the  only  white  persons 
living  in  the  township;  in  fact,  there  were  only  six  or  seven  other  settlers  in 
the  entire  county,  there  being  one  in  Mantua,  one  in  Ravenna,  one  in  Aurora, 
one  or  two  in  Deerfield,  and  one  in  Palmyra;  his  nearest  neighbor  being  Lewis 
Ely,  in  Deerfield. 

As  soon  as  the  party  of  Capt.  Atwater  arrived  they  began  surveying  the 
township  into  lots  and  laying  out  roads,  and  many  were  the  hardships  encoun- 
tered by  those  hardy  old  adventurers,  but  they  were  made  of  the  material  and 
had  the  wills  to  withstand  all  the  privations  with  which  they  came  in  contact. 
Shortly  after  their  arrival  the  horses  of  the  party  broke  loose  and  ran  off  into 
the  dense  forest.  Jonathan  Merrick  started  after  them  in  the  morning,  but 
soon  became  lost  in  the  woods,  and  wandered  around  till  evening,  when  he 
found  himself  on  the  banks  of  the  Mahoning,  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
township.  The  next  day  he  continued  his  search,  but  with  no  luck,  and  still 
not  knowing  exactly  where  he  was,  but  on  the  third  day  had  better  success, 
reaching  camp  in  the  afternoon.  He  was  almost  exhausted  with  fatigue  and 
hunger,  and  had  been  given  up  by  his  companions,  who  thought  he  must  have 
been  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  or  killed  by  some  roving  band  of  Indians. 

An  event  occurred  early  in  1800  that  enlivened  matters  considerably  in  the 
Hall  household.  A  child  was  born,  and  this  first  little  visitor  was  named 
Atwater,  in  honor  of    the  proprietor.      This  was  the  first  birth  in  the  county. 

About  the  time  Hall  moved  away  from  the  Center,  David  Baldwin.  Jr., 
came  in  and  settled  two  miles  south  of  the  Center.  He  came  on  the  20th  of 
June,  1801,  and  v/as  from  Wallingford,  Conn.,  where  his  father  had  removed 
from  Massachusetts.     For  the  next  three  years  Baldwin   and  Hall  and  their 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  393 

families  were  the  only  persons  in  the  township,  and  they  lived  five  miles  apart. 
During  the  first  few  years  flonr,  or  rather  meal,  and  provisions  were  extremely 
hard  to  get.  They  had  to  go  to  Smith's  Ferry,  forty-five  miles,  to  a  grist- 
mill, and  as  for  shoes,  the  children  of  those  times  in  this  locality  never 
had  a  pair  on  their  feet  till  they  were  nearly  grown.  Baldwin  was  the  agent 
of  Capt.  Atwater,  and  was  a  man  highly  respected  by  all  who  came  in  contact 
with  him.  In  1802  a  child  was  born  to  David  Baldwin,  and  this  child  is 
now  the  hale  and  hearty  old  gentleman  of  eighty-two  years,  Maj.  Ransom  Bald- 
win, he  being  the  second  born  in  the  township,  and  the  oldest  and  only 
person  near  his  age  now  living  inside  the  county  upon  the  spot  where  born. 
The  Major  is  well  preserved  in  all  his  faculties,  and  has  filled  several  honora- 
ble positions  during  his  long  life,  notably  that  of  Major  of  the  Independent 
Rifles. 

After  a  journey  of  nearly  six  weeks  from  Connecticut,  there  arrived,  Novem- 
ber- 1,  1S04,  a  party  consisting  of  David  Baldwin,  Sr.,  Moses  Baldwin,  his  son, 
and  Theophilus  Anthony,  Capt.  Joseph  Hart  arriving  soon  after.  Anthony 
settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township,  and  cleared  up  a  tine  farm,  the 
first  plow  he  used  being  brought  from  Suffield  on  his  back.  Hart  settled  at 
the  Center,  and  raised  the  first  frame  barn,  which  was  the  first  frame  erected 
in  the  township.     A  frame  saw- mill  Avas  erected  about  the  same  time. 

In  1805  the  then  proprietor  of  the  township,  Deacon  Joshua  Atwater, 
with  Josiah  Mix,  Jr.,  came  to  the  township  from  Connecticut,  having  ridden 
all  the  way  on  horseback.  This  was  the  first  visit  of  Deacon  Atwater  to  the 
township.  Mix  returned  in  the  fall  to  his  home  in  the  East,  but  in  the  spring 
following  came  out  again  on  foot,  in  company  with  Jeremiah  Jones,  the  latter 
gentleman  afterward  becoming  a  Magistrate,  and  the  best  commentary  on 
whose  official  course  is  the  fact  that  but  one  appeal  was  taken  from  his  decis- 
ions to  the  County  Court. 

The  year  1806  brought  several  persons  into  the  township  who  very  materi- 
ally helped  to  shape  the  future  of  the  community.  In  addition  to  Jeremiah 
Jones  and  Josiah  Mix,  came  John  H.  Whittlesey,  Asahel  Blakesley,  Caleb 
Mattoon  and  Ira  and  Amos  Morse.  Blakesley,  who  was  one  of  the  party  who 
came  out  in  1799,  was  the  only  one  to  return  to  the  West,  but  having  married 
in  the  meantime,  bi'ought  his  wife  and  three  children. 

The  year  1807  saw  quite  a  number  of  new  settlers,  as  at  that  time  came 
William  Strong  and  family  from  Durham,  Conn.,  who  erected  the  first  frame 
house  in  Atwater.  He  enlisted  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  died  at  Black  Rock. 
Also  came  Capt.  James  Webber,  who  is  now  ninety  years  of  age,  being  brought 
out  when  a  boy  of  about  twelve  years,  Jared  Scranton  and  one  or  two  others 
from  the  East.  At  this  time  a  number  came  in  from  South  Carolina,  who  set- 
tied  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  township,  includiag  Enos  Davis,  who  brought 
a  son  about  ten  years  old,  Isaac  Davis,  who  is  now  living  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-nine  years,  William  Marshall,  John  Hutton,  John  Campbell  and 
some  others.  William  Marshall  was  a  stone  mason,  and  had  helped  to  build 
Fort  Sumter;  he  brought  two  mason's  picks  with  him  used  in  that  work. 

In  1810,  the  township  being  attached  to  Deerfield,  which  had  been  organ- 
ized several  years  before,  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  receiving  his  commission  from  Gov.  Huntington.  The  first  entry  on 
the  docket  of  the  Squire  was  April  1.  1811,  in  a  case  of  debt  and  damage, 
being  Lewis  Day  vs.  Lewis  Ely,  which  was,  however,  settled  by  arbitration. 
The  first  trial  before  him  occurred  the  following  fall.  Petition  having  been 
made  and  granted,  the  township  was  organized,  and  the  first  election  held 
April  3,  1815,  at  the  store  of  Elkanah  Morse,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of 


394  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Ira  Morse,  Justice  of  the  Peace ;\  Jeremiah  Jones, \Town  Clerk;  Gideon  Chitten- 
den, Joseph  Marshall,  Amos  Morse,  Trustees;  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  Caleb 
Mattoon,  Overseers  of  the  Poor;  Ira  Mansfield,  Charles  Chittenden,  Fence 
Viewers;  John  H.  Whittlesey,  Josiah  Mix.  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  Supervisors; 
Almon  Chittenden,  Constable;  David  Baldwin,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  which  office 
the  latter  held  for  twenty- one  years;  he  died  on  the  23d  of  December,  1837, 
after  a  long  and  useful  life. 

The  first  marriage  that  occurred  in  the  township  was  solemnized  January 
28,  1807,  the  parties  being  Josiah  Mix,  Jr.,  and  Sally  Mattoon;  Lewis  Day, 
of  Deertield,  officiated.  On  the  23d  of  April  Jared  Scranton  and  Phoebe 
Matoon  united  their  fortunes,  and  Day  also  officiated.  The  next  fall  Moses 
Baldwin  and  Nancy  Burns  were  married.  In  the  spring  of  1808  Maria  Strong, 
daughter  of  William  Strong,  died,  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  and  her  grave 
was  the  fii'st  in  the  little  cemetery  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Center.  In 
the  fall  following,  on  September  1,  1808,  David  Baldwin  died. 

The  first  sheep  brought  to  the  township  were  procured  at  Georgetown  by 
John  H.  Whittlesey  and  Jeremiah  Jones,  who  on  their  trip  to  the  point  named, 
while  traveling  through  the  dense  forest,  came  upon  and  captured  an  immense 
bear,  to  which  they  got  close  enough  to  strike  with  a  club  on  the  nose.  They 
brought  twelve  sheep  and  the  bear  back  with  them,  but  were  in  a  dilemma  how 
to  keep  the  sheep  from  wolves,  until  Mr.  Whittlesey  thought  of  fencing  off 
part  of  his  kitchen. 

The  first  mill  was  put  up  by  Asa  Hall,  on  Yellow  Creek,  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  township,  which  was,  possibly,  the  greatest  acquisition  then  made 
to  the  township. 

John  Norton,  who  lives  one  mile  and  one- fourth  north  of  the  Center,  and 
whose  father,  Jerry  Norton,  came  from  Durham,  Conn.,  in  1812,  has  in  his 
possession  a  musket  that  no  doubt  has  the  history  that  its  possessor  gives  of 
it.  Mr.  Norton  says  that  it  belonged  to  his  father's  great-grandfather,  and 
that  it  came  over  in  the  Mayflower  in  1620.  It  was  five  feet,  six  and  one-half 
inches  in  length,  but  has  had  four  or  five  inches  cut  from  it.  No  gun  of  the 
character  of  this  one  has  been  made  later  than  250  years,  and  it  is  precisely 
like  one  or  two  others  that  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  now  owned  by  New 
England  families,  who  possess  indisputable  evidence  in  regard  to  them. 

Maj.  Ransom  Baldwin  has  a  powder  horn  that  was  carried  through  the 
Revolutionary  struggle.  The  first  Postmaster  in  the  township  was  Caleb 
Atwater,  a  grandson  of  the  original  proprietor.  Charles  Bradley,  Sr.,  who  is 
ninety-two  years  of  age,  is  the  oldest  man  in  the  township. 

"  The  Queen  of  the  Harem,"  Amelia  Folsome,  one  of  the  wives  of  Brigham 
Young,  was  born  in  Buffalo,  and  settled  at  Atwater  Station  with  her  parents, 
who  were  Mormons,  previous  to  leaving  for  Nauvoo,  111. 

Mrs.  Susan  Carter  (widow  of  James  Carter,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been 
murdered  and  his  body  subsequently  placed  on  the  track,)  was  killed  by  a  pass- 
ing train  in  December,  1884,  near  Atwater. 

On  January  3,  1885,  Dr.  Bevington,  of  Fx*eedom,  was  killed  and  Miss  Eva 
Elliott  nearly  killed  by  a  train  on  this  road  just  north  at  Atwater  Station. 

Early  Churches  and  Preachers. — The  first  sermon  preached  by  a  Presbyterian 
minister  in  the  township  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  delivered  by  Rev.  Leslie, 
at  the  house  of  Maj.  Mansfield,  in  1808,  which  may  have  been  in  the  spring  or 
summer,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Scott,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  preached  the  funeral  ser- 
mon of  David  Baldwin,  Sr.,  in  September  of  the  year  named.  In  1806  a 
Rev.  Mr.  Ely  visited  the  settlement  and  preached  regularly  that  year.  A 
number  of  ministers  visited  the  township  at  different  times,  until  1812,  when 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  395 

Deacon  Ozias  Norton  came  in  and  began  holding  services  in  a  small  log-house 
at  the  Center.  About  this  time  an  event  occurred  that  gave  evidence  that 
those  early  worshipers  had  not  lost  their  patriotism,  for  on  one  Saturday  they 
received  notice  that  nearly  all  the  able  bodied  men  would  be  required  to 
march  to  the  seat  of  war  on  Monday,  so  the  son  of  Deacon  Norton  mended  all 
their  shoes,  and  the  women  made  their  knapsacks  on  the  Sabbath.  In  1813 
Deacon  Norton  left,  and  from  that  time  till  1816,  when  his  place  was  filled  by 
Deacon  Jonathan  Baldwin,  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  settlers  were  sup- 
plied by  missionaries  who  would  visit  occasionally.  No  regular  services  were 
held,  however,  till  1818,  when,  according  to  previous  notice,  on  the  20th  of 
March  a  little  band  assembled  at  the  house  of  Sylvester  Baldwin,  which  was 
organized  into  a  church,  Revs.  Caleb  Pitkin,  William  Hanford  and  Joseph 
Treat  officiating.  After  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Treat,  eleven  persons  were  formed 
into  a  church,  namely:  Deacon  Jonathan  Baldwin  and  wife,  Aaron  Baldwin 
and  wife,  Joseph  C.  Baldwin  and  wife,  Sylvester  Baldwin  and  wife,  John  H. 
Whittlesey  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Rachel  Norton.  Meetings  were  held  in  various 
houses  and  in  a  log-schoolhouse  'until  1822,  when  a  small  brick  church  was 
erected  a  few  rods  from  where  the  present  church  now  stands,  which  was  used 
till  the  elegant  and  commodious  edifice  that  now  adorns  the  Center  was  dedi- 
cated, that  event  occurring  November  7,  1841,  Px^of .  Hickox  preaching  the 
dedicatory  sermon.  Rev.  E.  C.  Sharp  became  the  regular  pastor  June  1,  1842, 
and  for  upward  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  continued  in  charge  of  the  church, 
dying  in  1867.  Rev.  John  Field  preached  one  year  as  stated  supply  in  the 
little  brick  church  about  1824. 

The  old  Methodist  Church  of  the  Center,  built  in  1821  near  the  Center 
Square,  is  now  used  as  a  barn  by  J.  M.  White,  one  mile  and  a  fourth  south  of 
the  Center.  The  first  preaching  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  at 
the  Josiah  Mix  homestead.  The  next  house  of  worship  at  the  Center  was  a 
schoolhouse  purchased  by  the  society.  Then  the  building  now  used  as  a 
town  hall  was  erected  and  used  until  sold  for  $800  to  the  town.  With  this 
$800  and  subscriptions  a  new  building  was  erected  at  Atwater  Station,  four- 
teen years  ago,  and  dedicated  by  Rev.  Moses  Hill.  The  preachers  since  that 
time  were  B.  F.  Wade,  Rev.  John  Brown,  George  Elliott,  Sherwood,  James 
Axell,  Mark  McCaslin,  C.  H.  Merchant,  and  Moore,  the  present  pastor.  There 
are  about  fifty  members.  The  land  on  which  the  church  stands  was  donated 
by  J.  H.  Whittlesey,  and  Mr.  Hillyer  donated  about  $3,000.  This  building, 
when  finished,  was  paid  for  and  dedicated. 

Holy  Teinne  Dutch  Reformed  Lutheran  Church,  of  Atwater,  was  organized 
as  a  society,  under  State  Law,  December  7,  1850,  and  elected  Michael  Jaiser, 
C.  Reichke,  and  James  Miller,  Trustees,  and  Jacob  Rotman,  Clerk.  This 
church  is  two  and  a  half  miles  south  of  the  Center,  and  is  one  of  the  old  reli- 
gious associations  of  the  county. 

The  first  school  is  supposed  to  have  been  taught  by  Mrs.  Almon  Chittenden 
in  1806-07,  at  the  Center,  in  a  little  log-house  that  is  now  gone.  Another  is 
said  to  have  been  taught  about  1809  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  town- 
ship, but  the  exact  location  and  the  old  pioneer  teacher  are  now  numbered 
among  the  forgotten  things.  The  condition  of  the  schools  of  this  township 
in  August,  1884,  is  shown  by  the  following  statistics:  214  boys  and  193  girls 
enrolled  in  primary  scho(jl.  Total  revenue,  $3,445.09;  paid  teachers,  $2,275.75; 
number  of  schoolhouses,  9;  valued  at  $7,000.  Average  monthly  pay  of  male 
teachers,  $39;  of  female  teachers,  $21. 

The  Sharp  Sickle  was  published  at  Atwater  by  William  Hicks  up  to  the 
time  of  the  editor's  death  in  1879.     The  press  used  in  the  office  is  now  in 


396  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

possession  of  William  Stratton.  The  Atwater  News  was  issued  in  July,  1884, 
and  ceased  after  the  publication  of  a  few  numbers.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  A^eR's  was'printed  at  Alliance,  full  postal  rates  were  collected  here.  This 
was  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  discontinuing  this  journal. 

The  Atwater  Choral  Union,  one  of  the  oldest  musical  associations  in  the 
county  has  100  members.  E.  E.  Heiser  is  Secretary  and  Dr.  O.  A.  Lyon, 
President.     Prof.  R.  Griffiths,  of  Akron,  is  Conductor. 

The  first  hotel  at  the  Station  was  opened  by  Mrs.  Massie  White,  in  a  house 
built  by  Joel  Haugh.  Mrs.  White  conducted  the  house  for  some  years,  under 
the  name  of  the  Colouade,  now  the  Atwater  House,  which  is  at  present  oper- 
ated by  Abram  Huffman.  In  1881  Abram  Huffman  opened  a  hotel  in  a  house 
which  he  built  opposite  the  present  Atwater  House.  The  American  House  is 
also  conducted  as  a  hotel,  with  W.  A.  Loomis,  proprietor.  Wells  Hillyar 
conducted  a  hotel  at  the  Center  for  many  years.  There  was  also  another  house 
opened  there  and  conducted  for  a  time. 

The  Atwater  Stone-ware  Company's  Works  were  established  by  Pardee  & 
Loomis,  and  a  company  was  organized  February  22,  1871,  with  A.  W. 
Loomis,  J.  E.  Conrad,  Joseph  T.  French,  E.  M.  Chapman  and  Joseph  Peck, 
members.  The  capital  stock  was  $50,000.  This  Company  went  into  liquida- 
tion, and  the  works  were  suspended,  until  purchased  by  George  Stroup.  The 
value  of  buildings  and  plant  is  placed  at  14,000,  and  of  annual  product 
$9,000.      This  industiy  gives  employment  to  ten  men. 

Atwater  Coal  Company  was  organized  May  1,  1871,  with  George  L.  Inger- 
soll,  S.  A.  Fuller,  A.  K.  Spencer,  John  Hutchins,  J.  E.  Ingersoll  and  J.  C. 
Hutchins,  for  the  purpose  of  mining  and  selling  coal,  building  railroads,  etc., 
etc.  The  capital  was  $300,000  in  $100  shai-es.  In  July,  1873,  the  stock  was 
reduced  to  $100,000.  An  explosion  in  the  mines  of  this  company  killed  ten 
men  a  short  time  after  the  opening  of  the  works.  Since  that  time  the 
mine  has  been  closed  down.  Another  coal  bank  is  operated  by  Wool  ford 
on  the  Spires  coal  land.  John  Spires  &  Sons'  pottery  was  established  by 
Pardee  &  Husted  on  lands  belonging  to  Mr.  Hillyer.  William  F.  Burns 
operated  the  works  until  his  death.  The  present  owners  have  operated  the 
works  since  1878.  This  industry  gives  employment  to  twelve  men  annually. 
The  capacity  is  6,000  gallons  of  stone-ware  per  week  or  about  1,000  tons  of 
clay  annually.  The  value  of  annual  product  ranges  abou*-  $7,000  or  $8,000 
per  year.  The  market  for  both  stone-ware  and  tile  (the  latter  manufactured  at 
the  works  three  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Atwater  Station),  extends  over  the 
Eastern  and  Western  States.  O.  J.  Ellison  is  Superintendent  of  the  ware 
works  at  Atwater  Station. 

A  saw-mill  was  erected  by  Capt.  Hart  in  1805,  which  was  the  pioneer  man- 
ufacturing industry.  Many  of  the  pioneers  believe  that  this  mill  was  on  the 
town  line,  and.  the  same  which  Abel  I.  Hall  conducted  subsequently. 

George  Stroup's  saw-mill,  one  and  one-fourth  miles  north  of  the  Station, 
was  established  and  operated  by  Stacey  Dole  about  thirty-two  years  ago,  as  a 
muley-mill.  This  is  novv  operated  by  Mr.  Stroup  of  the  Atwater  stone-ware 
works. 

David  Glass  operates  a  steam  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  just  north  of  tlie 
Center.  This  was  built  by  Grannis  &  Co.,  and  run  by  cattle-power.  Grannis 
also  operated  a  grist-mill  at  this  point. 

The  Spires'  saw-mill,  three  and  a  half  miles  east,  was  constructed  by  John 
Spires  sixteen  years  ago.  The  capacity  is  stated  at  10,000  feet  per  day. 
Th'^re  is  a  planing-mill  in  connection  with  this  saw-mill. 

Stanford  &  Mendenhall,  the   undertakers   at  Atwater  Station,   furnished, 


4. 


4' 


>^?-^5^         ^^^^^s^     y  $; 


■.# 


A^a^^t'    *^' 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  399 

during  the  year  1884,  seventy-five  caskets,  and  attended  a  like  number  of 
burial  services.  Their  business  calls  them  to  visit  the  cemeteries  of  Atwater, 
Kandolph,  Rootstown,  Edinburg,  Palmyra,  Deertield,  Berlin,  North  Benton, 
Suf6eld,  and  Marlboro. 

Homer  Hillyer  was  appointed  first  railroad  agent  in  July,  1851.  The 
first  shipment  was  a  lot  of  cheese  from  B.  Huff,  who  procured  it  from  his 
brother's  factory  at  Rootstown.  This  was  shipped  to  Granville,  but  Huff  never 
received  the  price  of  the  goods.  What  is  now  the  VChomas  &  Jones ^lacksmith 
shop  was  a  portion  of  the  first  depot.  In  January,  1884,  Mr.  Hillyer  retired, 
when  Daniel  Townsend,  the  present  agent,  was  appointed.  The  shipments 
from  Atwater  Station  per  month  are  161  tons,  principally  stone-  ware  and 
butter. 

In  addition  to  the  industries  named  above  are  William  Stoutberger's 
wagon  shop  at  the  Center,  and  a  carriage  shop,  marble  shop  and  two  black- 
smith shops  at  the  Station.  The  mercantile  circle  is  made  up  of  J.  H.  Green 
&  Co.  and  Webber  &  Webber  at  the  Center,  and  Baith  &  Jackson  at  the  Sta- 
tion; H.  H.  Woolf's  hardware,  Stanford  &  Co.'s  furniture  store,  and  W.  T. 
McConney's  drug  store  at  the  Station,  and  Craig  Bros.'  agricultural  imple- 
ment warehouse  southwest  of  the  Station.  Rev.  Rosswell  Chapin,  Con- 
gregational Church,  Rev.  Moore,  Methodist  Church,  Dr.  E.  Warrington,  Dr.  O. 
A.  Lyon,  and  Dental  Surgeon  W.  A.  Loomis,  represent  the  pi'ofessions  in  the 
township.  Clarence  Green  is  Postmaster  at  the  Center,  and  A.  V.  Willsey 
at  the  Station. 

There  is  in  the  township  a  fine  coal  deposit  opened,  entitled  "  Murehead 
Coal  Bank,"  proprietor  Charles  Murehead,  which  usually  runs  about  eight  or 
ten  men;  a  steam  saw-mill  one  mile  north  of  the  Station,  and  a  Sweitzer  kase 
factory,  Jacob  Matti,  proprietor. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees:  Edgar  Whittlesey,  W.  T.  Mendenhall, 
Levi  Heiser;  Clerk,  B.  F.  Hathaway;  Treasurer,  E.  T.  Goodman,  Assessor, 
Abner  Hoskins;  Constables,  Charles  Goodman,  William  Baith;  Justices  of  the 
Peace,  H.  H.  W^oolf,  S.  A.  Hinman. 

Atwater  furnished  for  the  service  of  their  country  in  the  war  for  the  Union, 
seventy-two  eoldiers,  fourteen  of  whom  laid  down  their  lives,  and  four  were 
disabled. 

The  country  is  strictly  agricultural,  and  the  land  is  first  class,  tolerably  well 
watered  and  gently  rolling.  The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Branch  of  the  great 
Pennsylvania  system  of  railways  affords  an  excellent  shipping  point  at  Atwater 
Station  for  the  products  of  the  township. 

The  statistics  of  Atwater  Township  for  1884  are:  97G  acres  of  wheat  pro- 
duced 17,016  bushels;  5  acres  of  rye  produced  15  bushels;  7  acres  of  buck- 
wheat, 53  bushels;  679  acres  of  oats,  25,649  bushels;  no  barley;  481  acres 
of  corn,  4,423'  bushels;  1,558  acres  of  meadow,  2,400  tons  of  hay;  114 
acres  of  clover,  180  tons  of  hay  and  31  bushels  of  seed;  no  fiax;  26  acres  of 
potatoes,  4,936  bushels;  no  tobacco;  butter,  41,677  lbs.;  maple  sugar,  1,333 
lbs.;  5,089  gallons  syrup  from  29,820  tr§es;  84  hives,  3,095  Ibs.fhoney;  5,779 
dozens  of  eggs;  6,520  bushels  apples;  582  bushels  peaches;  12  bushels  pears; 
50  bushels  plums;  10,795  lbs.  wool;  289  milch  cows;  3  stallions;  113  dogs;  8 
sheep  killed  and  injured  by  dogs;  7  hogs,  46  sheep,  22  cattle  and  4  horses  died 
from  diseases;  5,432  acres  cultivated;  5,409  pasture;  2797  forest;  10  acres 
waste;  total  acres,  13,648.  The  population  in  1850,  1,119,  including  391  youth; 
in  1870  was  1,180;  in  1880,  1,147;  now  over  1,200. 


400  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AUEORA   TOWNSHIP. 

Ebenezer  Sheldon— First  Legal  Business— A  Lonely  Couple— A  Model 
Pioneer  Wife— Other  Settlers— Early  Hardships— Organization— The 
Methodist  Circuit  Rider— First  Churcei  and  Schools— First  Birth 
and  Death  and  Other  First  Things— Hunters  and  Hunting  Stories- 
Early  Facts— A  Small  Meeting  with  Large  Results— Churches  and 
Schools— Business,  etc.— Statistics. 

AURORA  is  known  in  the  surveys  as  Town  5,  Range  9.  The  original 
proprietors  were  David,  Ebenezer  and  Fidelio  King  and  Martyn 
Sheldon;  John  Leavitt,  Gideon  Granger  and  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  Jr.,  also 
had  interests. 

The  first  white  man  to  enter  the  township  for  settlement  was  Ebenezer 
Sheldon,  of  Suffield,  Conn.,  who  arrived  in  his  future  far  Western  home  in 
June,  1799.  He  selected  Lot  40,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Elias  Harmon  and 
his  wife  commenced  a  clearing  and  made  preparations  for  a  small  crop.  Har- 
mon and  wife  came  in  the  same  month  as  Sheldon,  and  were  employed  by  him. 
Mrs.  Harmon  was  the  first  white  woman  to  come  into  the  township,  but  after 
getting  through  with  their  job  they  moved  to  Mantua.  Sheldon  returned  to 
Connecticut,  and  in  the  following  spring  (1800)  brought  out  his  wife,  four  sons 
and  two  daughters.  They  came  all  the  way  with  an  ox- team  and  a  pair  of 
horses,  and  a  small,  rude  wagon.  After  arriving  at  W^arren  they  rested  over 
night,  but  the  next  day  started  across  the  wilderness  of  woods,  and  were  over- 
taken by  what  we  would  now  call  a  moderate  cyclone.  The  wind  tore  up 
immense  trees  by  the  roots  and  split  and  splintered  them  and  threw  them  about 
in  such  a  manner  that  Sheldon  and  his  wagons  were  penned  in.  They  had  to 
remain  in  their  perilous  situation  all  night,  and  were  only  released  by  getting 
assistance  and  cutting  a  road  out.  But  Sheldon  was  of  that  sturdy  race  of 
pioneers,  those  grand  old  heroes  to  whose  daring,  perseverance  and  endurance 
we  owe  the  settlement  of  this  splendid  Western  country,  so  he  quietly  settled 
down  on  his  place,  built  a  log-cabin,  put  out  his  crop  and  lived  there  the  bal- 
ance of  his  days. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  St.  Clair,  Governor  of  the  Northwest,  appointed  Mr. 
Sheldon  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but  the  duties  for  the  first  three  years,  at  least, 
were  not  very  onerous;  in  fact,  the  only  official  act  performed  during  that 
time  by  the  Squire  was  marrying  his  daughter  Huldah  to  Amzi  Atwater,  of 
Mantua,  November  21,  1801.  Sheldon  used  to  say,  facetiously,  that  he  often 
tried,  during  the  first  few  years  of  his  official  career,  to  kick  up  a  fuss  with 
his  wife,  in  oi'der  to  make  business,  but  that  she  always  got  the  upper  hand  of 
him.  Mrs.  Sheldon  was  one  of  those  women  that  nature  seems  to  provide  for 
certain  emergencies  and  conditions.  She  was  large  and  healthy,  and  of  great 
strength  of  character,  besides  being  more  than  ordinarily  handsome  and  intel- 
ligent, and  although  dignified  in  appearance  and  manner,  had  a  flow  of  spirits 
and  a  buoyancy  of  disposition  that  seemed  almost  essential  in  the  lonesome 
wilderness  to  keep  up  the  courage  and  determination  of  tbe  sterner  sex.  She 
used  to  tell  her  husband  during  those  three  years   when   they  were  the   only 


AURORA  TOWNSHIP.  401 

family  in  Aurora,  and  whea  anything  would  perplex  him,  that  his  wife  was 
"the  smartest  and  best-looking  woman  in  the  township,"  and  well  she  might 
have  thus  boasted,  for  it  was  many  a  long  day,  even  after  the  township  became 
more  thickly  settled,  that  she  had  an  equal,  much  less  a  superior.  After  the 
death  of  her  husband,  which  occurred  in  August,  1829,  she  made  her  home 
with  her  daughter  Huldah,  in  Mantua,  and  died  December  11,  1846,  aged 
eighty-six  years. 

In  1803  Samuel  Forward  came  in  from  Granby,  Conn.,  bringing  several 
sons  and  daughters,  and  settling  on  Lot  18,  where  Gen.  Nelson  Eggleston  now 
resides  at  the  Center.  His  sons,  Samuel,  Oliver,  Chauncy,  Rensselaer  and 
Dryden,  were  those  who  came  with  him,  but  another  son,  Walter,  remained  in 
Pittsburgh,  where  he  afterward  became  distinguished  in  the  law.  He  was 
editor  of  the  first  Democratic  paper  in  Pittsburgh,  the  Tree  of  Liberty,  was  a 
member  of  Congress  in  1822,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Tyler,  and 
Charge  D'Affaires  to  Denmark.  The  father  died  in  1821,  aged  sixty-nine  years, 
having  been  a  man  of  stern  integrity,  great  strength  of  character,  generous 
and  genial  in  ordinary  life,  and  an  upright  Judge,  he  having  been  honored  by 
his  fellow  citizens  with  the  position  of  Associate  Judge.  His  widow  died  in 
1832,  aged  eighty  years. 

In  1804  came  James  M.  Henry,  from  Blandford,  Mass.,  with  his  family, 
and  settled  on  Lot  13.  The  wife  of  Henry  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
sister  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  the  descendants  of  the  Henrys  have  in  their 
possession  to  this  day  (we  believe  now  in  Cleveland),  a  Bible  presented  by  the 
great  Protector  to  his  sister  Mai'garet.  Also  in  1804  came  from  Massachu- 
setts John  Cochran,  Jr.  and  David  Kennedy,  Sr.,  and  George  Holcolb,  from 
Connecticut,  and  their  families;  also  David  Kennedy,  Jr.,  Eber  Kennedy 
and  Justin  Kennedy,  sons  of  David  Kennedy,  Sr.,  Samuel  Ferguson  and  sev- 
eral others,  all  single  men.  Eber  Kennedy  was  noted  for  his  remarkable 
strength. 

In  1805  came  Solomon  Cochran  and  family,  from  Blandford,  Mass., 
together  with  the  widow,  Mary  Cannon,  mother  of  Eli  and  Stephen  Cannon, 
and  Horace  Granger,  a  single  man,  from  Suffield,  Conn. 

In  1806  arrived  from  Middlefield,  Mass.,  Moses  Eggleston,  father  of  Gen. 
Nelson  Eggleston,  who  resided  where  he  settled  till  a  few  years  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  Aui'ora  Center  in  1866.  His  brother,  Joseph  Eggles- 
ton, Robert  Bissell  and  family,  and  Capt.  Perkins  and  family,  also  from  Mid- 
dlefield, Mass.;  Samuel  McConnaughy  and  family,  from  Blandford;  Isaac 
Blair  and  Col.  Ebenezer  Harmon,  son-in  law  of  Squire  Harmon,  all  came  in 
this  year  and  made  settlements.  John  Cochran,  Sr. ,  in  attempting  to  follow 
the  fortunes  of  his  son,  who  had  come  out  two  years  previously,  was  taken  sick 
at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  died,  where  he  was  buried,  he  being  the  first  white  per- 
son interred  there.  The  balance  of  the  family  continued  their  journey,  and 
after  many  hardships  arrived  at  Aurora.  In  the  family  was  a  crippled  daugh- 
ter, Rhoda,  then  twenty  years  of  age,  who  was  intrusted  to  the  care  of  a  little 
sister,  Laura,  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  who  walked  almost  the  entire  dis- 
tance beside  the  wagon  in  which  Rhoda  was  transported.  This  little  girl, 
Laura,  afterward  Mrs.  Stephen  Cannon,  used  to  take  great  interest  in  describ- 
ing how  her  feet  were  blistered  and  how  tired  she  would  get  walking  along  the 
lonesome  road.  In  this  year,  1806,  occurred  "a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  and  as 
the  event  was  unknown  to,  or  forgotten  by,  the  most  of  the  early  settlers,  con- 
siderable consternation  prevailed  when  the  darkness  began  to  obscure  the  sky. 

During  the  spring  of  1807  quite  a  boom  occurred  to  the  little  settlement, 
and  matters  were  very  stirring,  as  wagon  after  wagon  arrived  in  different  por- 


402  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

tions  of  the  totvnsLiip,  and  the  new  comers  were  looking  up  their  lands  and 
making  clearings.  Seventy-two  persons  came  out,  almost  in  one  body, 
and  among  the  heads  of  families  may  be  mentioned  Benjamin  Eggles- 
ton,  Jei-emiah  Root,  Samuel  Taylor,  Brainerd  Spencer  and  Amos  Sweet,  all 
of  whom  are  now  dead  but  three.  Also,  in  1807,  came  John  C.  Singletary 
and  Samuel  and  Caleb  Baldwin  and  their  families.  October  12,  1807,  the 
township  was  organized,  and  Samuel  Forward  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
The  settlement  now  began  to  assume  somewhat  the  appearance  of  civilization, 
as  roads  were  beginning  to  be  cut  out,  and  an  occasional  wagon  could  be  seen 
winding  its  way  through  the  woods  from  the  distant  mill. 

In  1808  came  Justus  and  Horace  Bissell  and  families,  and  settled  on  Lots 
11  and  12;  also  Maj.  Elijah  Blackman,  Elijah  Blackman,  Jr.,  Samuel  Black- 
man  and  Abner  Pease  and  their  families,  who  settled  on  Lots  19,  20  and  27. 
Maj.  Blackman  served  through  the  war  of  1812-14,  and  died  in  1822. 

In  1809  Bohan  Blair,  Septimus  Witter  and  James  W.  Herrick  came,  and 
in  1810  the  widow  Anne  Kent  and  three  sons;  also  Dr.  Ezekiel  Squires,  wha 
settled  on  Lot  38.  He  was  the  first  physician  to  settle  in  Aurora,  and  it  can 
readily  be  imagined  that  he  was  welcome.  From  this  year  (1810)  till  1820 
many  families  settled  in  the  township,  all  of  whom  were  from  the  New  England 
States.  During  this  decade  came  the  Sewards,  Wheelers,  Rileys,  Pakers, 
Plums,  Russells,  Crooks,  Parsons,  Spencers,  Laceys,  Hurds,  Jacksons  and 
others. 

In  1802  the  first  sermon  was  preached  at  Ebenezer  Sheldon's  house;  there 
were  present  Mr.  Sheldon  and  his  family.  This  was  the  first  sermon  in  the 
township,  and,  doubtless,  the  first  in  the  county. 

Previous  to  1809  the  settlers  held  religious  services  every  Sabbath,  but  had 
no  regular  pastor,  they  conducting  the  services  themselves;  but  on  December 
30  of  this  year  a  number  of  persons  assembled  at  the  house  of  John  C.  Sin- 
gletary, pursuant  to  a  call  made  by  Rev.  Nathan  B.  Darrow,  a  missionary  sent 
out  by  the  Congregational  Missionary  Society  of  Connecticut,  and  formed 
themselves  the  next  day,  Sunday,  into  a  church  organization.  The  names  of 
those  forming  this  society  were  Ebenezer  and  Laura  Sheldon,  James  M.  and 
Sarah  Henry,  Septimus  and  Anna  W^  itter,  Mary  Eggleston,  Thankful  Lucretia 
Root,  Mary  Cannon,  Jeremiah  Root  and  Brainard  Spencer.  Jeremiah  Root, 
at  the  first  election,  was  elected  Elder.  Brainard  Spencer  succeeded  Deacon 
Root.  In  1811  Rev.  John  Seward  became  the  pastor  of  the  church  and  filled 
that  position  for  over  thirty  years.  The  first  church  stood  where  the  Presby- 
terian building  now  is. 

The  Congregaticmal  Church  was  reorganized  and  incorporated  March  20, 
1872,  when  Alanson  Parker,  J.  L.  Thompson,  C.  Eggleston,  Solomon  Little 
and  Frank  Hurd  were  elected  Trustees,  and  C.  H.  Root,  Clerk. 

The  Disciples  Church  was  reorganized  under  State  law  May  11, 1855,  with 
Victor  M.  Cannon,  A.  V.  Jewell  and  J.  Bartholomew,  Trustees,  and  Ebenezer 
Sheldon,  Clerk.      The  name  adopted  was  Disciples  in  Aurora. 

The  school  was  an  institution  here  as  early  as  the  winter  of  1803-04.  Sam- 
uel Forward,  Jr.,  opened  one  in  a  little  building  on  the  Square  at  the  Center, 
and  he  had  as  pupils  Julia  Forward,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  Jr.,  Gersham  Shel- 
don, George  Sheldon,  Festus  Sheldon,  Chauncy  Forward,  Rensselaer  Forward 
and  Dryden  Forward.  The  next  school  was  taught  by  Oliver  Forward,  and 
the  third  by  Polly  Cameron,  in  1807.  As  an  illustration  of  the  feeling  of  the 
times,  and  showing  that  politics  ran  fully  as  high  as  at  present:  "This  old 
school -master,  Oliver  Forward,  delivered  a  Fourth  of  July  oration  at  the  Cen- 
ter in  1808,  and  all  the  Federalists  went  to  Hudson  to  avoid  it.      They  didn't 


AURORA  TOWNSHIP.  403 

•want  to  be  in  the  same  town  ^yhile  it  was  being  delivered."  The  following 
statistics  show  the  condition  of  schools  in  August,  1884:  Boys  enrolled,  76; 
girls,  71;  revenue,  $4,632.41;  expenditures,  §3,963.92;  number  of  school 
buildings,  7,  valued  at  $5,500;  average  pay  of  male  teachers,  S54;  of 
female,  $33. 

The  first  birth  in  the  township  occurred  in  the  family  of  Oliver  Forward, 
when  a  son  was  born  to  him  April  6,  1804,  whom  he  named  Cromwell,  after 
his  distinguished  ancient  relative.  The  second  birth  was  that  of  James  Henry, 
son  of  James  M.  Henry,  in  1806;  and  the  third,  in  the  same  year,  was  a  son 
born  to  John  Cochran,  Jr.,  whom  he  named  Leveritt  W.,  and  who  in  after 
years  was  an  honored  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  besides  holding  other 
offices.  The  first  death  was  that  of  Rhoda  Cochran,  the  crippled  girl  who 
came  out  with  her  mother  in  1804.  She  was  afflicted  with  inflammatory 
rheumatism,  and  died  December  25,  1806,  aged  twenty-two  years. 

The  first  human  habitation  erected  in  the  township  was  a  log-cabin  put  up 
about  two  miles  east  of  the  Center,  by  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  and  Samuel  Forward 
built  the  next  at  the  Center.  They  wei'e,  of  course,  of  the  most  primitive 
pattern,  consisting  of  round  logs,  puncheon  floors,  cot  and  clay  chimneys,  etc., 
etc.  The  first  mill,  it  being  a  combination  saw  and  grist,  was  located  near 
the  Station,  and  was  run  by  Septimus  Witter.  It  was  a  great  convenience  to 
the  settlers  when  first  erected,  as  they  had,  up  to  that  time,  to  go  many  miles 
to  get'their  grinding  done.  The  first  distillery,  a  small  one — and  the  only 
one,  by  the  way — was  erected  at  an  early  day,  but  it  did  not  thrive  as  well  as 
they  do  in  some  other  localities,  and  it  was  abandoned  many  years  ago.  The 
first  tavern  was  built  about  1812,  and  is  the  present  residence  of  Gen.  Eggles- 
ton,  the  building  having  been  remodeled.  It  was  kept  by  Judge  Samuel  For- 
ward. A  large  ashery  was  run  for  many  years  by  Hopson  Hurd,  who  also  had 
a  pearl  ash  oven,  and  shipped  large  quantities  to  Pittsburgh.  Hopson  Hurd 
also  brought  the  first  stock  of  goods,  and  sold  them  for  a  good  round  price, 
at  least  his  wet  goods,  getting  50  cents  and  75  cents  per  drink  for  brandy. 
Mr.  Hurd  was  also  the  first  Postmaster  at  the  Center.  In  the  fall  of  1809 
$200  was  raised  by  subscription  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  Town  House,  , 
but  as  money  was  extremely  hard  to  get,  and  the  cash  not  being  forthcoming, 
a  vote  was  taken  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  January,  1810,  which  resulted  in 
the  affirmative,  that  the  articles  of  sugar  and  lumber  which  were  subscribed 
should  be  "  delivered  by  the  1st  of  May,  and  the  grain  by  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber, next."  The  building  was  finished  in  the  early  part  of  1811,  and  on  the 
following  Fourth  of  July  a  ball  was  held  within  its  sacred  walls,  but  it  was 
sacred  nevermore,  for  the  church  people,  who  had,  ever  since  its  erection, 
been  using  it  as  a  place  of  worship,  would  never  enter  it  again  for  religious 
purposes.  Joseph  Skinner,  the  versatile  Joseph,  of  Mantua,  of  whom  more 
hereafter,  furnished  the  "catgut,"  as  an  old  settler  remarked  to  the  writer. 

Some  of  the  most  noted  hunters  were  Benjamin  Williams,  Marcus  Taylor, 
Jarvis  McConnaughy  and  William  Crooks  and  his  son  George.  Game  was,  of 
course,  plenty,  and  bear,  deer  and  turkey  meat  were  had  almost  for  the  asking. 
There  was  a  famous  hunt  participated  in  by  the  Nimrods  of  Aurora,  which 
took  place  in  Streetsboro,  but  further  mention  of  that  will  be  made  elsewhere. 
One  of  the  largest  bears  ever  killed  in  the  county  was  brought  down  from  the 
limb  of  a  tree  on  Squire  Forward's  place,  and  he  was  so  large  and  fat  that  the 
gambrel  upon  which  he  was  hung  up  is  preserved  to  this  day  with  date,  weight 
etc.,  marked  upon  it.  About  ten  or  a  dozen  wolves  were  caught  in  a  swamp  in 
1827,  and  the  boys,  armed  mostly  with  clubs,  dispatched  every  one  of  them.  A 
den  of  yellow  rattlesnakes  was  unearthed  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township, 


404  ,  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  over  fifty  were  killed.  Miss  Sally  Taylor,  who  afterward  married  Moses 
Eggleston,  taught  school  in  Springfield,  now  Summit  County,  and  during  one 
of  her  trips  across  the  country,  lost  her  way  and  had  to  stay  in  the  forest  all 
night.  Not  long  after  she  had  tied  her  horse  and  laid  down,  a  pack  of  wolves 
came  howling  around,  which,  scaring  her  horse,  caused  him  to  break  loose. 
She  then  thought  it  was  all  over  with  her,  when,  to  her  delight,  the  horse  came 
up  and  stood  over  her,  evidently  seeking  protection  from  her  whom  he  was 
best  protecting  by  his  position.  She  held  him  by  the  bridle  all  night,  and  the 
rays  of  the  morning  sun,  glinting  through  the  trees,  were  the  most  welcome 
she  had  ever  seen. 

Capt.  Harmon,  during  the  war  of  1812,  at  the  time  of  Hull's  surrender, 
formed  a  company  for  service,  but  they  were  not  needed,  although  they  marched 
as  far  as  Huron  and  remained  in  the  service  several  weeks.  Worthy  Taylor, 
who  is  now  about  ninety  years  of  age  and  the  oldest  man  in  the  township,  was 
a  gallant  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  Owen  Brown,  father  of  "old  John 
Brown  "  whose  soul  went  marching  on  so  peacefully  a  couple  of  decades  ago, 
married  one  of  his  wives,  Sallie  Root,  in  this  township.  She  was  not  the 
mother,  however,  of  the  immortal  John.  Some  years  ago  Truman  Howard 
and  sons  operated  a  hand  rake  factory  near  the  depot  and  sold  wagon  loads  of 
their  product,  but  the  horse  rake  spoiled  their  business.  Cheese  making  was 
one  of  the  earliest  industries,  and  the  handicraft  of  the  thrifty  New  Englanders 
in  that  line  has  not  passed  away  from  them  to  this  day,  as  they  yet  make  the 
finest  cheese  in  the  northwestern  section  of  the  county.  November  8,  1859, 
Alanson  Baldwin  was  murdered  by  his  nephew,  Lemuel  W.  Price,  who 
was  tried  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  life.  A  somewhat  noted 
slander  suit  occurred  in  Aurora  in  the  early  days.  Harriet  Perkins  said  some- 
thing derogatory  to  the  character  of  Thankful  Bissell,  for  which  she  was  tried 
and  a  judgment  rendered  against  her  of  a  gallon  of  whisky.  Old  Squire  For- 
ward was  the  referee. 

November  26,  1835,  Gen.  Nelson  Eggleston  issued  a  notice  for  a  prelimi- 
nary meeting  to  be  held  at  the  Eggleston  Tavern  for  the  purpose  of  arranging 
for  a  larger  meeting  to  be  held,  to  take  into  consideration  the  feasibility  of 
constructing  a  railroad.  The  meeting  was  held,  being  attended  by  Alanson 
Baldwin,  Chairman;  Nelson  Eggleston,  Secretary,  and  Moses  Eggleston, 
A.  W.  Stocking  and  two  others.  The  result  of  this  meeting  was  the  building 
of  two  important  lines  of  railway  through  Portage  County. 

Aurora  Iron  Company  was  organized  February  1,  1866,  for  the  purpose  of 
manufacturing  wrought  iron  from  iron  ore.  The  capital  was  $60,000.  The 
members  were  Evan  Moses,  William  Davis,  T.  G.  Rees,  T.  J.  Rees  and  M.  N. 
Gardner. 

The  history  of  apple  stealing  from  P.  P.  Mcintosh  in  1819,  points  out  the 
arrest  and  trial  of  a  few  of  the  boys.  It  appears  that  Royal  Taylor  and  Harvey 
Baldwin,  of  Aurora,  went  south  to  avoid  arrest  in  re  the  apples,  and  took  with 
them  a  small  stock  of  cheese.  This  resulted  in  the  Southern  cheese  trade, 
which  became  the  leading  industry  of  northern  Portage  County.  Mcintosh, 
the  prosecutor  of  the  boys,  died  March  9,  1832. 

There  is  a  very  tine  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  Center,  Rev.  George  C. 
Lyon,  pastor;  also  a  Christian  Church  with  no  regular  pastor;  both  have  good 
Sunday-schools.  General  stores,  C.  R.  Harmon,  Hurd  &  Bro. ;  Postmaster, 
C.  R.  Harmon;  John  Gould,  Editor. 

At  the  Station,  general  store,  Charles  Russell;  grocery,  Burroughs;  Post- 
master, C.  Russell.  There  is  a  grist-mill  owned  by  Herbert  Carleton  and  a 
saw-mill   by  C.   R.   Howard;  two  cheese  factories  and  creameries. 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  405 

Aurora  furnished  for  the  late  war  seventy-two  soldiers,  fourteen  of  whom 
died  and  four  were  disable^- 

There  are  seven  good  schoolhouses  with  a  fair  attendance  of  pupils. 

Toivnship  Officers. — Trustees,  Julius  Granger,  Daniel  Lacey,  John  Gould; 
Assessor,  R.  L.  Granger;  Treasurer,  W.  E.  Hurd:  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
R.  P.  Cannon,  Ed.  Shoup;  Constables,  John  Leisun,  Emmett  Lacey. 

The  statistics  of  this  township  for  1884  are  as  follows:  443  acres  of  wheat; 
no  rye;  no  buckwheat;  487  acres  of  oats,  15,088  bushels;  no  barley;  385  acres 
of  corn,  1,440  bushels;  2,320  acres  meadow,  2,647  tons  of  hay;  8  acres  of 
clover,  16  tons  of  hay;  32  acres  of  potatoes,  3,420  bushels;  7,695  gallons  of 
milk;  3,550  pounds  home-made  butter;  86,900  pounds  factory  and  creamery 
butter;  522,300  pounds  cheese;  82,651  maples,  yielded  12,285  pounds  of  sugar 
and  1,490  gallons;  19  hives,  100  pounds  honey;  280  dozen  eggs;  438  bushels 
of  apples;  4, 195  pounds  wool;  1,401  milch  cows;  55  dogs.  There  died  of 
disease  23  hogs,  69  sheep,  41  cattle  and  6  horses.  Acres  of  cultivated  land, 
1,154;  pasture,  10,294;  woodland,  2,223;  waste  land,  150  acres,  aggregating 
13,731  acres.  I'opulation  in  1850  was  823,  including  329  youth;  in  1870,  642, 
and  in  1880,  666. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 


A  Many-named  Township— Equalizing  Lands— Explorers  and  Settlers 
— Location  or  the  Early  Pioneers— Organization  and  Politics — Three 
Classes  of  First  Events— Education  and  Religion— Business  Beginnings 
— Large  Shippers — Resources— Statistics. 

BRIMFIELD,  like  one  or  two  other  townships  of  the  county,  had  the 
reputation  of  being  swampy,  and  was  slow  to  be  settled.  It  was  origin- 
ally the  property  of  John  Wyles,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  Israel  Thorndike,  a 
merchant  of  Boston,  and  was  Town  2,  Range  9.  From  the  fact  of  its  being 
swampy,  it  at  first  went  by  the  name  of  Swamptown,  after  which  it  was  called 
Beartown,  because  there  were  many  bears  inhabiting  the  swamps.  Then,  for 
some  reason  not  remembered  now,  the  township  was  known  as  Greenbriar, 
which  gave  place  in  turn  to  Wylestown,  in  honor  of  one  of  the  proprietors, 
who  had  owned  the  entire  township  at  first,  but  at  the  organization  in  1818. 
Thorndike  offered  to  give  a  plat  of  ground  for  a  public  square  at  the  Center, 
if  they  would  call  it  Thorndike,  which  was  agreed  to  and  it  was  so  named 
officially,  but  the  old  "Ingun  Giver"  backed  out  of  the  contract  and  would 
not  make  a  deed  for  the  ground,  so  the  citizens  petitioned  and  had  the  name 
changed  to  Brimfield,  in  honor  of  John  Wyles,  Jr.,  to  whom  his  father  had 
in  the  meantime  bequeathed  his  interest.  Wyles,  Jr.,  resided  in  the  town  of 
Brimfield,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass. ;  hence  the  name.  At  the  division  of  the 
property  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company,  townships  were  drawn  and 
awarded  without  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  land,  or  its  location,  but  in  some 
instances  the  townships  so  drawn  were,  according  to  common  report,  so  very 
far  below  the  average  that,  to  equalize  the  drawing  as  near  as  they  could  get 
at  it,  lots  were  added  elsewhere  to  the  property  that  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
unfortunate  ones.     This  township  being  considered  a  "poor"  share,  a  lot  on 


406  HISTORV  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Superior  Street,  Cleveland,  afterward  very  valuable,  and  several  hundred  acres 
of  land  in  Geauga  County,  were  thrown  into  the, bargain  by  the  Equalizing 
Committee.  The  honest  old  speculators,  however,  were  slightly  mistaken,  for 
Brimfield  is  now  one  of  the  best  sections  of  the  county,  and  the  "swamp" 
lands  are  among  the  best  grazing  spots  to  be  found  anywhere. 

In  1816  Thorndike  and  Wyles  cane  to  the  Reserve  to  view  their  land  and 
make  a  division  of  the  same.  They  found  Brimtield,  or  rather  Town  2, 
Range  9,  an  unbroken  wilderness,  with  nothing  but  wild  beasts  as  its  inhab- 
itants, and  they  had  no  difficulty  in  making  the  division.  Thorndike  chose 
the  north,  and  Wyles  the  south  half.  They  then  returned  to  the  East,  but' 
Thorndike  sent  out  his  nephew,  Heni-y  Thorndike,  to  act  as  his  agent  and 
make  a  settlement.  He  brought  with  him  Arba  Twitehel,  who  immediately 
commenced  a  clearing  on  the  old  Boszor  hill,  half  a  mile  north  of  the  Center. 
About  this  time  a  man  named  Simcox,  a  squatter,  attempted  to  make  a  settle- 
ment, but  he  never  purchased  any  land,  and  remained  only  a  short  time.  The 
first  permanent  settler  was  John  Boosinger,  who  came  from  Ravenna  in  June, 
1816,  but  was  originally  from  Maryland.  He  settled  on  Lot  39,  where  he  lived 
for  sixty  years,  when  he  passed  across  the  River.  In  the  following  November, 
Henry  Thorndike  with  his  famil}^  and  his  brother  Israel  arrived.  Israel  was 
a  bachelor,  but  soon  after  coming  married  a  daughter  of  Martin  Kent,  of  Suf- 
field.  Henry  settled  on  Lot  21.  Abuer  H.  Lanphare,  a  single  man,  also 
came  and  lived  in  the  Thorndike  family. 

In  January,  1817,  Deacon  Alpheus  Andrews  came  in  and  settled  at  the 
Center,  and  the  reason  whereof  is  thus  stated:  Thorndike,  being  anxious  to 
have  a  speedy  settlement  of  his  township,  offered  to  give  to  the  first  child 
born  therein,  eighty  acres  of  land.  The  good  Deacon,  hearing  of  this  propo- 
sition, and  having  certain  indications  within  his  household  that  he  might  pos- 
sibly win  the  prize,  straightway  moved  into  the  township  from  Rootstown,  and 
sure  enough,  on  the  17th  of  April  ensuing,  the  expected  visitor  arrived.  He 
demanded  the  prize-land,  but  as  the  child  had  died,  a  compromise  was  made 
on  forty  acres  of  land,  upon  which  he  lived  and  died. 

During  this  year,  1817,  among  others  there  came  in  Jeremiah  Moulton, 
Henry  Boszor,  Erastus  Flower,  Capt.  Uriah  Sawyer,  Harrison  G.  Moulton, 
Abner  Moulton,  John  V.  Gardner,  Jonathan  and  David  Thompson.  David 
Coburn,  Reuben  and  Henry  Hall,  Thomas  Rice,  Benjamin  Mallory,  Champlain 
Minard,  John  Furry,  Nathan  Packard,  John  K.  Chapman,  Peter  Wolford,  John 
Williard,  Nathaniel  Beasley,  John  Twitchell,  Samuel  Thompson,  Jacob  Hall 
and  Alpheus  Underwood.  In  1818  came  Asa  Sawyer,  William  Smith,  Fred- 
erick Jones,  Edwin  Barber,  Jonathan  Law  and  E.  A.  Palmer;  in  1819  Lyman 
Barber,  Amos  Benedict.  Selah  Hart,  Peter  Osborn,  Benjamin  Hall  and  Will- 
iam Hall;  in  1820  Jeremiah  Pike,  Dr.  Lincoln  and  William  Davidson;  in  1821 
Guy  Doolittle,  Capt.  Courtant  Chapman,  and  one  or  two  others,  and  along 
about  1825,  among  other  prominent  settlers  were  Deacon  Harmon  Bradley  and 
James  and  Julius  Blake.  From  this  time  forward  the  township  settled  up 
very  rapidly,  and  in  1831  contained  the  following  families,  with  their  loca- 
tions, as  enumerated  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman,  of  Kentucky,  in  an  address  deliv- 
ered in  1881. 

"We  first  find  the  family  of  Edward  Russel  in  the  northwest  corner;  com- 
ing to  the  Mogadore  road,  we  find  on  the  hill.  Uncle  Asa  Sawyer,  next,  his 
son.  Squire  Asa  Sawyer;  passing  west  from  the  Corners, Benjamin  Mallory,  John 
Furry  and  John  Chapman;  returning  and  coming  south,  Capt.  Uriah  Sawyer 
and  Uncle  Sammy  Thompson;  going  west  from  the  Corners,  Reuben  Hart,  Amos 
Benedict,   Jonathan   Law;  at   the  Corners,  Selah  Hart,    Jacob  Hall,    Erastus 


o^m^  e-^ 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  409 

Flowers,  Edwin  Barber,  Guy  Doolittle  and  Julius  Blake;  further  south  on  the 
Corners,  was  Philo  Taylor;  next,  Joseph  Gilbreath,  John  Gilbreath  and  Barnett 
Stilwell;  commencing  at  the  north  line  again,  we  find  Deacon  Harmon  Brad- 
ley,  Arba  Twitchel.  the  Wolford  family  on  the  Henry  Boszor  farm,  William 
Hall  and  father,  Benjamin  Hall,  Deacon  Henry  Hall,  Reuben  Hall,  Oliver 
Sawyer;  south  at  the  Corners,  Cone  Andrews;  south,  John  Boosinger,  Harris 
Sherman;  south  on  the  hill,  William  .James,  John  Shelhorn;  a  little  west, 
William  Davidson,  and  south  of  him,  William  Spaulding;  following  the  east 
and  west  road,  south  from  the  Center,  were  Conrad  Fowser,  Samuel  Myers, 
Peter  Osborn ;  south  of  the  Corners,  Thomas  Parsons,  Deacon  Edward  Parsons, 
Moses  Birge  and  Peter  Hockobout;  east  from  the  Corners  there  was  no  house 
for  two  miles;  north  from  the  Corners,  toward  the  Center,  was  Sullivan  Moiil- 
toQ,  George  Moulton,  Anson  Moultou,  Augustus  Moulton,  George  Price,  Will- 
iam Price,  Jonathan  Price;  west  from  the  Center,  Solomon  Carver,  Henry 
Savsryer,  Hiram  King,  Dr.  Lincoln,  Abel  Forcha  and  Benjamin  Haynes;  north 
from  the  Center,  were  Martin  T.  Hackett,  Nathaniel  Beasley,  Henry  Boszor, 
Nathaniel  Packard  and  Champ] ain  Minard;  at  the  Center,  Deacon  Alpheus 
Andrews;  east.  Widow  Harrison,  G.  Moulton,  Capt.  Chapman,  Harry  Chap- 
man, Joseph  Chapman,  Abner  H.  Lanphare,  James  Blake,  Orrin  Blake,  Judge 
Jeremiah  Moulton,  Sluman  Able,  E.  A.  Palmer  and  Alpheus  Underwood; 
south  on  the  diagonal  road,  David  Coburn,  John  V.  Gardner  and  Abel  Burt; 
north  of  Gardner  was  Isaac  Osborn,  Jeremiah  Pike,  Andrew  Coosard,  John 
Hill;  east  from  the  Corners  were  Albert  Undei'wood,  Lybia  Underwood,  Augus- 
tus Minard  and  David  Fuller;  north  from  the  Corners,  Freeman  Underwood, 
Frederick  Jones,  William  Smith,  Martin  Edson,  Huedang  Hall,  Benjamin 
Cady,  Elisha  Burnett  and  Isaac  Ives;  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  were 
Levi  Stoddard,  Thomas  Cartwright,  Lucius  Edson,  Joseph  Williard,  Fred- 
erick Moore,  Lyman  Barber,  Benjamin  Edson,  Beverly  Y.  Buss  and  Chauncy 
Isbell. 

From  1821  to  1840  came  the  following  persons:  Col.  H.  L.  Carter,  Will- 
iam Sessions,  Hiram  Ewell,  Alvin  Needham,  Erasmus  Needham,  Valorous 
Needham,  Williard  Thomas,  Algernon  Thomas,  James  Furrey.  old  Father 
Cairier  and  his  son  Lucius,  George  Guiestwite,  Conrad  Neff,  Dr.  Samuel  Hast- 
ings, William  R.  Kelso,  John  Kelso,  Charles  Edson,  David  L.  Rockwell,  Joel 
Burnett,  the  Bard  family,  Leverett  Black,  Ebenezer  Rawson,  Porter  King, 
William  Meloy,  the  Stow  family  and  many  others." 

The  township  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1818,  and  the  first  election 
held  in  April.  There  were  thirteen  votes  cast,  out  of  which  eleven  officers  were 
elected:  Trustees,  Henry  Thorndike,  Champlain  Minard,  Reuben  Hall;  Clerk, 
Alpheus  Andrews;  Treasurer,  Israel  A.  Thorndike;  Assessor,  David  Thompson; 
Fence  Viewers,  John  Boosinger,  Henry  Boszor;  Constables,  Arba  Twitchell, 
Thomas  Futson;  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Jonathan  Thompson. 

Politics  did  not  enter  into  this  election  for  the  reason  that  they  were  all  of 
the  same  mind,  but  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  they  were  Jeffersonian,  as  the 
township  has  been  Democratic  for  nearly  fifty  years  in  the  Republican  county 
of  Portage.  In  1840,  owing  to  the  great  popularity  of  Gen.  Harrison,  the 
Whigs  had  a  small  majority,  and  politics  ran  high,  so  high,  indeed,  that  when 
two  Constables  were  running,  one  of  them  was  so  reckless  as  to  bet  a  dollar  on 
his  election. 

The  business  of  the  Justices  in  those  early  days  seems  to  have  been  nearly 
nil,  and  the  same  good  custom  of  not  going  to  law  for  every  trifling  and  imag- 
inary wrong  seems  to  prevail  at  the  present  time.  There  is  less  litigation  in 
Brimfield  than  in  any  other  township  in  the  county,  scarcely  two  cases  a  year 

22 


410  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

coming  up  in  any  shape  whatever.  Magistrates  never  grow  rich  here  on  fees. 
Extremely  rare  have  been  the  cases  carried  to  the  County  Court,  and  no  lawyer 
has  ever  lived  here,  yet  the  township  has  been  the  home  of  many  excellent 
business  men,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Judge  Jeremiah  Moulton, 
Associate  Justice  for  seven  years;  John  V.  Gardner,  Coroner;  William  R. 
Kelso,  Commissioner;  Rodolphus  Bard,  Recorder;  Erasmus  Needham,  Repre- 
sentative; and  Col.  H.  I.  Carter,  County  Auditor. 

The  child  born  to  Mrs.  Alpheus  Andrews,  wife  of  Deacon  Andrews,  and, 
named  Henry  T.,  in  honor  of  Henry  Thorndike,  and  in  seeming  response  to 
the  prize  offered  by  that  gentlemen,  was  the  first  to  make  its  appearance  iu 
the  township,  and  the  date  was  April  17,  18]  7.  The  first  death  was  that  of  an 
infant  of  Capt.  Uriah  Sawyer;  the  next  the  death  of  Porter  Walbridge,  an  adult, 
and  the  third  the  prize- child  of  Deacon  Andrews.  Walbridge  was  buried  in  the 
cemetery  at  the  Center,  and  it  is  said  that  he  had  such  pronounced  heterodox 
views  on  religion  that  the  good  Deacon  would  not  bury  his  son  in  the  same 
ground,  for  fear  the  devil,  when  he  came  around  for  his  own,  would  make  a 
mistake  and  carry  off  his  child  in  place  of  Walbridge,  so  he  conveyed  the  lit- 
tle fellow  over  to  Rootstown,  and  buried  him  there.  Dr.  Sherman  tells  this 
tale,  and  another  in  regard  to  the  first  max'riage,  or  rather  the  marriage  of 
parties  living  here,  the  knot  being  tied  in  Ravenna.  A  fellow  named  Thomp- 
son, with  a  p,  was  courting  a  Miss  Durkee,  and  she  agreeing  to  have  him, 
he  started  to  Ravenna  to  get  a  license,  but  after  he  had  gone,  Thomas  Tutson, 
as  a  joke,  persuaded  her  to  give  up  the  other  fellow  and  marry  him,  upon  which 
she  said  it  was  a  "whack,"  and  they  started  ofi",  also  for  Ravenna.  On  the 
road  they  met  the  expectant  groom,  who  was  informed  that  she  had  changed 
her  mind,  and  although  he  said  he  would  die,  etc.,  etc.,  the  couple  continued 
their  journey,  and  were  made  one.  The  first  marriage  in  the  township  was 
that  of  Abner  H.  Lanphare  and  Miss  Sophia  Moulton,  July  4,  1819. 

On  the  '22d  day  of  December,  1818,  the  first  school  in  the  township  was 
opened  by  Jeremiah  Moulton,  in  his  own  house,  and  continued  during  the 
winter.  Four  families  monopolized  this  school.  The  teacher  had  ten  chil- 
dren, Alpheus  Andrews  had  seven,  and  the  two  Thompsons'  houses  were  full 
of  them.  He  opened  again  the  following  winter.  The  first  district  school  was 
taught  by  Henry  Hall.    Abner  Lanphare  also  taught  school  in  several  districts. 

There  are  eight  schoolhouses  in  the  township,  and  the  high  school  at  the 
Center  is  a  very  excellent  and  creditable  institution.  Prof.  A.  W\  Carrier  is 
Principal,  and  there  is  an  attendance  of  about  fifty  pupils.  The  course  of 
study  is  well  advanced,  and  the  school  is  doing  a  good  work.  The  statistics 
for  August,  1884,  are  as  follows:  129  boys  and  119  girls  enrolled;  8  school- 
buildings,  valued  at  18,950;  male  teachers'  average  pay,  |40;  female  teachers' 
pay,  $21;  revenue,  $3,005.43;  expenditures,  $2,586.38. 

The  first  church  to  have  a  regular  organization  was  the  Presbyterian,  in 
1819,  the  membership  being  seven  persons:  Jonathan  Law  and  wife,  Alpheus 
Andrews  and  wife,  Reuben  Hall  and  wife,  and  Benjamin  Mallory.  Rev. 
Simeon  Woodruff  called  the  little  fiock  together.  They  built  a  modest  little 
church  in  1834,  which  is  now  used  as  a  residence.  In  1818  Simeon  Woodruff 
preached  the  first  sermon  at  Henry  Thorndike's  log-house. 

A  Methodist  Church  was  organized  in  1823  by  Elder  Eddy,  of  Hudson,  and 
consisted  of  eight  members:  Benjamin  Mallory  (formerly  a  Presbyterian)  and 
wife,  Amos  Benedict  and  wife,  John  K.  Chapman  and  wife,  and  Abner  H.  Lan- 
phare and  wife.  This  society  built  a  church  in  1836.  A  Baptist  Church  was 
organized  about  1834,  and  consisted  of  four  members:  Deacon  Harmon  Brad- 
ley, Martin  T.  Hackett,  and  John  Taber  and  wife.  They  built  a  small  house 
of  worship  in  a  year  or  two  afterward. 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  411 

The  first  Universalist  Church  was  built  in  1837.  It  was  burned  down,  and 
rebuilt  in  1868.  Resident  ministers  have  been  very  few.  The  Universalists 
have  as  their  present  pastor  Kev.  Andrew  Wilson,  and  the  Methodists  have 
Rev.  Huston. 

In  1818  Israel  and  Edward  Thorndike  started  a  nail  factory  one  mile  and 
a  half  west  of  the  Center,  but  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  raw  material 
and  the  consequent  high  price  of  the  nails,  18  cents  per  pound,  soon  rendered 
the  enterprise  a  failure.  In  connection  with  the  nail  factory  a  saw-mill  was 
started,  but  it,  too,  was  abandoned,  and  the  building  afterward  removed. 

The  first  store  was  opened  in  1833  by  William  Sessions.  The  first  post- 
office  was  established  in  1835,  and  Constant  Chapman  was  first  Postmaster; 
the  next  was  Edward  Parsons.  A  hotel  was  opened  by  William  R.  Kelso,  and 
there  never  was  any  other.  The  first  frame  house  was  built  in  1819,  by 
Henry  Thorndike.  The  first  physician  was  Dr.  Lincoln;  then  came  Dr.  Stock- 
ing, Dr.  Gray  and  Dr.  Hastings. 

Toivnship  Officers. — Trustees,  J.  T.  W^illiams,  J.  P.  Lull,  A.  H.  Under- 
wood; Clerk,  G.  W.  Bard;  Treasurer,  E.  D.  Brobst;  Assessor,  James  E. 
Woods;  Constables,  William  Hasness,  Lewis  Metcalf ;  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
J.  L.  Carrier,  M.  S.  Chapman. 

Brimfield  Center  has  one  general  store,  kept  by  J.  T.  Williams,  who  is  also 
Postmaster;  one  harness  shop,  A.  C.  H.  Brown;  a  chop-mill,  a  wagon-shop,  one 
liy-uet  maker.  Werstler  Bros.'  feed-mill  and  cider- mill  was  established  in 
1882  at  Brimfield.  The  value  of  machinery  and  building  is  $2,500.  This 
industry  gives  employment  to  three  men.  Darwin  Smith's  saw-mill  was 
erected  in  1882,  employing  three  men;  the  capacity  is  6,000  feet  per  day.  The 
Brimfield  cheese  factory  is  operated  by  Parker. 

Brimfield  is  the  largest  wool-producing  and  shipping  center  in  the  county. 
Reuben  Brobst  is  one  of  the  heaviest  dealers  on  the  Reserve,  handling  some 
seasons  over  100,000  pounds  of  wool.  J.  T.  Williams  is  the  next  largest 
dealer,  he  handling  about  75,000  pounds.  Both  of  thes9  gentlemen  are  also 
the  heaviest  dealers  in  clover  seed  in  the  county. 

The  Center  is  beautifully  located,  and  has  the  handsomest  town  hall  and 
park  suiTounding  it,  in  the  county.  The  cemetery  is  beautifully  laid  out  and 
the  monuments  elaborate.  The  citizens  are  an  intelligent,  genial  and  hospitable 
class,  alive  to  all  public  enterprises  and  the  needs  of  the  Nation.  They  sent 
eighty-one  brave  boys  to  the  field  of  war,  and  twenty  of  them  fell  in  the 
service. 

The  statistics  of  this  township  for  1884  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat, 
2,050,  bushels,  31,132;  acres  of  oats,  968,  bushels,  38,491;  acres  of  corn, 
850,  bushels,  13,726  (shelled);  acres  of  meadow,  1003,  tons  of  hay,  1465; 
acres  of  clover,  676,  tons  of  hay,  840,  bushels  of  seed,  180;  acres  of  potatoes, 
160,  bushels,  17,986;  home-made  butter,  42,536  pounds;  factory  made,  6,000 
pounds;  cheese,  33,300  pounds;  117  maple  trees  yielded  fifteen  gallons  of 
syrup;  86  hives,  960  pounds  of  honey;  32,928  dozens  of  eggs;  8  bushels  of 
sweet  potatoes;  13,049  bushels  of  apples;  445  bushels  of  peaches;  15  of 
pears;  10,289  pounds  of  wool;  484  milch  cows;  6  stallions;  136  dogs;  39 
sheep  killed  or  injured  by  dogs;  animals  which  died  of  disease — 15  hogs, 
78  sheep,  11  cattle  and  2  horses;  acres  of  cultivated  land,  8,453;  of  pasture, 
1874;  of  woodland,  2,221;  of  waste  land,  139,  aggregating  12,687  acres. 
Population  in  1850  was  1015,  including  411  youth;  in  1870,  913;  in  1880, 
1030;  in  1884  (estimated)  1,200. 


412  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

CHARLESTOWN   TOWNSHIP. 

A  Hunter  Squatter— First  Permanent  Settler— The  Blandford  &  Gran- 
ville Co.— Post-bellum  Settlers— Fifty-six  in  Four  Families- Lead- 
ing First  Events— First  Birth  and  Marriage — First  Mills— Schools 
AND  Churches— Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin— Organization— Officers,  Business, 
etc. 

CHARLESTOWN  in  the  original  surveys,  Town  3,  Range  7,  fell  to  the 
lot  principally,  at  the  drawing  of  the  land  company,  of  John  Morgan, 
who  afterward  disposed  of  it  to  Samuel  Hinckley,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and 
went  by  the  name,  up  to  the  organization  in  1814,  of  Hinckley  Township. 

Abel  Forcha  came  to  the  county  about  1800,  from  the  western  part  of 
Maryland.  He  was  a  widower  and  first  made  his  headquarters  near  the  settle- 
ment of  Benjamin  Tappan  at  Ravenna,  after  which  he  moved  to  Chai'lestown 
about  1803,  and  settled  on  what  was  afterward  known  as  Farnham's  Hill, 
where  he  lived  several  years,  when  he  moved  to  near  where  Kent  now  is,  and 
thence  to  Brimtield,  having  married  a  Miss  Williard,  whose  father  lived  in 
that  township.  Forcha,  when  he  came  here,  made  his  living  by  hunting,  and 
furnished  the  settlers  with  as  much  game  as  they  wanted.  He  never  acquired 
any  land  in  this  township,  and  therefore  cannot  be  called  the  first  settler. 

John  Campbell,  afterward  well  known  as  Gen.  Campbell,  came  to  Deerfield 
in  the  spring  of  1800,  with  Alva  Day  and.'Joel  Thrall,  and  on  April  7  of  that 
year  married  Sarah  Ely,  daughter  of  Lewis  Ely,  the  first  settler  in  that  town- 
ship, the  wedding  being  the  first  within  the  borders  of  Portage.  In  1804  he 
was  elected  Ensign  of  a  military  company  formed  in  his  township,  and  in  1811 
was  elected  Captain  of  a  company  which  afterward  took  part  in  the  operations 
on  the  northern  frontier,  but  he  being  sick  at  the  time,  the  command  devolved 
upon  Lieut.  Day.  Capt.  Campbell  was  subsequently  elected  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral of  militia,  and  served  one  term  in  the  Ohio  Senate.  His  elaborate  address 
to  the  General  in  command  asking  that  the  Irish  troops  be  grouped  and 
allowed  to  engage  the  enemy  as  a  distinct  command,  is  well  remembered.  In 
1805  he  came  to  this  township,  and  settled  on  Lot  1,  which  is  the  extreme 
southwest  corner,  and  built  a  house  that  stood  one  quarter  each  on  Charles- 
town,  Ravenna,  Rootstowu  and  Edinburg,  and  which  afterward  became  the 
nucleus  of  the  thriving  little  village  of  Campbellsport,  but  which  when  the 
old  canal  was  relegated  to  the  things  that  were,  lost  its  grip,  also,  nothing 
now  remaining  of  its  former  glory  save  a  few  houses,  and  one  store, 
whose  owner  is  also  Postmaster.  Gen.  Campbell  was  a  man  of  strong 
natural  abilities,  energetic,  active  and  useful,  but  of  limited  education.  He 
died  in  1827,  and  was  buried  with  Masonic  honors.  A  singular  fatality 
attended  several  members  of  his  family,  the  coincidences  being  remarkable. 
John  L.,  a  son,  was  burned  on  the  steamer  "Daniel  Webster,''  on  the  Missis- 
sippi; Homer  M. ,  another  son,  died  on  a  steamer  on  the  Mississippi;  and 
Robert  E.,  still  another  son,  while  in  a  fit  of  temporary  insanity  shot  himself 
at  Rock  Island,  on  the  Mississippi;  whilst  John  H.  Campbell,  a  grandson,  was 
so  scalded  that  he  died,  on  the  steamer  "Pennsylvania,"  on  the  Mississippi. 


CHARLESTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  413 

In  1809  Campbell  was  appointed  agent  for  Hinckley,  and  he  proceeded  to 
the  East  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  company  for  settlement,  which  he  did, 
from  residents  of  Granville  and  Blandford,  Mass.,  the  members  of  which  were 
Samuel -NHinckley,  David,  Charles  and  Linus  Curtiss,  David  L.  Coe,  John 
Baldwin,  Levi  Sutliff,  Perry  Babcock,  John  and  William  King,  Anson  Fair- 
child,  Joel  Parsons  and  Solomon  Noble,  all  of  whom  signed  an  agreement 
that  if  they  did  not  move  on  to  the  land,  clear  five  acres  and  build  a  cabin 
within  five  years,  to  forfeit  their  right  and  pay  $100  besides.  All  of  them 
came  except  Hinckley,  Fairchild,  Noble  and  Parsons,  who  paid  their  tines  and 
stayed  at  home,  their  places  being  tilled  by  others,  and  the  $400  applied  to 
building  a  house  for  town,  school  and  religious  purposes. 

In  the  summer  of  1810  Linus  Curtiss  and  Levi  Sutliff,  with  their  families, 
and  Giles  and  Bansley  Wood  and  John  B.  Shaler,  single  men,  came  in,  Cur- 
tiss settling  on  Lot  41,  and  Sutliff  on  Lot  33.  In  the  fall  came  Molly  Knowl- 
ton  and  Elisha  King,  who  settled  on  portions  of  Lots  36  and  37  respectively. 
In  the  summer  of  1811  Charles  Curtiss  settled  on  Lot  40,  David  L.  Coe  on  Lot 
41,  and  John  Baldwin  on  Lot  34.  In  the  fall  came  John  and  William  King 
and  Abel  Thompson,  who  settled  on  Lot  32,  Lodowick  Parsons  on  Lot  29,  and 
Almon  Babcock  on  Lot  40.  In  1812  Lucretius  Bissell  and  Balzemon  Loomis, 
from  Torringford,  came  in. 

During  the  war  of  1812-14  there  was  little  or  no  immigration,  but  when 
hostilities  closed  settlers  came  in  rapidly.  In  the  spring  of  1815  tifty-six 
persons  arrived  in  one  party.  They  were  Moses  James,  from  Windham,  Conn., 
Lemuel  Knapp,  from  Northampton"  Mass. ,  and  Timothy  and  Joel  Hart,  from 
Granville,  Mass.  Each  of  these  sturdy  old  pioneers  brought  his  wife  and 
hcelve  cliildren.  That  was  the  way  they  populated  a  country  in  those  times. 
It  was  quite  fashionable  to  have  a  dozen  or  so  of  children,  and  the  couple  who 
did  not  have  eight  or  ten  were  not  considered  of  much  account. 

In  this  year,  1815,  there  were  thirteen  families  in  the  township,  and  thir- 
teen more  came  in,  doubling  the  population,  among  whom  were  Deacon  Ozias 
Norton,  Deacon  Joel  Dorman,  Joseph  Steadman,  Elisha  Wetmore  and  James 
King.  The  Knapp  family  came  from  Northampton,  Mass.,  to  Charlestown  in 
3815,  and  settled  on  Farnham  Hill,  near  the  present  residence  of  William 
Fox.  The  Knapp  family  numbered  sixteen,  Mr.  Knapp  and  wife  being  the 
parents  of  fourteen  children.  George  Knapp,  of  Garrettsville,  born  in 
Northampton,  Mass.,  March  14,  1799,  is  a  member  of  this  family.  Norman 
Kood,  born  in  Litchtield  County,  Conn.,  July,  1806,  settled  in  Charlestown  in 
1824,  and  is  still  a  resident  of  the  township. 

The  tirst  death  was  that  of  Brayton  King,  son  of  John  King,  in  1812, 
which  was  soon  followed  by  the  death  of  Charles  Curtiss,  and  about  the  same 
time  Rachel,  daughter  of  William  King,  while  getting  water  at  a  spring,  was 
killed  by  the  falling  of  a  ti'ee. 

The  tirst  white  child  born  was  John  W. ,  son  of  Mrs.  John  Baldwin,  born 
March  7,   1813. 

The  initial  marriage  occurred  March  14,  1816,  and  the  parties  were  Martin 
Camp  an(;i  Sallie  Coe.  The  groom  was  from  Tallmadge,  and  he  brought  with 
him  to  tier  the  knot  Bev.  Simeon  Woodruff.  October  21,  of  the  same  year 
Leverett  Norton  and  Polly  Curtiss  joined  their  fortunes  as  man  and  wife. 

In  the  spring  of  1812  Charles  Curtiss  set  out  an  orchard  on  his  place  on 
Lot  40.  He  gave  twenty  bushels  of  wheat  to  John  Harmon,  of  Mantua,  for 
200  apple  trees. 

The  tirst  saw-mill  was  erected  by  the  company  that  came  <5ut  before  the 
war,  and  was  located  half  a  mile  east  of  the  Center.     It  did  a  great  deal  of 


414  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

sawing  for  the  county  seat,  as  well  as  for  the  settlers  in  Charlestown.  The 
Knapps  also  built  one  on  the  same  stream  lower  down.  Smith  Hall  built  one 
south  of  the  Center,  and  Capt.  Curtiss  and  Claudius  Coe  built  one  north  of  the 
Center,  but  timber  becoming  scarce,  their  mills  all  went  down.  A  steam  saw- 
mill was  erected  by  Ezra  Stephenson  on  the  land  of  Sheldon  Farnham.  Some 
parties  from  Connecticut  wanted  to  locate  an  auger  factory  at  the  Center,  but 
not  getting  sufficient  encouragement,  went  a  mile  west  and  put  up  their  works, 
but  it  did  not  pay  and  was  abandoned.  The  name,  Augerburg,  is  all  that 
remains  of  the  project. 

Before  leaving  Massachusetts,  the  Blandford  &  Granville  Company  organ- 
ized a  Congregational  Church,  the  members  of  which  were  Charles  Curtiss  and 
wife,  John  Baldwin  and  wife,  David  L.  Coe  and  Almon  Babcock.  The  first 
preachers  they  had  were  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Connecticut  Missionary 
Society,  among  whom  were  Revs.  John  Seward,  Joseph  Treat,  Simeon  Wood- 
ruff and  Nathan  B.  Darrow.  They  early  had  an  edifice  in  which  to  hold  ser- 
vices, thanks  to  the  $400  forfeited  by  the  four  who  backed  out  of  the  agreement, 
as  stated  previously,  in  addition  to  which  Charles  Curtiss  agreed  to  contribute 
a  barrel  of  whisky  toward  the  building  if  they  would  name  the  township 
Charlestown,  which  was  accepted,  a  mode  of  "fighting  the  devil  with  fire," 
quite  ingenious  on  the  part  of  the  stern  old  sticklers  for  high  morality.  But 
it  must  be  remembered  that  whisky  was  one  of  the  only  products  of  the  time 
in  this  locality  that  represented  money.  A  contribution  of  grain  would  not 
have  been  thought  much  of,  for  there  was  no  market;  made  into  a  liquid  it 
was  quite  another  thing — always  a  market  for  that.  In  1817  Rev.  Caleb  Pit- 
kin received  a  dall  from  the  church,  which  he  accepted,  remaining  with  the 
flock  until  1827,  when  he  resigned  to  take  charge  of  the  college  at  Hudson. 
The  first  regular  church  building  was  erected  in  1829.  This  old  building  was 
burned  in  the  winter  of  1878,  and  the  present  church  was  erected  and  opened 
the  same  year.  The  cost  was  about  $3,000.  This  society  was  reorganized  by 
Rev.  J.  C.  Hart  September  16,  1858.  Rev.  L.  B.  Wilson  was  Clerk;  R.  L. 
Loomis,  J.  W.  Baldwin  and  Israel  Greenleaf  were  elected  Trustees,  and  Amos 
T.  King,  Clerk.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  Society  elected  Thomas  B. 
King.  Joel  O.  Hall,  Joseph  Hough,  J.  M.  Beardsley  and  Newton  Barnes, 
Trustees,  December  9,  1858.  Their  house  of  worship  still  stands  just  north 
of  the  Congregational  Church.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Colton.  The 
Methodists  also  have  a  neat  edifice  at  the  Center,  and  Rev.  S.  Collier  is  pastor. 
Their  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  1859,  just  north  of  the  Congregational 
building. 

The  first  school  in  the  township  was  taught  in  a  log  schoolhouse  at  the 
Center  in  the  summer  of  1811  and  winter  of  1812-13,  by  Miss  Sophia  Coe,  a 
sister  of  Ransom  L.  Coe,  who,  by  the  way,  together  with  his  wife,  Mrs.  Rebecca 
M.  Coe,  are  still  living  at  advanced  ages,  she  being  eighty-seven  and  he  eighty- 
five  years.  They  are  the  only  ones  left  in  this  county  of  the  early  settlers. 
Mrs.  Polly  (Curtiss)  Norton,  one  of  the  old  settlers,  is  now  a  resident  of  Con- 
necticut. 

Mr.  Coe  came  with  his  father  in  1811.  The  scholars  at  this  first  school 
were  Chauncy  B.,  Joel,  Melissa,  Charles  L.,  Dennis,  Harris  P.,  Prudence, 
Harriet  and  Lucretia  Curtiss,  Adnah  C.  and  Phoebe  Coe,  Robert,  Lathrop  and 
Rachel  King,  Samuel  and  Lydia  Sutliif,  and  Mina  Forcha,  daughter  of  Abel 
Forcha,  the  hunter-settler.  The  condition  of  the  schools  is  as  follows: 
Revenue  for  year  1883-84,  $2,573.16;  expenditures,  $1,879.51;  six  school- 
houses  valued  at  $3,000;  pupils  enrolled,  83  boys  and  80  girls;  average  pay  of 
male  teachers,  $32,  of  female,  $22. 


CHARLESTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  415 

The  township  was  organized  in  1814,  and  thirteen  votes  were  polled  at  the 
election,  with  the  following  result:  Trustees,  Lodowick  Parsons,  Lucretius 
Bissell,  Thaddeus  Curtiss;  Clei*k,  Elijah  N.  Bissell;  Treasurer,  Thaddeus  Cur- 
tiss;  Lister,  James  Newton;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,^Moses  James,  Ozias  Nor- 
ton; Fence  Viewers,  Joel  Hall,  Junia  Knapp;  Constable,  Elisha  AVetmore; 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  Lucretius  Bissell.  Squire  Bissell  made  a  good  officer 
and  served  two  terms.  His  first  official  duty  was  to  marry  Almon  Babcock  and 
Mary  Collins.  His  immediate  successors  were  Ralzemon  Loomis,  Thaddeus 
Curtiss,  Lodowick  Parsons  and  Junia  Knapp.  There  was  very  little  litigation 
in  those  days,  and  one  could  get  his  case  attended  to  for  a  day's  chopping. 

Toivnship  Officers. — Trustees,  William  Baldwin,  F.  C.  Hatfield,  O.  A. 
Coe;  Clerk,  A.  D.  Bishop;  (Treasurer,  W.  L.  Wetmore;  Assessor,  (J.  W. 
Copelaud;  Constables,  W.  L. 'jDutter,  G.  A.  Hine;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  A. 
P.  Curtiss,  William  Fox. 

There  is  a  grocery  store  at  the  Center  owned  by  W".  L.  Wetmore,  and  E. 
L.  Wetmore,  is  Postmaster.  There  is  a  basket  factory,  also,  and  a  wagon  shop. 
Charlestown  Co-operative  Cheese  Factory  was  established  April  28, 1874.  The 
original  members  were  A.  B.  Curtiss,  Jacob  Phile,  A.  W.  Loomis,  William 
Baldwin,  Carlton  G.  Hall,  J.  N.  Hall,  C.  L.  White,  Edwin  Halsted,  Lorin  C. 
Baldwin  and  Jacob  L.  Coe.  This  ceased  operation  in  1881  owing  to  litigation. 
The  cheese  factory  east  of  the  Center  was  established  by  A.  P.  Curtiss  and 
Henry  Carrington,  but  is  now  closed  down. 

The  township  has  furnished  a  Sheriff,  John  Campbell;  Senator,  Campbell; 
and  a  Probate  Judge,  Luther  L.  Brown. 

The  land  being  high  and  rolling  is  finely  adapted  to  sheep-raising,  whilst 
the  hills  overlie  almost  exhaustless  mineral  wealth,  all  that  is  required  being 
capital  to  develop  it,  and  a  railroad  to  afford  the  market,  the  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania &  Ohio  Railroad  merely  touching  the  northwestern  corner.  Tlie  town- 
flhip  is  well  watered  by  various  small  streams,  in  addition  to  the  Mahoning 
River.  One  of  the  finest  views  to  be  found  anywhere  is  from  the  square  at 
the  Center  looking  eastward,  across  Trumbull  County  to  the  high  lands  of 
Pennsylvania  far  in  the  distance.  Charlestown  furnished  fifty  brave  soldiers 
to  the  war  for  the  Union,  nine  of  whom  gave  their  lives  to  the  glorious  cause. 

The  statistics  of  this  division  of  the  covTnty  for  1884  are  set  forth  in  the 
following  review:  Acres  of  wheat,  790,  bushels,  11,210;  of  oats,  532,  bushels, 
21,353;  of  barley,  6  acres;  of  corn,  195,  bushels,  4,242;  of  meadow,  1,269, 
tons  of  hay,  2,269;  of  clover,  125,  tons  of  hay,  212,  bushels  of  seed,  74;  of  pota- 
toes, 61,  bushels  (estimated),  8,259;  home-made  butter,  26,548  pounds;  21,774 
maple  trees  yielded  2,225  pounds  of  sugar  and  5,231  gallons  of  syrup;  20 
hives  yielded  210  pounds  of  honey;  eggs,  12,692  dozens;  apples,  3,127  bush- 
els; peaches,  114  bushels;  pears,  22  bushels;  wool,  13,915  pounds;  milch 
cows,  365;  1  stallion;  71  dogs  killed  10  sheep  and  injured  17;  224  sheep  died 
of  disease;  acres  of  cultivated  lands,  2.027;  of  pasture,  6,362;  of  wood,  1,806; 
of  waste,  942;  total  acreage,  11,137  acres.  Population  in  1850  was  809,  includ- 
ing 304  youth;  in  1870,  675;  in  1880,  633;  in  1884  (estimated)  600. 


416  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 

Breaking  First  Ground— Settlers  of  1800— The  Elys,  Days  and  Divers- A 
Trip  on  the  Ma-um-ing— Hardships  and  Privations— Great  Increase- 
First  Military  Company— After  the  Organization— x\  Remarkable 
Family — Some  Early  Facts— Grant's  Tannery— Shooting  of  Diver — 
Hunters  and  Hunting— Early  Preachers  and  Churches  — Schools, 
Business  and  Statistics. 

DEERFIELD,  laid  down  in  the  surveys  as  Town  1,  Range  6,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settled  in  the  county,  and  for  three  reasons,  possibly — good  land, 
well  watered  and  being  in  close  proximity  to  the  early  western  settlements  of 
Pennsylvania;  for  although  the  very  first  settlers  were  from  New  England,  there 
came  in  afterward  such  a  sprinkling  of  Pennsylvanians  as  to  materially  alter  the 
character  of  the  inhabitants,  for  the  modes  of  life  of  the  average  Pennsylvania 
and  New  England  farmers  differ  in  many  particulars.  Your  Pennsylvania 
farmer,  for  instance,  builds  him  a  big  barn,  highly  ornamented,  regardless  of 
what  his  dwelling  may  be,  while  his  neighbor  from  Connecticut  takes  care, 
first,  that  his  house  is  comfortable,  and  then  attends  to  the  outbuildings. 
The  original  proprietors  of  the  township  were  Gideon  Granger,  appointed 
Postmaster-General  in  1800,  and  Oliver  Phelps,  both  of  Connecticut;  Phelps 
owned  two-thirds  of  the  land. 

In  the  early  part  of  1799  Lewis  Ely,  Lewis  Day,  Moses  Tibbals  and  Dan- 
iel Diver,  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  purchased  one-third  from  Mr. 
Phelps,  when  Lewis  Day,  accompanied  by  Horatio  Day,  started  for  his  new 
possessions,  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  horses,  arriving  in  June.  Shortly  after- 
ward, in  July,  Lewis  Ely  came  in,  he  having  started  a  little  later  than  the 
other  two;  he,  however,  was  the  first  settler  in  the  township,  as  he  brought 
his  wife  and  family,  built  a  cabin  and  settled  down  for  life.  In  the  fall  the 
two  Days  and  Ely  broke  the  first  ground  and  put  out  a  crop,  the  Days  then 
going  back  to  their  home  in  the  East.  Ely,  although  at  the  time  of  his  com- 
ing being  a  resident  of  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Massachusetts.  He  located 
on  Lot  19,  a  little  east  of  the  grave-yard,  on  the  east  of  the  Center.  He  died 
in  September,  1826. 

February  10,  1800,  John  Campbell,  Joel  Thrall  and  Alva  Day  walked  all 
the  way  from  Connecticut  to  their  future  home  in  Deerfield.  The  Alleghe- 
nies,  when  they  crossed  those  mountains,  were  covered  with  nearly  six  feet  of 
snow,  and  they  suffered  terribly  from  cold,  but  arrived  safely  on  the  4th  of 
March.  In  this  same  month  Alva  Day  and  Lewis  Ely  went  across  to  Atwater 
and  cut  a  large  tree  for  the  purpose  of  digging  out  a  canoe  and  going  to  Vir- 
ginia to  procure  provisions,  as  they  were  very  scarce.  They  launched  their 
log  into  Yellow  Creek  and  floated  it  down  to  the  Mahoning,  or,  as  the 
Indians  called  it,  Ma-um-ing,  meaning  "the  way  to  the  mai'ket,"  where  they 
fashioned  it  into  a  canoe.  It  was  some  time  in  April  before  they  arrived  at 
their  destination,  but  after  starting  back  with  their  supplies,  obtained  opposite 
Steubenville,  they  found  they  could  not  get  back  by  water,  and  returned  for 
an  ox-team,  only  getting  back  home  the  latter    part  of  May.     In  this  year 


Jf*^t^ 


dtr?^%4JhCje^cd 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  419 

1800,  came  James  Laughlin  from  Washington  County,  Penn.,  bringing  his 
wife  and  one  child,  a  daughter.  He  afterward  had  six  sons  and  five  other 
daughters.  He  settled  south  of  the  Center.  Henry  Rogers  and  several  others 
came  at  the  same  time.  In  July  Lewis  Day,  who  had  returned  to  Connecticut 
the  year  before,  came  out  with  his  wife,  Horatio,  Munn,  Seth,  Lewis,  Jr.,  Sol- 
omon and  Seba;  also  the  wife  of  Alva  Day,  who  came  out  earlier.  They  came 
with  an  ox-team  and  were  over  forty  days  making  the  trip.  Mr.  Day  came 
from  Granby,  Conn.,  and  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  being  Ser- 
geant of  his  company.  His  brother,  Asa,  was  with  him,  and  was  killed  by 
the  Indians  on  the  Mohawk  River,  at  a  place  called  Stony  Arabia.  The  old 
gentleman  died  in  1847,  at  the  extreme  age  of  ninety-three  years.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  for  over  sixty  years.  Horatio,  who 
came  out  with  him  in  1799,  died  in  1852,  aged  seventy-two  years.  The  wife  of 
Alva  Day  died  in  1838,  and  Mrs.  Lewis  Day  in  1823,  from  the  bite  of  a  rat- 
tlesnake. 

For  the  next  four  years  after  1800  the  population  increased  at  a  rapid  rate, 
many  settlers  coming  in  not  only  from  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  but 
from  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  Maryland.  In  1802  Ephraim  B.  Hubbard, 
a  native  of  Stratford,  Conn.,  who  had  removed  to  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. , 
where  he  was  married,  and  thence  to  Greene  County,  same  State,  resolved  upon 
settling  in  the  Scioto  Valley,  but  on  his  way  thither  fell  in  company  with  a 
Mr.  Penn,  who  induced  him  to  change  his  mind  and  come  to  this  county, 
which  he  did,  settling  in  Deertield,  and  purchasing  a  tract  of  land.  He  died 
in  1825  aged  sixty-one  years.  His  three  sons  became  prominent  citizens,  one 
of  them  entering  <he  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Many  others,  whose 
names  are  now  forgotten,  came  in  this  year.  In  1803  Daniel  Diver  came  in 
with  his  wife  and  family.  He  was  born  in  1752,  in  Granville,  Mass.,  but  the 
family  was  originally  from  Holland.  His  sons  were  Daniel,  John  and  Samuel; 
and  the  daughters  were  Peggy,  married  to  Simeon  Card,  who  came  in  with  the 
Divers,  and  who  died  a  few  years  afterward;  Mary,  married  to  Rev.  Shad- 
rach  Bostwick,  who  came  in  at  the  same  time  his  father-in-law  did,  and  who 
was  not  only  a  typical  circuit  rider  of  the  Methodist  Church,  but  a  very  excel- 
lent physician;  Betsey  and  Josey  were  two  other  daughters.  In  1804  the  pop- 
ulation had  so  increased  that  a  meeting  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
military  company,  which  resulted  in  the  selection  of  Henry  Rogers,  Captain; 
John  Diver,  Lieutenant  and  John  Campbell,  Ensign.  Campbell  afterward 
became  General  and  Rogers  Major.  Numerous  settlements  were  made  during 
this  year,  most  of  the  newcomers  being  from  Pennsylvania.  In  1805  John 
Murray  came  in  and  commenced  following  his  trade  as  a  millwright,  but  there 
not  being  much  to  do  in  his  line,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  at  New 
Lisbon  shortly  afterward.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  education  and  natu- 
ral talents,  and  became  somewhat  noted,  locally,  as  a  physician.  A  German 
named  Burhans,  a  miller,  from  Maryland,  came  also  in  this  year,  as  well  as 
one  or  two  from  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 

April  7,  1806,  the  township  was  organized,  and  the  following  officers 
elected:  Joseph  Hart,  James  McKelvey  and  Horatio  Day,  Trustees;  Daniel 
Diver  and  David  Daniels,  Overseers;  Amos  Thurber  and  Alva  Day,  Fence 
Viewers;  Alva  Day  and  William  Bacon,  Appraisers;  James  Carter,  Constable; 
Daniel  Diver,  Treasurer;  Alva  Day,  E.  B.  Hubbard,  Amos  Thurber,  Asa  Hall, 
John  Vennetta  and  E.  Baker,  Supervisors.  Lewis  Day,  James  Laughlin  and 
James  Thurber  were  the  Judges  of  the  Election,  and  Shadrach  Bostwick,  the 
Clerk.  Several  of  these  officers  resided  at  this  time  in  what  are  now  adjoin- 
ing townships  to  Deerfield,  and  the  list  includes  the  first  man  who  settled  in 


420  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Atwater  and  the  first  in  Palmyra.  The  township  was  named  in  honor  of  Deer- 
field,  Mass.,  the  birthplace  of  the  mother  of  Lewis  Day,  Sr.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  County  Commissioners  in  August,  1808,  James  Carter  was  made  Collector 
of  Taxes  for  Deertield,  and  at  the  annual  election  in  October,  Alva  Day  was 
elected  Sheriff,  Lewis  Day  a  Commissioner,  and  Lewis  Ely,  Coroner,  four 
county  officers  from  Deerfield.  In  1809  Seth  Day,  one  of  the  sons  of  Lewis, 
Sr.,  was  appointed  Clerk  to  the  County  Commissioners,  and  the  same  year  was 
appointed  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  Supreme  Court;  in  1817 
he  was  appointed  Recorder,  and  in  1818  Postmaster  of  Ravenna,  holding  the 
last  three  offices  till  1832,  when  he  entered  private  business,  where  he  became 
widely  known. 

In  1806  came  in  a  large  number  of  settlers,  and  from  various  sections. 
Moses  Tibballs,  one  of  the  original  four  purchasers,  came  this  year  and  set- 
tled on  Lot  28.  He  was  from  Granville,  Mass.,  and  died  in  1841,  leaving  four 
sons:  Alfred  M.,  Aubert  L.,  Francis  W.  and  Seymour  S.  Either  this  year  or 
previously,  Noah  Grant  settled  in  the  township.  He  was  the  father  of  Jesse 
R.  Grant,  and  grandfather  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant.  The  wife  of  Noah  Grant 
lies  buried  in  the  old  cemetery  at  the  Center,  but  the  exact  spot  has  now  passed 
away  from  the  memory  of  all.  James  Carter,  from  Virginia,  and  Robert  and 
George  Taylor,  and  William  Reed,  from  Washington  County,  Penn.,  also 
came,  and  quite  a  number  of  the  descendants  of  the  latter  still  live  in  the 
county.  In  1807  the  influx  increased,  and  many  names  appear  which  after- 
ward figured  in  various  ways  in  pu^blic  and  private  business  of  the  township 
and  county.  Peter  Mason  came  from  Connecticut,  in  company  with  his  brother 
Stephen,  both  young  men.  One  of  them  married  a  Day  and  raised  seventeen 
children.  The  other  married  an  Ely.  Andrew  Pownell  and  a  brother  also 
came  about  this  time,  both  having  families.     Also  the  Hartzells. 

There  came  Jacob,  John,  George  H. ,  William,  Abraham  and  Joseph  Hart- 
zell,  from  Northampton  County,  Penn.  George  H.  Hartzell,  the  leader  of  the 
company,  and  the  patriarch  of  the  entire  connection,  had  come  out  in  1806 
and  made  a  large  purchase  of  land  for  himself,  his  numerous  family,  and  two 
sons-in-law,  John  Quier  and  Frederick  Lazarus.  George  H.  Hartzell  had  a 
family  of  twelve  children,  eight  boys  and  four  girls,  and  his  eldest  son  John 
had  twelve  children;  George,  Jr.,  had  a  family  of  eleven  children;  the  daugh- 
ter who  married  Lazarus  had  ten  children;  William  had  ten  children,  and  so  on; 
George,  Jr.,  was  eighty-four;  John,  eighty;  Christena,  wife  of  George,  sev- 
enty-four; Lazarus,  eighty,  and  his  wife  seventy-eight;  William  seventy-eight 
years  old,  and  so  on. 

Hartzell,  Senior,  called  together  his  own  family  and  organized  a  congrega- 
tion on  his  own  account.  He  was  not  a  preacher,  nor  even  an  Elder,  but  he 
read  from  the  Scriptures  and  instructed  his  flock. 

In  1800  Lewis  Ely  gave  a  plat  of  ground  east  of  the  Center  to  be  used  as 
a  burying  ground,  and  the  first  person  buried  in  it  was  a  good  Indian;  he  was 
a  little  boy,  and  they  say  "all  good  Indians  die  young."  Two  young  men 
made  him  a  nice  little  coffin  and  stained  it  with  the  juice  of  maple  bark.  The 
next,  and  the  first  white  person,  to  die  was  Betsey  Rogers,  who  died  from  the 
effects  of  the  bite  of  a  rattlesnake.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Henry  Rogers. 
The  first  marriage  occurx'ed  in  April  of  this  year,  and  the  parties  were  John 
Campbell  and  Sarah  Ely.  They  were  married  by  Squire  Calvin  Austin,  of 
Trumbull  County,  the  nearest  official  to  them  who  could  tie  the  knot.  The 
groom  was  known  in  after  years  as  Gen.  Campbell.  The  first  birth  occurred 
August  22,  1800,  when  the  wife  of  Alva  Day  bora  him  a  child,  whom  they 
named  Polly.      She  became  the  wife  of  Jeduthan  W.   Farnum.      In  this  year 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  421 

Lewis  Day  was  appointed  Postmaster  by  Postmaster-General  Gideon  Granger. 
In  the  fall  of  1801  James  Laughlin  finished  a  grist-mill  on  the  Mahoning, 
which  was  a  great  convenience,  as  up  to  that  time  the  inhabitants  had  to  go 
to  Youngstown  to  get  their  milling  done.  In  this  year,  April  12,  the  next  child 
was  boi-n,  a  daughter,  to  John  and  Sarah  Campbell,  and  whom  they  named  Anna. 
The  next  wedding  was  probably  that  of  John  Diver  to  Laura  Ely,  in  the 
spring  of  1804.  He  immediately  settled  on  Lot  30  and  opened  a  public  house, 
which  was  the  first  tavern  in  the  township,  and  whei'e  there  is  still  one  kept 
called  the  Diver  House.  "  Uncle  John,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  kept  this 
tavern  forty  years.  About  1805-06  Burhans,  the  German,  built  a  rude  mill  on 
the  Mahoning,  about  one  mile  below  Laughlin's  mill,  but  not  a  vestige  of  it 
now  remains.  The  land  tax  of  resident  owners  in  1808  was  $48.78.  In  1808 
Alva  Day,  Cromwell  and  Walter  Dickinson  and  Charles  Chittenden  cut  out  and 
bridged  the  road  from  Old  Portage  to  Range  17,  west  of  Medina.  John 
Diver,  whose  character  resembled  very  much  that  of  Jabez  Gilbert,  in  Palmyra, 
was,  like  Gilbert,  one  of  the  earliest  mail  contractors  and  carriers  on  the 
Reserve.  Diver  had  the  first  contract  for  carrying  the  mail  from  New  Lisbon 
to  Mansfield,  by  way  of  Canton  and  Wooster.  He  was  in  the  business  over 
forty  years,  and  it  is  said  that  no  obstacle,  however  forbidding,  ever  prevented 
him  from  keeping  to  the  letter  and  intent  of  his  contracts.  Following  Indian 
trails  when  the  savages  were  hostile  and  swimming  swollen  streams  at  the 
dead  hour  of  night  were  common  occurrences  in  the  early  days.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1811  a  company  of  men  was  raised  for  the  purpose  of  ofi'ering  them- 
selves to  the  Governmerft  when  hostilities  would  commence  with  the  British 
or  Indians,  and  John  Campbell  was  elected  Captain,  Alva  Day,  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  Lewis  Day,  First  Sergeant.  When  they  were  called  into  service 
in  July,*1812,  Campbell  was  sick,  and  Lieut.  Day  took  his  place.  They  were 
first  ordered  to  Lower  Sandusky,  and  from  there  to  Detroit  to  re -enforce  Hull. 
While  at  River  Raisin  they  were  informed  of  the  surrender  of  Hull,  and  were 
told  by  a  British  officer  that  they  were  included  in  the  surrender.  Several 
of  them  who  were  sick  were  sent  to  Maiden,  where  Lewis  Day  died. 
Lieut.  Day  was  elected  in  1815  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  which 
ofiice  he  held  for  fourteen  years.  Deerfield,  not  only  in  the  early  times,  but 
latterly,  has  furnished  many  men  who  have  made  their  marks  in  the  history  of 
the  count V  in  the  various  walks  of  life. 

In  1801  James  Laughlin  erected  a  grist-mill,  the  first  on  the  Mahoning 
River.     It  was  also  the  first  water-power  mill  in  the  county.   * 

About  1804-05  there  came  to  the  township  and  settled  near  the  Center  a 
man  named  Noah  Grant.  He  had  a  wife  and  a  son,  latter  named  Jesse,  and  soon 
after  coming  started  a  small  tannery  a  fourth  of  a  mile  west  of  the  Center  on 
the  site  of  the  present  tannery  owned  by  H.  W.  Muerman.  This  old  tanner, 
as  stated  elsewhere,  who  also  followed  shoe-making,  was  the  grandfather  of  the 
great  General  who  gave  the  Rebellion  its  quietus  and  restored  the  Union,  and 
whose  name  will  go  ringing  down  the  ages  as  one  of  the  ablest  Captains  of  the 
world.  Noah  Grant  did  considerable  work  for  the  Indians  and  was,  conse- 
quently, well  known  to  most  of  them  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  and, 
being  familiar  with  his  dusky  customers,  possibly  drank  with  them  sometimes. 

The  correct  account  of  Diver  s  murder  as  near  as  it  can  now  be  gathered,  is, 
in  a  nutshell,  about  as  follows:  John  Diver  had  traded  a  mare  and  colt  to 
Nickshaw,  an  old  Indian,  for  an  Indian  pony,  and  who  got  the  best  of  the  trade 
will  never  now  be  ascertained,  but  that  Diver  cheated  the  Indian  is  not  reasonable 
from  the  fact  that  they  were  on  good  terms  afterward,  several  mouths  elapsing 
from  the  time  of  the  trade  till  the  shooting.  Besides,  the  wary  character  of  the 
Indian  and  his  knowledge  of  horse-flesh,  precludes  any  probability  of  his  being 


422  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

cheated  in  that  kind  of  a  trade.  It  is  said,  however,  that  Nicksha'w  became 
dissatisfied  because  the  mare  would  not  "eat  sticks" — browse — in  the  scant 
undergrowth,  not  being  raised  on  that  kind  of  food,  as  the  Indian  rarely  feeds 
his  horse.  The  truth  of  the  matter,  no  doubt,  was  that  the  treacherous  and 
revengeful  nature  of  the  savage  prompted  him  to  get  even  with  Diver,  not 
because  the  mare  was  not  a  good  one,  nor  that  he  was  cheated,  but  that  she 
was  not  suited  to  Indian  modes  of  living,  for  he  never  asked  Diver  to  trade 
back.  He  being  an  old  man  and  not  quite  sure  of  his  aim,  employed  John 
Mohawk,  a  young  buck,  to  shoot  his  fancied  aggrievor;  so,  on  the  night  of 
January  22,  1807,  Mohawk  watched  his  opportunity  and  sent  a  ball  through 
the  temple  of  Daniel  Diver,  the  brother  of  John,  he  being  mistaken  for  his 
brother.  He  was  shot  between  where  the  monument  now  stands  and  the 
blacksmith  shop.  The  bullet  destroyed  the  optic  nerve  and  rendered  the 
victim  blind  for  life;  he  afterward  raised  a  family.  A  party  was  collected 
who  followed  the  Indians,  who  immediately  fled  into  Richland  Township, 
in  what  is  now  Summit  County,  where  Nickshaw  and  his  squaw  were 
killed.  Big  Son,  the  chief,  and  several  others  were  captured  and  brought 
back,  tried  and  acquitted ;  Mohawk  escaped.  It  was  a  case  of  proxy  all  around, 
for  neither  Daniel  Diver  nor  Mohawk  had  anything  to  do  with  the  affair, 
except  as   shooter  and  "  shootee." 

In  1802  Henry  Shewell  preached  the  first  sermon  in  Deerfield  Township. 
In  1803  Rev.  Shadrach  Bostwick,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Diver, 
came  to  the  settlement  with  his  father-in-law,  and  from  that  time  made  his 
home  in  the  township  when  not  engaged  in  ministerial  duties.  He  was  one 
of  the  very  early  circuit  riders  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  was  a  man  pecul- 
iarly fitted  for  the  arduous  duties  of  the  position.  His  endurance  was  won- 
derful, and,  although  not  having  much  culture,  his  sermons  were  powerful, 
and  just  what  was  suited  to  the  primitive  ideas  of  the  pioneers.  He,  of 
course,  preached  the  first  sermon  in  Deerfield,  and  the  next  was,  doubtless. 
Rev.  William  Shewell.  Rev.  William  Swayzey,  also,  was  an  early  preacher 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  would  get  so  excited  that  he  would 
jump  down  from  the  pulpit  and  rake  his  hearers  over  the  coals  from  the  floor. 
The  first  church  society  organized  in  the  county  was  the  Methodist,  about  1803 
or  1804,  and  consisted  of  the  Lewis  Day  and  Lewis  Ely  families;  their  first 
church  edifice,  however,  was  not  erected  until  1818,  when  a  frame  building 
was  "put  up"  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  square.  The  next  was  in  1835, 
by  the  same  denomination.  The  present  substantial  sti'ucture  was  dedicated 
July  26,  1874,  and  is  an  honor  to  the  taste,  piety  and  liberality  of  the  Meth- 
odists of  the  township.  This  edifice  cost  $8,000,  and  is  handsomely  finished 
and  furnished.      The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  J,  W-  Moore. 

In  1816  Rev.  Bruce  organized  a  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Old  School, 
and  they  erected  a  small  building  on  Lot  11,  but  it  afterward  passed  into  the 
hands  of  another  branch  of  the  church.  Rev.  Beers  also  preached  here. 
The  Disciples  of  Christ  organized  a  church  in  1828.  They  have  a  very  neat 
little  church  now,  with  Rev.  Pierson  as  pastor.  The  Deerfield  Free  Pres- 
byterian Church  was  incorporated  in  1853.  John,  F.  and  L.  Hurtzell  were 
elected  Trustees,   Caleb  Steel,  Treasurer,  and  Jacob  Shutz,  Clerk. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  town  was  presided  over  by  Robert  Campbell, 
somewhere  about  1803.  The  house  stood  on  Lot  20.  In  the  following 
statistical  review  is  shown  the  present  condition  of  the  Deerfield  schools: 
Total  revenue,  $2^600;  total  expenditures,  $1,924;  eight  school  buildings, 
valued  at  $3,500;  average  pay  for  teachers,  $30  for  males  and  $22  for  females; 
pupils  enrolled,  102  boys  and  101  gii-ls.  The  schoolhouse  at  Deerfield  Center 
is  a  commodious  and  substantial  building. 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  423 

Deerfield  Center  Business. — General  store,  Isaac  Wilson  &  Son;  drug  and 
grocery,  J.  G.  Preston;  wagon  shop,  Charles  Mertz;  harness,  H.  P.  Hoover; 
blacksmith,  Elmer  Miller;  hotels,  Bartlett  House  and  Diver  House;  physician, 
Dr.  H.  M.  Ogilbee;  Postmaster,  N.  L.  Wann. 

Yale. — Postmaster,  Hiram  Farham;  wagon  and  blacksmith  shop;  steam 
saw-mill.  Deerfield  Station — warehouse,  John  S.  Wilson.  Benton  Depot — 
warehouse,  Bosworth  &  Shafer.  Grist  and  saw-mill  water-power,  one  mile 
south  of  Deerfield  Center.  Steam,  saw  and  grist-mill,  three  miles  southeast 
of  Center.  Steam  saw-mill,  two  miles  northeast  of  Center.  Tannery,  one- 
fourth  mile  west  of  Center.  Tannery  on  southern  line  of  township.  Cheese 
factory,  two  miles  southwest  of  Center.  Town  mill,  two  and  one-half  miles 
southeast  of  Center.     Gunsmith,  two  miles  northeast  of  Center. 

Township  Oj^cers.— Trustees,  C.  M.  Smith,  F.  D.  Tibbals,  Ely  Day;  Clerk, 
James  Forsythe;  Treasurer,  H.  P.  Hoover;  Assessor,  O.  P.  Mowen;  Consta- 
bles, H.  N.  Hutson,  James  W^atson;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  J.  H.  Hoffman,  C. 
S.  Tibbals. 

Portage  Oil  Company  was  organized  April  4,  1865,  at  Deerfield,  with  the 
following  named  members:  J.  S.  Cowden,  W,  C.  Wharton,  Reuben  H.  Orvis, 
John  McConry,  N.  N.  Wann,  A.  T.  Bacon,  Samuel  Diver,  C.  Ruel,  W.  Pick- 
ering, E.  W.  Gray,  Isaac  Williams,  Albert  Ruel,  D.  W.  Goss,  Adam  McCros- 
sen,  F.  Hartzell,  Daniel  Hartzell,  Joseph  Waggoner  and  Solomon  Hartzell. 
The  object  of  organization  was  to  dig  or  bore  oil  wells.  The  capital  stock  was 
placed  at  $500,000.  The  history  of  the  "oil  craze  "  of  that  time  tells  the  story 
of  this  enterprise. 

Deerfield  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  at  Deerfield  February  6,  1874, 
with  Charles  O.  Betts,  Harmon  D.  Hutson  and  Charles  Parham  members. 
This  was  a  society  for  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge,  of  which  the  ladies 
of  the  township  were  honorary  members.  « 

The  township  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  all  things  considered.  The 
land  is  excellent,  and  it  is  well  watered,  the  Mahoning  River  and  its  tributa- 
ries affording  ample  irrigation  for  the  southern  and  western  portions,  whilst 
numerous  small  streams  supply  the  balance.  The  soil  is  mostly  a  clay  loam, 
and  the  land  lies  handsomely.  Considerable  wool  is  grown,  in  addition  to  a 
large  surplus  of  the  ordinary  farm  products.  The  Cleveland,  Youngstowu  & 
Pittsburgh  Railroad  passes  through  the  township.  A  beautiful  monument 
stands  at  the  Center,  erected  to  the  memoiy  of  the  gallant  boys  in  blue  who 
so  nobly  marched  and  bravely  fell  that  their  country  might  live.  Deerfield 
sent  eighty-six  soldiers  to  the  field,  and  fifteen  of  them  were  killed  or  died  in 
the  service. 

The  statistics  of  Deerfield  for  1884  present  many  interesting  facts:  The 
number  of  acres  of  wheat,  1,030,  bushels,  17,037;  96  bushels  of  rye;  176  bush- 
els of  buckwheat;  28,760  bushels  of  oats;  1,280  bushels  of  corn  (shelled);  70 
bushels  broom  corn;  1,846  acres  of  meadow,  2,702  tons  of  hay;  clover,  426 
acres,  654  tons  of  hay,  145  bushels  of  seed;  flax,  21  acres,  270  bushels  of  seed, 
and  23,100  pounds  of  fiber;  43  acres  of  potatoes  yielded  5,808  bushels;  home- 
made butter,  55,055  pounds;  home-made  cheese,  4,000  pounds;  4,247  pounds 
maple  sugar,  and  2,815  gallons  of  syrup  from  17,605  trees;  941  pounds  of 
honey  from  98  hives;  24,242  dozen  of  eggs;  291  acres  of  apple  orchard  pro- 
duced 4,047  bushels;  238  of  peaches  gave  32  bushels;  6  bushels  of  plums; 
wool,  30,037  pounds;  milch  cows,  412;  stallions,  4;  dogs,  104;  killed  2 
sheep;  died  of  disease — 10  hogs,  130  sheep,  12  cattle  and  7  horses.  Acres  of 
cultivated  land,  5,935,  of  pasture,  5,076,  of  woodland,  2,664,  of  waste  land, 
211;  aggregate,  13,886  acres.  Population  in  1850  was  1,371,  including  591 
youth;  in  1870,  1,025;  in  1880,  985;  in  1884  (estimated),  1,000. 


424  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
EDINBURG   TOWNSHIP. 

Early  Settlement— Abbott  and  Chapman— Othek  Pioneers — Eial  Mc- 
Arthur  and  R.  M.  Hart — Some  Noted  Names— Organization  and  Offi- 
cers— The  Champion  Hunt— Old  Time  Adventures,  Facts  and  Social 
Events — Churches  and  Schools— Edinburg  Center— Business,  Re- 
sources AND  Statistics. 

EDINBURG,  at  the  partition  of  the  land  of  the  Western  Reserve,  was 
drawn  by  Gen.  William  Hart,  of  Saybrook,  Conn.,  who  owned,  in  addi- 
tion to  this  township,  which  in  the  survey  was  laid  off  as  Town  2,  Range 
7,  Sheffield  and  Saybrook  on  the  lake  and  fractions  of  other  townships.  Gen. 
Hart  was  a  very  wealthy  man  for  those  times,  and  invested  $20,000  in  Western 
Reserve  stock.  He  was  a  Major-General  of  Militia,  and  served  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary Army  in  Rhode  Island.  He  died  in  1817,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two 
years. 

In  the  spring  of  1811  Eber  Abbott,  of  Tolland  County,  Conn.,  arrived  in 
the  township  and  settled  on  Lot  2,  Subdivision  5,  being  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  township.  He  built  a  cabin  and  made  a 
clearing,  but  met  with  an  accident  that  rendered  him  a  cripple  for  life.  A 
tree  fell  upon  one  of  hip  feet,  and  broke  several  of  the  bones.  His  wife 
afterward  dying,  he  removed  to  Ravenna  Township,  and  settled  on  a  piece  of 
land  owned  by  Dr.  De  Wolf,  about  the  same  time  marrying  a  sister  of 
Jacob  Stough,  who  lived  near  by.  Abbott  afterward  moved  to  Michigan,  where 
he  died. 

Shortly  after  Eber  Abbott  came  in,  Lemuel  Chapman,  Jr.,  whose  sister 
was  the  first  wife  of  Abbott,  settled  on  Lot  2,  Subdivision  5,  being  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  township,  made  a  clearing  and 
built  a  cabin.  He  boarded  with  his  father,  who  lived  just  across  the  line  in 
Rootstown.  The  winter  following  his  settlement  he  returned  to  Coldbrook, 
Tolland  Co.,  Conn.,  for  his  wife  and  children,  but  just  before  starting,  his 
wife  died,  and  he  brought  his  six  children,  part  of  whom  lived  with  their 
grandfather,  Lemuel  Chapman,  Sr.  He  afterward  married  a  Widow  Waller, 
of  Palmyra,  who  also  died,  when  he  married  as  his  third  wife  a  maiden  lady. 
Dorothy  Bond,  by  whom  he  had  five  children.  He  was  the  father  of  fifteen 
children,  eleven  of  whom  were  living  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  November,  1857,  he  being  a  little  over  eighty  years  of  age.  His  youngest 
child,  a  boy,  was  only  twelve  years  old  at  the  time. 

In  1813  a  man  by  the  name  of  Howard  settled  and  made  an  opening  near 
Silver  Creek,  where  he  resided  till  1815,  when  ho  exchanged  his  place  for  one 
near  Sandusky  to  a  James  Stoops,  who  came  in  and  still  further  improved  the 
Howard  settlement.  Stoops  was  originally  from  Beaver  County,  Penn.,  and 
in  1790  the  Indians  made  an  attack  on  the  settlers  at  Brady's  Run,  where  his 
father  lived,  and  carried  off  a  number  of  prisoners,  among  them  being  Stoops, 
who  was  then  a  child.  They  were  all  carried  to  Canada,  and  several  years 
elapsed  before  they  were  released. 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  425 

In  February,  1815,  Alanson  and  Justin  Eddy  started  from  their  homes  in 
"Williamstown,  Mass.,  and  came  all  the  way  through  in  sleighs,  with  their 
families.  Alanson  made  the  first  settlement  on  the  farm  afterward  occupied 
by  C.  H.  Rowell,  and  Justin  broke  the  fii-st  ground  and  made  the  first  clearing 
on  the  splendid  farm  now  owned  by  Theodore  Clark.  Justin  had  been  out  the 
year  previously  with  his  father  and  made  his  selection.  A  young  man,  who 
drove  one  of  the  teams  for  the  Eddys  when  they  came  in,  afterward  married 
and  settled  down,  and  in  after  years  became  an  excellent  citizen,  owning  a  fine, 
highly  cultivated  farm,  all  the  result  of  his  own  industry  and  perseverance. 
This  was  Russell  Clark,  who  not  only  was  a  good  driver,  but  an  expert  in 
handling  an  ax  ;  the  first  trees  cut  on  many  of  the  farms  of  Edinburg  were  laid 
low  by  his  sturdy  strokes.  He  used  to  point  with  pride  to  many  a  huge  stump, 
as  the  result  of  his  early  labors. 

In  the  year  181G  a  large  accession  was  made  to  the  population.  Besides 
several  others  there  came  from  Connecticut  in  seven  wagons  forty-two  persons, 
being  the  families  of  Henry  Botsford,  Amasa  Canfield,  Capt.  Trowbridge, 
Edmund  Bostwick,  Elizur  Bostwick,  Cyreneus  Ruggles,  Rial  McArthur  and 
Mr.  Cowell,  the  father-in-law  of  the  latter.  They  started  some  time  in  August 
and  arrived  on  the  80th  day  of  September.  This  number  of  persons  arriving 
in  one  body,  gave  an  impetus  to  immigration  that  made  the  little  settlement 
feel  like  putting  on  organization  airs,  and  it  materially  advanced  the  price  of 
land. 

Robert  Calvin,  a  bachelor  from  Virginia,  caiue  in  about  this  time  and  set- 
tled on  Lot  8.  He  afterward  married  Miss  Fisher,  of  Palmyra,  and  June  15, 
1820,  his  son,  John  Calvin,  who  now  resides  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
township,  was  born.  David  Trowbridge  and  Sylvester  Gilbert  also  came  in 
1816,  and  settled  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township. 

Richard  M.  Hart,  who  was  born  May  9,  1795,  and  who  still  resides  upon  a 
portion  of  the  land  whereon  he  settled,  was  a  nephew  of  Gen.  William  Hart, 
the  original  proprietor  of  Edinburg,  and  went  to  live  with  his  uncle  when  he 
was  six  years  old.  The  rich  old  uncle  took  a  liking  for  the  boy  and  provided 
well  for  him.  giving  him  the  entire  northeast  quarter  of  the  township;  so  the 
young  land-holder  in  May,  1817,  came  West  to  look  up  his  possessions,  and  lik- 
ing them  so  well,  went  back  to  Connecticut,  maiTied  his  sweetheart,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1818  returned  and  settled  down  for  a  good  long  life,  which  he  cer- 
tainly has  enjoyed.  He  first  settled  at  Silver  Creek,  near  the  east  line  of  the 
township,  cleared  eight  acres  and  put  it  in  wheat.  At  the  Organization  he  was 
the  first  Treasurer,  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  one  of  the  Supervisors. 

In  1819  many  settlers  came  in;  among  the  number  was  Adnah  H.  Bostwick, 
of  New  Milford,  Conn.,  who  settled  on  Lot  8,  Subdivision  2,  being  in  the 
northeast  quarter  of  the  town.  He  first  came  to  Ohio  in  1805  with  his  father, 
who  settled  in  Canfield,  and  from  there  went  to  Rootstown,  then  to  Palmyra, 
where  he  married,  and  from  there  to  Edinburg. 

The  township  had  now  arrived  at  the  point  when  the  inhabitants  desired  to 
become  organized  and  have  their  own  ofiicers,  and,  application  being  made  to 
the  Commissioners  and  granted,  an  election  was  held  April  5,  1819.  Edmund 
Bostwick,  Justin  Eddy  and  Daniel  Trowbridge  were  the  Judges  of  the  Election. 
The  following  ofiicers  were  chosen:  Trustees,  Alanson  Eddy,  Daniel  Trow- 
bridge, Edmund  Bostwick;  Justin  Eddy,  Clerk;  Fence  Viewers,  Enoch  Mar- 
tin, Benjamin  Brown;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Amasa  Canfield,  Robert  Calvin; 
Appraisers  Lemuel  Chapman  Jr.,  Amos  Thurber;  Lister,  Lemuel  Chapman, 
Jr.;  Supervisors,  Lemuel  Chapman,  Jr.,  Justin  Eddy,  Richard  M.  Hart;  Con- 
stables,  Daniel  Trowbridge,  Benjamin  Brown;  Treasurer,   Richard  M.  Hart., 


426  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

At  a  subsequent  election  Justin  Eddy  and  Richard  M.  Hart  were  chosen  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace.  There  were  twenty  votes  cast,  and  sixteen  tax-payei's  in 
the  township.  The  name  of  the  township  arose  from  the  fact  that  Levius  Eddy 
had  purchased  the  first  land  in  the  township  (although  he  never  came  into  pos- 
session of  a  foot  of  it,  he  not  having  complied  with  the  contract  of  purchase, 
and  it  passed  to  another),  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  two  other  Eddys 
were  among  the  first  settlers  and  prominent  men.  It  was  called  Eddysburg 
and  from  that  the  transition  was  not  great  to  Edinburg.  It  had,  originally, 
been  called  "  Hart  and  Mother,"  but  just  exactly  why,  does  not  now  appear, 
unless  it  was  in  honor  of  the  mother  of  Gen.  Hart,  an  exemplary  old  lady, 
who  had  been  known  to  some  of  the  first  settlers. 

Edinburg  was  not  settled  up  as  rapidly  as  some  other  of  its  neighbors, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  southern  half  had  not  yet  regularly  come  into  mar- 
ket; but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  was  entirely  unsettled  at  that  time. 
Several  "squatters,"  as  they  would  be  called  now,  took  up  lands,  and  when 
they  came  into  market  bought  them.  This  accounts  for  the  settlement  of 
1811  by  Abbott  and  Chapman,  as  some  have  supposed  that  date  was  too  early 
for  them.  Besides,  where  they  settled  was  near  the  Rootstown  line,  and 
Rootstown  at  that  period  was  far  advanced,  a  number  of  Chapmans,  relatives 
of  the  one  who  settled  in  this  township,  being  there  as  early  as  1801.  It  is 
altogether  probable  Lemuel  Chapman,  Jr.,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Abbott, 
reached  this  place  from  Chapman's  father's  settlement  across  the  line  in 
Rootstown,  as  all  east  of  them  was  what  might  be  called  a  hoivlmg  wilder- 
ness, and  very  correctly  so,  for  the  accounts  the  old  settlers  give  of  the  num- 
ber of  wolves  in  those  primitive  forests,  especially  at  night,  was  something 
not  to  be  ignored. 

About  the  biggest  hunt  that  ever  happened  inside  of  Portage  County  was 
the  Army  Hunt  of  1819,  participated  in  by  Edinburg,  Rootstown,  Atwater 
and  Palmyra.  It  took  place  on  the  day  before  Christmas,  and  the  slaughter 
ground  was  the  south  half  of  Edinburg  and  the  north  half  of  Atwater.  It 
was  conducted  in  the  usual  way,  having  officers  and  a  cordon  of  hunters 
within  seeing  or  hearing  distance  all  the  way  around.  Trumpets  were  sounded 
by  the  leaders,which  signal  was  passed  along  the  line,  taking  about  five  minutes  to 
make  the  circuit.  This  being  the  summons  to  advance,  a  forward  movement  was 
made  by  all  till  they  enclosed  a  space  of  half  a  mile  square,  when  shooting 
began.  After  nothing  else  could  be  seen  alive,  the  hunters  gathered  their 
game,  and  found  they  had  103  deer,  21  bears,  18  wolves  and  about  500  tur- 
keys, which  were  equitably  divided. 

Lemuel  Chapman,  late  one  evening  whilst  in  search  of  his  cows  in  the 
woods  east  of  his  house,  lost  his  way,  and  night  coming  on  had  to  remain 
where  he  was,  as  he  knew  that  wandering  around  would,  possibly,  take  him 
farther  away  from  home;  so  he  "clum"  a  tree  and  prepared  to  pass  the  night  in 
that  position,  in  order  to  be  safe  from  wolves.  His  family  getting  uneasy 
about  him  went  in  search  of  him  and  found  him,  but  as  they  approached  his 
tree,  not  knowing  he  was  there,  one  of  his  sons,  Joel,  remarked:  "  Well,  I 
guess  the  wolves  have  got  daddy,"  when  the  old  man  sang  out,  "I'll  get  you 
when  I  come  down,"  almost  scai'ing  the  boys  out  of  their  senses. 

Justin,  Polly  and  Sally  Clark  and  Harriet  Canfield  went  nutting  one  day, 
and  were  caught  in  a  rain  storm,  and  had  to  stay  in  the  woods  all  night.  Jus- 
tin helped  each  of  the  girls  up  a  tree,  placed  the  nut  bags  around  them,  and 
made  them  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  there  they  stayed  till  morning,  but 
they  were  all  terribly  exhausted  from  their  strained  positions,  and  their  hands 
badly  swollen.     Polly  afterward  married  Seth  Day,  of  Ravenna;  Sally  married 


Vi»>" 


EDINBURG    TOWNSHIP.  429 

Edwin  Howard,  of    Edinburg;    and  Harriet   married  George  Bostwick,   and 
many  a  laugh  those  ladies  used  to  have  over  their  adventure. 

In  the  ledge  of  rocks  on  the  land  where  Justin  Eddy  settled,  there  was  an 
immense  den  of  yellow  rattle  suakes,  and  the  boys  used  to  pass  many  a  Sun- 
day killing  the  "varmints."  Seventy-two  were  killed  at  one  sitting,  as  it  were, 
and  the  Jumbo  of  the  lot  was  hauled  out  and  tormented  by  having  sticks 
poked  at  him,  until,  finally,  a  green  stick  with  the  bark  taken  off  was  thrust 
at  him,  into  which  he  struck  his  fangs,  and  the  virus  could  be  seen,  we 
are  told,  ascending  through  the  poi'es  of  the  wood,  twenty- two  inches,  and 
almost  dripping  out  of  the  end  of  the  stick! 

"  Uncle  "  Thomas  Brigdon  says  that  the  first  corn  he  planted  wap  put  in 
ground  plowed  with  an  ax,  the  "bull  plow"  even  in  that  day  being  scarce. 
He  cleared  the  land  where  the  town  house  now  stands.  Also,  that  since  he 
came  here,  there  have  died  in  four  families  thirty  six  persons.  Justin  Eddy 
and  John  Campbell  built  the  first  saw-mill  in  1816,  on  Barrel  Run,  on  Lot  2. 
Henry  Botsford  built  another  saw-mill  and  run  it  for  many  years.  The  first 
house  was  built  at  the  Center  by  James  Stoops  in  1818,  and  the  lii'st  orchard 
was  set  out  by  Lemuel  Chapman  in  1815.  In  1819  Frederick  Wadsworth 
donated  an  acre  of  ground  about  three- fourths  of  a  mile  north  of  the  Center, 
for  a  burying  place.  It  is  said  that  a  cabin  was  seen  in  the  township  as  early 
as  1808,  by  Lemuel  Chapman,  Jr.,  while  on  his  way  to  his  father's  in  Roots- 
town,  but  it  is  possible  it  may  have  been  Just  over  the  line  in  the  township 
named,  as  no  settler  can  be  traced  here  earlier  than  Abbott. 

The  first  child  born  in  the  township  was  a  daughter  to  Lemuel  Chapman, 
Jr.,  born  July  23,  1815,  and  the  next  was  Richard,  son  of  Amasa  Canfield, 
born  April  24,  1818,  he  being  the  first  white  male  child  born  in  the  township. 
The  third  birth  was  a  son,  Asa  H.,  to  Harvey  Botsford,  born  October  13,  1818. 
The  first  death  was  Mary  J.  Eddy,  aged  four  years,  a  daughter  of  Alanson 
and  Rachel  Eddy,  who  died  August  4,  1819,  and  the  grave  of  this  little 
girl,  which  remained  solitary  and  alone  for  nearly  a  year  in  the  grave-yard 
north  of  the  Center  can  now  be  seen  suri'ounded  by  others  so  thick  that  one 
cannot  walk  without  treading  upon  them.  The  next  death  was  that  of  Mrs. 
Nancy  Bostwick,  wife  of  Elizur  Bostwick,  died  July  17,  1820,  ' 

The  first  marriage  was  in  February,  1817,  when  Greenbury  Keen  and  Bet- 
sey Hitchcock  joined  fortunes.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Re'v.  Caleb 
Pitkin,  a  Congregational  minister,  at  the  house  of  Alanson  Eddy,  with  whom 
the  young  lady  had  come  to  Ohio. 

During  the  early  days  there  was  no  regularly  organized  church  in  the 
township,  but  occasional  sermons  were  delivered  by  ministers  of  the  Connect- 
icut Missionary  Society  and  the  Methodist  circuit  riders,  the  first  sermon  being 
about  1812,  by  Rev.  Nathan  Damon.  In  1823,  however,  a  Congregational 
Church  was  organized  by  Revs.  Caleb  Pitkin  and  Charles  B.  Storrs,  the  mem- 
bers being  Edward  Bostwick  and  wife,  Benjamin  Carter  and  wife,  Mrs.  Alan- 
son Eddy,  Mrs.  Amasa  Canfield,  Mrs.  Greenbury  Keen  and  Ethel  Strong. 
They  afterward  erected  a  small  church,  but  in  1844  put  up  a  neat  and  beautiful 
building. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1826  a  Methodist  organization  was  effected.  They  had 
no  house  of  worship,  but  Rev.  P.  D.  Horton  and  Rev.  Phillip  Green  officiated 
occasionally,  preaching  at  the  houses  of  the  settlers.  The  first  class  was  fox-med 
by  Edward  P.  Steadman,  assisted  by  his  brother.  Rev,  J.  J.  Steadman.  In  1834 
a  small  building  was  commenced,  but  the  flock  being  few  in  numbers  and  poor, 
the  house  was  not  finished  till  1837,  being  used,  however,  in  the  meantime,  in 
its  unfinished  condition.     This  building  was  occupied  till  1865,  when  becom- 

23 


430  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ing  almost  unfit  for  use  it  was  remodeled  and  rededicated  January  23,  1866, 
Bishop  Kingsley  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon.  The  building  was  finished 
in  a  modern  and  tasteful  manner. 

The  first  school  was  taught  in  a  log-house  on  the  land  of  Amasa  Canfield 
in  1818,  and  the  teacher  was  Miss  Clarissa  Loomis,  of  Charlestown.  Her  schol- 
ars were  Juliette  A,,  Edwin  A.  and  Harriet  Eddy,  children  of  Alanson  Eddy; 
Henry,  Julia,  Harriet,  Polly  and  Charles  Canfield,  children  of  Amasa  Canfield. 
The  second  school  was  taught  by  Miss  Electa  Bostwick,  in  1819,  during  the 
summer,  and  another  was  taught  in  the  following  winter  by  Jesse  Buell,  near 
Gampbellsport,  In  1823,  however,  the  fathers  and  mothers  becoming  a  little 
more  ambitious,  desired  a  school  of  a  higher  grade  than  those  up  to  that  time, 
so  they  employed  Austin  Loomis,  of  Atwater,  to  fill  their  bill,  who  entered 
into  a  contract  with  them  as  follows:  "Decembers.  Agreed  with  Austin 
Loomis,  of  Atwater,  to  teach  school  in  Edinburg  three  months  for  twelve 
bushels  of  wheat  per  month,  one-half  to  be  paid' at  the  end  of  three  months  in 
grain,  and  the  remainder  in  some  other  trade,  such  as  cattle,  sheep  and  whisky." 
A  reference  to  the  school  statistics  of  the  present  day  conveys  a  full  idea  of  a 
half  century's  progress: 

Edinburg  Schools. — Revenue,  $2,506;  expenditure,  $2,375;  7  school  build- 
ings valued  at  $4,000;  pupils  enrolled,  108  boys  and  75  girls;  average  pay  of 
teachers  $25  per  month. 

Edinburg  Special  District. — Revenue,  $1,893.66;  expenditure,  $1,178;  2 
school  buildings  valued  at  $4,000;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $40  per  month; 
pupils  enrolled,  89  boys  and  27  girls. 

Edinburg  Center. — General  stores,  Goss  Bros.,  D.  D.  Davis;  wagon  shop; 
blacksmith  shop;  Postmaster,  Smith  Sanford;  physician.  Dr.  H.  H.  Spiers. 

There  is  an  excellent  high  school  at  the  Center  with  Prof.  Work  as  Princi- 
pal, and  Misses  Georgia  Gladding  and  Hattie  Frazier  assistants.  There  are 
seven  other  schools  in  the  township.  An  excellent  brass  band,  with  W.  G. 
Gano  as  leader,  furnishes  music  for  the  Edinburgers.  There  is  also  at  the 
Center  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Rev.  Joseph  Gledhill,  pastor;  Congre- 
gational Church,  Rev.  A.  E.  Colton,  pastor;  Disciples  Chxuch,  Elder  White, 
pastor.  There  is  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Chapel,  a  branch  of  the  church  at  the 
Center,  but  with  no  regular  pastor.  At  Silver  Creek  is  a  good-sized  tannery 
owned  by  Shultz  Bros.,  and  a  saw-mill  one  mile  southeast  of  the  Center,  F. 
B.  Chapman,  proprietor.  Campbellsport,  which  partly  lies  in  Edinburg 
Township,  used  to  be  a  place  of  considerable  importance  during  the  old  canal 
days.  It  now  has  one  store  kept  by  James  Beardsley  who  also  has  the  post- 
office. 

Township  Officers: — Trustees,  Chauncy  Porter,  F.  I.  Byers,  Joseph  Feath- 
erby;  Clerk,  H.  A.  Marsh;  Treasurer,  H.  H.  Spiers;  Assessor,  Thomas  H. 
Clark;  Constable,  D.  D.  Hill;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  John  R.  Giddings,  AVill- 
iam  Willsey. 

Edinburg  is  strictly  an  agricultural  township,  and  has  some  of  the  finest 
land  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  although  hilly  in  some  sections,  and  splendid 
crops  are  raised,  besides  being  finely  adapted  to  grazing.  Much  improved 
stock  are  bred  and  handled,  and  at  their  fairs  an  excellent  showing  is  made. 
In  1856  the  first  sale  and  show  exhibition  occiirred,  at  which,  on  March  22  of 
that  year,  seed  corn,  oats,  spring  wheat  and  potatoes  were  placed  in  the  Town 
Hall  for  inspection  and  sale.  The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  just  touches 
the  southwestern  corner  of  the  township.  Edinburg  furnished  forty-nine  sol- 
diers for  the  Union,  nine  of  whom  were  lost  in  the  service. 

The  first  saw-mill  was  erected  by  Campbell  and  Eddy  on  Barrel  Run 
(Lot  2),  in  1816,  which  was  the  first  manufacturing  industry  of  the  town. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  431 

Edinbui'or  Farmers'  Association  was  founded  January  13,  1873,  with  A.  S. 
Plummer,  H.  Horeon,  W.  D.  Turner,  James  L.  Dale,  W.  H.  Weir,  Daniel 
Ewing  and  y.  Strong,  for  the  promotion  of  agriculture  and  mutual  improvement 
of  members. 

Grange  Hall  Building  Society  of  Edinburg  was  organized  February  2, 
1878,  with  the  following  members:  Smith  Sanford,  Isaac  Williams,  M.  O. 
Gano,  L.  B.  Wright,  E.  B.  Higley,  E.  C.  Myers  and  Hezekiah  Hann.  The 
purpose  of  organization  was  to  build  houses  for  a  store  and  hall,  and  conduct 
the  same  at  Edinburg. 

Edinburg  Farmers'  Mutual  Insurance  Company  is  one  of  the  best  conducted 
associations  of  this  order  in  the  whole  Reserve.  The  entire  Board  of  Managers 
for  1885  are  named  as  follows:  President,  J.  R.  Giddings;  Vice-President, 
T.  H.  Clark;  Treasurer,  D.  D.  Davis;  Secretary,  George  P.  B.  Merwin- 
Directors,  Vespu  Clark,  B.  W.  Gilbert.  Calvin  Hutson. 

The  statistics  of  the  township  for  1884  are:  Acres  of  wheat  957,  bushels 
14,165;  41  bushels  of  buckwheat;  24,338  bushels  of  oats;  4,075  bushels  of 
corn  from  520  acres;  2,169  acres  of  meadow,  3,090  tons  of  hay;  49  acres  of 
clover,  49  tons  of  hay  and  33  bushels  of  seed;  5  acres  of  flax,  105  bushels  of 
seed;  50  acres  of  potatoes,  6,295  bushels  of  potatoes;  80,682  pounds  home-made 
butter;  1,660  pounds  of  maple  sugar,  and  6,174  gallons  of  syrup;  25,268 
maples  tapped;  1,580  pounds  of  honey  from  68  hives;  19,180  dozens  of  eggs; 
200  pounds  of  grapes;  7,315  bushels  of  apples;  1,455  of  peaches,  and  29  of 
pears;  16,468  pounds  wool;  123  milch  cows;  2  stallions;  93  dogs;  animals 
died  of  disease,  3  hogs,  76  sheejj  and  1  horse;  acres  cultivated  4,456;  pasture 
15,872;  woodland  2,816;  aggregating  23,144  acres.  Population  in  1850, 
1,101,  including  474  youth;  in  1870,  929;  in  1880,  910;  in  1884  (estimated), 
950. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP  AND   KENT. 

First  Settlement— The  Haymakers— A  Primitia^e  Mill— Early  Facts  and 
Settlers— Contest  for  the  County  Seat— Low  Price  of  Produce- 
First  Burying  Ground— Reedsbury— Organization— First  Law  Suit— 
Cackler's  Geese— Important  Primitive  Industries— Fine  AVater- 
PowER— The  Manufacture  of  Glass— The  Twin  Villages  in  1827— The 
Rival  Taverns— Early  ISIercHxVNts,  etc.,  etc. — Progress  of  Improve- 
SFENT- Zenas  Kent— Franklin  Land  Company— Thk  Canal  Outrage- 
Franklin  &  Warren  Railroad— Incorporation— Increase  or  Business- 
Standing  Rock  Cemetery— Names,  Ages  and  Deaths  of  Some  Early 
Settlers— John  Brown— Brady's  Leap— Primitive  Schools  and  Re- 
ligion—Sketches of  the  Churches— Free  and  Accepted  Masons— Odd 
Fellowship— Other  Orders  and  Societies. 

FRANKLIN  was  the  first  civil  organization  effected  in  what  is  now  Portage 
County,  after  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State  in  1802,  it  being  formed 
the  same  year.  Originally  it  comprised  the  whole  of  the  present  Portage  and 
parts  of  Trumbull  and  Summitt  Counties.  The  present  territory  of  Franklin, 
Town  3,  Range  9,  containing  16,000  acres  of  land,  was  purchased  in  1798  by 
Aaron  Olmsted,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  for  12i  cents  per  acre,  and  in  1803 
Ezekiel  Hoover  and  Ralph  Buckland  were  employed  to  survey  it  into  lots.    As 


432  HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY. 

early  as  1803,  before  there  was  a  settler  or  a  clearing  of  any  kind,  Benjamin 
Tappan,  of  Ravenna,  and  others  from  Hudson,  had  cut  a  road  through  the 
township  from  Ravenna  to  Hudson,  and  built  a  bridge  over  the  Cuyahoga 
River  about  four  yards  from  the  spot  where  Capt.  Brady  made  his  famous  leap 
in  1790.  The  late  Christian  Cackler,  then  a  lad  of  thirteen  years,  passed  over 
this  bridge  with  his  father  in  1804,  on  their  way  to  the  southeast  corner  of 
Hudson,  where  they  settled. 

About  the  1st  of  November,  1805.  John  Haymaker,  his  wife,  Sally,  and 
their  three  children,  Jacob,  Eve  and  Catharine,  came  into  the  township  from 
Warren,  where  they  had  located  a  year  previously,  having  come  from  Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.  They  were  of  German  descent  and  members  of  a  large  connec- 
tion of  that  name  in  central  and  northern  Pennsylvania,  many  of  whom  are 
still  residents  of  that  State.  The  father  of  John  Haymaker  had  prospected 
through  this  section  of  country  during  the  spring  of  1805,  and  liking  the 
looks  of  Franklin,  generally,  purchased  from  Olmsted's  agent  a  tract  of  land 
covering  the  present  site  of  Kent's  mill.  Arriving  at  the  Cuyahoga  John  and 
his  family  took  possession  of  a  rude  cabin,  left  by  the  surveyors  in  1803, 
which  stood  just  west  of  whei'e  the  upper  bridge  now  is.  This  hut  had  been 
used  for  several  j^ears  indiscriminately  by  the  Indians  as  a  stable  for  their 
horses,  and  as  a  shelter  by  the  deer  and  other  wild  animals,  and  was  almost  a 
foot  deep  with  excrement,  which  had  to  be  shoveled  out  before  occupation. 
During  the  time  they  occupied  this  hovel  the  Indians  came  around  them  in 
great  numbers,  as  the  headquarters  of  the  red  skins  was  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Cuyahoga,  and  on  a  small  stream  in  what  is  now  Streetsboro  Township.  One 
day  while  the  Haymakers  were  occupying  this  cabin,  a  few  Indians  came 
there  and  the  squaw,  as  usual,  took  her  pappoose  from  her  back,  and  stood  the 
board  to  which  it  was  attached  against  the  logs,  as  they  never  took  their  chil- 
dren into  the  houses  of  the  whites  except  in  very  cold  weather.  After  the 
mother  had  gone  in,  a  wild  hog  came  through  the  brush,  and  grasping  the 
Indian  baby  ran  off  with  it.  The  mother  hearing  the  noise  ran  out  and  res- 
cued her  babe,  but  not  until  the  infuriated  hog  was  badly  beaten. 

In  the  spring  of  1806  George  Haymaker,  brother  of  John,  and  their 
father,  Jacob,  came  in.  Jacob  built  a  house  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  near 
where  Kent's  mill  now  stands.  In  April  of  this  year  Samuel  Burnett  was 
employed  by  Judge  Quimby,  of  "Warren,  to  make  a  clearing  on  Lot  65,  and  to 
receive  as  payment  eighty  acres  of  land  in  that  vicinity.  He  made  a  clearing 
and  put  up  a  cabin  with  the  assistance  of  the  father,  Christian  Cackler,  but 
he  did  not  remain  there  long,  as  Judge  Quimby  died  and  Burnett  failed  to  get 
his  eighty  acres.  During  the  following  fall  Frederick  Haymaker  came  in  and 
purchased  a  tract  of  land  that  included  most  of  the  upper  village.  Frederick, 
also,  was  a  son  of  Jacob,  and  was  a  man  of  fine  educational  and  natural  abili- 
ties. He  had  served  as  private  secretary  to  the  brilliant  but  unprincipled  Aaron 
Burr,  on  the  famous  expedition  for  w^hich  he  was  tried  for  treason,  and  is  said 
to  have  possessed  the  secret  reasons  and  motives  and  plans  of  his  superior, 
but  he  never  divulged  a  word  in  regard  to  them;  the  facts,  known  to  no  one 
else,  dying  with  the  faithful  secretary.  Frederick  was  the  father  of  twenty- 
seven  children,  having  been  married  three  times.  The  Haymaker  family 
owned  about  600  acres  on  the  present  site  of  Kent. 

During  1807  the  Haymakers  built  a  small  mill,  the  stones  used  for  grind- 
ing being  those  known  as  "hard  heads,"  and  were  prepared  by  Bradford  Kel- 
logg, of  Hudson.  The  mill,  of  course,  was  a  very  rude  affair,  and  was  used 
before  it  was'entirely  finished.  Crotched  poles  were  planted,  upon  which  other 
poles  were  placed,  and  a  roof  thus  formed.     A  coarse  cloth  was  used  by  hand 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  433 

as  a  bolting-cloth.  This  primitive  affair  was  a  great  convenience,  and  was 
used,  with  very  little  improvement,  for  several  years.  Andrew  Kelso  was  the 
miller.  From  the  fact  that  this  mill  was  located  here  the  name,  Franklin 
Mills,  as  designating  the  village,  originated,  for  in  time  the  settlement  became 
known  through  the  mill,  it  receiving  patronage  from  a  large  section  of  the 
surrounding  country. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  the  township  was  John  F.,  son  of  John  and 
Sally  Haymaker,  this  event  occurring  September  11,  1807;  Emily,  a  daughter 
to  the  same  parents,  was  born  November  26,  1809.  The  first  death  was  that 
of  Eve  Haymaker,  the  wife  of  Jacob,  and  father  of  the  first  settler,  John,  and 
his  brothers  George  and  Frederick.  Jacob  died  in  1819,  John  in  1827,  George 
in  1838,  Frederick  in  Trumbull  County  in  1851,  and  Sally  June  15,  1869, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four  years,  having  lived  in  the  township  sixty- 
four  years. 

During  the  summer  of  1807,  after  the  organization  of  the  county,  there 
was  a  very  heated  competition  to  secure  the  county  seat  for  Tappan's  town 
mills.  Benjamin  Tappan,  of  course,  wanted  to  gain  the  prize  and  brought 
much  influence  to  bear;  but  Olmsted,  the  proprietor  of  Franklin,  and  John 
Campbell,  although  a  resident  nearer  Eavenna,  endeavored  to  secure  it  for  the 
Haymaker  settlement.  Campbell  was  instructed  by  Olmsted  to  offer  to  the 
Locating  Committee  a  plat  of  ground  for  the  public  buildings,  and  to  give 
them  the  necessary  assurance,  also,  that  he  would  defray  the  expense  of  erect- 
ing a  Court  House  and  Jail.  A  beautiful  site  was  selected  by  Campbell  on  a 
rise  just  north  of  where  now  is  Standing  Kock  Cemetery,  and  it  was  deemed 
certain  by  all  concerned  that  the  county  seat  was  secured,  but  Olmsted 
returned  to  his  home  in  the  East  and  died,  leaving  all  his  unsold  lands  to  his 
grandchildren;  so,  when  the  committee  came  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments, they  had  no  title  to  the  land.  Thus,  Kent  lost  the  county  seat,  but  she 
fully  makes  up  for  it  in  natural  advantages,  and  bids  fair  to  outstrip  her  rival 
in  population,  as  she  has  in  manufacturing. 

In  1811  Jacob  Reed  moved  into  the  township  from  Rootstown,  where  he 
and  his  brothers  Charles  and  Abram  had  settled  in  1804  Reed  purchased  the 
little  mill  from  the  Haymakers  and  improved  it,  roofing  and  side-boarding  it. 
From  this  old  miller  the  settlement  came  to  be  called  for  several  years  Reeds- 
burg,  but,  he  selling  out  in  1816  to  William  Price  and  Geoi'ge  B.  DePeyster, 
the  mill  was  again  very  materially  improved,  and  the  name  Reedsburg  was 
dropped,  the  original  designation  of  Franklin  Mills  being  generally  adopted. 

The  old  burying-ground  in  which  Eve  Haymaker  was  buried  in  1810  was 
donated  by  one  of  the  Haymakers  and  contained  about  two  acres  of  land.  It 
was  used  until  Standing  Rock  Cemetery  was  laid  off,  and  in  that  old  and  hal- 
lowed ground  lie  the  remains  of  many  of  the  early  settlers. 

In  1814  Christian  Cackler  was  married  to  Theresa  Nighman,  the  ceremony 
being  performed  by  Fi'ederick  Caris,  of  Rootstown.  This  was  the  first  wed- 
ding in  Franklin  Township,  and  when  we  consider  that  nearly  ten  years  had 
elapsed  since  John  Haymaker  had  cut  his  first  tree  there,  it  will  be  seen  how 
slowly  the  settlement  grew. 

In  1814  Elisha  Stevens  erected  a  sawmill,  the  first  in  the  township, 
which  stood  upon  the  spot  where  was  afterward  erected  the  Lane  foundry. 
Up  to  this  time  very  little  timber  was  used  except  in  the  rough.  As  soon  as 
Stevens  got  his  mill  in  operation  the  settlers  actually  built  frame  houses. 

The  township  was  organized  in  1815,  and  an  election  held,  at  which  twelve 
votes  were  cast,  the  voters  being  Amasa  Hamlin,  Elisha  Stevens,  George 
Haymaker,    John   Haymaker,    David    Lilly,   Hubbard  Hurlbut,   Jacob  Reed, 


434  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Alexander  Stewart,  Adam  Nighman,  William  Williams,  Christian  Cackler,  Sr., 
and  Andrew  Kelso.  This  was  the  entire  voting  population  in  1815.  The 
officers  elected  were:  Trustees,  Amasa  Hamlin,  Elisha  Stevens,  George  Hay- 
maker; Clerk,  Hubbard  Hurlbut;  Justice  of  the  Peace,  John  Haymaker; 
Jacob  Reed  and  John  Tucker  were  the  Judges  of  Election. 

Not  long  after  the  organization,  the  hrst  lawsuit  in  the  township  occurred. 
It  was  a  case  for  damages  instituted  by  Christian  Cackler,  whose  geese  had 
trespassed  upon  the  lands  of  David  Lilly,  and  was  a  reversal  of  the  ordinary 
mode  of  procedure.  Lilly  killed  several  of  Cackler's  geese  while  destroying 
his  (Lilly's)  oats,  and  was  sued  therefor,  and  forced  to  pay  for  them,  the  Jus- 
tice holding  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  law  to  prevent  a  goose  from  destroy- 
ing a  man's  oats,  but  that  there  was  a  jaenalty  for  killing  the  same  goose,  even 
if  caught. 

Some  time  in  the  twenties  a  couple  of  cases  arising  from  the  ultra-religious 
sentiments  of  a  few  of  the  early  settlers,  occurred,  which  created  a  great  deal 
of  feeling.  A  man  named  Brown,  who  was  working  at  one  of  the  mills,  went 
out  on  Sunday,  having  no  other  time  through  the  week  to  do  so,  to  gather  a 
few  chestnuts  for  his  little  ones.  He  was  observed  by  the  son  of  Deacon 
Andrews,  informed  upon,  as  a  Sabbath-breaker,  and  fined  $1  and  costs. 
About  the  same  time  Jacob  Stough  and  Sylvester  Babcock,  of  Ravenna,  drove 
through  the  settlement  and  the  nest  day  were  arrested  at  the  instance  of  a  fel- 
low named  Russell,  who  Avas  studying  for  the  ministry.  The  teamsters  were 
on  their  way  home  from  having  delivered  some  goods  to  Zenas  Kent.  They 
were  also  fined,  but  the  good  people  of  Franklin  Mills  went  to  Stough,  and 
told  him  that  if  he  would  cowhide  Russell  Ihey  would  foot  the  bill,  in  order  to 
clear  their  township  of  such  fanaticism,  and  Stough  did  it,  yet  there  was  no 
one  to  make  complaint  against  him  for  the  act,  so  just  was  considered  the 
drubbing  he  administered  to  the  pious  man. 

The  present  officers  are  named  as  follows:  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Isaac  Rus- 
sel,  John  Bentley,  N.  L.Barber;  Constables,  Oliver  Newberry,  John  F.Clark; 
Trustees,  Willard  Moody,  S.  W.  Burt,  William  Bassett. 

In  1818  Joshua  Woodard  moved  into  the  township  from  Ravenna  and 
commenced  erecting,  in  conjunction  with  Frederick  Haymaker,  who  had 
removed  to  Beaver,  Peon.,  a  number  of  buildings.  They  put  up  a  woolen 
factory,  dye-house,  cabinet  shop,  turning- lathes,  and  a  number  of  dwelling 
houses;  also  a  hotel.  Haymaker  &  Wocdard  continued  in  partnership  till 
about  182G,  when  they  dissolved,  the  former  taking  the  mill  property,  and  the 
latter  the  hotel  and  other  buildings.  In  1822  Woodard  had  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Benjamin  F.  Hopkins  and  David  Ladd,  who  built  a  glass  factory 
near  where  the  upper  mill  now  stands.  They  also  built  a  tannery  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  near  the  upj)er  bridge;  a  woolen  factory,  saw-mill  and  ashery 
one  mile  east  of  the  village,  on  the  Breakneck  Creek,  and  a  woolen  factory  and 
anvil-mill  in  the  lower  village,  and  opened  a  stock  of  goods  in  the  basement 
of  the  house  of  George  B.  DePeyster.  In  addition  they  erected  a  number  of 
private  dwellings,  and  did  a  large  business  till  1831,  when  the  firm  dissolved 
and  divided  their  property. 

The  settlers  in  the  township  in  1820  were:  S.  Babcock  on  Lot  1;  S.  Shurt- 
liflf,  on  Lot  2;  W.  R.  Converse,  Lot  6;  G.  Haymaker  10;  D.  McKim,  11;  E. 
Pimbers,  12;  S.  Andrews,  13;  A.  Shurtliff,  16;  S.  Jennings,  19;  R.  Shurtliff, 
21;  A.  Loomis,  22;  S.  Clapp,  23;  W.  Newberry,  24;  C.  Newberry,  G.  B. 
DePeyster  and  W.  Stewart,  25;  T.  Wallace,  27;  J.  Henderson,  T.  Williard,  S. 
McMillen  and  J.  Woodard,  30;  B.  Clark,  31;  H.Moore,  R.Moore  and 
Granger,  32;    J.  Stewart,  38;    E.  Dewy,  39;  H.  Hurlbut,  40;  E.  Stevens,   42; 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.      '  435 

D.  Williams,  48;  A.  Hamlin,  49;  W.  Bassett,  50;  Widow  Price,  51;  J.  Day, 
52;  John  Haymaker,  59;  D.  Lilly,  (39;  D.  Greer,  73;  and  A.  Stewart,  79. 
The  above  named  appear  on  a  chart  of  the  town  made  by  Selah  S.  Clapp. 

In  1824  James  Edmunds,  and  Henry  Park  and  his  brother,  built  a  glass 
factory  on  land  now  belonging  to  the  Cackler  estate,  and  for  about  ten  years 
ending  in  1831,  William  H.  Price  and  George  B.  DePeyster  had  in  operation 
in  the  Lower  Village  a  grist-mill,  saw-mill,  forge  and  trip-hammer  and  a  hemp 
factory.  They  also  ran  a  general  store  and  did  a  line  business.  They  manu- 
factured scythes,  axes,  forks  and  many  other  articles  of  iron  and  steel.  De- 
Peyster was  at  this  time  appointed  Postmaster  of  Franklin  Mills,  that  being 
the  ofi&cial  name  of  the  office,  although  the  twin  settlements  were  known 
respectively  as  Upper  Village  and  Lower  Village.  The  name  Carthage  was 
afterward  applied  to  the  Upper  Village.  Postmaster  DePeyster  kept  his  mail 
matter  in  a  cigar  box,  and  25  cents  was  the  usual  moderate  fee  of  Uncle  Sam 
for  carrying  a  letter  a  reasonable  distance. 

A  sad  event  dissolved  this  enterprising  firm  of  Price  &  DePeyster.  In 
1831  Mr.  Price  went  to  New  Lisbon,  where  he  procured  a  large  grindstone  to 
be  used  in  his  factory,  and  was  on  his  way  home,  having  the  heavy  stone  upon 
a  wagon.  It  was  in  February,  the  ground  being  covered  with  ice,  and 
through  some  jolting  or  jerking  of  the  wagon  the  stone  slipped  off  and  fell 
upon  the  unfortunate  owner,  inflicting  such  injuries  that  he  died  shortly  after- 
ward. Another  misfortune  in  connection  with  the  Price  &  DePeyster  mills 
came  in  March,  1833,  in  the  shape  of  a  tremendous  freshet  that  swept  every- 
thing before  it,  carrying  away  the  entire  mill  property  and  inflicting  an  almost 
irreparable  loss  upon  the  proprietor. 

In  1831-32  Frederick  Haymaker  sold  his  property,  consisting  of  100  acres 
of  land  and  a  tine  water  power  in  the  Upper  Village,  to  Pomeroy  &  Rhodes, 
who  built  a  grist-mill,  woolen  factory  and  a  cabinet  shop,  and  set  up  turning- 
lathes,  which  they  operated  for  several  years.  About  this  time  J.  C.  Fairchild 
purchased  the  tannery  put  up  by  Woodard  and  others  and  ran  it  for  some 
years.  Mr.  Fairchild  erected  the  first  brick  house  in  town,  it  being  a  small 
building  south  of  the  John  Thompson  residence  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
and  in  this  building  was  born  the  son  who  became  Gov.  Fairchild  of 
Wisconsin. 

With  the  enumeration  of  the  above  industries,  we  are  brought  to  what 
might  be  termed  the  end  of  the  first  era  of  Franklin,  or  rather  Kent,  although 
the  settlement  was  not  known  as  yet  by  that  name,  it  being  called  Carthage  for 
the  upper,  and  Franklin  Mills  for  the  lower  settlement.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
tastes  and  enterprise  of  the  original  settlers  of  Kent  ran  strongly  in  the 
direction  of  manufactories,  and  it  is  very  remarkable  that,  with  a  population  so 
sparse,  so  many  mills  and  factories  should  rise,  considerable  in  size,  too; 
yet,  what^she  has  since  accomplished  in  this  way  make  her  original  efforts 
appear  pigmean. 

From  an  address  delivered  at  the  seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  Portage- 
Summit  Pioneer  Association,  by  Rev.  W.  F.  Day,  the  following  facts  are 
gleaned.  In  1827  the  spot  now  occupied  by  Kent  contained  two  villages,  hav- 
ing each  about  half  a  dozen  families.  They  were  known  originally  as  Upper 
Village  and  Lower  Village,  but,  in  addition  the  upper  one  bore  the  classic 
title  of  Carthage,  whilst  the  lower  was  Franklin  Mills,  the  postal  station. 
The  name  Carthage,  however,  died  out,  and  until  the  present  appropriate  name 
was  adopted,  the  villages  were  called  Upper  and  Lower  respectively,  and 
Franklin  Mills,  collectively.  -  The  first  house  built  in  Upper  Village  about 
that  time  was  by  Eber  Phelps,  on   the   site   where   now   lives  S.  P.  Stinaff. 


436  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Another  small  house  stood  a  few  rods  below  Phelps,  and  was  occupied  by  the 
Frosts.  The  third,  and  more  pretentious  building  was  erected  by  Frederick 
Haymaker,  a  part  of  which  is  still  standing.  The  fourth  house,  as  you 
come  down,  was  the  residence  of  Rev.  William  Foljambe.  This  house  was  on 
the  street  just  west  of  the  upper  bridge,  and  has  been  down  many  years.  He 
owned  a  cow  that  knew  when  Sunday  came  as  well  as  her  master,  and  would 
pack  ofi"  to  where  they  held  services  on  that  day  with  the  human  regularity  of 
those  early  church-goers.  The  animal,  doubtless,  knew  when  Sunday  came  by 
connecting  the  fact  of  wagons  collecting  together,  all  of  which  contained  hay 
or  straw  for  the  use  of  the  horses  that  hauled  them,  and  to  which  she  would 
make  her  way  and  filch  a  good  feed.  The  fifth  house  was  the  Woodard 
Tavern,  owned  and  kept  by  Joshua  Woodard,  and  is  the  present  Dewey  place. 
Another,  and  the  sixth  house,  stood  a  few  rods  west  of  the  tavern.  Passing 
southward  through  the  woods  to  a  point  a  few  rods  south  of  where  the  Epis- 
copal Church  now  stands,  you  come  to  the  residence  of  William  Stewart, 
whose  daughter  Maria  became  the  wife  of  Hon.  Marvin  Kent.  In  the  Lower 
Village  was  located  the  Lincoln  Tavern,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  way  a 
small  house,  and  to  the  east  was  the  residence  of  George  B.  DePeyster,  who 
was  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  several  years,  and  a  Judge  under  the  old  county 
system.  Franklin,  for  many  years  after  the  date  mentioned,  had  no  lawyer  or 
scribe,  and  DePeyster  drew  up  all  documents  requiring  the  peculiar  and  non- 
sensical phraseology  of  the  law — his  "hereunto  attached,"  "fetch,  bring  and 
convey  the  body  of,"  and  his  "for,  and  in  consideration  of  and  by,"  being 
deemed  absolutely  essential  to  the  legality  of  any  paper  between  man  and 
man.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  was  the  residence  and  store  of  Capt. 
Price,  and  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  above  the  grist-mill  was  a  small  building  in 
which  was  kept  a  store  by  Samuel  Foljambe,  now  of  Cleveland.  There  were 
two  dams  to  the  river,  each  village  having  one.  The  upper  dam  was  nearly 
against  the  Woodard  Tavern,  but  was  afterward  moved  a  few  rods  farther 
down,  where  a  grist-mill  was  built.  The  lower  dam  was  across  the  river,  a 
little  above  the  present  location  of  the  flouring-mills,  and  a  flouring-mill,  the 
only  one  in  the  two  villages,  stood  near  the  site  of  the  present  mill,  whilst  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  was  an  oil-mill.  In  the  Lower  Village  was  a  saw- 
mill. There  was  also  a  small  glass  factory,  a  woolen-mill  and  a  tannery,  and 
these,  added  to  the  others,  with  possibl}^  the  addition  of  two  or  three  small 
houses,  constituted  the  two  villages. 

W^oodard's  Tavern,  and  Lincoln's  Tavern,  were  great  rival  hostelries.  They 
were  each  kept  by  more  than  ordinarily  shrewd  men,  and  both  of  the  proprie- 
tors were  accommodating  and  pleasant  hosts,  coming  fully  up  to  the  standard 
of  knowing  "  how  to  keep  a  hotel. "  And  they  both  exerted  their  powers  to 
obtain  custom,  using  all  fair  means  to  divert  travel  one  from  the  other.  There 
were  two  roads  of  travel  between  Ravenna  and  Cuyahoga  Falls.  About  one 
mile  west  of  Ravenna  was  the  Black  Horse  Tavern.  There  the  road  to  Cuya- 
hoga Falls  divided.  The  northern  route,  starting  off  where  it  now  does,  ran 
about  where  the  present  road  does,  save  that  it  crossed  directly  between  the 
lakes,  instead  of  turning  to  the  north  as  it  does.  After  reaching  the  Wood- 
ard Tavern  it  dropped  south  a  few  rods,  when  it  turned  west  across  the  woods 
and  came  out  near  John  Perkins'  place.  The  other  road,  after  leaving  the 
Black  Horse  Tavern,  crooked  around  somewhat,  though  running  in  the  same 
general  direction  as  the  present  one,  until,  within  about  a  mile  of  the  town,  it 
turned  off  to  the  southwest,  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  on  a  bridge  a  little  below 
the  grist-mill,  then  continuing  on  until  it  intersected  the  other.  One  road, 
therefore,    was  the  road  to  Woodard's,  and  the  other  to  Lincoln's,  and  the 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  439 

strife  between  the  rival  taverakeepers  was  which  should  succeed  in  turning 
the  travel  at  the  Black  Horse  Tavern,  or  at  the  Perkins  place.  They  had 
handbills  and  signs  eulogizing  their  respective  houses,  each  showing  conclu- 
sively why  his  route  was  the  best  for  general  travel,  and  why  the  other  was  a 
great  deal  farther,  a  great  deal  rougher,  and  entirely  unfit  for  any  sane  man 
to  think  of  taking,  unless  compelled  to  do  so.  The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh 
stage  was  then  running,  and  the  great  point  was  to  get  the  stage  route.  Some- 
times Lincoln  would  induce  the  stage  company  to  run  by  his  route,  and  then 
Woodard  would  get  them  to  adopt  his.  The  matter  was  finally  compromised 
by  running  on  the  Woodard  road  from  the  Black  Horse  Tavern  to  Wood- 
ard's,  when  the  stage  would  then  drive  down  to  Lincoln's,  and  then  on  west. 
About  the  date  1827  Jairus  Cassius  Fairchild  came  into  the  Upper  Village, 
built  a  house  opposite  Woodard's,  and  opened  a  tannery  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  He  then  built  the  brick  store  which  was  taken  down  some  years 
ago,  that  being  the  first  store  in  the  Upper  Village.  A  Mr.  Root  was  associated 
with  him.  There  were  then  two  stores  in  the  Lower  Village,  but  shortly  after- 
ward a  Ml'.  Button  opened  a  store  in  the  Upper  Village,  and  Carthage  for  a 
time  ran  ahead  of  its  rival.  This  store  was  in  the  south  end  of  Woodard's 
Tavern,  but  the  proprietor  dying,  G.  D.  Bates,  now  of  Akron,  carried  on  the 
business. 

No  doubt  it  was  the  fact  of  there  being  two  distinct  dams,  that  two  vil- 
lages grew  up  so  close  together,  but  when  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal 
Company  destroyed  the  water-power,  and  especially  when  the  brick  buildings, 
owned  respectively  by  Zenas  Kent  and  Joy  H.  and  Nelson  Pendleton,  were 
erected,  all  competition  ceased,  and  everything  has  moved  harmoniously  since. 

Outside  of  the  villages  there  were,  possibly,  about  twelve  or  fifteen  fam- 
ilies, and  taking  these  with  those  in  the  villages,  gave  a  population  of  not 
very  far  from  125  souls  in  the  entire  township.  The  following  in  regard  to 
those  outside  of  the  villages  is  gleaned  from  a  source  considered  to  be  as 
accurate  as  can  be  obtained  at  this  late  date.  There  may  have  been  a  few  oth- 
ers who  afterward  passed  away  and  became  forgotten.  In  the  northern  section 
Jacob  Lilly  lived  on  the  east  banks  of  the  East  Twin  Lake;  John  Haymaker 
was  occupying  the  Olin  place,  half  a  mile  or  so  below,  where  the  roads  fork. 
Edward  Farnham  had  a  small  clearing  on  the  east  side,  and  Paul  Davidson  on 
the  west  side  of  the  lake;  a  little  further  down  was  the  settlement  of  Amasa 
Hamlin,  whose  wife,  familiarly  called  Aunt  Sallie,  was  a  "  holy  terror"  to  the 
young  men  who  attended  "meeting"  where  she  did,  for  if  the  pious  old  lady 
would  detect  any  one  of  them  whispering  or  misbehaving,  she  would  march 
over  to  where  he  sat  and  take  a  seat  beside  him.  As  everybody  knew  what 
Aunt  Sallie  meant  by  that,  the  unfortunate  offender  became  "spotted"  forever 
after.  In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  township  lived  the  Cacklers;  John 
Dewey  lived  where  he  died  some  years  ago.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  town, 
Barber  Clark,  a  Moore  family,  the  Busts,  the  Clapps,  Deacons  Andrews  and 
McBride,  Timothy  Wallace,  Andrew  Kelso,  Alexander  Stewart,  Adam  Nigh- 
man,  Hubbard  Hurlbut,  Elisha  Stevens,  and  a  few  others  also  were  residents. 


In  May,  1832,  Zenas  Kent  and  David  Ladd  purchased  the  Price  &  De 
Peyster  property,  the  mill  on  which  had  been  swept  away  the  preceding  Feb- 
ruary, they  paying  for  the  entii-e  site  $7,000.  The  property  consisted  of  300 
acres  of  land,  including  the  fine  water-power  of  the  Cuyahoga.  In  the  course 
of  a  year  Mr.  Kent  bought  his  partner's  interest,  and  continued  the  improve- 
ments.    In  1836  Mr.  Kent  and  Messrs.  Pomeroy  &  Rhodes  sold   their  entire 


440  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

interests,  the  first  for  $75,000,  and  the  latter  for  $40,000.  Kent  received  in 
cash  $25,000,  and  P.  O.  K.  $30,000  from  the  Franklin  Land  Company.  The 
parties  buying  were  known  as  the  Franklin  Land  Company,  which  in  the  year 
following  transferred  its  interest  to  a  company  incorporated  as  the  Franklin 
Silk  Company,  the  following  gentlemen  being  the  members:  Norman  C. 
Baldwin,  Triiman  P.  Handy,  Alexander  Seymour,  David  H.  Beardsley,  Sher- 
lock J.  Andrews,  John  A.  Foote,  Solomon  L.  Severance,  John  S.  Potwin,  Seth 
W.  Crittenden,  Flavel  W.  Bingham,  of  Cleveland;  Augustus  Baldwin,  John 
B.  Clark,  Van  R.  Humphrey,  of  Hudson;  Elisha  Beach,  Nathan  Button,  of 
Franklin;  Theodore  Noble,  of  Middlebury ;  Zenas  Kent,  George  Kirkham, 
George  Y.  Wallace,  of  Ravenna;  Frederick  Wadsworth,  of  Edinburg;  and 
James  W.  Wallace,  of  Boston.  This  company  made  great  improvements. 
They  erected  the  fine  stone  dam  and  the  wooden  bridge,  where  now  stands  the 
fine  stone  bridge,  and  seemed  to  lay  out  a  splendid  future  for  Franklin  Mills. 
The  company  contracted  with  the  canal  company  to  build  the  dam,  but,  as  the 
canal  people,  besides  controlling  the  water  at  this  point,  were  interested  in  the 
then  rival  town  of  Akron, they  diverted  nearly  the  entire  volume  of  the  Cuyahoga 
to  their  canal,  ostensibly  for  navigation  purposes,  but  really  to  furnish  water- 
power  to  Akron.  This  was  a  terrible  blow,  as  well  as  an  outrage  on  the  strug- 
gling, yet  plucky  and  enterprising  people  of  the  twin  villages.  The  property 
of  the  Silk  Company  depreciated,  it  became  embarrassed,  their  circulating 
notes  were  retired,  and  it  finally  went  into  insolvency.  But,  fortunately,  by 
legal  process  and  purchase,  the  property  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  man  whose 
stamen  and  ability  were  equal  to  the  emergencies.  This  man  was  Zenas 
Kent,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  revive  the  flagging  interests  and  to  recover 
from  the  effects  consequent  upon  the  loss  of  the  water-power  to  the  villages. 
In  1848  the  property  was  sold  to  Henry  A.  and  Marvin  Kent,  who  for  thirty- 
five  years,  have  been  engaged  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  now  consoli- 
dated villages.  They  erected  a  large  cotton-mill,  but  through  the  failure  of 
Eastern  parties  to  fulfill  their  obligations  in  the  matter,  the  factory  was  not 
stocked.  Glass  works  were  erected,  and  other  enterprises  inaugurated,  but  the 
village  languished  until  the  completion  of  the  Franklin  &  Warren  Railroad,  now 
the  New  York,  Lake  Erie  &  Western,  lately  known'as  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  R.  R. 
This  great  road  was  a  conception  of  the  brain  of  Marvin  Kent,  who  early  saw 
that  the  future  would  require  a  great  thoroughfare  to  run  diagonally  across 
Ohio,  and  he  ceased  not  his  labors  till  he  heard  the  whistle  of  the  first  passen- 
ger train  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  as  it  approached  Franklin 
Mills  on  the  7th  day  of  March, -1863,  in  which  year  the  name  of  the  duplex 
villages  was  changed  to  Kent,  in  honor  of  the  projector,  executor  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  now  colossal  railroad  system.  The  location  of  the  principal  shops 
at  Kent,  and  it  being  the  termini  of  two  divisions,  gave  a  marked  stimulus  to 
the  village,  and  it  being  the  geographical  centre  of  the  road,  an  elegant  depot 
and  dining-rooms,  to  which  H.  A.  and  M.  Kent  donated  grounds  valued  at 
about  $10,000,  were  erected. 

John  Brown,  of  Harper's  Ferry  fame,  came  into  the  adjoining  township 
of  Hudson  with  his  father  in  1805,  and  moved  into  Franklin  Mills  in  1835, 
being  then  thirty  five  years  of  age.  He  built  a  house  which  he  intended  open- 
ing as  a  boarding  house,  but  failed  in  his  venture  through  some  cause  or 
another.  The  house  still  stands  in  Kent,  and  was  used  some  years  ago  by  a 
party  for  the  very  purpose  Brown  intended  it.  Brown  &  Thompson's  addition 
to  Franklin  Village  was  platted  by  John  A.  Means,  surveyor,  in  1838,  and  record- 
ed October  22,  that  year.  This  embraced  twenty- one  acres,  extending  from  the 
bend  of  the  river  to  the  east  line  of  Township  Lot  12,  and  from  the  north  line 
of  Township  Lot  12  to  the  south  line  of  saine  lot.    This  plat  was  vacated.    The 


I 
FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  441 

Island  tract  and  extension  to  Water  Street  of  fortv-five  acres  was  purchased  by 
Marvin  Kent  from  Capt.  Heman  Oviatt,  to  whom  it  was  conveyed  by  John 
Brown.  The  descriptions  on  the  original  plat,  now  in  Marvin  Kent's  possession, 
are  in  John  Brown's  handwriting. 

On  May  7,  18G7,  Kent  was  incorporated,  and  the  first  Mayor  elected  was 
John  Thompson.  Five  Trustees,  corresponding  to  Councilmen,  were  also 
selected,  they  being  C.  Jones,  James  Glass,  Joseph  Bethel,  E.  A.  Parsons  and 
A.  D.  Power.      The  Recorder  was  John  P.  Catlin. 

1867,  John  Thompson,  Mayor;  John  P.  Catlin,  Recorder.  1868,  John 
Thompson,  Mayor;  L.  H.  Parmelee,  Recorder.  1869,  E.  W.  Stuart,  Mayor; 
H.  G.  Allen,  Recorder.  1870,  S.  P.  Wolcott,  Mayor;  D.  H.  Kiiowlton, 
Recorder.  1871,  S.  P.  Wolcott,  Mayor;  J.  P.  Hall,  Recorder.  1872-74,  Isaac 
Russell,  Mayor;  A.  C.  Hind,  Clerk.  1874-76,  Charles  H.  Kent,  Mayor;  Frank 
Woodard,  Clerk.  1876-78,  Charles  H.  Kent,  Mayor;  N.  B.  Rynard,  Clerk; 
1878-82,  James  Woodard,  Mayor;  W.  I.  Caris,  Clerk.  1882-84,  O.  S.  Rock- 
well, Mayor;  W.  I.  Caris,  Clerk.  1884,  W.  I.  Caris,  Mayor;  Robert  Reed, 
Clerk. 

The  official  list  for  1884-85  is  as  follows: 

Mayor,  W.  I.  Caris;  Clerk,  James  Wark;  Marshal,  W.  H.  Palmer;  Street 
Commissioner,  Charles  Anglemyer. 

Councilmen. — A.  C.  Hind,  Thomas  Lyons,  Robert  Christian,  G.  T.  Case, 
John  Cross,  B.  F.  Hargreaves. 

Board  of  Health.— George  Rouse,  H.  T.  Lake,  F.  L.  Dunning,  H.  M.  Foltz, 
Dr.  E.  W.  Price,  Dr.  J.  S.  Sweeney;  Oliver  Newberry,  Health  Officer;  H.  K. 
Foltz,  Clerk. 

Board  of  Education. — E.  A.  Parsons,  Robert  McKeon,  Thomas  Egbert,  I. 
L.  Herriflf,  A.  L.  Ewell,  C.  S.  Brown. 

On  October  26,  1875,  the  Council  authorized  the  purchase  of  a  Silsby 
engine,  hose  cart,  hose,  etc.,  for  the  sum  of  $3,400.  In  March,  1876,  the  Fire 
Department  was  organized  as  a  department  of  the  village. 

The  issue  of  bonds  for  $6,000,  money  required  to  make  additions  to  the 
triple-arched  bridge  at  Kent,  over  the  Cuyahoga  at  Main  Street,  was  authorized 
March  25,  1877. 

The  cemetery  bonds  were  issued  last  year  for  cemetery  purposes. 

The  first  school  in  the  township  is  said  to  have  been  taught  in  the  winter 
of  1815-16  by  Abner  H.  Lanphare,  of  Brimfield,  in  a  small  cabin  that  had 
been  erected  by  a  Mr.  Rue  in  1811,  but  just  where  it  stood  has  now  been  for- 
gotten. In  the  summer  of  1817  the  inhabitants  erected  a  building,  regardless 
of  religious  proclivities,  to  be  used  as  a  meeting-house  for  all  sects,  and  for 
school  purposes.  It  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  near  where  Dr.  Crain 
used  to  live.  Among  the  early  teachers,  in  addition  to  Lanphare,  maybe  men- 
tioned Amasa  Hamlin,  who  taught  awhile  more  for  accommodation  than  pay; 
also  Miss  Orpha  Curtiss,  and  a  Miss  Thayer.  Up  to  about  1830  there  was  only 
one  schoolhouse  here,  the  one  built  in  1817,  and  one  teacher.  The  growth  of 
educational  interests  since  that  time  is  shown  by  the  following  statistics: 

Franklin  Township  Schools. — Pupils  enrolled,  66  boys  and  64  girls;  5 
schoolhouses  valued  at  $6,670;  Revenue  in  1884,  $4,780.58;  expenditures, 
$3,524.48. 

Franklin  Union  School  District.—Pupils  enrolled,  387  boys  and  406  girls; 
3  schoolhouses  valued  at  $50,000;  revenue,  $19,461,  in  1884;  expenditures, 
$13,417.20. 

There  is  one  of  the  finest  educational  buildings  in  the  State  to  accommo- 
date the  excellent  union  schools,  under  the  able  management  of  Prof.  A.  B. 
Stutzman,  Superintendent  of  Instruction  of  the  city.      The  Principal   is  Miss 


442  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Anna  M.  Nutting.  The  teachers  are  Mrs.  A.  L.  McClellan  and  Misses  Stella 
M.  Pearson,  Addie  E.  Stewart,  Georgie  Gladding,  Nellie  Jones,  Nellie  Gettys, 
Belle  Bradley  and  Anna  Christian. 

Keligious  services  were  held  at  an  early  day,  but  just  exactly  where  and 
when  is  not  now  definitely  known,  nor  is  it  certainly  remembered  who  preached 
the  first  sermon  in  the  township.  Rev.  Shewell  is  thought  by  many  to 
have  been  the  first  to  expound  the  Word  of  God  in  this  portion  of  the  wilder- 
ness, and  others  think  that  Rev.  Shadrach  Bostwick,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  min- 
ister who  came  to  Deerfield  in  an  early  day,  came  up  here  about  the  first. 
Rev,  Joseph  Badger  preached  in  Mantua  as  early  as  1802,  and  it  is  altogether 
probable  that  he  addressed  the  settlers  here  as  elsewhere  afterward.  Rev. 
Caleb  Pitkin  was  also  quite  a  noted  Congregational  minister,  and  it  is  more 
than  likely  he  preached  here  at  an  early  day.  But  the  Congregational  Church 
has  the  earliest  documentary  evidence  and  must  be  accorded  first  place. 

Congregational  Church. — By  an  arrangement  entered  into  between  the 
authorities  of  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches,  a  plan  of  union 
was  adopted  by  which  in  a  community  where  there  were  a  few  of  each  they 
might  unite  in  a  common  society  and  thus  sustain  religious  services  when 
neither  could  have  done  so  alone.  There  being  a  few  Congregationalists  and 
a  few  Presbyterians  scattered  through  the  township,  they  came  together  June 
18,  1819,  and  organized  themselves  into  a  society  under  the  care  of  the  Port- 
age County  Presbytery  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  following  persons 
being  the  members:  Samuel  Andrews  and  wife,  Samuel  L.  Andrews,  John 
Jones  and  wife,  Mrs.  Roxana  Newberry,  Mrs.  Jared  Thayer  and  Mrs.  Amos 
Loomis.  They  held  public  services  in  the  schoolhouse,  and  had  occasional 
preaching  from  missionaries  till  1825,  when  Rev.  George  Sheldon  became 
their  pastor.  Mr.  Sheldon  was  a  young  man  of  quick  perceptions  and  a  high 
order  of  intellect,  but  extremely  sectarian  in  his  religious  views,  so  much  so 
that  he  would  not  at  first  fraternize  with  other  denominations,  but  this  wore 
off  in  time  and  he  became  a  portion  of  the  community  like  anybody  else.  He 
built  a  large  two-story  frame  house  about  midway  between  the  villages,  just 
north  of  the  Kent  residence,  which  was  the  finest  house  for  the  time  in  this 
section.  He  remained  with  the  church  till  1831,  when  the  congregation  was 
without  a  pastor  until  1836,  at  which  time  Mr.  Sheldon  was  again  called  to 
the  pastorate.  In  the  meantime  the  society  had  erected  the  neat  brick  edifice 
which  was  dedicated  in  the  year  named.  In  1839  Rev.  S.  W.  Burritt  was 
called  as  their  pastor.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Burritt  a  remarkable 
revival  occurred  and  a  large  number  of  persons  were  converted,  among  whom 
was  W.  F.  Day,  afterward  a  well  known  preacher.  These  meetings  were  in 
charge  of  Rev.  Avery.  Burritt  was  reserved  in  his  manner,  and  thereby 
failed  to  attract  the  sympathies  of  his  entire  flock.  At  one  of  their  "  confes- 
sional "  meetings  some  of  the  members  honestly  made  it  known  that  they  did 
not  like  their  pastor,  which  so  shocked  the  good  man  that  he  resigned  his 
charge,  went  to  Cleveland,  and  abandoned  the  ministry.  The  church  was  then 
without  a  minister  for  some  time,  when  Mr.  Bates,  who  also  taught  an  acad- 
emy here,  took  charge.  Rev.  Ira  Tracey  came  in  1846,  and  Rev.  John  A. 
Seymour  from  1852  to  1856.  In  1858  the  new  church  was  built,  during  the 
ministrations  of  Rev.  T.  M.  Dwight.  In  a  short  time  after  this  came  Rev. 
John  C.  Hart,  who  was  followed  by  Rev.  D.  B.  Conkling  in  1868;  then  came 
Rev.  A.  C.  Barrows.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Chase.  The  church  is  in  a 
very  fair  condition.* 

*A  story  is  related  of  Mr.  Sheldon  by  his  son,  who  is  now  a  residentof  St.  Louis.  Conversing  with  a  friend 
one  day  he  remarked  that  he  would  never  believe  or  trust  a  man  who  drank  whisky.  The  friend  appeared  to 
acquiesce  in  this  view,  and  went  farther  still  by  the  statement,  "I  wouldn't  believe  a  man  who  swears,  unless  it 
be  Zenas  Kent." 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  443 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — Not  far  from  the  date  of  the  orgaDization  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  the  Methodists  came  together  and  formed  a  class 
and  held  occasional  meetings.  In  1822  the  Deerfield  Circuit  was  formed  with 
Rev.  Ezra  Boothe  and  Rev.  William  Westlake  as  the  preachers,  and  Franklin 
was  one  of  their  charges.  Then  came  Eevs.  Dennis  Goddard  and  Elijah  H. 
Fields.  In  1824  Rev.  Ira  Eddy  and  Rev.  B.  O.  Plympton  were  the  pastors. 
These  gentlemen  found  the  society  in  a  terrible  wrangle.  Some  claimed  to  be 
members  and  others  were  denying  it;  so,  after  one  of  the  preachers  had  listened 
to  their  disputes,  he  took  the  church  records  and  throwing  them  into  the  fire, 
told  the  people  that  if  they  wanted  to  be  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  they  would  have  to  join  over  again.  This  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  and 
harmony  was  restored.  The  society  in  its  reformed  condition,  consisted  of 
the  following  persons:  Amasa  Hamlin,  wife  and  two  sons,  Hubbard  Hurlbut, 
wife  and  son,  Jacob  Lilly  and  wife,  John  Dewey  and  wife,  John  Perkins  and 
wife,  Rev.  William  Foljambe  and  wife,  Samuel  Foljambe  and  a  Mrs.  Burgher. 
The  society  worshiped  for  several  years  in  the  schoolhouse,  but  in  1828  they 
fitted  up  a  small  building,  which  of  late  years  is  known  as  the  Morris  House,  a 
little  above  S.  P.  Stinaff's,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  This  was  really 
the  first  church  building  in  the  township,  being  used  exclusively  for  religious 
purposes,  although  it  was  afterward  used  as  a  schoolhouse.  The  Methodists 
occupied  this  building  until  they  erected  their  regular  church  in  1840.  Some 
strong  preachers  held  forth  in  that  first  little  building,  and  among  those  may 
be  mentioned  Rev.  Charles  Elliott,  who  was  Presiding  Elder  in  the  early  days. 
He  was  an  Irishman  and  full  of  wit.  On  one  occasion  when  holding  class 
meeting,  several  of  the  penitents  expressed  great  desire  to  leave  this  wicked 
world  and  go  to  Heaven.  Elliott  stopped  one  of  them  short  and  said  that  as 
far  as  he  was  concerned  he  wanted  to  go  to  Heaven  when  his  time  came,  but 
just  now  he  wanted  to  go  home  to  Phoebe,  his  wife.  Father  Eddy  was  also  a 
strong  character.  With  Eddy  in  1825  was  associated  John  Summerville,  who 
was  followed  by  Revs.  Philip  Green,  Peter  D.  Horton,  E.  H.  Taylor,  George 
AV.  Robinson,  J.  W\  Hill,  J.  C.  Ayers,  Cornelius  Jones,  C.  Motfitt,  Thomas 
Carr,  John  E.  Aikin,  Wilder  B.  Mack,  John  McLean,  Aurora  Callender, 
Hiram  Gilmore,  William  Stevens,  W.  S.  Warallo,  Edward  J.  Kenney,  Alfred 
G.  Sturgis,  E.  J.  L.  Baker,  W.  F.  Wilson,  L.  D.  Mix,  D.  M.  Stearns,  L  H. 
Tackett,  E.  Reeves,  J.  McLean,  A.  Burroughs,  J.  L.  Holmes,  A.  M.  Reed, 
W.  H.  Hunter,  M.  H.  Bettes,  T.  B.  Tait,  W.  M.  Bear,  W.  A.  Matson,  S. 
Heard,  L.  W.  Ely  and  a  host  of  others  of  recent  date.  Mr.  Jones,  who  was 
here  in  the  early  days,  is  remembered  for  his  almost  angelic  temperament. 
Wilder  B.  Mack  was  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  pulpit  orators,  and  Alfred  G. 
Sturgis  was  considered  a  very  impressive  and  eloquent  man.  The  church  has 
a  good  membership  and  is  in  a  very  prosperous  condition,  with  a  large  Sunday- 
school.     The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  J.  E.  Smith. 

Church  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ. — The  next  church  in  the  order  of  its 
organization  is  the  Disciples,  which  was  formed  into  a  regular  society  in  1827. 
They  encountered  very  bitter  opposition  at  first,  more  so  than  any  Protestant 
denomination  of  the  century.  The  violence  of  the  opponents  of  the  teachings 
of  the  Campbells  was  one  of  the  most  unaccountable  features  of  the  early 
religious  days,  but  this  violence  and  opposition  was  met  by  the  sturdy  blows 
of  a  number  of  powerful  expounders,  in  the  persons  of  such  men  as  Revs. 
Walter  Scott  and  Sturdevant  and  Bosworth.  Churches  which  disagreed  in 
everything  else  joined  hands  in  attempting  to  put  down  the  efforts  of  this 
sect,  but,  like  all  persecuted  causes,  it  thrived  upon  the  very  weapon sjiur led  at 
it.     The  society   at   its   organization  consisted  of  Selah  Shurtliff  and  wife, 


444  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Lydia  Shurtliff,  Desin  Shurtliff,  Luman  Shurtliff,  Naham  Smith  and  wife, 
Setli  Corbett  and  wife  and  William  Converse.  The  following  have  been 
pastors  of  this  church:  Revs.  A.  Sturdevant,  C.  Bosworth,  A.  B.  Green, 
Moore,  T.  Muunell,  Griffin,  Cronemejer  and  one  or  two  others.  They 
have  a  neat  and  comfortable  church  edifice  and  are  doing  a  good  work  after 
the  concentrated  opposition  offered  them.  Disciples  Church  was  organized 
under  State  law,  December  12,  1853,  with  George  Van  Selah,  S.  C.  Clapp  and 
James  G.  Wallace,  Trustees,  and  Eieazer  W.  Crane,  Secretary. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church. — Previous  to  1835  there  had  been  a  number 
of  Episcopalians  in  the  township,  but  there  was  no  organization  as  a  church. 
In  the  year  named,  on  October  11,  Rev.  A.  Sandford  formally  instituted  a 
church,  the  services  being  held  in  the  red  schoolhouse  in  the  Lower  Village,  at 
which  time  the  following  persons  became  members:  Edward  Parsons,  Levi 
Stoddard,  Francis  Furber,  Thomas  Cartwright,  Lucius  M.  Lattimer,  George 
B.  DePeyster,  David  McBride,  Asa  Stanley,  Chaancy  Newberry,  David 
Frazier  and  Tileman  W^agoner,  being  the  male  members  and  representing 
heads  of  families.  Asa  Stanley  was  Senior  W^arden  and  Edward  Parsons, 
Junior  Warden.  The  Vestrymen  were  Levi  Stoddard,  Francis  Furber,  Thomas 
Cartwright  and  George  B.  DePeyster;  L.  M.  Lattimer  was  Clerk.  The 
present  church  building  Avas  consecrated  June  12,  1838  by  Bishop  Mcllvaine. 
Rev.  Grin  Miller  was  the  first  Rector,  serving  from  1834  to  1841.  The  Rectors 
following  the  last  date  have  been:  Revs.  G.  S.  Davis,  A.  Bronson,  A.  Phelps,  S. 
Hollis,  L.  L.  Holden,  S.  S.  Cheevers,  J.  F.  Curtis,  T.  Taylor,  W.  H.  Capers 
and  A.  J.  Brockway.     They  have  no  Rector  at  the  present  time. 

Baptist  Church. — Not  far  from  the  year  1835  a  small  Baptist  society  was 
formed  in  Franklin,  but  the  members  were  very  few,  the  Knowlton  family 
being  the  principal  adherents.  This  denominatio»,  strong  in  many  localities, 
for  some  reason  or  another  has  never  succeeded  in  gaining  the  foothold  most 
of  the  other  churches  have,  although  the  sparse  membership  has  consisted  of 
some  of  the  most  excellent  people.  For  years  they  were  without  preaching  at 
all;  and  have  generally  been  very  irregularly  supplied.  This  church  was 
reorganized  March  14,  1875.  The  original  members  were  L.  Twitchell,  E.  B. 
Smith,  W.  H.  Van  Horn,  R.  Dillon,  A.  Newton,  George  Botham  and  George 
Botham,  Jr.,  Rev.  Lambert  Twitchell  preaching  gratuitously  for  it  for  four 
or  five  years,  during  which  period  they  erected  a  very  neat,  though  small 
church  edifice.  The  society  is  on  a  better  footing  than  it  ever  has  been,  and 
they  now  have  stated  services,  Rev.  M.  N.  Smith  being  pastor. 

Free-Will  Baptist  Church,  of  the  Rapids,  elected  D.  B.  Crafts,  Clerk;  A. 
R.  Crafts,  Ariel  Proctor  and  Oscar  Chamberlain,  Trustees,  and  John  Bartholo- 
mew, Deacon,  at  its  reorganization. 

Universalist  Church. — There  being  a  Universalist  Church  established  at  an 
early  day  in  Brimfield.  the  members  of  that  denomination  in  Franklin  attended 
divine  service  there,  Alvin  Olin  and  family  being  about  the  first  who  held  to 
that  faith  in  the  township.  On  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  May,  1866,  an  organiza- 
tion was  effected.  A  reorganization  of  the  Franklin  Universalist  Conference 
took  place  March  3,  1867.  Alvin  Olin,  P.  Boosinger  and  J.  D.  Haymaker, 
were  elected  Trustees;  A.  M.  Shuman,  Treasurer,  and  Nelson  Olin,  Clerk. 
Among  the  members  were  Ransom  Olin,  J.  G.  Whitcomb,  T.  H.  Marshall, 
Mary  R.  Haymaker,  Eliza  W^right,  Mary  J.  Parsons,  Mary  Boosinger,  Almira 
Russell,  A.  Merrill,  Mary  A.  Furry,  Sybil  Bradley,  Effie  Parsons  and  Rhoda 
Boosinger.  The  pastors  of  the  church  have  been  Revs.  Andrew  Willson,  J.  S. 
Gledhill,-  Edward  Morris;  the  present  pastor  is  Rev.  R.  B.  Marsh.  The 
church  building,  costing  $17,000,  is  a  tasteful  and  commodious  structure,  and  is 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  445 

free  of  debt.     It  was  dedicated  in  1868.     Thev  have  a  membership  of  about 
200. 

St.  Patrick's  Catholic  Church. — This  church  was  organized  in  Kent  in 
1867,  by  Rev.  P.  H.  Brown,  at  the  time  pastor  of  Hudson,  Kent  then  being 
one  of  the  out-missions  under  his  charge.  Forty  families  comprised  the 
church  organization  at  first,  but  in  after  years  it  has  run  up  to  about  100 
families.  The  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1868,  at  a  cost  of  ^12,000,  and 
is  practically  free  from  debt.  They  have  a  very  tastefully  laid  ovTt  cemetery. 
The  priests  in  charge  have  been  Revs.  P.  H.  Brown,  W.  J.  Gibbons,  J.  P. 
Carroll,  J.  D.  Bowles,  Fathers  O'Neill,  Louis  Braire,  and  Rev.  J.  T.  Cahill. 
In  February,  1885,  a  priest  was  appointed  for  this  parish. 

•  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. — For  several  years  past  there  have  been  a 
number  of  persons  holding  to  the  tenets  of  this  church,  and  have  had  occa- 
sional preaching  to  them  by  ministers  of  this  denomination,  but  during  the 
year  1884  they  built  a  very  neat  little  structure  in  which  Rev.  Mr.  Pauls^i-ove 
preaches  for  them.  It  is,  though  small  in  numbers,  an  active  and  zealous 
helper  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

Free  and  Accepted  Masons. — Rockton  Lodge,  No.  316,  F.  &  A.  M.,  was 
organized  in  the  fall  of  1858,  and  worked  under  dispensation  till  October  21, 
1859,  when  a  charter  was  granted  by  Horace  M.  Stokes,  M.  W.  G.  M. ;  J.  N. 
Bust,  D.  G.  M. ;  James  Williams,  S.  G.  W.;  George  Webster,  J.  G.  w! ;  John 
D.  Cadwell,  G.  S.  The  first  officers  of  the  lodge  were  A.  M.  Sherman,  W.  M  ; 
W\L.  Holden,  S.  W. ;  J.  S.  Fisk,  J.  W.  The  late  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce,  P.  G.  M.,' 
was  deputized  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to  institute  this  lodge,  which  he  did  with 
imposing  ceremonies.  The  membership  is  160.  In  1870  the  lodge  built  a  fine 
hall  at  a  cost  oflS6,000,  which  is  85x45  feet  inside  of  all. 

Odd  Fellou-ship.—'&vQ.dj  Lodge,  No.  183,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  was  charted  July  10, 
1851,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  S.  Craighead,  W.  G.  M. ; 
Spencer  Shears,  D.  G.  M. ;  W.  F.  Slater,  G.  W. ;  Alex.  A.  Glenn,  G.  S. ; 
Mark  Pritchard,  G.  T.  The  charter  members  were  Asa  Douglass,  J.  C.  B. 
Robinson,  Charles  H.  Kent,  M.  P.  Husted,  \V.  I.  Knowlton  and  David  L. 
Rockwell.  The  order  has  a  very  fine  hall,  finely  decorated  and  finished,  and  a 
membership  of  103. 

Knights  of  Honor— Cuyahoga  Lodge,  No.  316,  K.  of  H.,  was  chartered 
June  30,  1876,  by  the  Supreme  Lodge  of  the  World,  J.  N.  Ege,  S.  D.  The 
charter  members  were  G.  S.  Howden,  Robert  McGhee,  A.  C.  Hines,  N.  ^^\ 
Gregg,  E.  B.  Smith,  W.  R.  Emery,  F.  W.  Root,  A.  D.  Clark,  W.  H.  Van 
Horn,  A.  B.  Bertram,  E.  Herman/E.  M.  Jones,! E.  Parkinson,  W.  M.  Stokes, 
A.  D.  Orr,  J.  T.  Wishart,  George^ulsinger,  John  Stouffer,  D.  H.  Plump,  J. 
S.  Smith,  M.  A.  Norris,  W.  I.  Cook.      They  have  seventy-six  members. 

Royal  Arcanum,  No.  106,  was  chartered  June  13,  1878,  with  twenty-seven 
members.  The  chief  officers  or  Regents  were  W^  W\  Patton  (1878),  J.  D. 
Davis,  M.  A.  Norris,  I.  L.  Herriff,  O.  S.  Rockwell,  N.  J.  A.  Minnich,  Martin 
Holdridge  and  N.  B.  Rynard.  The  Secretaries  were  J.  O.  Judd,  James  Wark, 
M.  A.  Thorpe,  Orlando  Thorpe,  L.  C.  Reed,  W.  R.  Jones  and  A.  B.  Stutz- 
man.  The  number  of  members  at  present  is  forty-six.  The  financial  stand- 
ing of  the  lodge  is  good. 

A.  H.  Day  Post,  No.  185,  G.  A.  J?.,  was  organized  December  11,  1882,  and 
was  chartered  December  30,  1882,  and  named  in  honor  of  the  late  A.  H.  Day, 
of  the  Seventh  Ohio  Infantry.  The  charter  members  were  James  Crane,  L.  G. 
Reed,  N.  B.  Rynard,  F.  L.  Allen,  C.  P.  Rodenbaugh,  M.  L.  Robinson,  F.  B. 
Allen,  G.  A.  Furry,  J.  S.  Sweeney,  W.  M.  Stokes,  B.  A.  Brewster,  B.  W.  Fes- 
senden,  Sam  Dobbins,  D.  P.  Holcomb,  A.  D.  Clark,  A.  C.  Hinds,  A.  P.  Powell, ' 


446  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

E.  Minnich,  L.  N.  Kaw,  John  Kubbins,  H.  W.  Kirk,  B.  F.  Hargeaves,  C.  H" 
Barber,  Hugh  B.  Deads,  F.  H.  Vickers,  H.  L.  Atkins,  Leander  Johnson,  W. 
E.  Greanfield,  I.  L.  Heriff,  R.  McGhee,  Ed.  Wells,  William  Ropson,  W.  fl. 
Van  Horn,  H.  M.  Foltz,  George  Harter,  F.  L.  Dunning,  Thomas  May,  A.  A. 
Rogers,  S.  J.  Rouse  and  Robert  Smith.  F.  L.  Dunning  was  First  Commander 
in  1882  and  1883.  J.  S.  Sweeney  was  elected  in  188-4,  and  Robert  McGhee  in 
1884-85.  N.  B.  Rynard  was  First  Adjutant;  F.  B.  Allen,  Second  Adjutant, 
in  1883-84,  and  Ezra  Fowler  in  1884-85.  The  members  not  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  record  are  John  Bechtel,  George  Meacham,  M.  B.  Norton,  William 
Tucker,  G.  W.  Myers,  M.  N.  Smith,  H.  H.  Snyder,  M.  V.  Merrill,  P.  Y. 
Barnes,  George  L.  Andrews,  Jefferson  Thomas,  W.  H.  Fergurson,  C.  D.  Bug- 
gies, J.  S.  Cook,  H.  H.  Holden,  L.  L.  Johnson,  M.  C.  Clark,  J.  H.  Howell,  J. 
M.  Irwin,  Charles  Waldron,  John  Fitzpatriok,  John  Allman,  A.  B,  Stutzman, 
Charles  S.  Tyson,  D.  Baker,  Frederick  Myers,  Henry  J.  Shook,  H.  D.  Sawyer, 
John  Cross,  John  Willeston,  W.  Champney,  George  Gangle,  John  I.  Hast- 
ings, O.  Champney,  G.  Bertholf,  Phil.  Ulm,  Ezra  Fowler,  Levi  Reed,  S.  B. 
Cuthbert,  S.  B.  Bailey,  Paul  Clark,  L.  M.  Chapman,  Dallas  Moulton,  George 
Moon,  I.  F.  Wilcox.  H.  O.  Barton,  W.  S.  Nickerson,  C.  A.  Nickorson,  H.  W. 
Gridley,  William  Miller  and  Moses  Owen.  This  is  one  of  the  most  progres- 
sive posts  in  this  district. 

Franklin  Township  sent  to  the  army  of  the  Union  161  soldiers,  twenty- 
six  of  whom  either  fell  before  the  enemy  or  died  in  the  service. 

Kent  Dramatic  and  Literary  Association  gave  the  first  entertainment  in 
February,  1885.  The  drama  adapted  was  "Green  Bushes,"  in  which  the  fol- 
lowing-named members  appeared:  F.  H.  Vickers,  W.  Donaghy,  B.  F.  Har- 
greaves,  A.  C.  Hind,  T.  D.  Ruggles,  R.  McKeon, Thomas  May,  A.  Wilder,  A.  B. 
Bertram,  Thomas  May,  Jackson,  Harry  Vickers,  Alexander,  W.  Stratton,  Jones, 
Holmes,  Hastings,  McNeal,  Davis,  Russell,  Miss  Polly  May,  Miss  Maud  Jack- 
eon,  Miss  Rose  Green,  Mrs.  Thomas  May,  Miss  Emma  May,  Miss  Bertha  Har- 
greaves  and  Miss  Ada  Minx.     Robert  McKeon  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

Franklin  Manufacturing  Company  was  also  organized  June  16,  1851,  for 
the  purpose  of  manufacturing  cotton,  wool  and  flax.  The  Kent  brothers,  S. 
Huggins  and  A.  H.  Allen  held  4,000  shares  of  $50  each.  This  company  was, 
in  reality,  formed  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  water-power  of  the  Cuyahoga 
River  at  this  point,  and  other  property,  such  as  the  woolen-mills,  saw- 
mill, etc. 

Franklin  Cotton  Mills  Company  was  organized  June  13,  1851,  with'Zenas, 
Charles  and  Marvin  Kent,  Sylvester  Huggins  and  Fred  Whipple,  incorpora- 
tors. There  were  6,000  shares,  yielding  a  capital  of  $150,000.  This  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  cotton.  Gen.  James,  of  Provi- 
dence, was  one  of  the  projectors.  The  cotton  industry  was  never  established, 
as  the  plant  was  not  supplied  under  the  contract. . 

Joseph  Turner  &  Sons  Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  March  20, 
1880,  with  Joshua  Turner,  Mrs.  Martha  Turner,  Jonas  Hey,  John  G.  Turner 
and  Alice  H.  Hey,  members.  The  object  of  this  association  was  the  manu- 
facture of  alpaca  cloth  and  other  textile  fabrics.  The  capital  was  placed  at 
$100,000.  In  1878  the  firm  of  Joseph  Turner  &  Sons  leased  the  old  cotton 
factory  from  H.  A.  &  M.  Kent,  introduced  English  machinery  in  1879,  and 
inaugurated  the  manufacture  of  alpaca  early  in  1879,  employing  seventy-five 
hands.  The  firm  now  employs  120  hands  annually.  There  are  114  looms  and 
1,800  spindles.  The  machinery  is  valued  at  $50,000.  The  buildings  are 
some  of  the  finest  devoted  to  industry  in  the  Western  Reserve.  John  G. 
Turner  is  President,  and  Joshua  Turner  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  449 

Kent  Woolen  Company  was  organized  February  4,  1867,  with  Marvin 
Kent,  R.  Dyson,  H.  L.  Kent,  E.  L.  Day  and  E.  P.  Williams,  members.  The 
capital  was  placed  at  $20,000.  This  company's  mills  were  destroyed  by  tire  in 
1867.  A  biiilding  was  moved  to  the  site  of  the  old  woolen-mills,  which  is 
now  used  as  a  warehouse  by  W.  S.  Kent. 

Franklin  Glass  Company  was  organized  June  13,  1851,  with  Charles  H. 
and  Marvin  Kent,  H.  M.  Grennell,  George  W.  Wells  and  Horace  Sizer,  stock- 
holders. There  were  800  shares,  aggregating  $20,000.  Joseph  Lyman  was  a 
member  of  this  company.     The  works  were  built  in  1849-50. 

Day,  Williams  &  Co.,  Rock  Glass  W^orks,  were  established  in  1864  by 
Ed.  L.  Day  and  Charles  T.  Williams.  The  works  were  erected  by  Kent,  Wells 
&  Co.  in  1849  and  1850,  and  purchased  in  1864  by  the  present  owners.  The 
industry  employs  100  men  annually;  the  capacity  of  the  works  is  70,000  boxes. 

Franklin  Glass  Company  was  founded  January  24,  1873,  with  Eben  Apple- 
gate,  Henry  Brooks,  Lewis  C.  Haler,  Alex.  Papa,  Philip  Demuth,  William  L. 
Snyder  and  B.  W.  Jones,  members,  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  window 
glass.  The  capital  stock  was  placed  at  $50,000.  This  company  never  erected 
buildings. 

The  New  York,  Pittsburgh  &  Ohio  car  shops  were  formed  at  Kent  in  1861, 
and  the  buildings  completed  in  1862.  Marvin  Kent  donated  the  land  on  which 
the  shops  stand.  The  number  of  men  employed  is  194,  a  decrease  of  300  in 
the  working  force  within  a  few  years.  The  buildings  and  location  are  pecul- 
iarly adapted  to  a  great  industry  like  this.  The  Superintendent  is  S.  B. 
Smith,  and  shop  clerk,  J.  P.  Hall. 

Franklin  Lath  Machine  Company  was  formed  February  25,  1859,  with 
William  Merrill,  J.  S.  Fisk,  M.  Kent,  C.  Peck,  Jr.,  H.  Ewell  and  A.  M.  Sher- 
man,  members.  The  capital  stock  was  placed  at  $20,000.  This  company 
erected  buildings  on  Water  Street,  and  carried  on  the  manufacture  of 
machines.  Mr.  Merrill,  the  inventor,  gained  control  of  this  industry  and  car- 
ried on  the  business  for  some  years. 

Railway  Speed  Recorder  Company  was  organized  November  2,  1875,  with 
the  following  members:  J.  B.  Miller,  William  W.  Wythe,  J.H.  Holway,  A.  L. 
Dunbar  and  W.  H.  Stevens.  The  capital  stock  was  placed  at  $250,000,  and 
the  location  of  factory  at  Kent,  with  branch  office  at  Meadville,  Penn.  W\  H. 
Stevens,  President,  and  A.  L.  Dunbar,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  1875-77. 
E.  A.  Parsons  was  elected  Secretary  in  1877.  In  1878  A.  L.  Dunbar  was 
elected  President  and  re-elected  annually  since  that  time,  while  Mr.  Parsons 
has  served  as  Seci'etary  and  Treasurer.  The  Directors  since  1877  have  been 
William  W.  Wythe,  J.  B.  Miller  (now  Superintendent),  E.  A.  Parsons,  A.  L.  Dun- 
bar. J.  T.  Blair  was  a  Director  until  1879,  when  Charles  Miller  was  elected. 
This  industry  employs  fifty  hands.  The  value  of  annual  product  is 
placed  at  $80,000.  Buildings  and  machinery  are  valued  at  $37,000.  To 
J.  B.  Miller  is  due  in  great  measure  the  success  of  this  enterprise.  He  it  was 
who  perfected  the  Recorder,  and  placed  before  the  company's  salesmen  a  most 
useful  and  reliable  invention. 

The  Center  Flouring  Mill  Company  was  incorporated  February  13,  1850, 
with  Edward  Parsons,  Robert  Clark,  Jr.,  Alvin  Olin,  James  Woodard  and 
Thomas  Earl,  Directors,  and  141  stock-holders.  The  capital  subscribed  was 
$10,000,  increased  to  $20,000  in  1852.  Thomas  Earl  was  General  Manager, 
and  under  this  management  the  industry  was  transferred  to  Dr.  Earl's  son, 
who  rented  it  to  various  parties.  The  buildings  were  used  for  milling  pur- 
poses until  their  destruction  in  the  winter  of  1884. 

The  Peerless  Roller  Mills  were  established  by  C.  A.  and  S.  T.  Williams  in 

24 


450  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

1879.  In  this  year  a  brick  building  was  erected  and  machinery  placed  therein 
at  a  cost  of  about  $-40,000.  In  1882  an  addition  was  made  to  the  mills  at  a 
cost  of  $5,000.  There  are  sixteen  sets  of  rollers  used  in  this  mill,  with  a 
capacity  of  200  barrels  per  day.  The  number  employed  in  all  departments  of 
this  industry  averages  twenty-live.  Their  shipping  business  is  confined  to  the 
Eastern  States. 

The  Kent  Mills,  now  operated  by  George  Barnett,  give  employment  to 
three  men.  Machinery  for  grinding  new  corn,  chopping  and  flour  manufact- 
ure has  been  introduced. 

T.  G.  Parson's  planing-mill  was  established  in  1866  by  Porter  Hall  and 
Ed.  A.  Parsons,  in  what  was  known  as  the  Old  Mill.  About  seven  years  ago 
the  old  building  was  moved  to  the  present  site,  and  a  new  building  erected. 
This  industry  gives  employment  to  eight  men. 

Franklin  Steam  Saw-mill  is  now  operated  by  J.  S.  Sweet  and  M.  M.  Smith, 
and  was  built  in  1884.  This  firm  deals  largely  in  all  kinds  of  hardwood  lum^ 
ber,  sash,  doors  and  blinds,  etc. 

Kent  Carriage  Works  are  operated  by  H.  George  &  Bros. 

Kent  National  Bank,  successor  to  the  Franklin  Bank,  of  Portage  County 
(founded  by  Zenas  Kent),  was  chartered  in  1864.  This  charter  was  renewed 
August  31,  1884,  to  continue  until  1904.  Marvin  Kent  is  President,  W.  S. 
Kent,  Vice-President;  Charles  K.  Clapp,  Cashier,  and  W.  H.  C.  Parkhill, 
Clerk.     The  capital  is  $100,000,  and  surplus,  $20,000. 

Kent  Savings  and  Loan  Association  was  organized  July  23,  1873,  with 
Charles  H.  Kent,  H.  Y.  Bradley,  Theo.  C.  Bradley,  Byron  B.  DePeyster, 
John  Thompson,  Henry  Magan  and  David  L.  Rockwell,  members.  This  com- 
pany ceased  business. 

City  Bank.  This  Banking  Company  was  organized  with  D.  L.  Rockwell, 
President,  and  M.  G.  Garrison,  Cashier.     The  capital  is  $50,000. 

The  Continental  Hotel,  in  the  City  Bank  Block,  is  the  leading  hostelry  of 
the  village.      It  is  well  conducted  by  Capt.  Crane  and  Mr.  Lewis. 

The  new  Collins  House,  opposite  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road depot,  is  managed  by  Capt.  Ezra  Fowler. 

The  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  restaurant  is  one  of  the  leading 
houses  of  that  class  in  Ohio. 

In  early  days  the  pioneers  devoted  themselves  to  the  task  of  building  up 
a  town  on  the  Cuyahoga,  with  remarkable  energy.  Not,  however,  until  the 
various  enterprises  were  taken  hold  of  by  Marvin  Kent,  did  the  theories  of 
progress  put  forward  by  the  old  settlers  assume  practical  shape.  In  1848-49 
many  of  those  great  industries  which  make  the  town  their  home  were  con- 
ceived, and  shortly  after  those  busy  hives  of  manufacturing  industry  were 
constructed.  The  master-hand,  in  those  pretentious  beginnings  of  a  manufact- 
uring town,  was  Marvin  Kent.  A  decade  later  we  see  him  leading  in  railroad 
building,  and  succeeding  not  only  in  constructing  the  great  road  now  known 
as  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad,  but  also  in  securing  the  car 
and  machine  shops  of  the  road  for  his  town  on  the  Cuyahoga.  The  great  sum 
of  money  which  he  dedicated  to  public  enterprise,  has  been  repaid  by  the 
fact  that  everything  he  sees  around  him— a  thousand  sons  of  industry  earn- 
ing fair  pay,  and  numerous  trains  exchanging  people  and  products  between 
the  East  and  West — may  be  considered  the  result  of  his  enterprise.  In  ten- 
dering this  reasonable  tribute  to  Mr.  Kent,  the  historian  takes  great  pleasure, 
also,  in  being  able  to  make  the  statement  that  the  actual  operators  of  great 
manufacturing  industries  of  the  village  are  just  employers  and  enterprising 
citizens. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  451 

The  township,  in  addition  to  the  Cuyahoga  River  and  some  smaller  streams, 
contains  several  beautiful  lakes.  The  two  largest  are  known  as  the  East  Twin 
Lake  and  West  Twin  Lake,  and  are  places  of  considerable  local  resort  during 
the  warm  season,  as  they  afford  tine  fishing  and  comfortable  camping  grounds. 
Pippin  Lake  is  in  the  northeast,  Stewart's  Pond  to  the  west  of  Twin  Lakes 
and  several  smaller  ponds  or  lakes  dot  the  township,  but  the  most  noted  is 
Brady's  I^ake,  about  one  mile  and  a  half  east  of  the  village. 

About  1790,  according  to  what  is  deemed  the  best  authority  upon  the  mat- 
ter, Capt.  Samuel  Brady,  a  noted  Pennsylvania  Indian  fighter,  who  followed 
that  profession  through  all  this  section  of  country,  performed  the  feat  within 
the  bounds  of  what  is  now  Kent,  which  for  daring,  determination  and  muscu- 
larity, stands  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the  early  times.  It  appears  he  and 
a  few  companions  had  pursued  a  marauding  party  of  Indians  westward  across 
the  Cuyahoga,  but  the  red  skins  being  re-enforced  by  their  friends,  turned 
upon  Brady,  who,  seeing  their  superior  numbers,  advised  his  companions  to 
disperse  singly,  and  every  man  take  care  of  himself.  But  the  Indians  know- 
ing the  desperate  character  of  Brady,  and  anxious  to  glut  a  Jong-standing 
revenge  upon  him  for  the  many  severe  punishments  he  had  inflicted  upon  them 
pursued  him  only.  Brady  knew  every  point  of  importance  in  this  section  as 
well  as  the  Indians,  and  so  made  for  the  narrowest  part  of  the  Cuyahoga, 
which  was  and  is  not  far  from  the  upper  bridge  in  Kent.  To  this  spot  the 
Captain  ran  with  the  speed  almost  of  a  deer,  for  he  was  a  man  of  herculean 
frame,  and  as  active  as  a  cat.  The  Indians  could  have  shot  him  easily,  but 
they  wished  to  capture  him  alive  for  the  purpose  of  having  one  of  their  devil- 
ish orgies  around  the  torturing  body  of  their  great  enemy,  but  their  inhuman- 
ity over-reached  itself.  They  had  no  idea  of  the  latent  powers  of  Brady,  and 
thought  that  as  he  neared  the  rushing  stream  at  the  Narrows  he  would  be  com- 
pelled to  surrender.  They  "reckoned  without  their  host,"  however,  for  when 
the  desperate  man  came  in  sight  of  the  river  he  quickly  made  up  his  mind 
what  to  do.  He  knew  that  to  be  captured  was  to  die  a  cruel  and  lingering 
death,  and  the  dark  rolling  stream  that  rushed  through  the  narrow  gor^e, 
twenty-five  feet  below  the  banks,  was  more  welcome  to  him  than  the  knife  and 
faggot  of  the  savage;  besides,  there  was  a  chance  for  life  and  escape.  Bv 
the  time  he  had  arrived  within  fifty  feet  of  the  river  he  knew  what  to  do,  and 
with  a  mighty  effort  and  the  speed  of  despair  he  fairly  flew  through  the  air, 
and  with  a  tremendous  spring  cleared  the  chasm  as  clean  as  an  English  tho- 
roughbred leaps  a  ditch.  So  wonder-stricken  and  dumbfounded  were  the  sav- 
ages at  the  boldness  and  agility  of  their  supposed  victim,  and  so  unprepared 
were  they  for  his  eluding  them,  that  they  stood  speechless  and  actless  for  a 
moment,  but  soon  realizing  that  he  would  escape,  sent  a  volley  of  rifle-shots 
after  him,  one  of  which  took  effect  in  his  thigh,  but  did  not  disable  him. 
Not  a  wretch  among  the  lot  had  the  hardihood  to  duplicate  the  feat  of  the 
gallant  Brady,  and  they  had  to  make  their  way  to  the  crossing  on  the  regular 
trail,  nearly  a  mile  away,  by  which  time  the  Captain  had  gained  the  little  lake 
now  so  appropriately  known  by  his  name.  The  Indians  saw  him  go  in  that 
direction  and  still  hoped  to  capture  him,  but  when  Brady  came  to  the  lake  he 
swam  under  water  some  distance  to  the  trunk  of  a  tree  that  had  fallen  in, 
and  clinging  to  the  submerged  branches,  held  his  mouth  in  such  position  as  to 
obtain  air.  The  Indians  seeing  him  enter  the  water  and  not  reappear,  sup- 
posed he  was  drowned.  Two  of  them  walked  out  upon  the  very  tree  to  which 
he  was  clinging,  even  coming  close  enough  for  Brady  to  ascertain  what  they 
would  say,  he  understanding  the  Indian  dialect.  The  joy  he  experienced 
when  he  heard  them  say  that  he  was  drowned  none  will  ever  know,  and  when 


452  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

he  found  them  gone,  climbed  out  of  the  tree  and  made  his  way  safely  home- 
ward. From  the  evidence  of  a  man  who  was  at  this  famous  spot  in  1804,  it 
is  ascertained  that  the  distance  from  rock  to  rock  was  about  twenty-one  feet, 
the  side  upon  which  ho  alighted  being  about  three  feet  lower  than  the  other. 

The  statistics  of  crops  and  produce  for  1884  deal  only  with  the  township 
outside  the  town  of  Kent.  Such  statistics  have  been  carefully  compiled  from 
most  authentic  sources.  While  they  show  the  condition  of  the  township  in  a 
fair  light,  they  must  not  be  considered  a  complete  review  of  township  values 
or '^productions.  Acres  under  wheat,  1,323,  bushels,  15,319;  rye,  30  bushels 
from  1  acre;  oats,  733  acres,  29,295  bushels;  barley,  15  acres,  400  bushels; 
corn,  729  acres,  15,337  bushels;  8  bushels  of  broom  corn;  1,277  acres  of 
meadow;  1,964  tons  of  hay;  259  acres  of  clover;  348  tons  of  hay  and  51 
bushels  of  seed;  127  acres  of  potatoes  yielded  15,529  bushels;  milk,  45,810 
gallons  sold  for  family  use;  73,708  pounds  home-made  butter;  400  pounds 
factory  butter;  70,426  pounds  of  cheese;  8  pounds  of  maple  sugar  and  403 
gallons  of  syrup  from  1,286  tappings;  473  pounds  honey  from  41  hives; 
20,703  dozensof  eggs;  1  acre  of  vines;  7,115  bushels  of  apples;  30  of  peaches; 
51  of  pears;  7,639  pounds  of  wool;  524  milch  cows;  233  dogs;  killed  38 
sheep  and  injured  8;  animals  which  died  of  disease,  58  hogs,  83  sheep,  22 
cattle  and  8  horses;  acres  cultivated,  6,788;  pasture,  2,180;  woodland,  1,211; 
waste,  598;  total,  10,777  acres.  A  reference  to  the  history  of  manufacturing 
industries  will  convey  a  good  idea  of  their  value.  Total  population  in  1850 
was  1,750,  including  753  youth;  in  1870,  3,037;  in  1880,  4,141,  including 
Kent  Village,  3,309.     Present  population  estimated,  4,350. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP. 


Before  the  Organization— Charles  H.  Paine,  the  First  Settler— A  Lone 
Pioneer— More  Arrivals— First  Election— A  Thoughtful  Veteran — 
Paul  Larkcom— A  Number  of  First  Things — Churches  and  Schools- 
Horace  Greeley's  Uncle— The  Army  Hunt— Sad  Death— Sagacity  of  a 
Dog— Business  and  Statistics. 

FREEDOM  was  the  last  of  the  townships  to  be  organized,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one,  leaving  Garrettsville  out  of  the  question,  which  event  occurred 
April  4, 1825,  it  having  been  a  portion  of  Hiram  Township  up  to  that  time,  and 
known  as  Town  4,  Range  7,  of  the  Western  Reserve.  The  land  for  some 
reason  had  been  thought,  by  those  who  came  at  an  early  day,  to  be  very  poor 
— not  worth  settling  on.  This  bad  reputation  arose,  evidently,  from  the  fact 
that  a  large  swamp  existed  about  the  center  of  the  township,  and  from  the 
almost  unbroken  extent  of  beech  woods.  It  is  now,  however,  one  of  the  finest 
pieces  of  land  in  the  county,  as  drainage  has  been  applied  to  all  the  low  sec- 
tions. It  had  been  called  North  Rootstown  in  honor  of  the  principal  propri- 
etor, Ephraim  Root. 

In  the  spring  of  1818  Charles  H.  Paine,  commonly  called  Harry  Paine, 
came  into  the  township  and  settled  on  Lots  31  and  41.  He  came  from  Hiram, 
but  originally  lived  at  Painesville,  his  father  being  Gen.  Paine,  for  whom  that 
town  was  named.     Charles  had  married  the  daughter  of  Elijah   Mason,   and 


FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP.  453 

remained  with  his  father-in-law  in  Hiram  until  he  could  put  up  a  cabin  and 
make  a  clearing  on  his  land  in  Freedom.  From  the  time  he  moved  to  his 
place  till  1822,  himself  and  family  were  the  only  dwellers  within  what  is  now 
this  highly  cultivated,  prosperous  and  fertile  township,  and  he  used  to  say 
that  during  those  three  or  four  years,  when  there  was  not  a  white  person  other 
than  his  own  family  for  miles  around,  that  it  took  considerable  nerve  to  com- 
bat the  sense  of  loneliness  that  would  irresistibly  steal  over  him.  In  1822, 
however,  he  was  rejoiced  at  the  arrival  of  thirteen  persons,  all  in  one  body,  in 
fact  all  in  one  family,  for  Thomas  Johnston  and  wife  had  eleven  children  at 
that  time.  Johnston  was  an  Irishman,  who  in  coming  to  this  country  had 
settled  in  Pennsylvania,  afterward  removing  to  the  Reserve.  He  was  a  genial 
soul,  and  could  tell  a  joke  with  the  true  Irish  flavor.     He  settled  on  Lot  32. 

The  year  1823  brought  in  three  settlers,  Newell  Day,  Enos  Wadsworth  and 
Asa  Wadsworth.  They  were  from  Tyringham,  Mass.  Enos  was  a  widower, 
with  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  Asa  was  his  oldest  son,  who  was  married 
and  had  two  children;  he  settled  on  Lot  46,  and  his  father  on  Lot  47.  John 
was  the  younger  son  of  Enos,  and  Electa  was  the  daughter. 

In  1824  came  in  Rufus  Ranney,  father  of  Judge  R.  P.  Ranney  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and/J.  L.  Ranney,  and  settled  on  Lot  44;  Elijah  W.  Ranney 
on  Lot  44;  Myron  Barber  on  Lot  61 ;  Phineas  Spalding  on  Lot  51 ;  Brigham 
Harmon  on  Lot  68;"* Daniel  Brown  on  Lot  60;  Alexander  Johnston  on  Lot  32; 
Widow  Clarissa  Wheelock,  Amariah  Wheelock,  and  John  Wheelock  on  Lot  48, 
and  Ira  Chamberlain  on  Lot  9. 

During  the  next  year  came  Paul  Larkcom,  father  of  A.  C.  Larkcom,  from 
Berkshire  County,  Mass.  Paul  Larkcom  was  one  of  the  old  Revolutionary 
soldiers,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  etc.  His  name  figures  in  the  history  of  his  native  State,  being 
descended  from  one  of  the  Larkcoms  who  fled  to  this  country  from  the  perse- 
cutions of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  wife  was  a  cousin  of  Noah  Webster, 
the  great  lexicographer.  The  wife  of  his  son,  A.  C,  was  a  second  cousin  of 
the  gallant  Commodore  Perry.  The  somewhat  famous  writer,  Lucy  Larcom, 
was  a  member  of  this  same  stock  of  Larkcoms,  but  that  lady  dropped  the  k 
from  the  original  spelling  of  the  name.  In  this  year  also  came  Joshua  Finch, 
Jeremiah  Colton,  Nathaniel  Brown,  Arvin  Brown,  John  Baldwin,  Horace  Hop- 
kins, Pardon  Sherman,  Sylvester  Hurlburt,  and  possibly  one  or  two  others, 
now  forgotten.  The  numbers  had  now  so  increased  that  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  County  Commissioners  to  grant  the  erection  into  a  "separate 
township,  of  Town  4,  Range  7,  with  the  name  of  Freedom."  The  name 
"Freedom"  is  supposed  to  have  been  suggested  by  Mrs.  Paine,  to  whom  the 
matter  was  referred  in  honor  of  that  lady  having  been  the  first  female  to 
enter  the  township.  It  is  said  that  she  first  suggested  "Liberty,"  but  as  that 
name  was  too  common,  it  was  changed.  The  usual  version  is  that  she  was  a 
great  lover  of  liberty,  and  the  name  naturally  came  up,  but  an  old  settler  says 
that  she  suggested  the  title  in  consequence  of  quite  a  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants having  left  sundry  little  debts  when  they  came  out. 

The  result  of  the  first  election  after  the  act  of  creation  in  the  township 
was  as  follows:  Trustees,  Charles  H.  Paine,  Alexander  Johnston  and  Asa 
Wadsworth;  Clerk,  Amariah  Wheelock;  Treasurer,  Phineas  Spalding; 
Appraiser,  Alexander  Johnston;  Lister,  Benjamin  Fenton;  Overseers  of  the 
Poor,  Newell  Day  and  Thomas  Johnston;  Fence  Viewers,  Asa  Wadsworth  and 
Charles  li.  Paine;  Constable,  Charles  B.  Miller;  Supervisors,  Phineas  Spald- 
ing, Thomas  Johnston  and  Amariah  Wheelock.  C.  H.  Paine,  Alexander  John- 
ston and  Asa  Wadsworth  were  the  Judges  of  Election;  Amariah  Wheelock  and 


454  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Asa  Wadsworth  were  the  Clerks  of  the  same.      At  a  subsequent  election  Ama- 
riah  Wheelock  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

In  November,  1830,  Paul  Larkcom  began  keeping  a  record  of  the  entry  and 
settlement  of  every  one  from  the  time  that  Paine  came  in,  also  putting  down 
in^writing  in  an  old  book,  that  he  had  used  as  far  back  as  1809,  all  first  events, 
and  it  is  from  that  source  we  obtain  the  information  herein  contained.  In 
tbat  bjjk  we  find,  in  addition  to  those  already  given,  the  names  of  those  who 
came  in  1827,  among  whom  were  Thomas  Headlock  and  W.  L.  Marcey,  A.  C. 
and  Samuel  Larkcom,  and  others.  In  1828  Elihu  Paine,  Samuel  Johnston, 
Garry  Clark,  Amos  Hawley,  Ozias  Hawley,  Isaac  Stedman  and  others.  In  1829 
came  another  Larkcom,  Orsamus  L.  Drake,  Chauncey  Hitchcock,  G.  G.  Red- 
ding, Myron  and  Willis  Foote  and  several  others.  In  1830  came  Enoch  Drake, 
the  Porters,  Libeus  Manly,  two  more  Hawleys  and  a  number  of  others.  In 
Jane  of  this  year  the  population  was  342,  and  so  rapidly  were  they  coming  in 
that  in  the  following  November  the  number  had  increased  to  364.  In  1831 
there  were  eighty-seven  families,  and  a  population  of  417.  In  1835  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  had  increased  to  767,  with  148  families.  The  number  of 
births  from  first  settlement  to  that  date  was!  130,  and  the  number  of  deaths 
forty-two.     In  1836  population  was  841;  number  of  families  164. 

The  first  habitation  was  built  by  Charles  H.  Paine,  during  the  summer  of 
1818,  The  first  death  was  that  of  Emeliue  Paine  (at  the  age  of  two  and  a  half 
years),  daughter  of  Charles  H.  Paine,  and  who  was  scalded  so  badly  in  October, 
1820,  that  she  died.  The  first  birth  in  the  township  was  in  June,  1823,  that  of 
Amanda,  a  daughter  to  Charles  H.  Paine;  the  first  male^ildjwas  born  February 
19,  1826,  a  son  of  Daniel  Brown,  named  Charles  R.^The  first  marriage  was 
that  of  Wakeman  Sherwood  .and  Harriet  Ranney,  in  1825.  The  bride  was  a 
daughter  of  Rufus  Ranney.  Another  wedding  occurred  about  this  time,  the 
parties  being  Lester  Hall  and  Celestia  Finch,  and  not  far  from  this  date 
occurred  the  wedding  of  two  of  the  residents  of  this  township  in  Shalersville. 
Henry  Humphrey  and  Electa  Wadsworth  wanted  to  get  married,  but  as  they 
had  never  witnessed  that  interestThg  ceremony,  they  did  not  know  how  to  go 
about  it,  and  were  fearful  lest  they  should  appear  awkward  in  the  presence  of 
their  friends,  so  they  posted  off  to  Shalersville  and  were  made  one.  The  first 
Justice  of  the  Peace  was  Amariah  Wheelock,  who  became  so  in  1825.  The 
first  militia  officers  were  Captain,  John  Wheelock;  Lieutenant,  Daniel  Brown; 
Ensign,  Alexander  Johnston.  In  1826  Elijah  W.  Ranney  became  the  first 
Postmaster.  The  first  frame  barn  was  built  by  Thomas  Johnston  on  Lot  32, 
and  the  first  frame  house  was  put  up  by  Paul  Larkcom  in  1826,  for  Daniel 
W.  Strickland,  on  Lot  46.  In  1828  Elihu  Paine  erected  the  first  saw-mill  and 
had  plenty  of  work  to  do,  as  the  township  always  has  been  supplied  with  an 
abundance  of  timber.  The  first  cider-mill  was  put  up  by  John  Hitchcock,  as 
apples  were  plentiful  from  almost  the  first  settlement,  Paine  having  set  out 
an  orchard  in  1819.  As  early  as  1830  Hitchcock  made  sixty-three  barrels  of 
cider  and  sold  500  bushels  of  apples.  In  1830  Orsamus  L.  Drake  erected  a 
building  on  the  northeast  corner;  the  same  year  Loring  Hamilton  started  the 
carpenter  and  cabinet  business.  In  1831  Erastus  Carter,  Jr.,  and  Cyrus  Pren- 
tiss opened  the  first  stock  of  goods  in  the  barn  of  Enoch  Drake,  and  in  1832 
built  a  store-room  on  the  northwest  corner,  put  in  a  stock  of  goods,  but  sold 
out  afterward  to  D.  W.  Strickland.  In  this  year,  1832,  Enoch  Drake  built  a 
house  on  the  south  corner;  Jabez  Smith,  a  blacksmith,  set  up  in  business,  and 
G.  G.  Redding  built  a  saw-mill.  In  1833  Enoch  Drake  built  house,  barn, 
sheds,  etc.  In  this  year  came  Dr.  Simeon  Birge,  who  remained  till  1838,  when 
he  removed  to  Franklin,  where   he  died   in   1854.     The  township   remained 


FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP.  455 

without  a  physician  till  1840,  when  Dr.  James  Webb  located,  and  here 
lived  till  he  died  of  a  cancer,  in  1852.  In  18B5  there  were  eight  tons  of 
cheese  manufactured,  and  400  tons  of  hay  cut  in  one  locality  on  the  north 
road,  which  gave  evidence  at  that  early  day  of  what  could  be  done  in  Freedom 
with  proper  cultivation  and  management.  *In  1836  Orsamus  L.  Drake  erected 
,  a  large  and  well  appointed  house  at  what  is  now  Drakesburg,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  public,  and  called  it  the  Freedom  House.  In  1837  the  first 
steam  saw-mill  was  erected  at  Drakesburg  by  D,  W.  Strickland,  but  it  was 
burned  to  the  ground  the  following  year.  Several  steam-mills  were  afterward 
erected.  In  this  year  James  Atwood,  from  Vermont,  commenced  the  blacksmith 
and  wagon  repairing  business,  which  grew  into  a  carriage  manufactory,  doing 
quite  an  extensive  business  for  the  time. 

The  first  church  society  in  the  township  was  organized  February  9,  1828, 
at  the  house  of  A.  C.  Larkcom,  by  Revs.  Joseph  Treat  and  David  L.  Coe,  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbytery  of  Portage  County,  and  was  composed  of  the  following 
persons:  Origen  Harmon  and  wife,  Alvin  Brown  and  wife,  Headlock  Marcey 
and  wife,  Miss  Laura  Marcey.  Horace  Hopkins  and  wife,  Reuben  Daniels, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Marcey,  wife  of  Thomas  Marcey,  D.  W.  Strickland  and 
wife,  Joshua  Finch  and  wife,  Samuel  Larkcom  and  wife,  Harvey  Hawley  and 
wife,  and  Mrs.  Clarissa  Wheelock.     Sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  D.  L.  Coe. 

D.  W.  Strickland  was  elected  Clerk,  and  Origen  Harmon,  Headlock  Marcey  and 
Reuben  Daniels  formed  the  Standing  Committee.  Until  the  erection,  in  1835, 
of  their  first  building,  a  small  log-house  at  the  Center,  meetings  were  held  at  the 
houses  of  A.  C.  Larkcom,  Rufus  Ranney,  E.  W.  Ranney,  and  in  the  log-school- 
house  at  Drakesburg.  They  afterward  erected  the  present  commodious  build- 
ing, which  is  a  credit  to  the  township.  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin  was  the  first  settled 
pastor  of  the  church.      The  present  pastor  of  the  church  is  Rev.  P.  G.  Powell. 

The  first  Methodist  Church  was  organized  by  B.  O.  Plympton  and  Thomas 
Carr,  in  1831,  and  consisted  of  nine  members:  Orsamus  L.  Drake  and  wife, 
A.  Hawley  and  wife,  Ira  Chamberlain  and  wife,  Sarah  Sherman,  Charles  Cran- 
mer  and  Mary  Hawley.  The  first  meetings  were  held  in  the  barn  of  Enoch 
Drake,  and  at  the  houses  of  the  members,  but  in  1838  a  fine  large  house  of 
worship  was  erected  at  Drakesburg.  Nearly  all  the  early  Methodist  ministers 
preached  at  various  times  to  the  little  flock.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev, 
Collier,  There  is  a  small  chapel  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  but  there  is  no 
regular  pastor.  The  first  sermon  delivered  in  the  township  was  preached  by 
Rev.  xilva  Day,  a  Congregational  minister. 

The  first  school  was  taught  in  a  small  frame  building  at  Drakesburg,  by 

E.  W.  Ranney,  who  died  March  3,  1835.  Another  and  earlier  school  is  said 
to  have  been  taught  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  township,  but  the  exact  time 
and  name  of  teachers  are  not  now  known. 

In  the  following  review  the  present  condition  of  the  Freedom  Schools  is 
given:  Revenue  in  1884,  $3,366.52;  expenditures,  $2,299;  eight  school  build- 
ings, valued  at  $7,000;  average  salaries  of  teachers,  $33  and  $25  per  month; 
enrollment,  91  boys  and  97  girls. 

In  the  year  1841  there  came  to  the  township  a  somewhat  elderly  and  seedy 
man  named  Leonard  Greeley,  who  had  no  visible  means  or  employment,  and 
when  the  fact  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Messrs.  Simon 
Landfear  and  Lucius  Wood,  those  two  officials  ordered  the  Constable,  James 
Francis,  Esq.,  to  notify  said  Greeley  that  his  absence  would  be  more  highly 
appreciated  than  his  presence,  and  to  either  run  him  out  of  the  township  or 
"run  him  in"  for  vagrancy.  The  Constable  chose  the  former,  and  Leonard 
Greeley  left. 


456  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

In  1818  occuiTed  the  big  hunt,  which  was  participated  in  by  the  citizens  of 
several  townships.      This  was  the  Army  Hunt,  referred  to  in  other  chapters. 

Thomas  Lloyd,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  donated  five  acres  of  land  at  the  Cen- 
ter, to  be  used  as  a  public  square  and  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings. 

One  of  the  finest  mineral  springs,  with  the  most  delightful  water,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio  is  on  the  road  half  way  between  the  Center  and  Drakesburg. 
It  is  slightly  impregnated  with  iron,  sulphur  and  magnesia,  an  excellent  com- 
bination, and  is,  doubtless,  extremely  healthful  and  beneficial. 

In  the  southwestern  quarter  of  the  township  there  is  an  extensive  lime- 
stone ridge,  from  which  an  excellent  quality  of  lime  has  been  made.  Timber 
from  the  earliest  time  has  been  very  plentiful,  affording  good  material  for  the 
manufacture  of  wooden-ware,  rakes,  etc.  The  country  is  well  adapted  for 
grazing,  and  the  attention  of  the  farmers  is  turning  considerably  in  that  direc- 
tion. Mflch  fruit  is  raised,  particularly  apples.  There  is  very  little  water- 
power  in  the  township,  but  at  one  time  there  were  five  saw-mills  in 
operation.  The  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  passes  through  the 
southeastern  corner  of  the  township,  touching  at  Freedom  Station,  which 
affords  an  excellent  shipping  point  for  the  various  products. 

During  the  winter  of  1824  an  event  occurred  that  threw  a  gloom  over  the 
little  settlement,  consisting  at  that  time  of  about  a  dozen  families.  Enos 
Wadsworth,  whose  name  appears  as  the  fourth  person  to  settle  in  the  town- 
ship, and  who  was  a  widower  with  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  was  a  success- 
ful hunter  of  small  game,  but  had  never  killed  a  deer,  although  he  had  fre- 
quently hunted  for  them,  upon  which  fact  some  of  his  friends  twitted  him, 
whereupon  he  declared  he  would  go  out  and  bring  home  a  deer  if  he  died  in 
the  attempt.  He  went  out  on  Saturday,  and  not  returning  that  evening  nor 
the  next  day,  the  whole  settlement  turned  out  to  hunt  for  him,  a  large  party 
from  Nelson  also  going  out  during  the  week,  which  party,  on  the  ninth  day 
after  Wadsworth  had  disappeared,  found  him  lying  on  his  face  in  the  swamp 
with  his  gun  in  his  hand  and  some  provisions  in  his  pocket,  the  latter  fact 
showing  that  he  had  not  been  lost  and  starved,  as  was  supposed,  but  that 
he  had  either  been  stricken  with  apoplexy  or  died  from  heart  disease. 

Warner  Durkee,  a  noted  hunter  in  the  early  days,  was  inclined  to  consump- 
tion, and  occasionally  had  slight  bleeding  of  bis  lungs,  but  not  to  such  extent 
as  to  interfere  with  his  work  or  sport.  On  one  occasion,  while  out  with  his 
dog  in  the  woods,  he  was  taken  with  violent  bleeding  at  the  mouth,  and  it  so 
weakened  him  that  he  had  to  lie  down,  being  unable  to  go  any  farther.  In 
that  condition  he  would  have  perished  had  he  not,  partly  in  frolic  and  partly 
in  earnest,  said  to  his  dog,  "Go  home  and  tell  them  I  am  bleeding  to  death." 
The  sagacious  dog  seemed  to  understand,  and  ran  home  at  the  top  of  his 
speed.  It  being  then  late  at  night,  and  all  the  folks  in  bed,  they  got  up  to 
see  what  was  the  matter  with  the  dog,  when  he  ran  to  the  bed  of  Durkee's  son 
and  pulled  and  tugged  at  the  bed  clothes.  Being  driven  away  he  would  return, 
and  the  last  time  he  caught  hold  of  the  pants  lying  on  a  chair  and  shook  them, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "  Put  these  on  and  come  with  me."  The  young  man  being 
struck  at  the  singular  actions  of  his  father's  dog,  got  up,  put  his  clothing  on, 
following  the  dog  to  the  woods  and  brought  the  suffering  man  home,  where  he 
was  relieved. 

In  1828  a  saw-mill  was  erected  by  Elihu  Paine.  Previous  to  the  building 
of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Drakesburg  a  steam  saw-mill  was  constructed  in 
1837  by  D.  W.  Strickland,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  the  same  year. 

There  are  two  cheese  factories  in  operation,  one  rake  factory,  one  saw  and 
feed-mill  near  the  Station,  one  saw-mill  at  Drakesburg,   and  another  in  the 


■^V" 


^^^iy^ry^-^i^ 


(^,!:r^r-z:>^^^-^^ 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  459 

north  part  of  the  township;  at  the  Station  is  one  general  store  kept  by  A.  H. 
Scovill,  who  is  Postmaster;  at  the  Center  is  one  store  kept  by  Lyman  Bryant, 
who  is  Postmaster. 

Physicians. — Dr.  J.  L.  Bevington,  near  the  Center,  and  Dr.  S.  L.  Sloan  at 
the  station. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees,  M.  J.  Harris,  A.  A.  Thayer,  E.  P.  Thayer; 
Clerk,  T.  M.  Robinson;  Treasurer,  J.  B.  Harrison;  Assessor,  Elbert  Kneeland; 
Constables,  Clinton  Dutter,  A.  D.  Williams;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Atwell 
Bryant,  Charles  Williams;  Notary  Public,  Lyman  Bryant. 

Fidelity  Circle  No.  10,  B.  U.  (H.  F.)  C.  A.  No.  98,  of  Freedom,  reorgan- 
ized December  28,  1853,  with  Johu  Wheelock,  A.  C.  Larkcom  and  Seth 
Hewins,  Trustees,  was  one  of  the  earliest  associations  in  the  township. 

Merritt  Harmon  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Kneeland  are  the  oldest  survivors  of  the 
early  settlement  of  Freedom. 

Freedom  furnished  lifty-four  soldiers,  fifteen  of  whom  died  in  the  service 
of  their  country. 

The  statistics  of  the  township  for  1884  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat, 
857,  bushels,  9,413;  of  rye,  8;  of  oats,  708,  giving  18,705  bushels;  of  corn, 
501,  yielding  4,846  bushels;  of  meadow,  1,854,  giving  2,596  tons;  of  clover, 
202,  yielding  264  tons  of  hay  and  68  bushels  of  seed;  of  potatoes,  222,  yield- 
ing 18,032  bushels;  56,645  pounds  of  butter;  61,277  pounds  of  cheese;  12,- 
113  pounds  of  maple  sugar  and  4,996  gallons  of  syrup  from  28,535  tappings; 
475  pounds  honey  from  thirty-eight  hives;  24,399  dozens  of  eggs;  346  acres  of 
apple  orchard  gave  7,039  bushels;  72  bushels  of  peaches  and  25  of  plums; 
wool,  11,061  pounds;  752  milch  cows;  2  stallions;  103  dogs;  killed,  6  sheep, 
and  injured,  8;  animals  died  of  disease,  9  hogs,  237  sheep,  21  cattle  and  9 
horses;  acres  cultivated,  1,436;  pasture,  10,437;  woodland,  2,580;  total,  14,- 
453  acres.  Population  in  1850  was  996,  including  387  youth;  in  1870,  781; 
in  1880,  804;  in  1884  (estimated)  870. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP. 


Arrival  of  Col.  John  Garrett— The  First  Mill — Slow  Growth— The  Dual 
Government— Business,  Manufacturing,  etc.— The  Fair— Churches- 
Union  Schools— Masonic  Bodies— Odd  Fellowship- Young  Men's  Tem- 
perance Council— Good  Templars— Statistics. 

aARRETTSVILLE  having  been  carved  out  of  the  southwest  corner  of 
Nelson  and  the  southeast  corner  of  Hiram,  its  history  may  be  said,  until 
a  comparatively  recent  date,  to  belong  to  those  townships,  and  therefore  many 
facts  pertaining  to  its  early  settlement  will  be  found  recorded  in  the  chapters 
relating  to  Hiram  and  Nelson. 

The  nucleus  around  which  afterward  clustered  the  village  of  Garrettsville 
was  established  by  Col.  John  GaxTett,  who  arrived  from  Delaware  in  Ju^y, 
1804,  and  made  the  first  settlement.  He  brought  with  him  a  man  named 
Dyson,  a  blacksmith  and  gun  repairer,  who  was  of  great  use  to  the  surround- 
ing settlements.     Shortly  after  coming  Col.  Garrett  lost  a  son,  who  died  in 


460  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

September  following.  In  January,  1806,  the  Colonel  himself  departed  this 
life.  He  left  a  widow  and  four  children,  the  venerable  Mrs.  Garrett  surviving 
her  husband  for  forty  years.  The  children  became  distinguished  citizens  in 
various  walks  of  life.  Col.  Garrett  left  provision  for  a  lot  upon  which  to 
build  a  Baptist  Church,  and  a  plat  of  ground  for  a  grave-yard.  The  year  fol- 
lowing his  arrival  he  built  a  saw  and  grist-mill,  which  was  one  of  the  greatest 
conveniences  the  dwellers  in  the  northern  section  of  Portage  had  afforded 
them,  Garrett's  Mill  being  known  and  patronized  by  the  early  settlers  for  fif- 
teen and  twenty  miles  around. 

For  many  years  there  was  only  slight  improvement  in  the  settlement  estab- 
lished by  Col.  Garrett,  there  being  scarcely  anything  more  than  thfe  mill  and 
a  few  other  buildings,  no  attempt  being  made  to  aspire  to  the  proportions  of 
a  village.  In  fact,  till  there  was  talk  of  a  railroad,  and  even  after  its  con- 
struction for  a  time,  Garrettsville  was  simply  a  Four  Corners.  After  the  war, 
however,  a  boom  struck  the  little  village,  and  it  has  been  steadily  growing  ever 
since,  until  now  it  is  the  busiest  and  most  progressive  town  in  the  county 
in  proportion  to  population. 

In  1864  the  village  was  incorporated,  and  began  to  assume  some  impor- 
tance as  a  trade  center.  The  people  now  could  elect  their  own  officers  and 
conduct  their  internal  affairs  as  they  pleased,  but  still  being  under  the  wing 
of  the  township  organization  they  were  hampered  somewhat,  so  they  petitioned 
the  County  Commissioners  in  1874  to  set  apart  their  territory,  about  one  mile 
and  a  half  square,  as  a  separate  and  independent  township.  Now  this  request 
being  granted  on  July  6,  1874,  and  still  retaining  the  privileges  as  an 
incorporate  village,  Garrettsville  presents  the  spectacle  of  what  the  Greeks 
would  have  called  a  duarchy.  They  have  two  sets  of  officers,  having  an  elec- 
tion for  each,  held  at  the  same  time  and  same  voting  place,  in  separate  boxes, 
and  yet  there  is  no  clashing  of  authority.  The  officers  dovetail,  as  it  were,  so 
nicely  that,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  territory  of  the  village  and  the 
territory  of  the  township  are  co-extensive,  yet  all  moves  on  harmoniously  with 
the  duplex  arrangement.  There  is  said  to  be  but  one  other  combination  of  the 
kind  in  Ohio.  There  are  no  Trustees,  however,  as  a  Board  of  Councilmen 
perform  their  duties,  and  the  same  Clerk,  Ti'easurer  and  Assessor  serve  both 
organizations,  yet  are  elected  separately,  to  fu.]fill  the  requirements  of  the  law. 

The  township  was  incorporated  on  petition  of  ninety-five  residents,  who 
signed  under  date  of  June  8,  1864.  The  Mayors  and  Recorders  since  that 
time  are  named  in  the  following  lists: 

Mayors.— IsK^c  Stowell,  1864;  C.  T.  Barton,  1866;  M.  G.  Francis,  1867- 
68;  T.  Winans,  1869;  O.  L.  Hawley,  1870;  C.  W.  Knapp,  1872;  O.  S.  Fer- 
ris,  1874;  James  Ashald,  1876;  Enos  C.  Smith,  1878-80;  James  Norton, 
1882;  E.  H.  Ober,  1884. 

Recorders.— O.  A.  Taylor,'1864;  Edward  Knapp,  1866;  O.  A.  Taylor,  1867- 
68;  E.  Knapp,  1869;  Ed.  L.  Davis,  1870;  V.  M.  Noble,  1872;  W.  D.  Web- 
ster, 1874;  W.  D.  Webster,  1876;  W.  D.  Webster,  1878-80;  O.  S.  Ferris, 
1882;  E.  L.  Davis,  1884. 

The  present  Councilmen  are  C.  W.  Goodsell,  James  Dunn,  O.  J.  Bates,  O. 
Collons,  G.  D.  Smith,  A.  C.  Belden;  Solicitor,  A.  W\  Maxson;  Treasurer,  J. 
S.  Tilden;  Marshal,  O.  F.  Hoskins;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Charles  Thayer  and 
H.  M.  Merwin.  The  fire  bonds  for  S2,000  (6  per  cent),  issued  in  September, 
1884,  are  outstanding,  due  in  six  years. 

The  Fire  Department  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1884,  when  E.  S.  Hutchi- 
son was  elected  Chief.  The  town  supplies  engine,  hose,  hook  and  ladder  and 
quarters;  the  men  are  all  volunteers,  the  Chief  alone  being  a  salaried  official. 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  461 

A  Remington  fire-engine  was  purchased  in  September,  1884,  with  hook  and 
ladder,  hose,  etc.,  for  $2,000.  There  are  a  number  of  Babcock  extinguishers 
belonging  to  the  department,  which  is  the  pioneer  fire  depai'tment  of  northern 
Portage  Coimty. 

During  the  present  year  there  have  been  erected  over  twenty  buildings  of 
various  kinds,  and  there  are  located  here  some  of  the  finest  stores  in  the 
county.  The  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad,  which  passes  through 
the  village,  affords  the  best  shipping  facilities,  and  large  quantities  of  pro- 
duce finds  its  way  to  the  Eastern  markets  from  this  point.  In  addition  to  the 
business  houses  of  all  kinds  there  is  a  rake  factory,  a  factory  for  the  manufact- 
ure of  the  Success  Evaporator,  a  planing  and  sash-mill,  blind  factory,  pail 
factory,  basket  factory,  foundry  and  machine  shops,  grist-mill,  saw-mill  and 
carriage  factory. 

The  First  National  Bank  is  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  the  President 
of  which  is  W.  B.  McConnell;  Cashier,  J.  S.  Tilden;  Assistant  Cashier,  W.  B. 
Agler. 

There  are  four  physicians  and  surgeons,  two  dentists  and  three  lawyers, 
and  a  very  excellent  newspaper,  the  Garrettsville  Journal,  edited  and  conducted 
by  C.  B.  Webb. 

The  Highland  Union  Agricultural  Association  was  organized  December  28, 
1859,  with  William  N.  Williams,  Henry  Beecher,  Hiram  Pierce,  E.  W.  Will- 
iams, W.  Chaffee,  Jr.,  S.  D.  Norton,  A.  N.  Daniels,  O.  E.  Niles,  J.  L.  Hunt 
and  Silas  Raymond,  and  in  1884  it  held  its  twenty -fifth  annual  fair. 
Originally  it  was  held  exclusively  for  the  exhibition  of  stock,  farm  products 
and  women's  work,  etc.,  and  all  races,  shows  and  games  were  strictly  for- 
bidden, but  of  late  years  it  has  dropped  all  such  staid  old  notions,  and  has 
entered  into  the  matter  precisely  like  other  exhibitions,  having  its  horse-racing, 
snide  shows  and  games  of  chance,  just  like  the  county  fair. 

Prior  to  1865,  at  the  time  of  the  incorporation  of  the  village,  the  school 
district  was  composed  of  District  No.  2,  Nelson  Township,  a  district  in  the 
southeast  corner  of  Hiram  and  a  district  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Freedom; 
but  the  act  of  incorporation  merged  these  three  districts  into  one,  under  con- 
trol of  a  Board  of  Education  of  the  village,  a  vote  of  the  people  adopting 
the  school  law  of  1849.  May  13,  1867,  a  vote  was  taken  to  authorize  the 
Board  to  levy  a  tax  of  10  mills  for  school  building  purposes,  and  in  1869  a 
good  brick  building,  large  enough  to  accommodate  300  pupils,  was  completed 
at  a  cost  of  $15,000.  The  success  of  the  above  measures  was  largely  due  to 
James  Ashald,  James  Dunn,  Rev.  Isaac  Winans,  S.  ^\ .  Fuller,  A.  A.  Barber, 
G.  P.  Udall,  C.  O.  Foote,  Charles  Tinker  and  O.  A.  Taylor.  The  school 
opened  in  the  new  building  in  December,  1869,  with  Will  Murdoch  as  Princi- 
pal, and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  112;  total  attendance,  186.  In 
1870-71  R.  S.  Kuhn  was  Principal,  and  the  average  daily  attendance  was  106; 
total  attendance,  199.  In  1872-73  James  Norton  became  Principal;  aver- 
age attendance  of  133;  total  attendance,  207.  In  1874  the  Board  appointed 
J.  Cole  and  Will  Murdoch  to  prepare  a  course  of  study,  which  was  adopted, 
and  C.  W.  Carroll  became  Principal,  regular  graded  school  work  being 
adopted.  H.  L.  Peck  succeeded  Mr.  Carroll  in  1876,  and  remained  in  charge 
till  1882,  when  John  E.  Morris  took  charge,  and  has  successfully  conducted 
the  school  since.  Twenty-three  pupils  completed  their  course  during  the  first 
two  years  of  Mr.  Morris'  administration.  The  average  attendance  is  now 
about  208,  and  total  attendance,  250.  In  1880  an  elegant  brick  building  was 
erected  on  the  same  lot  as  the  other  school,  its  cost  being  $6,500.  The  schools 
now  have  five  departments,  each  department  having  a  supply  of  books,  pict- 


462  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ures,  paintings  and  other  decorations.  There  is  an  organ  in  every  room 
except  one.  A  set  of  philosophical  apparatus  was  added  in  1882.  A  library- 
containing  nearly  700  volumes,  exclusive  of  public  documents,  is  a  principal 
feature.  The  library  has  been  formed  from  two  others  that  existed  some  years 
ago,  the  union  being  due  to  the  efforts  of  Principal  Peck,  O.  S.  Ferris  and 
A.  J.  Smith.  The  School  Board  has  been  the  same  for  three  years:  A.  J.  Smith, 
President;  James  Norton,  Clerk;  Warren  Pierce,  Treasurer;  C.  M.  Crane, 
S.  W.  Fuller  and  James  Dunn.  The  present  Board  take  active,  personal 
interest  in  all  educational  affairs,  and  make  it  a  point  to  attend  all  meetings, 
thereby  contribu4;ing  in  large  measure  to  the  great  success  of  the  schools.  The 
corps  of  teachers  for  1884-85  are  John  E.  Morris,  Principal;  J.  J.  Jackson, 
Assistant  in  High  School;  Anor  A.  Eckert,  Grammar  Department;  lone  S. 
Wolcott,  Intermediate  Department;  Cora  Adams,  A  Primary  Department; 
Delia  V.  Reed,  B  Primary  Department.  The  present  condition  of  the  schools 
is  shown  in  the  following  statistics:  Revenue  in  1884,  $7,508.29;  expenditures, 
$4,642.33;  two  schoolhouses  valued  at  $20,200;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $76 
and  $37;  enrollment,  103  boys  and  110  girls. 

Baptist  Church. — Col.  Garrett,  who  died  in  1806,  bequeathed  to  the  Baptist 
Church  a  lot  for  meeting-house  and  cemetery.  The  organization  of  this  soci- 
ety was  due  mainly  to  Mrs.  Garrett.  The  first  church  was  built  by  Edwin 
Atwood  and  John  Garrett.  On  June  22,  1881,  this  old  building  was  blown  to 
pieces  by  twenty-five  pounds  of  gunpowder,  after  its  restoration  in  the  fall  of 
1880.  The  deed  was  attributed  to  iDhiskij  apologists.  The  work  of  building 
a  new  house  of  worship  was  at  once  entered  upon,  and  on  January  3,  1884,  the 
present  church  was  dedicated.  Its  cost  was  $5,000.  The  original  members 
of  this  society,  formed  July  30,  1808,  were  Mary  West,  Susan  and  John 
Rudolph,  and  Eliza  and  John  Noah.  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Jones,  of  Sharon,  pre- 
sided, and  named  the  church  at  Nelson,  Betliesda.  The  clerks  of  the  chui'ch 
were  John  Rudolph,  1808  to  1824;  William  Summer,  1824  to  1832;  E.  Welsh 
and  John  Brainerd,  1832  to  1837;  A.  Servoss,  1837;  William  Wilson,  1841  to 
1846;  Ira  Fuller,  1846;  William  Wilson,  1852;  M.  F.  French,  1861  to  1872; 
C.  W.  and  J.  B.  Knapp,  1872-74;  C.  T.  Truesdale,  1874-79;  and  Mrs.  E.  E. 
Truesdale,  1879-85.  In  January,  1885,  the  fii'st  bell  used  by  the  Baptists  here 
was  placed  in  the  belfry  of  the  new  building. 

The  Congregational  Church  was  organized  as  a  Union  Church  February  21, 
1834,  with  seventeen  members,  of  whom  Mi's.  Eunice  P.  Baker,  of  Connewango, 
N.  Y. ,  and  Mrs.  Delia  Peffers,  of  Garrettsville,  are  still  living.  Deacon  Francis 
Strong  and  wife;  Sarah  Maxson;  Diana  Sprague;  Mrs.  S.  W.  Orvis,  of  Nevin- 
ville,  Iowa;  Whitmore  Hazen,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  a  brother  of  Gen.  Hazen, 
of  the  Signal  Service;  J.  J.  Demarest,  Waupaca,  Wis.;  Deacon  Waters  and 
wife;  Mrs.  M.  E.  Wales;  Mrs.  A.  B.  Gardner,  of  Chagrin  Falls,  Ohio;  Deacon 
Wade  White  and  wife;  John  D.  Hazen  and  wife,  who  owned  the  lot  and  erected 
the  main  part  of  the  old  church  building,  were  among  the  original  and  old 
members.  In  1836  the  society  was  reorganized  under  the  Congregational  form, 
and  has  since  been  conducted  as  a  purely  Congregational  Church.  In  May, 
1845,  John  D.  Hazen  offered  to  donate  the  land  and  building  to  the  society, on 
condition  that  they  would  repair  the  house,  erect  a  spire,  and  place  therein  a 
bell.  Mr.  Hazen  died  before  the  conditions  were  fulfilled,  and  his  executor, 
Robert  Payne,  of  Cleveland,  refused  to  recognize  his  action.  This  resulted  in 
a  round  of  litigation,  which  was  favorable  to  the  society.  In  May,  1847,  the 
society  was  incorporated.  The  resolutions  adopted  by  this  society,  in  re  the 
anti-slavei'v  movement,  were  entirely  in  consonance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times. 
The  organizing  ministers  were  Joseph  Treat  and  Benjamin  Fenn.     The  orig- 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  463 

inal  members  were  John  D.  Hazen  and  wife,  Wade  White  and  wife,  Vienna 
Norton,  Clarissa  Eggjleston,  Harry  White  and  wife,  Wealthy  White,  Mary 
White,  Eunice  White  and  John  D.  White,  Susan  Ferry,  Polly  T.  Stevens, 
Eleanor  Hindman,  Sophia  Smith  and  Hannah  Trask. 

Rev.  Isaac  Winans  served  this  church  for  a  greater  number  of  years  than  any 
other  pastor.  Charles  B.  Webb  has  served  as  Clerk  since  August,  1880,  suc- 
ceeding W.  S.  Wight.  The  Trustees  are  J.  W.  Root,  N.  W.  Leezer,  G.  D. 
Smith,  P.  S.  Tinan  and  S.  J.  Buttles.  The  membership  is  130,  and  the  congre- 
gation numbers  about  300.  The  average  Sunday-school  attendance  is  about  125. 
R.  H.  Ober  is  Superintendent.  The  house  of  worship  is  the  same  as  existed 
in  1836,  and  was  repaired  in  1845.     Rev.  J.  R.  Nichols  is  pastor. 

The  Disciples  Church  was  reorganized  a  few  years  ago  with  fifty-two  mem- 
bers. The  old  society  built  a  house  of  worship  on  Main  Street  in  1846,  which 
house  was  sold  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  ago  to  Mrs.  S.  S.  Beecher,  and  is  now 
occupied  as  a  dwelling-house  by  the  purchaser.  For  many  years  services  have 
not  been  held,  but  in  1882  the  reorganized  society  purchased  a  lot  and  deter- 
mined to  erect  a  house  of  worship.  N.  H.  Nichols,  James  Norton,  S.  O.  Wil- 
bur, Frank  Poor  and  James  Ashald,  Trustees,  with  Mr.  Norton,  Clerk,  and  Mr. 
Ashald,  Treasurer.     Of  the  old  society  there  are  about  ten  members  here. 

The  Methodist  Church,  Garrettsville,  was  organized  in  1872  with  seven 
charter  members,  and  organized  under  State  law  February  10,  1873,  with  M. 
Hashman,  R.  A.  Houghton,  T.  Barton,  Albert  Gage,  William  Fox,  H.  E. 
Spencer,  Joseph  C.  Ensign  and  James  R.  Thorne,  Trustees.  James  Greer  was 
President,  and  E.  M.  Sanderson  Secretary  of  the  meeting. 

The  pastors  since  Garrettsville  was  created  an  appointment  in  September, 

1872,  were  John  Brown,  1872;  W.  H.  Haskell,  1874;  H.  Webb,  1875;  H.  N. 
Steadman,  1876;  A.  S.  Morrison,  April  13,  1879;  Eugene  P.  Edmonds,  1879; 
W.  H.  Rider,  1880;  H.  B.  Edwards,  1881,  and  Charles  Ed.  Locke,  October, 
1883.  The  record  of  official  members  gives  the  following  names:  A.  D.  Hos- 
kin,  H.  L.  Peck,  E.  M.  Sanderson,  S.  A.  Udall,  R.  T.  Ellenwood,  William 
Fox,  N.  Steele,  H.  E.  Spencer,  G.  B.  Graham,  W.  C.  Dunn,  J.  R.  Thorn,  C. 
V.  Francis,  E.  B.  Lewis,  J.  E.  Morris  and  Oliver  Bow.  The  membership  is 
about  124.  The  present  church  building  was  erected  in  1872,  at  a  cost  of 
$10,000.  The  building  is  brick,  well  located,  with  spire  100  feet  high.  The 
bell  weighs  1,000  pounds. 

Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. — This  lodge  was  chartered 
October  19,  1853,  and  was  organized  January  10,  1854.  The  charter  was 
granted  by  L.  V.  Bierce,  M.  W.  G.  M. ;  W.  B.  Dodd,  R.  W.  D.  G.  M.;  Mat- 
thew Gaston,  R.  W.  S.  G.  W. ;  W.  D.  Brock,  R.  W.  J.  G.  W.,  and  the  follow- 
ing were  the  charter  officers  and  members:  Reuben  Daniels,  W.  M. ;  Orin 
Smith,  S.  W.;  David  B.  Lee,  J.  W.,  and  Joshua  Finch,  John  A.  Messenger, 
Charles  Slayton,  Martin  McClinton,  James  Heath,  William  Messenger,  Ran- 
som Munn,  John  Udall,  W.  Hopkins  and  I.  Hubbard.  The  lodge  has  a  pres- 
ent membership  of  124. 

December  19,  1860,  the  hall  in  which  the  communications  were  held  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  all  the  lodge  fixtures,  library,  book  of  records,  etc., were 
lost.  In  1872  the  fine  brick  building,  in  the  upper  portion  of  which  is  located 
the  lodge  rooms,  was  erected  by  the  fraternity,  and  was  dedicated  January  15, 

1873,  the  services  being  conducted  by  Right  Worshipful  Grand  Master  Wood- 
ward.    The  lamented  President  Garfield  was  Chaplain  of  the  lodge  in  1869. 

Silver  Creek  Chapter,  No.  144,  R.  A.  M.— This  Chapter  was  constituted  and 
established  May  3,  1879,  and  worked  under  dispensation  till  October  17  of  the 
same  year,  when  a  charter  was  granted  by  James  W.  Underbill,  Grand  High 


464  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Priest  of  Ohio.  The  charter  officers  and  members  were  Alonzo  H.  Tidball, 
H.  P.;  Ezra  B.  Hopkins,  K. ;  AValdo  Webster,  S.,  and  Edmund  Knapp, 
Stephen  G.  Warren,  Gordon  F.  Mattison,  Charles  D.  Hosmer,  Ira  T.  Wilder, 
Titus  B.  Hopkins,  Leroy  H.  Payne.  The  membership  is  sixty- four.  There 
are  also  in  Garrettsville  twenty-one  Knights  Templar,  but  no  Commandery. 

Odd  Fellowship. — Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I.  O.  O.  F. — This  lodge  was 
instituted  July  25,  1870,  by  H.  Y.  Beebe,  Grand  Master."  The  charter  officers 
and  members  were  Wolcott  Chaffee,  Jr.,  N.  G.;  E.  C.  Farley,  V.  G.;  C.  W. 
Knapp,  R.  S. ;  J.  E.  Snow,  P.  S.;  L.  N.  Moses,  T. ;  T.  M.  Hobart  and  E.  M. 
Talcott.  After  the  first  night's  work  following  the  institution  of  the  lodge 
there  were  fourteen  members,  and  the  work  has  gone  on  steadily  ever  since, 
until  at  the  present  time  there  is  a  membership  of  137.  The  lodge  has  cleared 
off  its  original  debt,  and  now  owns  a  very  fine  hall  handsomely  decorated  and 
furnished  in  the  third  floor  of  the  old  Bank  Building,  where  the  order  is  doing 
good  work,  its  members  being  among  the  most  influential  and  respected  citizens  of 
Garrettsville.  The  present  officers  are  C.  H.  Foster,  N.  G. ;  N.  W.  Leezer,  V.  G. ; 
Wolcott  Chaffee,  Secretary;  E.  L.  Davis,  Treasurer;  Guy  Warren,  R.  S.  to  N. 
G.;  C.  H.  Crafts,  L.  S.  to  N.  G.;  S.  W.  Fuller.  R.  S.  to  V.  G.;  C.  B.  Webb, 
L.  S.  to  V.  G.;  E.  Burke,  Warden;  E.  S.  Bishop,  Conductor;  J.  C.  Hoffman, 
R.  S.  S. ;  B.  F.  Bush,  L.  S.  S. :  Robert  Durney,  I.  G. ;  L.  W.  Ahrens,  O.  G. 

Young  Men's  Temperance  Council. — This  organization  was  formed  March 
17,  1882,  and,  as  its  name  implies,  is  a  temperance  society,  but  on  a  new  plan. 
It  had  its  origin  among  the  young  men  of  Garrettsville,  and  its  ritual  was 
written  by  E.  L.  Sanderson,  E.  B.  Lewis  and  N.  W.  Leezer.  It  is  a  secret 
order  consisting  of  three  degrees,  which  are  concise  and  free  from  the 
defects  of  some  corresponding  societies.  The  members  are  not  only  pledged 
to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  but  also  from  entering  a  place 
where  liquors  are  sold,  thereby  showing  by  their  habits  discouragement  to  the 
traffic.  The  lodge  affords  an  attractive  place  of  resort,  furnished  with  good 
reading  matter,  and  thus  handicaps  the  saloons  and  their  temptations.  The 
original  members  forming  the  organization  were  E.  L.  Sanderson,  B.  G.  Dan- 
iels, J.  D.  Cole,  N.  W.  Leezer,    G.  J.  Dunn,   E.  B.  Lewis,   A.  C.  Daniels,   W. 

B.  Pike,  E.  E.  Maltby,  F.  W.  Brown,  T.  W.  Esty,  W.  S.  White,  H.  G.  Koons 
and  R.  H.  Over. 

Good  Templars. — Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  199,  I.  O.  G.  T.,  was  instituted 
in  1883,  and  has  passed  through  the  varied  experiences  incident  to  such  a 
society.  Its  officers  for  the  ensuing  term  are  as  follows:  W.  C.  T. ,  John 
McGill;  W.  V.  T.,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Pike;  P.  W.  C.  T.,  H.  A.  Truesdale;  W.  R.  S., 
Hattie  E.  W^hite;  W\F.  S.,  Will  Hoskin;  W.  T.,  L.  A.  Tidball;  W.  C,  Mrs. 
J.  B.  Knapp;  W.  M.,  Wilber  Winfield;  G.,  E.  B.  Lewis;  S.,  David  Goss;  W. 
A.  S.,  Mrs.  H.  A.  Truesdale. 

Young  Men's  Temperance  Council. — The  members  of  the  Young  Men's 
Temperance  Council  celebrated  their  third  anniversary  with  appropriate  public 
exercises  at  Buckeye  Hall.  The  Council  is  in  good  working  condition,  and 
since  its  organization  has  been  the  means  of  doing  much  good. 

The  Western  Reserve  Sugar  Makers'  Convention  was  held  January  21 
and  22,  1885,  when  the  following  named  officers  were  elected:  President, 
P.  C.  Nichols;  First  Vice-President,  E.  P.  Clark,  of  Windham;  Second  Vice- 
President,  S.  L.  Love,  of  W^arren;  Recording  Secretary,  F.  D.  Snow,  of 
Windham;   Corresponding  Secretary,  B.  H.  Udall,  of  Garrettsville;  Treasurer, 

C.  F.  Cowdrey,  of  Hiram. 

Success  Evaporator  Works. — The  Garrettsville  Manufacturing  Company 
was  organized  March  20,  1872,  with  I.  L.  Robe,  E.  C.  Smith,  W^arren  Bishop, 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  465 

E.  B.  Lee  and  James  Norton.  The  capital  stock  was  $30,000.  This  industry 
was  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  nuts  and  bolts  and  other  hardware.  This 
collapsed  a  few  years  later,  and  the  buildings  are  now  used  by  Wilcox  &  Son, 
manufacturers  of  sugar  makers'  sundries.  Wilcox  &  Son  have  just  invented 
and  perfected  a  new  syrup  tester,  also  a  pan  connection  which  is  simple,  dur- 
able and  reliable  every  time.  It  has  been  pronounced  by  all  who  have  seen  it 
to  be  the  most  perfect  connection  on  the  market.  By  its  use  interchangeable 
pans  can  be  easily  and  successfully  used  to  get  rid  of  the  silica  deposit. 

Garrettsville  Table  Manufacturing  Company  was  established  for  the  manu- 
facture of  tables  in  1880-81  by  John  Gottchalk,  and  conducted  by  him  until 
the  buildings  were  destroyed  by  a  boiler  explosion  three  years  ago.  Together 
with  the  destruction  of  buildings,  two  men  lost  their  lives.  The  works  were 
rebuilt  and  operated  for  some  time,  when  James  Davidson  purchased  them. 
Recently  the  buildings  and  machinery  were  leased  by  E.  H.  Ober  from  David- 
son &  Hoskin,  and  he  now  conducts  a  fair  business.  This  industry  employs 
about  six  men. 

Fuller  &  Hatch,  saw  and  planing-mill,  was  established  twenty-eight  years 
ago  by  John  F.  Taylor  and  Daniel  EUinwood,  Jr.,  as  a  saw-mill.  They  con- 
ducted it  for  a  number  of  years  until  purchased  by  Getter  &  Letterbrant,  who 
operated  it  for  some  time.  In  1861  S.  W.  Fuller  purchased  an  interest,  and 
in  conjunction  with  his  partners  has  operated  the  saw-mill  since  that  year. 
The  planing-mill  machinery  was  introduced  in  1863-64.  The  capacity  of  the 
saw-mill  is  about  10,000  feet  per  day.  The  value  of  buildings  and  machinery 
of  both  industries  is  $6,000.  The  number  of  men  generally  employed  is  eight. 
This  company,  in  addition  to  local  work,  has  a  large  shipping  trade.  The  feed 
store  and  warehouse  at  the  depot  is  operated  by  this  firm;  lime,  salt,  seed 
and  fertilizers  are  also    dealt  in  extensively. 

Udall  &  Hoskin' s  pail  factory  was  built  by  Charles  Tinker  about  twenty 
years  ago  for  a  machine  shop,  and  operated  as  such  until  1868,  when  Udall  & 
Co.  purchased  the  buildings  and  established  the  pail  factory.  In  1882  A.  D. 
Hoskins  purchased  the  interests  of  Tinan  and  Sanderson  and  now  is  partner  of 
Mr.  Udall.  The  works  turn  out  about  50,000  pails,  well-buckets,  butter-tubs 
and  paint-pails  annually,  and  give  employment  to  twelve  men.  Water-power 
was  used  exclusively  up  to  February,  1885,  when  steam-power  was  added. 
The  value  of  buildings  and  machinery  is  $10,000. 

W.  L.  &.  B.  H.  Udall's  foundry  was  established  thirteen  years  ago  by  J.  E. 
Udall  &  Gregory.  Saw-mill  and  sewing  machine  machinery,  castings  and 
repairs  form  the  leading  work.  Buildiugs  and  machinery  are  valued  at  $5,000. 
This  industry  gives  employment  to  thirteen  men  from  October  to  April,  and 
about  eight  men  during  the  summer  season. 

Graham's  sash,  door  and  blind  factory  was  established  by  G.  B.  Graham 
in  the  old  woolen-mill  buildings,  and  operated  by  him  down  to  the  present 
time.     This  factory  gives  employment  to  a  large  number  of  hands. 

Garrettsville  Grist-mill  was  built  by  Edwin  Atwood  and  Leman  Ferry  in 
1837,  and  finished  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  They  operated  it  jointly  until 
Mr.  Ferry  sold  out  his  interest.  Mr.  Atwood  continued  to  hold  his  inter- 
est in  the  mill  until  the  beginning  of  1884,  when  it  was  sold  by  his 
guardians  to  former  past  owners,  the  Vanderslices.  The  property  was  leased 
by  Goodhue  &  Nelson  in  August,  1884.  The  capacity  is  thirty  barrels  of  flour 
and  from  150  to  200  bushels  chop- feed  per  day.  The  mill  employs  four  men 
throughout  the  year.      The  value  of  machinery  and  buildings  is  about  $9,000. 

W.  L.  Wilcox,  wagon  repairer  and  horse-shoer,  established  the  works  in 
1882.  The  building,  land,  plant  and  tools  are  valued  at  about  $2,700.  This 
industry  gives  employment  to  two  men. 


466  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

O.  Collins  &  Co.,  sHw-mill,  rake  manufacturers  and  lumber  dealers,  estab- 
lished their  business  seven  years  ago.  At  that  time  O.  Collins  &  W.  L.  XJdall 
were  the  owners.  The  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire  on  May  1,  two  years 
after,  and  the  same  year  the  present  buildings  and  machinery  were  put  up. 
The  company  gives  employment  to  about  twenty  hands. 

Garrettsville  carriage  shops  were  established  in  1849.  The  shops  are  now 
conducted  by  Charles  O.  Foote. 

Garrettsville  Savings  and  Loan  Association  was  organized  January  30, 
1869,  with  W.  C.  Thrasher,  H.  Mills,  Charles  Tinker,  T.  Robe,  W.  R.  Knowl- 
ton,  James  Dunn,  C.  W.  Goodsell,  •  James  Norton,  S.  S.  Beecher,  John  H. 
Beeeher,  L.  K.  Raymond,  H.  C.  Tilden,  L.  Ferry,  Sr.,  L.  D.  Brown  and  O.  A. 
Taylor.     This  company  ceased  business  in  1877. 

First  National  Bank. — The  Directors  of  this  banking  company  are  W.  B. 
McConnell,  E.  C.  Smith,  and  G.  E.  Crane.  J.  S.  Tilden  is  Cashier.  The 
resources  as  published  December  20,  1884,  are  $237,350.42. 

The  Cannon  House,  on  East  State,  is  the  only  hotel  in  the  town,  and  the 
successor,  so  to  speak,  of  the  old  hotel  which  was  destroyed  by  fire.  This  build- 
ing was  the  residence  of  Dr.  Manly,  and  after  the  Doctor's  death  was  opened 
as  a  hotel  by  Mrs.  Manly.  Thomas  Seymour  operated  it  subsequently  as  the 
Washington  Hotel;  then  in  1878  E.  D.  Wadsworth  bought  the  house,  and 
conducted  it  until  March,  1879,  when  S.  E.  Wadsworth  took  possession,  named 
the  hotel  the  Cannon  House  in  conjunction  with  the  former  Cannon  House  just 
south.  This  hotel  is  well  managed  and  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
hostelries  in  the  county. 

The  statistics  for  1884  are  as  follows:  acres  of  wheat,  16,  bushels,  98;  oats, 
11  acres,  bushels,  470;  corn,  7  acres,  bushels,  20;  meadow,  52  acres,  hay,  95 
tons;  potatoes,  10  acres;  milk  sold  for  family  use,  5,300  gallons;  maple  sugar, 
100  pounds  from  500  trees;  honey,  20  pounds  from  5  hives;  orchards,  3  acres; 
milch  cows,  17;  one  stallion;  88  dogs;  acres  cultivated,  27;  in  pasture,  140; 
woodland,  35;  waste,  62;  total,  264  acres.  This  little  township  is  occupied 
mainlv  by  the  village  of  Garrettsville.  Population  in  1870,  658;  in  1880, 
969;  in  1884  (estimated)  1,100. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
HIRAM  TOWNSHIP. 

Who  WAS  the  First  Settler?— Honey  and  Williams— Mason  and  Tilden— 
Other  Permanent  Settlers — The  Youngs,  Benjamin  Hinckley  and 
Samuel  Udall — Many  First  Events— Churches  and  Schools— Hiram 
College— President  James  A.  Garfield— Organization  and  Origin  of 
Name— The  Mormons— Tarring  and  Feathering  Smith  and  Rigdon— 
Rich  Land,  Beautiful  Location  and  Business. 

HIRAM,  the  third  township  settled  in  the  county,  and  known  with  its 
present  limits  as  Town  5,  Range  7,  was  originally  the  property  of  Col. 
Daniel  Tilden,  Daniel  Green,  Joseph  Metcalf,  Levi  Case,  John  Fitch,  Joseph 
Burnham  and  Joseph  Perkins,  all  of  Connecticut.  Hiram  then  comprised  the 
territory  now  known  as  Mantua,  Shalersville,  Freedom,  Windham  and  Nelson. 
The  early  history  of  Hiram  has  been  kept  by  several  persons  in  the  township, 
who  have  made  special  efforts  in  ascertaining  the  correct  facts  of   those  primi- 


^y 


X. 


-Ji3r^ 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  469 

five  times,  and  among  them  Mr.  Alva  TJdall  has  been  particularly  active  and 
careful  in  collecting  these  matters,  and  to  him  the  writer  is  indebted  for  the 
most  of  the  information  contained  in  this  chapter. 

There  is  some  doubt  respecting  the  first  settler  in  Hiram.  By  some  it  is 
thought  that  Abraham  S.  Honey,  who  made  the  first  settlement  in  Mantua,  was 
the  man,  and  that  he  came  as  early  as  1799,  but  that  cannot  be,  for  he,  with 
his  brother-in-law,  Rufus  Edwards,  settled  in  Mantua,  or  at  least  made  some 
improvements  there,  in  the  fall  of  1798.  Mr.  John  Harmon,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  in  Mantua,  was  under  the  impression  that  a  man  named  William  W. 
Williams  came  in  the  spring  of  1799,  built  a  cabin  and  made  a  clearing,  but 
that  he  soon  after  left  and  settled  in  Cuyahoga  County,  where,  in  1800,  he 
built  the  first  mill  in  that  county.  The  truth,  possibly,  of  this  matter  is,  that 
when  Honey  left  Mantua,  which  he  did  about  1802,  he  stopped  during  the 
spring  or  summer  in  Hiram,  made  a  small  clearing  and  built  a  cabin, 
but  getting  tired  of  the  country,  went  away  in  the  fall  to  Cuyahoga,  where  it 
is  known  that  he  lived  several  years. 

In  1802  Elijah  Mason,  Elisha  Hutchinson  and  Mason  Tildeu  came  to  the 
township  and  located  their  lands.  Mason,  who  was  from  Lebanon,  Conn. , 
selected  the  west  half  of  Lot  23;  Tilden,  also  from  Connecticut,  selected  Lot 
22,  and  Hutchinson,  who  was  from  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,  selected  a  portion 
of  Lot  23.  They  then  returned  to  their  Eastern  homes.  A  permanent  settler, 
but  whose  actual  residence  was  only  about  one  year  or  less,  came  in  during 
this  spring  also.  He  was  John  Flemings,  who  began  improvements  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  west  half  of  Lot  33.  He  girdled  the  timber  on  sixteen 
acres  and  built  a  cabin,  also  put  out  a  crop  of  corn  and  potatoes,  which  was 
the  first  crop  raised  in  the  township. 

In  the  spring  of  1803  Mason  with  his  two  sons,  Roswell  M.  and  Peleg  S., 
lads  of  seventeen  and  nineteen,  and  Tilden  and  Hutchinson,  came  out,  leaving 
their  families  at  home,  and  made  improvements  on  their  lands,  Mason  clearing 
about  22  acres  and  putting  it  out  in  wheat,  and  building  a  cabin.  Hutchinson 
also  cleared  twenty  acres  and  built  a  cabin;  Tilden,  in  like  manner,  clearing 
and  building.  Shortly  after  they  came  they  discovered  and  named  Silver 
Creek.  They  all  then  went  back  and  were  preparing  to  come  out  permanently 
the  next  spring,  but  the  two  sons  of  Mason  refusing  to  again  go  into  the  wilds 
of  the  Reserve,  the  father  was  compelled  to  change  his  plans,  and  he  purchased 
a  farm  in  Vermont.  This  action  of  Mason  induced  the  others  to  forego  for  the 
time  emigrating  Westward.  Three  of  their  hired  men,  however,  were  pleased 
with  the  country  and  concluded  to  settle  here.  They  were  Richard  Redden, 
Jacob  Wirt  and  Samuel  Wirt,  from  Pennsylvania.  Flemings,  also  becoming 
discouraged,  concluded  to  leave  when  he  found  that  Mason,  Hutchinson  and  . 
Tilden  were  not  coming,  and  he  sold  his  place  to  Redden,  the  Wirts  at  the 
same  time  settling  on  the  east  half  of  Lot  38.  Redden  sent  for  his  father  and 
family,  which  was  the  first  white  family  to  winter  in  the  township.  Mason 
came  in  the  summer  of  this  year,  1804,  and  harvested  his  wheat,  which  was 
the  first  in  the  township,  turning  out  well.  His  two  companions  disposed 
of   their  effects  in  Ohio  as  well  as  they  could,  and  left  the  country. 

For  several  years  after  these  first  few  settlers  named  came  in  but  little  pro- 
gress was  made.  In  the  fall  of  1804  William  Fenton  began  improvements  on  the 
east  half  of  the  west  half  of  Lot  38,  and  Cornelius  Baker  on  the  west  half  of  the 
same.  In  this  year,  also,  came  Col.  John  Garrett  and  Abraham  Dyson,  a  black- 
smith, but  fuller  mention  is  made  of  these  two  settlers  in  the  history  of  Nelson 
Township. 

In  1806  Roswell  M.  Mason  had  a  change  of  heart  in  regard  to  the  Western 

25 


470  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

country,  and  came  from  Vermont  to  settle  on  Lot  32,  which  had  been  given 
him  by  his  father.  His  father  owned  considerable  land  here  and  Roswell  was 
made  agent  for  it,  but  instead  of  settling  down  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  hired 
others  to  improve  the  land,  and  studied  law. 

The  most  of  the  settlers,  up  to  about  1807,  were  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
were  poor,  but  generous  and  hospitable.  They  were  usually  squatters,  and 
put  such  improvements  on  their  land,  as  frequently,  when  the  owner  came 
around,  to  sell  enough  of  it  to  pay  for  the  whole  and  still  retain  a  fair  sized 
farm.  From  about  1809,  however,  the  New  England  element  largely  predom- 
inated, but  even  at  this  date  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  only  twenty. 
Thomas  Johnson,  an  Irishman,  came  in  this  year.  He  had  lived  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  moved  from  Trumbull  County  to  this  township.  Simon  Babcock, 
of  Connecticut,  came  in  the  fall  of  1809,  and  settled  on  Lot  22. 

In  1810  Pasley  Hughes  with  a  yoke  of  oxen  came  in  from  Vermont,  and 
settled  on  the  property  improved  in  1803  by  Elijah  Mason,  Hughes  having 
purchased  it  before  leaving  his  native  State.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
Ephraim  Hackett,  son-in-law  of  Hughes,  came  in  with  his  family  and  settled 
on  the  west  part  of  the  east  half  of  Lot  22.  The  population  was  now  about 
thirty.  In  June,  Orrin  Pitkin  and  wife  came  in  and  settled  where  Honey  had 
improved  on  Lot  32,  in  1802. 

In  1811,  on  the  16th  day  of  August,  George  Young,  James  Young  and 
Seth  Cole,  each  with  large  families,  came  from  Sterling,  Conn.  James  Young, 
who  was  a  tailor,  settled  on  the  west  half  of  Lot  18;  George,  on  the  east  half 
of  the  same  lot,  and  the  west  part  of  Lot  25,  and  Cole  bought  the  improve- 
ments on  Lot  38.  On  the  2d  of  October  Elisha  Hutchinson,  having  changed 
his  mind,  also,  in  regard  to  the  West,  arrived  with  his  family  and  settled  upon 
the  spot  which  he  had  cleared  in  1803,  the  brush  having  been  cleared  off  by 
Isaac  Mills,  of  Nelson,  whom  he  had  employed.  There  were  at  this  time,  the 
fall   of  1811,  eleven  families,  embracing  fifty-eight  persons,  in  the  township. 

In  1812  Thomas  F.  Young  came  with  his  family  from  Windham,  Conn., 
and  settled  at  the  Center.  He  was  the  father  of  Clinton  and  Thomas  Young, 
who  still  reside  on  the  old  place.  In  September,  1813,  Benjamin  Hinckley 
and  family  came  in  from  Connecticut  and  settled  on  the  west  part  of  the  west 
half  of  Lot  38,  and  purchased  considerable  land. 

In  1816  Symonds  and  Jason  Ryder,  with  their  father,  mother  and  sisters 
arrived  and  settled  on  land  previously  located  by  Symonds.  Aruna  Tilden 
also  came  in  this  year,  bringing  his  family,  which  included  his  brother-in-law, 
John  Jennings,  and  settled  on  the  west  half  of  Lot  37.  In  the  winter  follow- 
ing Elijah  Mason,  fulfilling  his  intention  of  thirteen  years  before,  brought 
his  family  and  settled  on  the  west  half  of  Lot  43. 

In  1817  Gersham  Judson  came  from  Mantua  and  settled  on  Lot  31,  but  he 
afterward  sold  to  Paul  Pitkin  and  moved  away.  Stephen  B.  Pulsif er  and  family 
settled  on  Lot  19,  and  Ira  Herrick  with  his  father  and  mother  began  on  the 
east  end  of  Lot  33.  Daniel  Tilden,  Benjamin  Tilden,  John  Tilden  and  Polly 
Tilden  also  came  in  the  spring.  In  October  Ebenezer  Pinney  settled  on  Lot 
31,  which  afterward  passed  to  Samuel  Udall,  and  from  him  to  others.  These 
arrivals  ran  the  population  up  to  120. 

In  1818,  early  in  January,  Daniel  Hampton  came  from  Trumbull  County 
and  settled  on  the  west  part  of  the  east  half  of  Lot  33,  and  about  the  23d  of 
the  same  month  Samuel  Udall,  John  Johnson,  Martin  Miller,  Charles  Loomis 
and  Thomas  Cowen  left  Pomfret  and  Hartford,  Vt.,  with  their  families,  which 
were  all  large,  bound  for  Hiram.  Udall  had  four  yoke  of  oxen,  three  horses 
and  a  cow.     The  rest  were  also  supplied  well  with  oxen   and  horses.      The 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  471 

weather  was  cold,  the  snow  was  deep,  and  they  were  six  weeks  on  the  road. 
Arriving  in  Hiram  March  4,  1818,  Udall  settled  on  the  west  halves  of  Lots  24 
and  27,  Johnson  on  the  west  ends  of  Lots  22  and  39,  Miller  on  the  west  half 
of  Lot  36,  Loomis  on  the  middle  part  of  Lot  39,  and  Cowen  moved  into  a  cabin 
owned  by  Richard  Kedden.  In  the  following  summer  came  Gideon  Cbapin, 
Lemuel  Herrick,  Miles  T.  Norton,  Joel  Button,  Elisha  Taylor,  Horace  A. 
Loomis,  Curtis  Eggleston,  Truman  Brace,  Capt.  William  Harris  and  Charles 
H.  Paine,  the  last-named  moving  in  the  fall  to  Freedom,  and  becoming  the 
first  settler  of  that  township. 

In  March,  1819,  John  M.  Tilden  with  his  family  came  in  and  settled  on 
the  west  part  of  the  east  half  of  Lot  25,  and  in  June  came  Paul  Pitkin.  In 
1821  Col.  Daniel  Tilden,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  the  township,  came 
in  and  lived  in  seclusion  till  1S35,  in  which  year  he  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety.  He  had  been  a  man  of  great  prominence  in  his  native  State,  but  the 
party  in  politics  opposed  to  him  so  wronged  him  that  he  became  soured  and 
sought  obscurity  in  the  wilds  of  the  West.  About  this  time  came  Deacon  John 
Rudolph,  originally  from  Shenandoah  County,  Va.,  but  who  had  resided  in 
Nelson  from  1806.  One  of  his  sons,  Zeb  Rudolph,  married  a  daughter  of 
Elijah  Mason,  and  their  daughter  is  the  widow  of  the  lamented  President 
Garfield,  who  fell  by  the  hand  of  the  cowardly  assassin,  Guiteau.  The  popu- 
lation in  1820  was  about  225. 

In  the  fall  of  1807  Gersham  Judson,  a  widower,  residing  in  Mantua,  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah  Redden,  and  from  that  time  there  was  not  another 
wedding- in  the  township  till  1817,  when  Charles  H.  Paine  married  a  daughter 
of  Elijah  Mason,  Parthenia  Mason,  who  was  Mrs.  Garfield's  aunt. 

The  first  birth  was  that  of  Edwin  Babcoek,  son  of  Simeon  Babcock,  on 
March  3,  1811.  The  second  was  that  of  John  Fenton  on  the  11th  day  of  the 
same  month,  the  mother  of  the  child  dying  at  the  same  time;  this  was  the 
first  death  in  the  township. 

The  first  blacksmith  to  open  business  was  Abraham  Dyson,  who  came  in 
1804.  The  first  mill  in  the  township  was  built  by  Lemuel  Punderson  at  the 
Rapids,  in  1807,  for  Squire  Law,  of  Connecticut,  but  a  flood  came  in  the  fall 
and  carried  it  off.  In  1808  the  dam  was  rebuilt  and  a  saw-mill  put  in  opera- 
tion. Several  others  followed.  Elisha  Taylor,  a  tanner,  currier  and  shoe- 
maker came  in  1818  and  commenced  business.  In  1816  the  first  postoffice  was 
opened  at  the  Center,  and  Thomas  F.  Young  was  appointed  Postmaster,  an 
office  which  he  held  for  thirty-six  years,  till  the  day  of  his  death  in  November, 
1852.  The  first  stock  of  goods  and  first  store  opened  was  in  1820,  by  Deacon 
John  D.  Hazen.  The  first  frame  dwelling-house  was  erected  in  1819  by  Jesse 
Bruce.  It  stood  on  the  hill  a  few  rods  east  of  Alva  Udall's  barn  on  Lot  27. 
A  few  years  previous  to  this  Thomas  Johnson  and  Elisha  Hutchinson  had 
erected  frame  barns,  which  were  the  first  frame  buildings  in  the  township.  A 
distillery  was  erected  about  1820,  as  Hiram  had  to  keep  pace  with  Mantua  and 
Nelson,  each  of  which  had  two  of  these  institutions  in  operation.  The  first  road 
in  the  north  part  of  the  county  was  from  Warren  to  Cleveland,  built  in  1800, 
and  ran  through  the  center  of  Hiram.  James  Young  was  the  first  tailor,  and 
Seth  Cole  the  first  cooper  to  settle  in  the  township;  they  came  in  1811. 
The  first  military  company  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Symonds  Ryder, 
Captain;  Orrin  Hutchinson,  Lieutenant;  Silas  Raymond,  Ensign;  John  Til- 
den, Orderly  Sergeant;  George  Udall,  Drummer;  John  M.  Tilden,  Fifer. 
Thomas  F.  Young  was  elected  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1814,  being  the  first 
Justice  in  the  Township;  he  served  three  terms. 

Occasional  sermons  were  delivered  from  a  very  early  day,  both  by  the  Method- 


472  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ists  and  Congregationalists  or  Presbyterians  and  among  that  number  wereEev. 
Caleb  Pitkin,  Rev.  Shadrach  Bostwick  and  Rev.  R.  R.  Roberts,  vs^ho  preached 
all  over  the  Reserve,  and  in  fact  all  over  northern  Ohio,  but  the  Baptist 
denomination  seems  to  have  taken  the  lead  up  to  along  about  the  year  1830. 
They  had  a  small  church  at  the  Rapids,  and  the  Congregationalists  had  also  a 
small  church.  In  1835  the  Disciples  of  Christ  organized  a  church  at  the  south 
road  schoolhouse,  w^hich  consisted  of  thirteen  members.  This  congregation 
grew  rapidly,  and  in  1844  they  erected  a  church  building,  which  about  1856 
was  burned,  vphen  the  present  tasteful  and  commodious  edifice  was  erected; 
the  membership  now  runs  into  the  hundreds.  In  1844  the  Methodists 
built  a  neat  frame  church  just  north  of  the  Corners  at  the  Center,  but  the 
society  not  being  very  prosperous,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  dispose  of  the 
building  and  appropriate  the  proceeds  otherwise. 

In  the  year  1813  Benjamin  Hinckley  arrived,  and  on  December  13  he  com- 
menced teaching  school  in  a  log-house  that  had  been  put  up  in  the  fall.  He 
taught  ten  weeks  ending  February  22,  1814,  and  had  twenty  scholars.  There 
were  seven  Youngs,  three  Johnsons,  two  Hutchinsons,  two  Dysons,  two  Hughes, 
two  Hinckleys,  a  Hampton  and  a  Judson.  From  about  this  time  schools  were 
maintained  in  the  township,  but  there  was  but  one  school  district.  In  1816 
two  districts  were  formed,  each  having  its  log-schoolhouse,  and  were  known 
as  the  Center  and  South  Districts  respectively.  During  the  year  1820  a  frame 
schoolhouse  was  begun  in  the  South  District,  and  after  much  effort  it  was  com- 
pleted. In  the  Center  District  some  time  afterward,  a  frame  building  was 
commenced  for  a  schoolhouse,  and  to  have  a  Masonic  hall  above,  but  it  was 
never  finished. 

The  Western  Reserve  Eclectic  Institute,  formerly  so  well  and  favorably 
known  throughout  northern  Ohio,  was  the  parent  of  Hiram  College.  Previous 
to  1850  there  had  been  a  growing  feeling  among  the  Disciples  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve  that  they  needed  an  educational  institution  located  somewhere  in 
northern  Ohio.  Delegates  from  the  prominent  churches  of  the  Disciples  met 
to  consider  the  matter.  They  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  a  school 
should  be  established,  and  after  several  meetings  decided,  November  7,  1849, 
to  locate  it  at  Hiram.  Its  charter  was  granted  March  1,  1850.  The  same 
summer,  near,  but  a  little  south  of  the  crest  of  the  water-shed  dividing  the 
waters  of  the  lake  from  those  of  the  Ohio,  in  the  middle  of  an  eight-acre 
enclosure  that  has  since  become  one  of  the  most  beautiful  campuses  in  the 
State,  as  it  is  by  nature  one  of  the  most  commanding,  a  substantial  and  com- 
modious brick  building,  three  stories  high,  with  a  front  of  eighty-four  feet, 
and  a  depth  of  sixty-four  feet,  was  erected. 

In  this  building,  November  27,  1850,  the  new  school  went  into  operation, 
under  the  name  of  the  "Western  Reserve  Eclectic  Institute,"  the  name  having 
been  suggested  by  Isaac  Errett,  then  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples  in 
Warren. 

The  work  done  was  substantially  that  of  an  academic  school  of  high  grade. 
The  aims  of  the  school  may  be  stated  as  follows:  1.  To  provide  a  sound  scien- 
tific and  literary  education.  2.  To  temper  and  sweeten  such  education  with 
moral  and  scriptural  knowledge. 

The  popularity  of  the  Institute  was  great  from  the  beginning,  and  the 
annual  attendance  rose  as  high  as  five  hundred. 

February  20,  1867,  the  Board  decided  to  clothe  the  school  with  collegiate 
powers  and  responsibilities.  As  Hiram  had  become  widely  and  favorably 
known  as  the  seat  of  the  Institute,  the  name  now  chosen  was  "Hiram  College." 
The  change  in  the  name  and  rank  of  the  institution  did  not  essentially  change 
its  aims  and  spirit. 


HIRAM  TOAVNSHIP.  478 

A.  S.  Hayden,  a  cultivated  and  well-known  minister  of  the  Disciples,  was 
the  first  Principal.  For  seven  years  he  served  in  this  capacity  with  great 
acceptance.  Associated  with  him  much  of  the  time  were  Thomas  Munnell. 
Norman  Dunshee  and  Almeda  Booth. 

James  A.  Garfield,  who  had  taught  under  Mr.  Hayden's  administration, 
succeeded  to  the  Principalship.  The  Institute,  which  had  been  prosperous 
under  Mr.  Hayden's  administration,  now  reached  a  still  higher  degree  of  pros- 
perity. Mr.  Garfield  was  Principal  from  1857  to  1861,  and  won  a  wide  popu- 
larity as  a  teacher  and  manager,  and  as  a  lecturer  on  general  and  scientific 
topics.  His  associates  were  Norman  Dunshee,  Harvey  W.  Everest,  J.  H. 
Rhodes,  Almeda  Booth,  J.  M.  Atwater  and  B.  A.  Hinsdale. 

From  1861  to  1867  there  were  frequent  changes  in  the  head  of  the  school. 
H.  W.  Everest,  C.  W.  Heywood,  A.  J.  Thomson  and  J.  M.  Atwater  served  for 
brief  periods,  the  name  of  James  A.  Garfield  as  Advising  Principal  appearing 
much  of  the  time.  This  period  was  in  some  particulars  Hiram's  darkest  day. 
Within  this  period  came  the  Civil  war,  and  many  of  Hiram's  best  workers 
were  called  to  the  battlefield. 

As  a  chartered  college  Hiram  began  its  work  August  31,  1867.  Dr.  Silas 
E.  Shepai-d  was  its  first  President.  He  was  succeeded  by  Prof.  J.  M.  Atwater, 
who  in  1871  was  succeeded  by  Prof.  B.  A.  Hinsdale.  Prof.  Hinsdale's  admin- 
istration continued  until  June,  1882,  when  Vice-President  Dean  became  Act- 
ing  President.  At  the  beginning  of  the  collegiate  year  1883-84  the  Board  of 
Trustees  were  called  upon  to  choose  some  one  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
resignation  of  President  Hinsdale.  After  due  deliberation  their  choice  fell 
upon  the  present  incumbent.  President  G.  H.  Laugh lin.  President  Laugh lin 
came  from  Oskaloosa  College,  Iowa,  with  which  institiition  he  had  been  for 
nine  years  connected  and  of  which  he  was  the  President.  The  experience  of 
the  year  seems  to  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  the  choice.  He  has  entered  upon 
and  pursued  his  labors  like  one  schooled  to  the  position,  has  proved  himself  a 
thorough  teacher,  and  has  won  in  a  high  degree  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all. 

Hiram  College  is  affiliated  with  the  Ohio  College  Association,  in  accordance 
with  the  rules  of  which  association  the  courses  of  study  are  arranged.  The 
special  departments  comprise  the  Biblical,  musical,  normal  and  art.  The 
degrees  conferred  are  B.  A.,  B.  P.,  M.  A.  and  M.  P.  On  May  7,  1883,  a  Bible 
Chair  was  established. 

The  first  building  continues  in  good  repair.  Six  years  ago  the  Ladies' 
Hall  was  erected.  The  tabernacle  and  the  boys'  dormitory  complete  the  list  of 
buildings,  each  one  is  well  equipped,  and    admirably  adapted  to  its  purpose. 

There  are  five  well-selected  libraries,  containing  more  than  3,000  volumes. 
These  libraries  are  being  constantly  enlarged  with  the  best  publications  of  the 
day.  One  of  the  libraries  belongs  to  the  college;  the  others  to  the  Olive 
Branch,  Delphic  and  Hesperian  Societies,  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  respectively. 

The  college  buildings,  campus,  libraries,  apparatus,  cabinet  and  furniture 
are  worth  $40,000;  the  productive  endowment  is  estimated  at  $50,000; 
bequests,  in  the  form  of  wills,  are  estimated  at  $100,000. 

In  the  following  summary  of  the  history  of  education  in  this  township 
since  1850,  the  statistics  of  common  schools  and  literary  societies  are  given. 

Enrollment  in  1884,  nine  boys  and  eighty-three  girls;  revenue,  $3,824.68; 
expenditures,  $1,932.38;  seven  schoolhouses  valued  at  $4,200;  average  monthly 
pay  of  teachers,  $26. 

The  Olive  Branch  Society,  a  ladies'  organization,  was  the  first  literary  asso- 
ciation of  ladies  of  the  college,  being  founded  in  1853.  The  Hesperian  Lit- 
erary Society  of  Hiram  was  organized  in  1855,  and  reorganized  May  2,  1862, 
with  D.  D.   Humeston,  H  B.   Norton,  C.   A.  Dudley,  C.  C.  Smith  and  J.  H. 


474  HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Hogue,  Trustees.  C.  F.  Willcutt  was  Clerk.  Delphic  Literary  Society  in 
connection  with  the  Eclectic  Institute  was  organized  in  1854,  and  reorganized 
April  18,  1862,  with  I.  K.  Davidson,  Edgar  Maxon  and  -T.  C.  Cannon,  Trustees, 
and  Lewis  L.  Campbell,  Clerk.  L.  J.  Adair  presided.  The  Alpha  Beta 
Delta  Society  of  Hiram  College  was  reorganized  Feb.  14,  1870,  and  chartered 
subsequently.    The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  organized  in  1868. 

Of  the  many  who  have  taught  at  Hiram,  mention  may  be  made  of  the  fol- 
lowing distinguished  names: 

Munnell,  Dunshee,  Wilber,  Hall,  Hillier,  Rhodes,  Everest,  J.  M.  Atwater, 
Amzi  Atwater,  Suliote,  Thomson,  Coffeen,  Hill,  Dr.  Shepard,  Lottie  M.  Sackett, 
Weston,  Hinsdale,  Demmon,  Pardee.  "Wakefield,  Barber,  Booth  and  Garfield.  Al- 
meda  Booth  came  to  Hiram  in  the  spring  of  1851,  and  remained  in  service,  except 
one  year  spent  in  Oberlin  College,  until  commencement,  1866,  in  all  fourteen 
years  and  one  term.  She  began  her  work  at  Hiram  as  teacher  of  English 
studies,  but  soon  became  Principal  of  the  ladies'  department.  Although 
excelling  in  teaching  English  studies,  yet  she  taught  with  success  in  every 
department  of  the  college.  Her  life  and  character  formed  the  theme  of  an 
address  by  James  A.  Garfield  at  Hiram  commencement  in  1876. 

In  the  spring  of  1816  Nelson  was  set  oif  from  Hiram,  and  at  the  election 
in  the  following  April  Thomas  F.  Young  was  chosen  Clerk:  James  Young, 
John  Redden  and  Benjamin  Hinckley,  Trustees;  and  Richard  Redden,  Treas- 
urer. There  are  no  records  of  the  township  earlier  than  1820,  and  these  offi- 
cers are  given  from  memory.  The  name  of  the  township.  Hiram,  was  sug- 
gested by  Col.  Tilden,  who  proposed  it  to  all  the  original  proprietors,  who 
were  Freemasons,  in  honor  of  an  Illustrious  Ancient  Master  Workman  well 
known  to  the  fraternity.  Owing  to  the  carelessness  of  a  surveyor,  who  was 
probably  unskilled  in  his  business,  some  of  the  lines  of  survey  are  very 
irregular,  frequent  cases  of  lots  being  several  rods  wider  at  one  end  than  the 
other  occurring. 

In  1820  there  were  four  Revolutionai'y  soldiers  residing  in  Hiram — Col. 
Daniel  Tilden,  Christopher  Redden,  Elijah  Mason  and  old  Mr.  Turner.  Hiram 
did  nobly  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  having  been  represented  by  two  Major- 
Generals,  two  Captains  and  two  Lieutenants,  besides  her  full  quota  of  men  up 
to  1864.  She  sent  to  the  front  seventy-four  men,  thirteen  of  whom  were 
killed  or  died  in  the  service. 

In  the  winter  of  1831  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  came  to  Hiram, 
held  meetings  and  made  many  converts  to  the  then  new  faith  of  Latter  Day 
Saints,  or  Mormonism,  but  after  a  time  something  leaked  out  in  regai'd  to  the 
Saints  having  an  eye  on  their  neighbors'  property,  that  it  was  their  design  to 
get  into  their  possession  all  the  lands  of  those  whom  they  converted.  Whether 
the  charge  was  true  or  not  cannot  now  be  affirmed,  but  at  any  rate  the  good 
people  of  Hiram  and  some  others  went  to  the  houses  of  Smith  and  Rigdon, 
took  them  out,  stripped  them  to  the  bufif,  and  treated  them  to  a  coat  of  tar  and 
feathers  and  a  rail  ride,  which  induced  them  to  leave. 

Hiram  occupies  the  highest  elevation  on  the  Reserve,  being  1,300  feet  above 
eea  level,  which  gives  it  great  salubrity  and  healthfulness.  Its  hills  and 
dales  are  not  only  beautiful,  but  the  land  is  excellent,  being  a  clay  loam,  in 
Borne  portions  sandy,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is  well  watered.  It  is  well 
adapted  to  fruit  and  grazing,  and  in  1865  Ozias  Allen  made  from  the  milk  of 
twenty-one  cows  12,600  pounds  of  cheese,  which  he  sold  for  15  cents  per 
pound — S90  from  each  cow.  There  are  in  the  township  three  cheese  fac- 
tories, three  steam  saw-mills,  two  feed-mills  and  an  apple  jelly  factory,  besides 
two  general  stores  at  the  Center  and  at  Rapids  Postoffice. 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  475 

The  proposed  railroad,  called  the  Clinton  Air  Line,  is  treated  of  in  the 
■"  General  History  "  at  page  297. 

Toionship  Officers. — Trustees,  Homer  Abbott,  F.  R.  Freeman,  James 
Young;  Clerk,  S.  J.  Young;  Treasurer,  C.  L.  P.  Reno;  Assessor,  G.  B.  Mer- 
win;  Constables,  Joseph  Hall,  C.  C.  Sheldon;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Arvin 
Wilson,  AyA.  Turner.  Postmaster  at  Hiram  Center,  D.  H.  Beaman;  Post- 
master at  Rapids,  Taylor  Wilcox. 

The  statistics  of  this  township  for  188-4  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat, 
854,  bushels,  8,294;  bushels  of  rye,  40;  of  oats,  25,029;  of  corn,  6,489;  tons 
of  hay,  2,664;  of  clover  hay,  140  tons;  of  seed,  eight  bushels;  of  potatoes, 
40,344;  gallons  of  milk,  350;  pounds  of  home-made  butter,  51,738;  of  factory 
butter,  20,000;  of  cheese,  19,694;  of  maple  sugar,  12,767;  gallons  of  syrup, 
6,190  from  30,439  maples;  of  honey,  1,175  pounds  from  81  hives;  dozens 
of  eggs,  25,328;  11,821  bushels  of  apples,  610  of  peaches,  and  13  of 
pears  from  549  acres;  6,404  pounds  of  wool;  820  milch  cows;  1  stallion;  87 
dogs  (killed  8  sheep);  died  of  disease,  7  hogs,  90  sheep,  19  cattle  and  9  horses; 
acres  cultivated,  4,493;  under  pasture,  5,657;  woodland,  2,578;  waste,  114; 
total,  12,842.  Population  in  1850  was  1,106,  including  458  youth;  in  1870, 
1,234;  in  1880,  1,058;  in  1884,  1,000  (estimated). 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
MANTUA  TOWNSHIP. 


First  Settler  of  Portage  County — First  Wheat— Amzi  Atwater — Elias 
Harmon — Other  Settlers— Organization— First  Birth,  Marriage  and 
Death— Primitive  Industries— A  Peculiar  Character— Another  Queer 
One— Judge  Atwater's  Bear  Fight— Churches  and  Schools— Business, 
Soil,  etc.— Mantua  Station — Mantua  corners — Masonry— Statistics. 

MANTUA  received  the  first  settler  that  entered  Portage  County,  anticipating 
four  other  townships  by  about  six  months.  It  was  originally  the  property 
of  the  "SufiQeld,  Cuyahoga  &  Big  Beaver  Laud  Company,"  all  the  members  of 
which,  some  sixteen  in  number,  lived  in  Suffield,  Conn.  This  company  owned 
three  other  townships,  but  at  the  drawing  the  land  now  comprising  Mantua  fell 
to  the  lot  of  David,  Fidelio  and  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  and  Martin  Sheldon, 
Gideon  Granger,  Thomas  Sheldon  and  Oliver  Phelps,  also  owned  small  par- 
cels of  the  land,  and  Ebenezer  Sheldon  afterward  purchased  a  part  of  Martin 
Sheldon's  interest.  It  was  then  known  as  Town  5,  Range  8.  The  township 
was  surveyed  by  David  Abbott  into  tracts  of  420  acres  each,  there  being  forty- 
two  lots.  Abbott  took  two  quarter  lots,  northwest  quarter  of  Lot  29  and 
southeast  quarter  of  Lot  23.  He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  formed 
the  first  constitution  of  Ohio. 

The  first  man  to  drive  a  stake,  put  up  a  cabin,  make  a  clearing  and  settle 
down  to  business  was  Abraham  L.  Honey,  which  he  did  in  the  fall  of  1798, 
and  although  it  has  been  asserted  that  a  man  by  the  name  of  Peter  French 
came  in  the  fall  of  1798,  cleared  off  some  land  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  Lot 
24  and  put  out  a  small  patch  of  wheat,  he  also  cleared  some  land  on  the  south- 
west quarter  of  Lot  29.  After  making  those  improvements  he  moved  to  Men- 
tor. That  a  small  crop  of  wheat  was  harvested  the  next  season  by  Rufus 
Edwards,  who  came  in  and  took  possession  of  Lot  24,  the  lot  settled  upon  by 
Honey,  is  beyond  dispute.      How  he  got  possession  of  Lot  24  does  not  now 


476  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

appear.  Honey  remained  only  two  or  three  years  in  Mantua,  when  he  moved 
to  Hiram  and  from  there  to  Cuyahoga  County.  The  wife  of  Honey  was  a  sis- 
ter of  Rufus  Edwards,  and  it  is  possible  that  Honey  made  the  improvements 
for  his  brother-in-law,  himself  settling  on  a  portion  of  the  land,  there  being 
plenty  of  room  on  420  acres  for  three  or  four  families  in  those  times.  At  any 
rate  Rufus  Edwai-ds  was  the  second  settler,  for  in  the  notes  keptby  Elias  Har- 
mon of  those  early  days  he  says  that  just  after  he  came  in  he  chopped  for 
Edwards  and  hewed  for  Crooks.  Crooks  by  this  appears  to  have  been  the  third 
settler,  though  not  a  permanent  one,  as  he  only  arrived  at  Mr.  Honey's  on 
the  12th  of  June,  1799.  David  Crooks,  the  person  referred  to,  settled  on 
the  southwest  part  of  Lot  29.  He  remained  there  until  November,  1799, 
when  he  went  for  his  family,  who  refused  to  return  to  Ohio  with  him.  Will- 
iam Crooks  died  in  Aurora,  some  time  in  the  fifties  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  He  located  in  Warren,  then  at  Nelson,  next  at  Parkman,  and  ultimately 
in  Aurora. 

Elias  Harmon,  who  can  be  set  down  as  the  fourth  settler,  was  born  in  Suf- 
lield.  Conn.,  in  1773,  and  started  for  the  Reserve  in  February,  1799,  in  a  two- 
horse  sleigh,  going  as  far  as  Pittston,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  till  May, 
when,  in  company  with  Benjamin  Tappan,  David  Hudson  and  Jotham  Atwa- 
ter,  started  for  their  future  home — Ta,ppan  for  Ravenna,  then  Town  3,  Range 
8;  Hudson  for  what  is  now  Summit  County;  Atwater  for  Euclid,  and  Harmon 
for  Mantua.  After  a  long,  tiresome  and  perilous  trip,  partly  by  lake,  partly 
by  land  and  partly  by  river,  Harmon  landed  at  the  clearing  of  Honey,  as 
stated,  on  the  12th  of  June,  where  he  stopped  awhile,  and  then  went  to  the 
place  of  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  who  had  engaged  him  before  leaving  home  to  help 
him  in  boarding  and  aiding  the  surveyors  in  their  allotment  of  Aurora,  after- 
ward returning  to  Mantua  with  his  wife  in  September,  1799,  and  settling  on 
Lot  18.  One  of  two  or  three  entries  in  his  diary,  shows  that  the  erection  of 
a  habitation  in  those  days  was  a  matter  to  be  accomplished  in  short  order; 
he  savs:  "July  1,  began  to  cut  timber  for  our  house.  July  2,  put  up  and 
moved   into  house.      July  3,  got  timber  for  floor.      July  4,  laid  thefloor." 

An  entry  under  date  July  15,1799,  is  as  follows: 

Rufus  Edwards,  Dr.  Rufus  Edwards,  Cr. 

June  15,  half  day  chopping $  37i  Sept.  1799.  By  eight  days  working  at 

Aug.  i  of  a  day  stacking  wheat 25  the  mill  (Cohand    grist-mill).  . .  .$6  00 

Oct.  To  one  day  logging 75        Dec.  1799.  By  f  of  a  day  work 50 

To  *  pound  of  tobacco  lent.  "       By  1^  day  laying  floor 1  12i 

Jan.'  7,  1800.  To  mending  great  coat  12  Jan.  1800.  By  putting  a  sight  to  my 

"    25.       "    To  makeing  a  shirt —  37*  gun 25 

Mar.  16,     "      To  washing  and  bak-  Ap.  19,  1800.      By    a    day    work  at 

ing 251  burning 75 

April,  isOO.    To  washing  and  bak-  May  6.  By'rolling  logs  aday 75 

ing 31-i  "16.  By  cutting  and  splitting  rails 

"    18.    To   chopping  rail   timber  a  day 75 

one  day            '"  Miv  29   / 

"    20.    To  burning  brush  half  day  37i      juiie    i;  f  By  two  days  roll  logs 150 

To  lib.  tobacco  jen<  May  3.  By  half  day  pick  up  brush. .  87i 

"    26  and  28.  To  drawing  rails  two  g^  ^^ j  of  venison  at  3c  per  lb 44 

half  days 1  --5  j^jy  5    gy  ^^ing  to  Mr.  Delon  mills 

"    30.  To  two-thirds  of  a  day  lay-  after  whisky 75 


ing  fence 50 


July  15.  By  half  day  hoeing 37i 


May  12.  To  half  day  drawing  rails..  62i      j^^j    jg"  -^qqq    -\Vg  ^his  day  Compared  books 

"    19.  To  drawing  logs  a  day 1  ^0        ^j^^j  f^^^^  ^^^  to  Harmon  one  dollar  to  bal- 

"    21  and  22.  To  oxen  to  drag  two  ^^j,^ 

<lay9 VA^-r^-W,--^ i  •  •  •  •  ^  ^^                                             Rufus  Edwards. 

"    26,  27  and  28.  To  21  days  plant-  •        ^lias  Harmon. 

ing. . . . : 1  871 

July  8.  By  hoeing  one  day 75 

"   14.  By  hoeing  five  days 3  75 


^^..i^yfu^^ 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  479 

In  ♦the  fall  of  1799  Paschal  P.  Mcintosh  came  in  and  settled  on  Lot  23. 
He  was  a  half-brother  to  Gen.  David  Mcintosh,  and  came  from  Haverhill, 
N.  H.  The  fact  of  his  being  here  at  that  early  date  is  shown  by  the  notes 
kept  by  Elias  Harmon,  where  he  says:  "October  21,  1799,  helped  Mcintosh  to 
raise  his  house. "  In  this  year  also  came  Elisha  Edwards  and  Samuel  Bur- 
roughs. The  next  year,  1800,  brought  in  a  number  of  settlers,  among  whom 
were  Moses  Pond,  who  settled  on  Lot  35,  and  afterward  moved  to  Mesopo- 
tamia; Jonathan  Brooks  also  came,  but  soon  went  to  Burton  and  settled.  The 
Windsor  family  came  in  this  year,  Basil  Windsor,  Sr. ,  being  the  head.  Sam- 
uel Pond,  who  also  came  at  this  time,  shortly  before  they  moved  away,  got 
lost  on  a  trip  to  Burton  and  was  almost  without  food  for  nine  days.  It  was  in 
the  winter,  and  all  his  toes  were  frozen  off,  crippling  him  for  life.  Seth 
Harmon,  John  Blair  and  Jotham  Atwater  were  among  the  settlers,  but  the  man 
who  more  than  any  other  left  his  impress  on  the  township  and  county  was 
Amzi  Atwater.  Jotham  and  Amzi  Atwater  came  from  Hamden,  Conn. ,  in  the 
spring  of  1800,  and  settled  on  200  acres  of  the  west  part  of  Lot  41,  where 
now  is  Mantua  Station.  On  the  21st  of  November,  1801,  Amzi  married,  in 
Aurora,  Huldah  Sheldon,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  the  couple  being 
married  by  ihe  father  of  the  bride,  which  was  the  only  official  act  performed 
by  the  old  Squire  during  the  first  three  years  of  his  holding  that  position.  At  the 
first  election,  on  the  organization  of  the  county,  Atwater  was  one  of  the 
Judges,  and  the  Legislatui'e  appointed  him  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  which  positicm  he  held  for  a  long  time,  tilling  it  with  marked 
ability,  impartiality  and  dignity.  He  had  received  a  liberal  education  in  his 
native  State,  had  selected  civil  engineering  and  surveying  as  his  profes- 
sion, and,  joining  the  party  under  Cleveland,  came  to  the  Western  Reserve 
first  in  1796.  Being  of  a  hardy  constitution  and  determined  will,  combined 
with  a  buoyancy  of  disposition,  he  was  specially  adapted  to  the  life  of  pioneer 
and  surveyor.  He  was  possessed  of  great  versatility  of  talent,  vigor  of  intel- 
lect, having  withal  a  genial  temperament  and  a  fund  of  quiet  humor  that 
made  him  popular.  He  was  courageous  rather  than  daring,  persevering,  reso- 
lute and  of  sound  judgment,  qualities  which  rendered  him  useful  in  those 
early  times.  He  was  very  ready  with  his  pen,  and  wrote  many  letters  to  his 
relatives  in  the  East,  entirely  in  rhyme,  covering  ten  or  a  dozen  pages  of  fools- 
cap, several  of  which  were  published  some  years  ago,  but  which  are  too  long 
for  reproduction  here. 

Joseph  Skinner  and  W'illiam  Skinner  came  at  an  early  day:  also  Samuel 
Moore  and  his  son,  who  killed  the  last  wild  deer  in  the  township  in  1845;  Moore 
came  with  an  ox-team  from  Southwick,  Mass.,  in  1806,  bringing  his  wife  and 
six  children;  a  family  of  Rays  came  in  at  the  same  time.  Quite  a  noted 
character  in  his  way  came  in  December,  1812,  from  Windham,  whence  he  had 
moved  from  Nelson,  coming  originally  from  Massachusetts.  This  was 
Wareham  Loomis.  He  brought  his  wife  and  family,  and  worked  afterward 
for  Judge  Atwater.  During  a  couple  of  years,  covering  the  period  of  the 
war  of  1812-14,  there  was  a  comparative  stoppage  of  immigration,  but  in 
1815  and  1816  a  large  number  came  in.  Chester  Reed,  with  his  wife  and 
four  children,  and  three  other  families  came  in  1815,  and  in  1816  Sylvester 
Reed,  in  company  with  twelve  other  young  men,  came  and  settled  in  different 
localities;  also  the  Frosts,  Marvin  and  James,  the  latter  walking  the  entire 
distance  from  the  East,  with  an  ax  on  his  shoulder,  Capt.  William  Messenger, 
with  his  wife  and  six  children,  Jonathan  Foster,  the  Roots,  the  Sanfords,  the 
Ladds,  the  Judsons  and  others.     Peter  Carlton  came  in  1811. 

March  5,  1810,  the  County  Commissioners  issued  an  order  creating  the 


480  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

township,  and  shortly  afterward  an  election  was  held,  but  the  records  of  the 
township  were  destroyed  in  a  lire  which  occurred  in  1815,  and  the  names  of 
the  officers  elected  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  At  this  time  Shalersville  was 
included  in  Mantua,  but  in  1812  Shalersville  was  erected  into  a  separate  town- 
ship, and  cut  oflf.  The  name  Mantua  was  given  by  John  Leavitt,  in  honor  of 
Napoleon,  who  had  in  1796  captured  the  city  by  that  name  in  Italy.  In 
1806  there  were  but  twenty-seven  men  in  the  township,  but  in  1810,  at  the 
organization,  there  was  a  population  of  234.  Elias  Harmon  was  appointed 
United  States  Marshal  in  1810,  and  took  the  census  of  that  year.  In  his 
enumeration  of  Mantua  he  gives  the  following  names  of  heads  of  families  and 
the  number  of  each  family:  Rufus  Edwards,  6;  Samuel  Moore,  8;  Silas 
Penney,  8;  Moses  Pond,  5;  Thomas  Bright,  6;  Franklin  Snow,  5;  Virgil 
Moore,  3;  Silas  Tinker,  5;  Elias  Harmon,  6;  Gersham  Judson,  5;  James  Ray, 
10;  David  Pond,  5;  Jotham  Atwater,  5;  Amzi  Atwater,  6;  Oliver  Snow,  6; 
Paschal  P.  Mcintosh,  7;  Enoch  Judson,  5;  Samuel  Judson,  5;  William  Rus- 
sel,  7;  John  Blair,  9;  William  Johnson,  9;  Ella  Wilmot,  2;  Basil  Windsor, 
7;  William  Skinner,  6,  and  Seth  Harmon  6.  The  total  population  was  152  in 
the  fall  of  1810;  a  great  decrease  within  that  year.  Dr.  Jason  Moore  and  Mrs. 
(Blair)  Patterson  are  the  only  persons  now  living  in  the  township  who  were 
enumerated  in  this  township.     Orrin  Harmon  resides  at  Ravenna. 

Simeon  Sheldon,  Lister,  in  1825,  stated  in  the  Western  Courier  that  up  to 
June  11,  1825,  there  had  been  38  mai'riages,  369  births,  and  22  deaths  of  three 
years  old  and  upward,  and  45  deaths  under  three  years.  They  took  41  news- 
papers from  11  different^presses,  and  10  religious  periodicals  from  5  different 
presses.  In  the  earliest  days,  when  there  was  no  mill  nearer  than  Burton,  the 
little  crop  of  wheat  raised  had  to  be  husbanded  with  great  care,  and  there  was 
so  little  of  it  that  it  could  all  be  sent  off  to  mill  at  once.  Rufus  Edwards  on 
one  occasion  collected  all  the  grain  and  took  it  in  a  canoe  to  Burton,  and  had 
it  ground,  bat  arriving  late  at  night  he  left  it  in  the  boat,  intending  to  get  it 
as  soon  as  daylight  appeared,  but  when  he  went  for  it  the  next  morning  he 
found  that  some  prowling  Indians  had  carried  it  all  off.  It  was  all  the  flour 
there  was  in  the  township. 

In  1803  the  men  of  Mantua,  Hiram,  Aurora  and  Nelson  Townships  were 
organized  into  a  militia  company,  with  Ezra  Wyatt,  Captain,  and  Rufus 
Edwards,  First  Lieutenant.  On  his  removal  to  Hudson,  Edwards  was  elected 
Captain.  He  began  the  erection  of  a  distillery  on  the  Honey  farm,  but  never 
opened  one  there. 

The  enlisted  and  drafted  men  from  Mantua  in  the  war  of  1812  were  Enos, 
Zacheas  and  John  Harmon;  James  Ray,  Mark  Moore,  John  A.  Smyth  and 
Zenas  Judson's  substitute  were  in  Campbell's  company.  The  drafted  men 
were  Eleazer  Ladd,  David  Pond,  Horace  Ladd,  John  Gardner  and  Virgil 
Moore.  During  this  troublous  time  the  "Fourth"  was  celebrated  with  eclat  at 
Rufus  Edwards'  house.  This  was  the  first  regular  celebration  here.  The  first 
child  born  in  the  township  was  Eunice,  a  daughter  of  Elias  Harmon,  who  made 
her  first  appearance  in  this  world  of  trouble  July  16,  1800,  being  the  second 
child  born  in  the  county.  She  married  Simeon  Sheldon,  and  raised  a  family. 
The  first  male  child  was  Horace,  born  to  Moses  Pond  in  1803.  The  first  wed- 
ding took  place  also  in  1803,  when  Rufus  Edwards  married  Letitia  Windsor, 
Amzi  Atwater,  at  that  time  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Hudson,  performing  the 
ceremony.  The  first  death  was  that  of  Mrs.  Anna  Judson,  who  had  but  recently 
been  married,  and  just  moved  in  with  her  husband.  She  had  arsenic  given  to 
her  through  mistake,  which  caused  death  in  a  short  time.  This  occun-ed  July 
2,  1804,  and  the  next  was  during  the  winter  of  1806,  when  Jacob  Blair  was 
killed  while  assisting  in  the  raising  of  a  house. 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  481 

The  deaths  in  Mantua  from  1799  to  January  1, 1825,  were  as  follows:  Enoch 
Judson's  first  wife  in  1804;  Wareham  Loomis'  child,  two  years  old,  in  1805; 
Jacob  Blair,  killed  at  a  "raising"  in  1807;  Mark  Moore  died  in  1812;  Samuel 
Judson's  wife  in  1813;  IchaHod  Payne  in  1813;  Melissa  Reed  in  181G;  Enoch 
Judson's  second  wife  died  in  1816;  Amzi  Atwater,  son  of  Amzi,  Sr. ,  in  1810; 
Caleb,  son  of  Rufus  Edwards,  about  1817;  Leonard,  son  of  Lorenzo  Chapin, 
in  1818;  wife  of  Basil  "Windsor,  Sr.,  in  1818;  Martha,  daughter  of  Seth Har- 
mon, in  1820;  Franklin  Snow's  first  wife  in  1820;  Lorenzo  Chapin's  second 
son,  Leonard  M.,  in  1820;  Persis,  daughter  of  Dan  Ladd,  Jr.,  in  1822;  Eze- 
kiel  Ladd  in  1822;  Ezekiel  Squires  in  1822;  Zenas  Kent,  Sr.,  in  1822;  Caleb 
Carlton,  Sr.,  in  1823;  Thomas  Mayfield,  Sr.,  in  1823;  Basil  Windsor,  Sr.,  in 
1823;  Polly,  daughter  of  Sila«  Penney,  in  1823;  Mr.  Bacon  in  1821;  and 
Harvey,  son  of  Jotham  Atwater,  in  1824. 

In  1799  Rufus  Edwards  constructed  a  hand  grist-mill,  which  he  opened  in 
October  of  that  year.  A  small  building  called  the  tannery  was  established  by 
Moses  Pond  in  1802,  and  continued  until  1812,  when  Dan  Ladd,  Jr.,  built  a 
house  and  established  a  regular  tannery.  Pond,  having  no  tools,  had  the 
hides  finished  at  Burton.  It  was  he  who  brought  the  first  sheep  into  the 
township,  and  also  apple  seeds. 

In  1810  William  Russell  purchased  the  distillery  apparatus  of  Gersham 
and  Samuel  Judson,  and  erected  a  building  in  which  he  made  whisky  until 
the  spring  of  1817,  when  he  sold  the  farm,  cabin  and  distillery  to  George  and 
William  P.  Young.  Orrin  Harmon  remembers  Russell's  whisky  in  connection 
with  sheep-washing  days,  before  the  manufacturer  moved  to  Pennsylvania.  In 
1818  Young  failed,  and  Russell  then  re-purchased  his  property,  which  he  sold 
to  Ezekiel  Ladd  in  1821.  In  1822  Ladd  died,  when  Russell  resumed  posses- 
sion, and  ultimately  sold  it  to  Patrick  Ray.  This  Ray  was  one  of  the  seven 
sons  of  James  Ray.  In  1819  Hezekiah  Mooney  and  Dr.  Ezekiel  Squires 
■erected  a  distillery.  In  1819  Joseph  Skinner  built  a  distillery  for  which  he 
made  the  machinery  himself.  This  was  biarned  in  1824,  and  the  same  year  he 
erected  a  new  distillery  near  his  grist-mill,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  east 
half  of  Lot  30.     This  grist-mill  was  built  in  1820. 

Thomas  G.  Washburn  established  an  ashery,  near  the  public  square  at 
Mantua  Center,  in  1818,  and  continued  it  for  about  ten  years. 

The  first  saw-mill  was  erected  by  the  Dresser  family  in  1818,  on  the  north 
line  of  the  county,  and  the  next  mill,  a  grist,  was  erected  by  Joseph  and  W^ill- 
iam  Skinner,  shortly  after  1820.  It  was  on  the  Cuyahoga,  where  the  diag- 
onal road  to  Garrettsville  crosses  that  stream. 

In  1821  David  Ladd  built  a  brick  kiln;  but  in  the  fall  he  secured  a  glass- 
blower  named  Jonathan  Tinker,  rented  his  brother  Daniel's  tannery  (erected 
in  1812),  and  began  the  manufacture  of  bottle  glass  December  1,  1821,  under 
the  title  of  the  Mantua  Glass  Company,  C9ntinuing  here  until  1823,  when  he 
moved  the  plant  to  Kent,  where  he  built  a  factory.  Noah  and  Noble  Rogers 
settled  south  of  Mantua  Center  in  1825,  and  erected  a  tannery  on  a  lot  bought 
of  Oliver  Snow.  In  1829  they  sold  to  Elias  Converse,  whose  sons  now  oper- 
ate it. 

The  first  tavern  was  built  and  kept  by  Jotham  Atwater,  about  one  mile 
north  of  Mantua  Station.  It  was  a  log  building,  and  was  for  years  a  noted 
tavern  stand.  A  brick  building  was  afterward  erected  at  the  same  spot,  but 
has  since  bfeen  modeled  into  a  dwelling,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Lewis  Turner. 
There  were  two  pail  factories,  one  owned  by  Charles  Bates,  and  the  other  by 
Joseph  Skinner,  and  the  ware  made  by  Skinner  was  first  class.  It  is  claimed 
that  he  invented  the  process  of  turning  pails   and  other   hollow  ware.      The 


482  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

manufacture  of  cheese  from  the  earliest  times  has  been  a  source  of  great  rev- 
enue to  the  township,  and  the  i-aising  of  fine  potatoes  has  also  been  an  indus- 
try that  has  grown  to  large  proportions. 

Dr.  Ezekiel  Squires  was  the  first  physician  in*the  township,  having,  with 
his ^  family,  settled  there  in  1815.  Subsequently  Drs.  Whipple  and  Pierce 
came  in,  the  latter  leaving  the  medical  field  open  to  Whipple  until  1828,  when 
Dr.  Edwin  Cowles  came.  In  1825  Dr.  Whipple  lost  all  his  children  during 
the  epidemic  of  that  year. 

Daniel  Bidlake  was  the  first  blacksmith,  early  in  1815.  The  people  bought 
him  an  outfit,  for  which  he  paid  by  easy  installments. 

Alonzo  Delano  opened  out  at  Mantua  Corners  in  1829,  as  successor  to 
Joseph  Skinner.  In  1826-27  Childs  had  a  store  at  the  Corners,  while  Orrin 
Harmon  taught  school  there. 

Calvin  White  opened  the  first  store  at  the  Center  in  June,  1835.  His  wife 
was  Sabrina  Harmon.  Mr.  White  died  in  January,  1848,  and  his  wife  died 
in  October,  1849. 

In  1814  the  first  bridge  over  the  Cuyahoga  on  the  Center  road  from  Man- 
tua to  Hiram,  was  built  by  Rufus  Edwards,  the  county  contributing  $100. 
That  bridge  is  standing  still.  Orrin  Harmon  states  "  it's  the  same  old  jack- 
knife,  with  a  number  of  new  handles  and  new  blades." 

In  the  spring  of  1816  the  first  colored  people  came  to  Mantua.  They  were 
Benjamin  Sharpe  and  wife,  Lucy  and  Thomas  Hughes.  Flora,  a  colored 
woman  in  the  employ  of  the  Garretts,  formerly  a  slave  of  Mrs.  Garrett,  mar- 
ried Hughes,  also  colored,  in  1818. 

Samuel  Sanford,  who  settled  in  Mantua  in  1817,  and  died  September  27, 
1858,  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  Revolutionary  war  veterans  who  settled  in 
this  county. 

Mark  Moore  suffered  so  much  while  in  the  hands  of  the  British  in  1812, 
that  on  his  return  to  Mantua  he  died,  and  was  the  fourth  person  buried  in  the 
cemetery  one  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Mantua  Center. 

Elizabeth  Kent  taught  the  first  school  at  Mantua  Center  in  the  winter  of 
1815-16. 

W.  A.  Smith  established  the  manufacture  of  pails,  butter-tubs  and  cheese- 
boxes,  besides  operating  a  saw-mill  and  planing-mill  at  Shalersville.  On  remov- 
ing this  industry  to  Mantua  he  erected  the  buildings  now  devoted  to  the  several 
branches  of  his  manufactory.  The  capacity  of  the  saw-mill  is  10,000  feet; 
the  machinery  is  valued  at  about  $8,000.  The  works  stand  on  six  acres  of 
land  just  east  of  the  railroad  station  at  Mantua.  This  industry  gives  employ- 
ment the  year  round.  A  portable  steam  saw-mill  is  also  operated.  H.  A.  Tar-- 
ner  is  in  charge  of  the  saw-mill,  and  F.  H.  Hains  in  charge  of  the  pail  fac- 
tory. 

The  building  known  as  the  Goddard  Foundry  is  one  of  the  old  industrial 
structures  of  this  portion  of  the  township.  It  is  now  operated  by  Ed.  God- 
dard as  a  foundry  and  cider-mill. 

The  Centennial  Mills  were  founded  by  John  Frost  and  Peter  Kines  in 
1876,  in  buildings  where  the  Hancock  Basket  Factory  was  carried  on  pi-oviously. 
There  were  three  run  of  buhrs  in  use  until  1881,  when  ten  sets  of  rollers  were 
introduced.  The  capacity  is  seventy-five  barrels  per  day,  employing  four  men 
annually.  The  value  of  buildings  and  machinery  is  $10,000.  John  Frost  &  Co. 
are  the  present  owners.  The  mill  does  custom  and  merchant  w^Yk.  H.  O. 
Kitselman  has  been  the  miller  in  charge  since  1880. 

National  Transit  Company  of  Bradford,  Penn. ,  established  pumping  works 
at  Mantua,  with  Fred.  Tinker   in  charge.      C.  H.  Rider  is  the  present  Super- 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  483 

iBtendent.  There  are  two  powerful  engines;  the  line  of  five-inch  pipe  from 
Hilliard,  Butler  County,  Penn.,  to  Cleveland  is  about  104  miles.  At  the  Man- 
tua works  the  oil  is  contained  in  a  large  reservoir,  of  12,000  gallons  capacity, 
from  which  it  is  pumped  into  the  reservoir  at  Cleveland,  thirty-one  miles  dis- 
tant. A.  P.  Carlton's  carriage  and  wagon  shop  was  established  in  1880; 
the  present  shop  was  erected  in  1884.  The  work  of  the  shop  is  mainly 
I'epairs,  giving  employment  to  two  men. 

George  Allen  was  engaged  in  wagon  and  carriage  work  for  a  number  of 
years  prior  to  1880.  His  shops  have  been  rented  since  that  time,  and  are  now 
occupied  by  Emery  Simpson  as  a  horse- shoeing  establishment. 

The  first  hotel  was  built  by  Amzi  Atwater,  and  first  estabJished  as  a  hotel  by 
Lewis  Turner  about  the  time  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Kailroad  was 
completed  to  this  point.  Shortly  after  this  Homer  Frost  purchased  the  house, 
then  sold  to  Austin  S.  Beecher,  who  built  the  present  Cuyahoga  House  in 
front  of  the  old  Atwater  House,  now  conducted  by  H.  T.  Barnum.  The  house 
is  the  property  of  J.  T.  Spink. 

The  Mantua  House  was  built  by  D.  Santori,  who  conducted  it  as  a  hotel 
until  rented  to  H.  S.  Sage  about  a  year  ago. 

L.  S.  Turner  established  a  livery  at  Mantua  Station  in  January,  1885.  The 
buildings  cost  about  $2,000.  In  this  building  is  Russell's  photograph  gallery 
and  G.  W.  Franklin's  harness  shop. 

Theo.  Burnett,  who  was  the  pioneer  of  livery  business  here,  died  about  two 
years  ago,  since  which  time  the  business  has  been  carried  on  by  J.  H.  Ditto 
&  Sons. 

Mantua  Station. — This  flourishing  little  town  has  about  700  population, 
and  is  on  the  site  of  an  old  settlement,  but  was  laid  out  more  extensively  about 
the  time  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad,  now  a  branch  of  the  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad,  was  built  by  Darwin  Atwater.  It  grew 
rapidly,  and  is^now  an  exceedingly  live  village,  having  a  good  class  of  build- 
ings and  progressive  citizens.  It  is  a  large  shipping  point  for  potatoes,  cheese, 
onions,  some  cattle  and  sheep,  and  considerable  garden  truck.  There  are  large 
shipments  of  potatoes,  one  dealer  alone  handling  about  50,000  bushels  during 
the  season.  Another  provision  shipper  placed  upon  the  cars  during  last  spring 
an  average  of  300  calves  per  week.  Great  quantities  of  pails  and  other 
wooden-ware  are  also  shipped,  and  in  the  matter  of  cheese  Mantua  stands  as 
one  of  the  leading  points  on  the  Reserve,  there  being  three  large  factories  for 
that  product  in  the  township,  besides  being  the  shipping  point  for  the  greater 
part  of  three  other  townships. 

The  business  at  the  Station  is  as  follows:  Smith's  pail  and  wood  work  fac- 
tory, which  employs  about  twelve  hands;  Smith's  lumber  yard;  Centennial  Flour- 
ing-Mills,  Frost  &  Knowles;  general  stores,  Bowen  &  Sons,  A.  A.  Gilbreath; 
drugs,  O.  P.  Hays,  C.  W.  Brainerd;  groceries,  S.  Beecher,  Kyle  &  Davis, 
Ditto  &  Sons;  livery  stable.  Ditto  &  Sons;  hardware,  A.  Barber;  tinware,  W. 
Westpeaker;  millinery,  Mrs.  Mattie  Smith;  furniture.  F.  Bard;  clothing, 
Choeker  &  Muncy;  dealer  in  hides,  pelts,  etc..  Will  Croft;  dealer  in  produce, 
W.  H.  Bradley;  shoes,  Philip  Baldinger;  foundry,  Ed.  Goddard;  cider-mill,  Ed. 
Goddard;  Mantua  House,  C.  H.  Sage;  Cuyahoga  Hotel,  H.  T.  Barnum;  Tay- 
lor House,  A.  H.  Taylor;  carpenters;  blacksmiths;  restaurant;  barber  shop; 
physicians,  Dr.  George  C.  Way,  Dr.  Erwin;  dentist,  Dr.  A.  A.  Carlton; 
lawyer,  Cheny  Ingle;  Postmaster,  Cheny  Ingle;  there  is  a  fine  Opera  Hoiise. 

Mantua  Corners. — General  stores,  C.  H.  Ray,  J.  W.  Foster  &  Co;  grocery 
and  notions,  Mrs.  Frazier;  Postmaster,  C.  H.  Ray;  Dr.  S.  K.  Wilcox. 

The  township  is  high  and  rolling,  especially  in  the  southern  portion,  and 
unsurpassed  for   fruit-raising  and  dairying,  it  standing  next  to  Aurora  in  the 


484  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

manufacture  of  cheese.  It  is  well  watered,  and  the  soil  is  a  sandy  loam,  mak- 
ing it  splendidly  adapted  to  the  production  of  potatoes,  where  the  finest  in 
the  world  are  raised. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Mantua  was  organized  in  September,  1807, 
by  Rev.  R.  R.  Roberts,  with  Paschal  P.  Mcintosh  and  wife,  Basil  Windsor, 
Rufus  Edwards  and  Asahel  Mills.  The  first  building  was  erected  in  1820-21 
at  the  Center,  24x32  feet.  This  log- house  was  used  for  eighteen  years,  when  a 
new  meeting-house  was  erected.  This  house  was  burned,  and  the  same  year  a 
third  Methodist  Church  building  was  erected.  The  old  pastors  were  Joshua 
"Windsor,  1810,  Henry  Ferris,  John  L.  Ferris  and  Joseph  Ferris,  William 
Bump,  Milton  M.  Moore,  H.  H.  Moore  and  Albert  Reed.  In  1825  Paschal 
Mcintosh,  one  of  the  founders,  was  dismissed,  owing  partly  to  his  hostility  to 
the  United  States.  In  1815  he  returned  to  Mantua,  and  his  children  were 
the  first  who  had  the  whooping-cough  in  the  county. 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Mantua  was  organized  by  Revs.  Seward  and 
Darragh,  May  31,  1812.  The  first  members  were  Daniel  Ladd  and  wife,  Joel 
Walter  and  wife,  of  Shalersville,  William  Russell  and  wife,  Daniel  Ladd,  Jr., 
and  wife,  Eleazer  Ladd  and  wife.  Eunice  Harmon,  the  grandmother  of  Orrin 
Harmon,  Lois  Atwater,  mother  of  Judge  Amzi  Atwater,  Mrs.  Eunice  Moore 
and  Mrs.  Sally  Pond. 

In  1816  a  brick  church  was  erected  at  Aurora  Center  for  this  society.  Jus- 
tus Parrish  and  others  supplied  the  brick.  Previous  to  1816  this  society  held 
meetings  in  the  first  schoolhouse. 

The  Baptist  Church  was  founded  at  Mantua  in  1809  by  Elder  Jones,  the 
meeting  being  held  near  the  Judson  cabin.  The  first  persons  baptized  were 
Oliver  Snow  and  wife,  Jotham  Atwater  and  wife,  and  Rufus  Edwards  and 
wife,  Mr.  Edwards  leaving  the  Methodist  Church.  Those  persons  were  bap- 
tized in  the  Cuyahoga  near  Judson's.  John  Rudolph  and  William  West  were 
also  members.  In  1826  Sidney  Rigdon,  subsequently  Joe  Smith's  Lieutenant, 
was  preacher  to  this  society.  In  1827  Sidney  Rigdon  left  the  Baptist 
Church  and  organized  a  Campbellite  or  Disciples  Church,  and  succeeded  in 
taking  almost  all  the  members  of  the  old  Baptist  Church  with  him. 

Disciples  Church  of  Mantua  was  reorganized  July  6,  1850,  P.  N.  Jen- 
nings, D.  Atwater  and  Edwin  Sandford  were  elected  Trustees,  and  C,  D.  Wil- 
ber.  Secretary. 

The  Universalist  doctrine  was  preached  at  Mantua  by  Rev.  Reuben  Jones, 
from  1815  to  1831,  when  he  died. 

Mantua  Association  of  Spiritualists  was  incorporated  July  9,  1881;  Sam- 
uel S.  Russell,  Joel  B.  Gilbert,  Reuben  O.  Halsted,  David  M.  King  and  Henry 
Cobb,  members. 

Camp-meeting  Association  of  Spiritualists  of  northern  Ohio  was  organ- 
ized October  2,  1881,  with  Ira. Lake,  President;  A.  Underbill  and  Mrs.  Amon, 
Vice-Presidents;  Mrs.  Sarah  Rockhill,  Alliance,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Merrill.  Record- 
ing Sec;  Silas  Crocker,  Treasurer;  Samuel  Fish,  Melon;  Reuben  Hal- 
stead,  Mantua;  Mrs.  Mercy  Lane,  Braceville;  Frank  Maloy,  Hudson;  Jesse 
Erwin,  Alliance;  Frank  Rily,  W^arren;  M.  V.  Meller,  New  Lynn,  and 
Lewis  King,  Cleveland. 

The  Catholic  Church  was  built  at  Mantua  Station  in  1872-73,  under  con- 
tract with  the  congregation,  by  Squire  Fair.  The  building  cost  about  $1,000, 
and  the  altar,  pews  and  furnishing,  about  $1, 500.  The  congregation  numbers 
about  150  members. 

Union  Church. — The  first  Protestant  Church  building  at  Mantua  Station  is 
that  now  known  as  the  Union  Church,  which  is  open  to  all  Christian  denom- 
inations for  religious  service. 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  485 

The  first  school  was  taught  in  the  winter  of  1806-07,  at  the  house  of 
Amzi  Atwater,  by  John  Harmon,  and  the  next  one  was  in  the  summer  of  1807 
the  teacher  being  Patty  Cochran,  from  Aurora,  who  afterward  became  the  wife 
of  Ebenezer  Sheldon.  The  school  was  near  where  Rufus  Edwards  had  form 
erly  lived.  In  1808  John  Harmon  opened  a  school  in  Amzi  Atwater's  house 
There  is  at  present  a  fine  graded  school  at  the  Station,  in  charge  of  Prof.  Will 
iam  Thomas,  in  addition  to  the  district  schools  in  various  parts  of  the  township 

Mantua  Township  Schools. — Revenue  in  1884,  13,225.83;  expenditures 
$1,916.37;  eight  school  buildings  valued  at  $3,600;  average  pay  of  teachers 
$34  and  $26;  enrollment,  96  boys  and  73  girls. 

Mantua  Special  District.— Revenue,  $4,650.33;  expenditures,  $1,281.39, 
one  schoolhouse  valued  at  $2,500;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $60  and  $37;  enroll- 
ment, 43  boys  and  57  girls. 

Mantua  Lodge,  No.  533,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  —There  is  a  very  flourishing  lodge 
of  the  brothers  of  the  "mystic  tie,"  and  although  of  but  recent  organization 
has  a  membership  of  over  fifty.  The  lodge  was  chartered  and  organized  in 
the  fall  of  1883,  and  the  following  were  the  charter  olficers  and  members:  G. 
D.  Smith,  W.  M. ;  E.  M.  Frost,  S.  W. ;  G.  W.  Franklin,  J.  W. ;  A.  A.  Barber, 
C.  H.  Thompson,  C.  E.  Ryder,  Edgar  Chapman,  C.  H.  Bowen,  A.  H.  Kyle, 
G.  T.  Mattison,  S.  P.  Vaughn,  L.  L.  Reed,  S.  E.  Coit,  C.  H  Ray,  R.  O.  Hal- 
stead,  G.  F.  Hinckley,  A.  S.  Beecher,  E.  L.  Hine,  Myron  Richards,  M.  B.  San- 
ford,  C.  W.  Brainerd,  D.  Washburn,  J.  Byron,  James  and  William  Bowen. 
A.  A.  Barber  is  the  present  Master. 

Bentley  Post,  294,  G.  A.  R.,  named  in  honor  of  one  of  the  soldiers  of  Man- 
tua, was  organized  February  21,  1883,  with  the  following  members:  C.  H. 
Ray,  Myron  Richards,  N.  A.  Curtiss,  A.  M.  Bishop,  M.  E.  Haskin,  G.  W. 
Flemming,  M.  W\  Chapman,  H.  M.  Murry,  A.  C.  Fish,  J.  B.  Hinman,  Warren 
Bowers,  C.  M.  Stroud,  George  Yeagley,  T.  M.  Esty,  A.  M.  Erwin,  M.  D.,  G. 
G.  Striker,  M.  C.  Sweet,  C.  A.  White,  F.  H.  Adams,  Edward  Stiverson,  James 
Flemming,  C.  A.  Bartholomew,  S.  C.  Rice,  F.  P.  Bard,  George  Hurlbut,  Charles 
Crawford,  Henry  Briggs,  H.  F.  Smith,  S.  C,  Crane,  C.  S.  Steward  and  O.  W. 
Folsom.  The  members  who  have  joined  since  that  time  are  S.  A.  Udall,  Robert 
Crawford,  Edgar  Chapman,  W.  H.  H.  Wheeler,  Nelson  S.  Bartholomew,  J. 
F.  Schoville,  L.  Winchell,  W.  C.  Ensign,  C.  H.  Maggs,  A.  B.  Crane,  A.  H. 
Button,  T.  W,  Anderson,  William  Ferrall,  Edwin  Smith,  Henry  Langston, 
Henry  Barthold,  H.  S.  Sheldon,  John  Hass,  F.  A.  Derthick,  Merrit  Dutton,  J. 
T.  Spink,  A.  R.  Houghton,  H.  O.  Snedeker,  Henry  Green,  A.  W.  Mills,  O. 
W.  Truman,  Charles  Duncan,  Sylvester  Force  and  J.  B.  Shaffer.  The  first 
Commander  was  A.  M.  Erwin,  who  served  until  succeeded  by  F.  A.  Derthick 
in  1885.     G.  G.  Striker  is  Adjutant,  and  Edgar  Chapman,  Quartermaster. 

The  statistics  of  Mantua  for  1884  pi-esent  the  following  figures:  Acres  of 
wheat,  923;  bushels,  7,128;  of  buckwheat,  29  acres  and  60  bushels;  of  oats, 
677  acres  and  24,132  bushels;  of  corn,  512  acres  and  2,161  bushels;  of  meadow, 
2,228  acres  and  3,288  tons  of  hay;  of  clover.  65  acres  and  93  tons  of  hay  and  6 
bushels  of  seed;  of  potatoes  383  acres,  yielding  42,637  bushels;  pounds  of 
home-made  butter,  40,065;  pounds  of  cheese,  476,450;  pounds  of  maple  sugar, 
17,957,  and  gallons  of  syrup,  3,385  from  20,155  trees;  pounds  of  honey,  1,727 
from  98  hives;  dozens  of  eggs.  16,591;  5,889  bushels  of  apples,  12  of 
peaches,  1  of  cherries,  and  3  of  pears,  from  323  acres  of  orchai'd;  4,164 
pounds  of  wool;  1,233  milch  cows;  1  stallion;  87  dogs;  animals  died  of 
disease,  7  hogs;  48  sheep,  17  cattle  and  4  horses;  acres  cultivated,  5,734: 
pasture,  6,345;  wood-land,  2,972;  waste,  281;  total,  15,332.  Population  in 
1850,  1,383,  including  436  youth;  1870,  1,126;  in  1880,  1,150;  in  1884  (esti- 
mated), 1,200. 


486  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
NELSON  TOWNSHIP. 

Coming  of  the  Pioxeers— The  Mills  Brothers— Two  Lonesome  Families- 
Important  Arrivals— Heads  of  Families  in  1815— First  Bl'ildings— 
First  Arrivals  and  Departures— Churches  and  Schools— Taverns, 
Mills  and  HoADs—Fiot  Justitia,  Ruat  Ccehim  —Ex^pi^oits  of  Capt.  Mills- 
Summary— Tom'nship  Officers— The  Ledges— Statistics. 

"^TELSON,  when  the  first  settler  arrived  in  it,  and  for  seventeen  years 
_L^  thereafter,  was  included  in  the  territory  comprised  in  several  of  the 
adjoining  townships  under  the  name  of  Hiram,  but  in  the  surveys  was  laid  o£f 
as  Town  5,  Range  6.  The  original  proprietors,  who  purchased  from  the  Con- 
necticut Land  Company  were  Urial  Holmes,  Ephraim  Root,  Timothy  Burr 
and  Appolos  Hitchcock,  Holmes  being  the  principal  owner. 

In  the  spring  of  ISOO,  three  sons  of  Deacon  Ezekiel  Mills,  of  Becket, 
Mass.,  started  out  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  "Western  Reserve.  They  were 
Delaun,  aged  twenty-four,  who  had  married  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and 
had  three  children;  Asahel,  who  had  been  married  two  years,  and  had  one 
child;  and  Isaac,  nineteen  years  of  age  and  single.  These  three  men  with 
the  two  wives  and  four  children  started  out  in  two  covered  wagons,  each  drawn 
by  a  yoke  of  oxen.  Several  weeks  elapsed  before  they  reached  Youngstown, 
then  a  very  diminutive  hamlet,  containing  only  a  few  log-cabins.  By  this 
time  the  money  of  the  brothers  had  dwindled  down  to  less  than  25  cents,  so 
they  had  to  seek  employment,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  Urial  Holmes,  the 
principal  proprietor  of  Nelson,  happened  to  be  on  his  way  to  his  land  for  the 
purpose  of  having  it  surveyed,  so  the  brothers  were  engaged  as  ax-men  to  the 
surveyors,  who  were  led  by  Amzi  Atwater,  afterward  one  of  the  most  noted 
citizens  of  the  county,  and  Roger  Cook.  Leaving  their  families  at  Youngs- 
town, the  brothers  went  forward  to  their  work,  and  returned  in  the  following 
September.  Delaun  immediately  removed  his  family  to  a  cabin  on  100  acres 
of  land  given  to  him  by  Holmes  as  a  reward  for  his  settling  thereon,  which 
land  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  just  west  of  the  Center;  Asahel 
remained  in  Y'oungstown  till  the  following  spring  (1801),  and  then  settled  on 
100  acres  on  the  north  and  south  road,  which,  it  is  thought,  was  also  a  gift 
from  Holmes;  Isaac  returned  to  the  East.  Asahel  in  after  years  became  a 
Methodist  preacher  and  died  in  Deerfield.  Delaun  had  an  extremely  adven- 
turous life,  and  some  of  his  exploits  and  experiences  will  be  given  in  this 
sketch  further  along.  He  was  a  man  of  not  only  great  physical  strength,  but 
of  unusual  sturdiness  of  character,  as  brave  as  a  lion,  and  perfectly  fearless 
of  consequences,  having  withal  a  coolness  of  temper  that  to  a  foe  was  exas- 
perating. It  is  said  that  one  of  the  blandest  of  smiles  would  overspread  his 
features  when  drawing  a  bead  on  some  cowardly  savage  who  had  waylaid  and 
missed  him.  He  was  a  man  of  little  education,  but  possessed  of  extraordi- 
nary common  sense  and  correctness  of  judgment. 

Delaun  and  Asahel  Mills  and  their  families  were  the  only  inhabitants  of 
the  township  till  the  spring  of  1803,  when  quite  a  number  arrived  from  Mas- 


iP 


^^K 


IN     ♦ 


(^'^^^^^^i^^^^?^^^  (^;;^>^^*^ 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  489 

sachusetts  and  Connecticut  and  made  settlement.  Among  those  were  Stephen 
Baldwin,  Benjamin  Stow  and  his  two  sons,  Daniel  and  Caleb,  John  Bancroft 
with  four  sons,  Rudolphus,  JohD,  Artemus  and  David,  Daniel  Owen,  two 
brothers,  Stiles  and  William,  Thomas  Kennedy  and  Asa  Truesdale,  making 
seven  families  in  all,  which  constituted  the  entire  population  of  Nelson  in 
1804.  In  this  year  came  Isaac  Mills,  the  father  of  Mr.  Albert  Mills,  of  the 
Center,  who  is  now  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  and  well  preserved  in  all  his 
faculties.  The  old  gentleman  has  been  a  great  singer  in  his  day,  and  led  the 
sieging  in  bis  church  for  over  forty  years,  having  only  within  the  past  two  or 
three  years  ceased  to  do  so.  Isaac,  in  company  with  a  friend,  Origen  Adams, 
both  being  single  men,  made  the  journey  on  foot  from  Connecticut,  but  the 
former,  doing  quite  well  the  first  year,  returned  to  Connecticut  and  on  Novem- 
ber 27,  1805,  married  his  pretty  little  sweetheart.  Miss  Polly  Adams,  a  dam- 
sel of  only  fifteen  years.  It  was  a  fearful  undertaking  for  the  child-wife  to 
come  to  this  far-distant  wilderness,  but  of  such  stuff  were  some  of  the  women 
of  those  days  made,  that  the  little  girl  became  a  splendid  pioneer  wife,  equal 
to  all  emergencies,  content  and  happy,  a  blessing  to  all  who  knew  her,  and 
the  mother  of  stalwart  sons  and  buxom  daughters. 

In  July,  1804,  also  settled  Col.  John  Garrett,  from  Delaware,  for  whom  was 
named  Garrettsville.  A  German  from  Delaware,  named  Johann  Noah,  came 
about  the  same  time  as  Col.  Garrett;  also  Abraham  Dyson,  from  Delaware, 
who  settled  near  Col.  Garrett,  on  the  spot  that  afterward  became  the  village 
of  Garrettsville.  In  1805  came  John  Tinker  and  Nathaniel  Bancroft,  sons- 
in-law  of  Benjamin  and  Daniel  Stow,  Martin  Manly  and  Daniel  Wood. 

In  1806  Asahel  Mills,  having  fitted  up  accommodations  for  his  aged 
father  and  mother,  brought  the  old  couple  out,  but  the  Deacon  died  in  1809 
and  his  widow  followed  him  several  years  later.  Oliver  Mills,  a  brother  of  the 
above,  also  settled  in  the  township  about  1809,  and  aboat  the  same  time  came 
Charles  May,  the  Rudolphs  and  Rev.  William  West,  a  Baptist  minister. 

In  1810  or  thereabouts  came  Charles  Johnson,  from  Connecticut,  bringing 
three  sons,  Erastus,  Alanson  aod  Charles,  Jr. 

In  1811-12  a  large  company,  mostly  Presbyterians,  came  in  from  Connec- 
ticut, prominent  among  whom  were  Deacon  Joshua  B.  Sherwood,  Wells  Clark, 
Bridsey  Clark,  Theron  Colton,  David  Beardsley,  Titus  Bonney,  Hezekiah 
Bonney,  John  Hannah,  David  Goodsell  and  a  large  connection  of  the  Hopkins 
family.  Emigration  then  ceased  almost  entirely  till  the  close  of  the  war, 
1812-14. 

In  1815  an  enumeration  of  the  settlers  of  the  township  resulted  in  a  show- 
ing of  thirty -three  heads  of  families,  as  follows:  Hezekiah  Higley,  John 
Bancroft,  Jr.,  Adolphus  Bancroft,  Titus  Bonney,  Benjamin  Stow,  John  Ban- 
croft, Sr.,  William  Kennedy,  Thomas  Kennedy,  John  Hannah,  Rossitter  Hop- 
kins, Stephen  Baldwin,  Delaun  Mills,  John  Tinker,  Alanson  Johnson,  David 
Beardsley,  Benjamin  Pritchard,  Theron  Colton,  Rev.  William  West,  John 
Rudolph,  Widow  Gan-ett,  Joshua  B.  Sherwood,  Isaac  Mills,  Robert  C.  Ben- 
nett, Sylvanus  Hewlett,  Elisha  Taylor,  Sr.,  Martin  Manly,  David  Stow,  / 
Johann  Noah,  Asa  Truesdale,  Erastus  Johnson,  Bridsey  Clark  and  Wells 
Clark. 

From  the  date  of  the  above  enumeration  till  1820,  the  township  rapidly 
settled  up,  and  among  those  who  came  in  were,  to  give  a  good  heading  to  the 
list,  Jeremiah  Earl  Fuller,  who  was  six  feet  four  inches  in  height,  bringing  two 
sons;  Charles  Whiting,  Charles  Hewlett,  Marcus  and  David  Morris,  Thomas 
Barber,  Thomas  Perry,  Benjamin  Brown,  one  of  whose  sons  was  Probate  Judge, 
another  a  prominent  lawyer,   and  another  a  well-known  physician;  also,  came 

26 


490  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  Merwins,  Batons,  Merritts  and  others.  From  1820  onward,  emigrants  from 
the  East  still  came  in  till  the  price  of  land  began  materially  to  advance.  Among 
those  coming  about  this  time  were  Harry  Spencer,  Jacob  and  Ashbel  Haskins, 
Jr.,  sons  of  Ashbel  Haskins,  Sr. ,  Jared  W.  Knowlton  and  family,  Ira  Fuller, 
who  lived  to  be  ninety-four  years  of  age,  and  a  number  of  the  Pritchards  and 
Taylors. 

As  soon  as  the  surveying  party  under  Atwater  arrived  in  Nelson,  they  set 
to  work  and  erected  a  log-cabin  for  their  use  whilst  in  the  township.  It  was, 
of  course,  a  rude  affair,  built  of  unhewn  logs,  and  stood  just  east  of  the  pres- 
ent house  on  the  land  afterward  donated  to  Capt.  Mills.  This  was  the  first 
human  habitation  in  Nelson,  and  was  erected  in  the  early  spring  of  1800. 
"When  Delaun  returned  with  his  family  in  the  fall,  he  made  considerable 
improvements  in  the  surveyors'  cabin,  and  put  it  in  the  best  condition  pos- 
sible for  wintering  his  wife  and  her  three  young  children.  Capt.  Mills 
afterward  erected  a  double  log-cabin,  quite  a  commodious  affair,  and  it  was  the 
admiration  of  the  whole  settlement.  Asahel  Mills  erected  the  next  cabin  after 
his  brother,  and  was  soon  followed  by  many  others.  But  one  of  the  most 
noted  events  of  the  time  was  the  erection  by  Thomas  Kennedy,  about  1811,  of 
a  frame  house.  It  was  located  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  north  of  the  Cen- 
ter, and  when  it  was  finished  some  of  his  neighbors  'said  that  Thomas  was  get- 
ting too  proud.  The  father  of  Thomas  Kennedy  was  William  Kennedy,  who 
was  ninety  years  of  age  when  he  came.  The  old  gentleman  was  considerable 
of  a  drinker,  and  on  one  occasion  came  to  his  son  and  told  him  that  the  spring 
back  of  the  bouse  was  not  water  but  Santa  Cruz  rum. 

In  the  spring  of  1804  Enoch  Judson,  of  Mantua,  married  Anne  Kennedy, 
this  being  the  first  marriage  in  the  township,  but  the  married  life  of  the  unfor- 
tunate lady  was  short,  for  in  June  following  she  became  slightly  sick,  and 
applying  to  Mrs.  Rufus  Edwards  for  an  emetic,  was  given,  through  mistake, 
arsenic,  which  caused  her  death.  The  second  marriage  was  that  of  a  sister  of 
Anne  Kennedy,  Mrs.  Norton,  to  Joseph  Nourse,  a  lawyer  of  Burton. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  Harmon  Mills,  son  of  Delaun  Mills, 
born  in  November,  1801,  was  the  first  child  born  in  the  township,  but  we  are 
sorry  to  annul  that  claim  by  stating  that  the  reputed  "  previous  "  Harmon  had 
a  little  girl  cousin  named  Dianthea,  who  antedated  him  by  almost  a  month, 
she  having  made  her  appearance  on  the  14th  day  of  October,  1801.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Asahel  Mills. 

The  first  death  in  the  township,  like  the  first  birth,  has  been  wrongly 
stated.  A  son  of  Col.  Garrett  died  in  September,  1804,  and  to  this  youth  has 
usually  been  given  the  honor  of  departing  the  earliest,  but  an  infant  of 
Asahel  Mills  died  a  year  or  two  before  the  date  of  young  Garrett's  death,  as 
is  proven  by  the  Mills'  family  record.  The  first  man  to  die  in  the  township 
was  Col.  John  Garrett,  who  departed  this  life  in  January,  1806,  at  the  age 
of  forty- six  years,  after  a  career  of  usefulness  to  his  fellow-men  and  honor 
to  himself.  He  left  a  widow,  who  survived  him  forty  years,  and  four  children 
who  became  honored  and  distinguished  citizens. 

About  the  first  preaching  ever  listened  to  in  Nelson  fell  from  the  lips  of 
Asahel  Mills,  who  at  the  time  he  settled  in  the  township  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  be  a  Methodist  preacher.  His  sermons  may  have  simply  been  exhorta- 
tions in  the  Methodist  sense,  but  we  have  the  word  of  Albert  Mills  that  he 
was  the  earliest  preacher  who  lifted  up  his  voice  in  the  township.  Rev.  Will- 
iam West,  a  Baptist  minister,  came  in  very  early,  probably  1807  or  1809,  and 
of  course  delivered  a  sermon  to  the  settlers  occasionally,  but  the  first  church 
organization  occurred  in   1807,  at  the  house  of  Johann  Noah,  the  services 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  491 

being  coDclueted  by  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Jones,  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  Mr. 
Jones  was  afterward  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  and  President  of  a 
bank  in  Wooster.  Rev.  R.  R.  Roberts,  afterward  a  leading  Bishop  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  a  circuit  rider  in  those  early  days,  and 
preached  every  two  weeks  at  the  cabin  of  Capt.  Mills.  A  preacher  by  the 
name  of  George  Lane,  a  noted  singer,  came  in  an  early  day.  He  had  a  powerful 
voice  and  always  led  the  singing.  William  West,  the  minister  spoken  of 
above,  became  the  first  settled  pastor  in  1809  or  1810,  he  having  preached 
irregularly  for  the  settlers  some  time  before.  The  original  proprietors  donated 
him  fifty  acres  of  land.  Mr.  West  was  an  excellent  man  and  much  beloved. 
He  has  no  descendants  in  the  township,  but  one  of  his  daughters  married 
Prof.  Brainard,  of  Cleveland.  The  large  company  that  came  from  Connecti- 
cut in  lSll-12,  organized  a  Congregational  Church  in  1813,  all  of  the  mem- 
bers having  belonged  to  the  same  church  before  they  came  West.  In  1822  the 
Presbyterians  erected  a  very  tine  church  at  the  Center,  and  it  stands  there 
to-day.  Rev.  Benjamin  Fenn  was  the  first  regular  preacher  to  occupy  the 
pulpit,  he  coming  there  in  1823.  The  first  Methodist  Church  was  built  in 
1832,  and  the  first  minister  to  preach  in  it  was  Rev.  J.  W.  Davis.  The  church 
still  stands  in  good  condition  at  the  Center. 

The  first  school  opened  in  the  township  was  taught  by  Hannah  Baldwin, 
at  the  Center,  in  1804.  Not  one  of  those  who  attended  this  primitive  educa- 
tional institution  is  now  alive.  The  next  school  was  taught  by  Oliver  Mills,  in 
1806.  He  was  a  brother  of  the  famous  Captain,  and  is  said  to  have  monopo- 
lized all  the  "school  larnin'"  of  the  early  Mills  family;  he  was  a  farmer, 
mechanic,  teacher  and  doctor,  ail  combined.  Nelson  Academy  Association 
was  permanently  organized  January  6,  1852;  Charles  Goodsell,  D.  Everest, 
David  Hanners,  Josiah  Talbot,  C.  C.  Fuller,  Silas  Clark,  John  Martin,  A.  J. 
Eldred  and  Albert  Mills  were  elected  Trustees.  At  the  annual  meeting,  Jan- 
uary 3,  1853,  W.  R.  Knowlton,  J.  W.  Spencer  and  G.  B.  Stow  were  elected 
Trustees.  C.  C.  Fuller  was  Clerk  of  the  first  annual  meeting.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  township  schools  at  the  close  of  1884  is  shown  by  the  following 
statistics:  Revenue  in  1884,  $3,947.10;  expenditures,  $2,344.62;  eight  school 
buildings  valued  at  $5,000;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $36  and  $22;  enroll- 
ment, 88  boys  and  91  girls. 

Capt.  Mills  for  many  years  kept  his  house  as  a  stopping-place  or  tavern. 
It  being  located  on  the  route  to  the  farther  western  country,  it  was  very  con- 
venient, especially  as  he  always  had  on  hand  a  supply  of  whisky  and  rum. 
Another  tavern  was  kept  on  the  road  north  of  the  Center  by  Artemus  Bancroft. 

The  first  mill  was  erected  by  Col.  Gari'ett,  at  Garrettsville,  and  it  was  the 
greatest  convenience  with  which  the  settlers  had  been  supplied,  as  previous  to 
its  erection  long  journeys  had  to  be  made  to  get  their  little  grists  ground. 
The  mill  was  both  saw  and  grist,  and  was  built  in  1805. 

This  same  year  Amzi  Atwater  surveyed  a  road  from  his  place  in  Mantua, 
along  the  south  line  of  Hiram  Township,  to  Col.  Garrett's  mill,  and  in  1806 
another  was  cut  out  to  Aurora,  westward,  and  one  through  Windham  and 
Braceville,  to  Warren.  Abraham  Dyson,  who  came  in  at  the  time  Col.  Gar- 
rett did,  was  the  first  blacksmith,  and  had  more  than  he  could  do  repairing- 
guns  for  the  Indians.  The  fii'st  wheat  raised  was  forty-three  bushels,  from 
three  pecks  of  seed,  sown  in  the  turnip  patch  of  Capt.  Mills  in  1801.  It  was 
threshed  oiit  on  a  sheet  in  the  wind.  An  epidemic  of  a  fearful  nature  pre- 
vailed in  1842,  and  carried  off  many  persons.  The  patient  would  be  taken 
with  something  like  the  ague,  after  which  a  peculiar  fever  would  set  in,  when 
death  would  shortly  ensue.     It  baffled  the  skill  of  some  of  the  best  physicians. 


492  HISTORY  OF  rORTAGE  COUN'IY. 

Mr.  Pike,  the  oldest   man  in  the  township,  now  ninety-one  years,  was  in  the 
war  of  1812.      Capt.  Mills  commanded  a  company  at  the  battle  of  Mackinaw 
under  Col.  Croghatt.     He  was  the  first  militia  Captain,  also. 

The  township  was  organized  in  September,  1817,  and  named  Nelson. 
The  first  Justices  of  the  Peace  elected  were  Daniel  Stow  and  Elisha  Taylor, 
Jr.,  the  latter  declining  to  serve.  One  of  the  first  cases  was  Delaan  Mills 
vs.  James  Knowlton,  action  to  recover  the  price  of  a  bear.  Mills  had  a  bear 
trap,  Knowlton  baited  it,  caught  a  bear  and  took  it  home.  Mills  claimed  the 
bear,  as  it  was  caught  in  his  trap.  Judgment,  25  cents,  awarded  Mills  for 
the  use  of  trap;  plaintiff  and  defendant  to  divide  costs. 

Before  the  township  was  regularly  organized,  and  while  Benjamin  Stow 
was  Magistrate,  Thomas  Kennedy  and  Wareham  Loomis  got  into  a  fight,  and 
the  one  who  was  whipped  had  the  other  arrested.  When  the  case  came  up  for 
trial,  the  prosecuting  witness,  defendant  and  spectators  were  all  greatly  sur- 
prised at  the  decision  of  the  Judge.  He  fined  both  parties  $5  apiece,  and 
made  each  pay  half  the  costs.  Being  remonstrated  with  by  a  fi'iend  of  the 
prosecuting  witness  at  the  apparent  irregularity  of  the  proceeding — that  it 
was  not  law — he  replied,  "  I  am  Chief  Justice  of  this  domain,  and  am  here  to 
deal  ont  justice;  I  don't  care  a  fig  for  the  law." 

Another  case,  showing  that  in  those  early  times  justice,  rather  than  the 
strict  technicalities  of  the  law,  prevailed,  occurred  during  the  time  Capt.  Mills 
had  his  tavern.  The  accommodating  Captain,  as  has  been  stated,  sold  whisky, 
but  he  forgot  to  get  out  a  license.  He  was  arraigned  before  the  Trumbull 
County  Court  for  selling  liquor  without  a  license,  and  plead  guilty  to  the 
charge.  Judge  Kirtland,  who  had  often  been  refreshed  at  the  hostelry  of 
Mills,  remarked  to  Judge  Pease  that  he  did  not  think  the  defendant  guilty 
within  the  meaning  of  the  statute,  whereupon  Pease  asked  Mills  if  he  could 
not  change  his  plea.  |  "  May  it  please  the  Court,  your  Honor,  I  am  not  guilty," 
promptly  replied  the  accommodating  Captain,  and  he  was  as  promptly  dis- 
charged. 

Many  stories  have  not  only  been  told  orally,  but  have  found  their  way  into 
print,  about  Capt.  Delaun  Mills  and  the  Indians;  they  have  been  added 
to  from  time  to  time  so  abundantly  that  one  would  be  led  to  believe  that  the 
exclusive  business  of  the  redoubtable  Captain  was  to  hunt  and  kill  Indians. 
According  to  some  authorities  he  would  shoot  a  couple  of  redskins  and  throw 
them  on  his  burning  log-pile,  just  as  be  would  perform  any  other  ordinary 
work;  then  he  pursues  a  party  of  them  into  a  swamp  and  dispatches  half  a 
dozen  or  so,  before  breakfast;  again,  he  would  kill  one,  put  him  under  the 
upturned  root  of  a  tree,  cut  the  top  of  the  tree  off,  and  let  the  balance  fly 
back  and  thus  effectually  bury  the  brave;  or  again,  he  would  stick  the  carcass 
of  one  of  his  wily  foes  into  a  spring,  and  ram  and  jam  it  down  with  his  rifle. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  extraordinary  bravery  of  this  pioneer,  no  doubt 
about  his  skill  with  the  rifle,  and  no  doubt  about  his  hatred  of  the  red  sav- 
ages, but  ho  was  a  humane  man,  with  a  loving  wife  and  a  number  of  children 
at  his  fireside,  which  prevented  his  being  an  Indian-slayer  by  profession,  as 
a  man  of  his  good  common  sense  would  know  that  such  careers  are  short. 
Notwithstanding  the  many  accounts  of  his  deeds  of  blood,  the  only  really 
authentic  one  is  that  written  by  his  son  Urial,  of  Salem,  111.,  who  in  a  letter 
dated  August  22,  1879,  states:  "About  1803  an  Indian  got  mad  at  my  father 
and  said  he  would  kill  him.  Father  was  in  the  habit  of  hunting  through  the 
fall.  One  day  in  crossing  the  trail  made  in  the  snow  the  day  before,  he  found 
the  track  of  an  Indian  following  him;  this  put  him  on  his  guard.  He  soon 
saw  the  Indian.      They  both  sheltered  themselves  behind  trees.     Father  put 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  493 

his  hatou  his  gun  stock  and  stuck  it  out  so  that  the  Indian  could  see  it.  The 
Indian  shot  a  hole  through  the  hat,  and  when  it  fell  he  ran  toward  father  with 
his  tomahawk  in  his  hand;  father  stepped  from  behind  the  tree,  shot  him  and 
buried  him.  He  told  my  mother  and  she  told  me.  About  the  same  time  the 
Indians  were  in  camp  near  the  cranberry -marsh,  afterward  owned  by  Benjamin 
Stow,  Asahel  Mills  was  hunting  cattle  and  came  past  their  camp;  an  Indian 
snapped  a  gun  at  him,  but  the  Indian's  squaw  took  the  gun  away  from  him. 
Asahel  came  home  badly  scared  and  told  his  story.  We  soon  saw  ten  Indians 
coming  painted  for  war.  They  came  into  the  house;  all  shook  hands  with 
father  but  the  last,  who  uttered  an  oath  and  seized  him  by  the  throat.  Father 
caught  him  by  the  shoulders,  jerked  him  oflf  the  floor,  and  swung  him  around. 
The  calves  of  his  legs  hit  the  sharp  leg  of  a  heavy  table;  he  then  dragged 
him  out  doors,  took  him  by  the  hair  and  pounded  his  head  on  a  big  rock  and 
left  him.  The  Indians  scarified  the  bruised  parts  by  cutting  the  skin  into 
strips  about  one  inch  wide;  they  then  tied  a  blanket  around  him,  put  a  pole 
through  the  blanket,  took  the  pole  on  their  shoulders  and  carried  him  to 
camp.  They  said  that  if  he  died  they  would  kill  father.  While  he  was  con- 
fined they  shot  Diver  of  Deerfield.  This  created  quite  an  excitement,  and  the 
Indians  all  left  for  Sandusky,  leaving  the  crippled  one  in  camp.  Some  time 
after,  when  father  was  away,  he  came  to  the  house  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening 
and  asked  if  he  could  stay.  Mother  told  him  he  could.  She  did  not  sleep 
any  that  night,  believing  he  had  come  to  kill  us.  In  the  morning  he  got  up, 
built  a  tire  and  cooked  his  breakfast  of  bear's  meat;  he  then  went  out  and 
soon  returned  with  the  hind-quarters  of  a  tine  bear  which  he  gave  to  mother, 
then  bade  her  good-by  and  left.  She  was  as  glad  to  see  him  go  as  any  visi- 
tor she  ever  had."  He  was  appointed  Captain  of  the  Big  Hunt  in  1818. 
Capt.  Mills  was  bitten  by  a  rattlesnake  in  the  summer  of  1812,  and  it  very 
nearly  ended  his  career.  Soon  after  being  bitten  the  blood  began  to  flow  from 
his  nose  and  eyes,  and  he  became  partially  paralyzed.  The  usual  remedy, 
filling  the  patient  with  whisky,  saved  him,  but  he  always  felt  the  effects  of  the 
terrible  virus.     He  died  April  20,  1824. 

The  township  is  strictly  agricultural,  and  cheese  making  is  one  of  the 
principal  industries.  The  country  is  rolling  throughout  its  whole  extent,  but 
the  land  is  excellent.  Considerable  fine  stock  is  raised  and  handled,  and  some 
sheep  and  their  product  marketed.  Originally  the  entire  face  of  the  country 
was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  the  finest  timber,  and  game  being  plenti- 
ful it  was  really  one  of  the  best  hunting-gi'ounds  for  the  Indians,  and  some 
of  the  Avell-known  chiefs  often  hunted  here.  Big  Cayuga,  Snip  Nose  Cay- 
uga, both  of  whom  Capt.  Mills  is  said  to  have  killed,  Seneca,  Nickshaw  and 
John  IMohawk,  who  shot  Diver,  were  among  the  more  noted.  White  hunters, 
also,  more  skilled  with  the  rifle  than  the  Indians,  stalked  those  old  woods,  and 
many  an  adventure  with  bears  and  wolves  is  told  of  the  grandfathers  and 
fathers  of  the  present  inhabitants. 

A  beautiful  monument  stands  in  the  square  at  the  Center,  erected  to  the 
memory  of  the  brave  boys  who  so  nobly  laid  their  lives  down  on  the  altar 
of  their  country,  and  it  is  an  honor  to  the  patriotic  citizens  who  thus  remem- 
ber the  martyrs  who  died  that  they  might  enjoy  the  benefits  and  glory  of  an 
undivided  country.  It  cost  $1,225,  and  was  made  at  Ravenna.  Nelson  fur- 
nished 109  soldiers;  twenty  died  and  eight  were  disabled. 

The  township  is  well  watered  with  several  small  streams,  and  an  excellent 
market  and  shipping  point  is  afforded  in  Garrettsville. 

There  are  eight  good  schoolhouses  in  the  township,  besides  a  fine  academy 
at  the    Center;  also  one    Congregational    Church,  Rev.   Fowler,   pastor;  one 


494  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Eev.  E.  B.  Wilson,  pastor,  and  a  small  church 
in  southeast  corner  of  township. 

Three  cheese  factories  are  nearly  all  the  time  in  operation.  There  are 
two  general  stores,  one  blacksmith  shop  and  postoffice  at  the  Center,  S.  M. 
Alger,  Postmaster. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees,  A.  J.  Paine,  A.  F.  Hannah,  Edwin  Taylor; 
Clerk,  W.  W.  McCall;  Treasurer,  William  J.  Fuller;  Assessor,  Charles  Allen; 
Constables,  Leon  Bancroft,  Benjamin  Paine;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  L.  S. 
Nicholson,  Benjamin  Knowlton. 

The  "  Ledges,"  as  they  are  called,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township, 
have  always  been  a  noted  place  of  report  for  pleasure-seekers  and  curiosity- 
hunters,  and  there  is  a  good  hotel  at  one  of  the  principal  points  of  interest 
for  their  accommodation.  This  singular  freak  of  nature  is  attributed  to  vari- 
ous causes,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  their  being  the  result  of  some  terrific 
internal  upheaval,  when  the  fierce  volcanic  fires  burst  forth,  and  possibly  shot 
out  through  the  crevices  that  now  appear  in  all  directions,  but  which  through 
the  lapse  of  unnumbered  ages  have  been  mostly  filled  with  rock  and  lava  debris, 
pulverized  in  after  ages  to  ordinary  soil  and  sand.  Curious  upheavals  of  this 
character  are  to  be  found  all  over  the  world,  but  they  generally  occur  on  mount- 
ain tops,  and  are  called  in  two  or  three  localities  '' the  devil's  back  bone." 
The  Nelson  Ledges  are  well  worth  a  visit. 

The  general  statistics  of  this  township  for  1884  are:  Acres  of  wheat,  607, 
bushels,  8,802;  bushels  of  rye,  88^from  7  acres;  of  buckwheat,  32  fi'om  3  acres; 
of  oats,  20,155  from  603  acres;  of  corn,  7,603  from  605  acres;  of  meadow, 
3,237  tons  of  hay  from  2,050  acres;  of  clover  hay,  209  tons  and  23  bushels 
of  seed  from  127  acres;  of  flax,  61  bushels  of  seed  from  5  acres;  of  potatoes, 
11,035  from  85  acres;  of  butter,  67,855  pounds  home-made;  of  cheese,  131,710 
pounds;  of  maple  sugar,  32,222  pounds,  and  7,361  gallons  of  syrup  from 
34,402  trees;  of  honey,  2,115  pounds  from  69  hives;  of  eggs,  23,862  dozens; 
of  apples,  10,605  bushels;  peaches,  995  bushels;  pears,  44  bushels;  cherries, 
6  bushels  from  370  acres  of  orchard;  pounds  of  wool,  11,074;  milch  cows, 
781;  stallions,  1;  dogs,  111;  animals  died  of  disease,  100  sheep,  11  cattle 
and  2  horses;  acres  cultivated,  4,228;  pasture,  7,339;  woodland,  2,621;  waste, 
108;  total,  14,296  acres.  Population  in  1850  was  1,383,  including  561  youth; 
in  1870,  1,355;  in  1880,  890;  in  1884  (estimated),  950. 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  495 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP. 

The  Vanguard— Pioneer  Daniels— Capt.  Baldwin,  Truman  Gilbert,  Arte- 
Mus  RuGGLES— The  Great  Trail— A  Noted  Character— Pioneer  Den- 
tistry—A Famous  Trapper— An  Irate  F.  F.  Y.— "Moses  Jabe"  Gil- 
bert, THE  Contractor  —  Numerous  First  Events  —  Preacher  and 
Churches— Schools  and  Teachers— Organization— Palmyra  Center- 
Diamond— Coal   Banks— Business,  Societies  and  Statistics. 

PALMYRA  is  one  of  the  townships  that  received  its  first  settler  in  June, 
1799,  there  being  three  others,  Ravenna,  Aurora  and  Atwater,  with  Deerfield 
following  in  July.  It  was  known  in  the  original  surveys  simply  as  Town  2, 
Range  6,  and  in  the  general  drawing  of  the  shares  of  the  Connecticut  Land 
Company  fell  to  the  lot  of  Elijah,  Homer,  and  David  E.  Boardman,  Elijah 
Wadsworth,  Jonathan  Giddings,  Zephaniah  Briggs,  Stanley  Griswold  and 
Roderick  Wolcott.  The  Boardmans  were  brothers,  Elijah  being  the  princi- 
pal owner  of  the  township.  He  was  one  of  the  surveying  party  that  came  to 
the  township  in  1797  with  Amzi  Atwater  and  Wareham  Shepherd. 

David  Daniels,  the  leader  in  the  vanguard  of  the  little  band  of  soldiers  of 
civilization  who  settled  and  helped  make  habitable  this  tine  township  of  Pal- 
myra, arrived  on  the  scene  of  action  June  4,  1799,  and  settling  on  Lot  21,  one 
mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  Center.  This  hardy  pioneer  was  born  in  Grat- 
ton,  Conn.,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  daring  and  determination  in  venturing  into 
a  country  that  had  hardly  felt  the  tread  of  a  white  man,  and  when  everything 
was  as  wild  as  nature  had  originally  formed  it,  was  given  100  acres  of  land 
by  the  proprietors.  Soon  after  he  had  made  a  small  clearing  and  thrown 
together  a  rude  cabin,  he  put  out  an  acre  and  a  half  of  wheat,  which  he  cut 
the  following  season,  and  carried  one  bushel  of  the  grain  on  his  back  to 
Poland,  thirty  miles  distant,  had  it  ground  and  brought  it  back.  His  wife 
was  Lucinda  Meigs,  cousin  of  Gov.  Meigs,  of  Ohio.  Daniels  died  July 
13,  1813,  highly  respected  by  all,  and  much  honored  as  the  first  Justice  of 
the  Peace  of  the  township.  He  had  also  been  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary Army.  His  widow  survived  him  till  1849,  having  lived  to  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-three  years.  They  had  six  children:  Electa,  Frederick,  Horace, 
Orville,  Harvey  W.  and  Almira.  The  first  two  were  born  in  Connecticut,  the 
third  in  Mahoning  County,  and  the  last  three  in  Palmyra. 

Shortly  after  Daniels  made  his  clearing,  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year, 
Ethelbert  Baker  came  in  and  settled  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  Center, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  but  after  a  few  years  sold  out  to  John  Tuttle, 
who  came  in  1805.  The  next  spring,  1800,  William  Bacon  came  in  and  set- 
tled one  mile  and  a  quarter  south  of  the  Center.  In  1802  Baker  and  Bacon 
brought  out  their  families,  and  at  the  same  time  came  E.  Cutler,  who  had 
married  a  daughter  of  Nehemiah  Bacon,  and  located  two  miles  south  of  the 
Center.  In  1803  Baker  cleared  a  piece  of  land  on  the  southeast  corner  at 
the  Center,  which  was  the  first  improvement  in  that  locality. 

In  1804  James  McKelvey  came  from  Pennsylvania.  Amasa  Preston  and 
several   others   came  during  this  year.     Amasa  Preston  was   a    great   snake 


496  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

hunter,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  hereditary  ambition,  as  his  mother,  it  is  said, 
eve  a  after  she  got  too  old  to  see  them,  used  to  hunt  the  "  varmints  "  down  on 
all  occasions.  There  was  an  immense  den  of  yellow  "  rattlers"  at  the  "  Ledge," 
in  the  western  part  of  the  township,  and  much  sport  was  had  and  a  great 
deal  of  satisfaction  afforded  in  getting  rid  of  the  dangerous  reptiles. 

In  1805  many  immigrants  from  Connecticut  arrived,  among  whom  were  several 
families  who  became  prominent  in  after  years,  and  whose  descendants  are 
to-day  the  leading  people  of  the  township.  David  Waller,  Silas  Waller,  Asa- 
hel  Waller  and  John  Tuttle,  Jr. ,  came  in.  The  Wallers  began  making  improve- 
ments on  the  southeast  corner  at  the  Center,  and  put  up  a  log-house  there. 
The  same  year  they  cleared  a  piece  of  land  half  a  mile  north  of  the  Center. 
David  Waller  brought  a  number  of  fruit  trees  from  Deeriield  on  his  back  and  set 
them  out,  which  was  the  starting  of  the  old  orchard  that  afterward  afforded  such 
fine  fruit.  He  afterward  cleared  and  lived  on  one  or  two  other  places,  but 
finally  lost  all  his  property  by  having  too  much  confidence  in  depraved  human 
nature.  He  could  never  refuse  going  upon  the  bond  or  note  of  friends,  and 
so  lost  all  by  their  ungratefulness  or  inability  to  pay.  He  died  in  1840.  Asa- 
hel  Waller  lived  only  seven  years  after  he  settled  here,  dying  in  the  great 
epidemic  that  prevailed  in  1812.  This  visitation  was  in  the  form  of  a  very 
malignant  fever,  and  was  so  virulent  as  to  bafHe  the  skill  of  the  physicians 
in  nearly  every  case.      Silas  Waller  died  in  Poland. 

In  this  year,  1805,  also  came  Capt.  John  T.  Baldwin  from  Warren,  Litch- 
field Co.,  Conn.,  bringing  his  wife  and  three  sons,  Alva,  John  and  Tibbals. 
They  arrived  July  7,  and  their  wagon  was  the  second  that  came  through  by 
the  "  Old  Palmyra  Eoad,"  there  being  at  the  time  not  a  single  house  between 
Canfield  and  Campbellsport.  They  camped  at  what  is  now  the  Square  at  the 
Center,  along  side  of  a  post  that  had  been  erected  to  designate  where  the  Cen- 
ter was.  They  then  moved  into  a  small  log-house  that  had  been  built  by  Ba- 
ker, where  they  lived  two  months,  when  they  moved  to  the  farm  where  his  son, 
Squire  Alva  Baldwin,  now  lives.  Two  years  afterward  the  Captain  opened  a 
tavern,  and  in  1825  moved  to  Toledo,  where  he  died.  He  and  David  Waller 
brought  the  first  load  of  salt  from  Cleveland,  the  trip  occupying  five  days,  but 
the  salt  was  worth  $20  per  barrel,  which  paid  them  a  handsome  profit,  having 
cost  them  about  $12.  The  old  gentleman  was  a  kind  and  generous  man,  and 
had  a  fund  of  wit  and  humor  that  always  made  his  tavern  a  great  place  of 
resort.  Many  stories  are  told  of  his  playful  jokes,  one  of  which  is  how  he 
shaved  a  vain  young  fellow  who  had  no  beard,  with  the  back  of  a  razor,  having 
lathered  him  carefully,  and  the  primitive  "dude"  never  knew  any  better.  His 
son  Alva  still  occupies  the  old  homestead,  and  is  as  hearty  and  genial  an  old 
gentleman,  apparently,  as  his  father.  ^  He  is  now  eighty-nine  years  of  age,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  1795.  He  was  in  the  war  of  1812-14,  although  only  seven- 
teen or  eighteen  years  of  age.  His  father,  the  Captain,  served  with  Gen.  Har- 
rison in  the  position  of  Commissary,  which  gave  him  his  title.  There  is  a 
rose  bush  in  the  front  yard  of  Squire  Alva  Baldwin's  residence  that  was  planted 
by  his  mother  in  1805,  and  it  still  blooms.  Capt.  Baldwin  was  one  of  the  first 
Commissioners  of  the  county.  John  Baldwin  was  for  many  years  a  steamboat 
Captain  on  the  lakes.  John  McArthur,  a  brother  of  the  wife  of  Capt.  Bald- 
win, came  in  at  the  time  the  Baldwins  did,  and  settled  on  a  piece  of  land  in 
the  southwest  portion  of  the  township.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
died  in  1818. 

In  1806  there  arrived  from  Litchfield,  Conn.,  Truman  Gilbert,  Sr.,  his 
wife,  seven  sons  and  one  daughter:  Charles,  Truman,  Jr.,  Lyman,  Mar- 
vin,   Dr.    Ezra,    Walter,  Champion  and  Rebecca,   the    latter  being  now  the 


c 


,vV   ^^' 


C^^^-5^    t//     d^$U/^t^>^5^ 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  501 

widow  of  Ebenezer  Buckley,  and  is  eighty-five  years  of  age,  remarkably  well 
preserved  in  mind  and  health,  and  as  genial,  social,  kind-hearted  and  even 
jolly,  as,  possibly,  she  was  half  a  century  ago.  Her  husband  was  in  the  war 
of  1812,  and  the  old  lady,  some  years  ago,  had  a  pension  almost  forced  upon 
her.  She  retains  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  past,  and  can  tell  as  good  a  snake 
story  as  any  of  her  neighbors,  for  she  lives  not  far  from  the  "Ledge,"  and  has 
seen  many  of  the  old-time  yellow  reptiles.  Charles  Gilbert,  the  eldest  son, 
had  a  family  of  nine,  and  forty-five  years  elapsed  before  a  single  death 
occurred  among  them,  a  remarkable  instance,  and  a  fact  tolerably  discouraging 
to  any  undertaker  to  settle  among  such  undying  families.  There  is  an  apple 
tree  on  the  place  of  Warner  Gilbert  that  was  planted  in  1806.  When  Truman 
Gilbert  was  raising  his  house  in  1806,  and  was  being  assisted  by  the  neighbors, 
as  usual,  and  some  Indians,  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  occurred,  which  badly 
frightened  the  latter.  They  left  the  work,  got  out  their  bows  and  arrows  and 
began  firing  their  arrows  up  into  the  heavens  in  the  direction  of  the  slowly 
darkening  sun,  to  scare  off  the  evil  spirit. 

In  this  year,  1806,  also  came  Noah  Smith,  from  Connecticut,  who  brought 
with  him  a  colored  girl,  but  the  following  year  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
passed  a  law  making  it  a  penal  offence  to  bring  a  negro  into  the  State,  where- 
upon the  vigilant  Trustees  of  the  township  had  the  audacious  Smith  arrested, 
and  after  due  trial,  fined;  but  Smith  appealed  his  case  to  the  Common  Pleas 
Court,  which  reversed  the  decision  of  the  eminent  Judges  of  the  lower  tribu- 
nal, the  court  holding  that  laws  in  general,  and  this  law  in  particular,  under 
the  circumstances,  were  not  retroacting. 

The  great  Indian  trail  from  Fort  Mcintosh  on  the  Ohio  to  Sandusky  passed 
through  this  township,  and  it  was  along  this  trail,  just  north  of  the  Center, 
that  the  Indians  and  their  pursuers  went  after  the  shooting  of  Diver,  in  Deer- 
field.  Brady,  of  "Leap"  notoriety,  also  took  this  trail  in  his  excursions 
against  the  savages.  Nickshaw's  cabin  was  on  this  trail,  in  this  township,  not 
far  from  Baldwin's  and  near  a  spring. 

^;.  The  year  1807  brought  in  quite  a  number  of  settlers  to  different  parts  of 
the  township,  but  there  was  one  man  who  was,  possibly,  more  of  an  acquisi- 
tion in  a  utilitarian  sense,  than  any  who  had  preceded  him.  This  was  Artemus 
Ruggles,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  a  large-hearted,  sturdy,  honest,  coura- 
geous and  ready-witted  man,  whose  services  in  a  new  country  were  just  exactly 
what  were  needed  and  desired.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  as  the  say- 
ing goes,  could  make  almost  anything  out  of  iron,  besides  being  handy  in 
many  other  ways.  He  made  all  the  traps  for  all  this  section  of  country,  includ- 
ing two  or  three  townships,  and  literally  every  "bull  plow"  that  the  settlers 
used  for  years.  In  addition  to  his  many  other  useful  qualities,  he  combined 
that  of  dentistry  in  a  primitive  way.  Mr.  Alva  Baldwin  says  it  seemed  to  do 
Ruggles  good  to  get  an  opportunity  to  extract  a  tooth.  He  would  take 
hold  of  a  fine  large  molar  with  his  "turnikey, "  as  he  called  it,  give  the 
instrument  a  "yank,"  and  sit  down  and  laugh  at  the  suffering  patient,  holding , 
up  at  the  same  time  the  captured  tooth.  He  was  a  noted  trapper,  and  he  and 
his  sons  caught  numbers  of  wolves,  bears  and  small  game.  Being  a  strong, 
compact  and  active  man,  with  the  endurance  of  an  Indian,  very  few  could 
throw,  or  "out-do"  him,  and  very  few  ventured  to   try  it.     He  died  in  1854. 

This  same  year,  1807,  came  in  David  Gano,  a  Virginian,  from  Hampshire 
County,  and  settled  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  the  Center.  He  was  in 
character  somewhat  like  Ruggles,  sturdy  and  honest  and  as  hardy  as  he  was 
brave.  He  was  anything  but  a  quarrelsome  man,  and  his  motto  was,  "Never 
give  an  insult  nor  take  one. "     He  was  a  great  wolf  killer  and  bear  hunter, 


502  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

and  held  his  native  State  in  profound  reverence.  To  such  extent  was  he  sen- 
sitive on  this  latter  point  that  he  whipped  half  a  dozen  men  from  "  Jarse^'  " 
who  had  dared  to  speak  lightly  of  the  Old  Dominion.  He  lived  to  a  ripe  old 
age,  highly  respected  for  his  many  good  qualities. 

The  first  improvements  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Center  were  made 
by  James  Briggs,  who  came  in  1807.  In  1808  James  Boles,  from  Beaver 
County,  Penn.,  came  in  and  made  a  settlement  where  he  lived  till  1813,  when 
he  moved  to  Trumbull  County.  His  daughter  Kate  is  said  to  have  killed  a 
bear  in  a  fair  and  square  fight  with  an  ax,  the  wives  of  Ben  and  Gib  McDaniels 
acting  as  umpires.  In  ISl-l  Dr.  Ezra  Chaflfee  settled  in  the  township,  and 
kept  a  tavern  at  the  Center,  where  he  lived  till  1830,  then  moved  to  Paris. 
In  1811  came  Jemima  Palmer,  and  her  two  sons,  Jesse  and  Samuel.  One  of 
the  daughters  of  Samuel  died  of  fright.  As  she  and  her  father  and  others 
were  going  to  church,  some  young  cattle  jumped  suddenly  out  from  the 
bushes,  when  the  girl  fell  to  the  ground,  dead.  Zuhariac  Fisher  came  also  in 
this  year  from  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  large,  muscular  maa,  of  great 
strength  of  character.     He  died  in  1834,  leaving  a  large  family. 

Jabez  Gilbert,  a  man  who  was  noted  not  only  for  his  iron  will  and 
unflinching  determination,  but  for  his  seemingly  unlimited  resources  in 
accomplishing  anything  he  undertook,  came  in  1811.  He  was  a  bridge 
builder  as  well  as  mail  contractor  and  general  teamster.  He  built  nearly  all 
the  early  bridges  of  the  township,  and  hauled  all  the  steam  boilers  and 
machinery  for  steamboats  fi*om  Pittsburgh  to  Cleveland.  No  one  else  could  be 
obtained  who  had  the  courage  to  undertake  jobs  of  the  character  that  Jabez 
considered  only  ordinary  hauling.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  that  early 
time  roads  were  in  terribly  poor  condition,  where  they  existed  at  all,  and 
to  undertake  to  haul  by  ox-team  one  of  those  immense  boilers  was  no  child's 
play.  He  was  also  engaged  to  carry  the  mail  once  a  week  in  a  two-horse  coach 
from  Pittsburgh  to  Cleveland.  The  contract  was  afterward  raised  to  twice  a 
week  in  a  four-horse  coach,  then  to  three  times  a  week,  and  finally  a  daily 
line.  He  was  known  as  "Moses  Jabe,"  from  the  fact  that  he  swore  "by 
Moses,"  and  there  being  two  other  Jabes  among  the  Gilberts.  No  obstacles 
could  stop  this  old  contractor  from  delivering  his  mail  accoi'ding  to  specifica- 
tions, and  when  streams  were  swollen  he  would  take  the  mail  on  his  back,  with  an 
ax  in  hand,  and  go  through  "or  die  in  the  attempt,"  as  he  would  say.  His 
contract  was  finally  transferred  to  the  hands  of  others,  and  he  left  the  township. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  the  township  was  Emeline,  a  daughter  to  E. 
Cutler,  born  in  1802.  The  first  marriage  took  place  in  1805,  and  Benjamin 
McDaniels  and  Betsey  Stevens  joined  their  fortunes  with  the  assistance  of 
Squire  Lewis  Day,  of  Deerfield.  In  this  year  occurred  the  first  two  deaths.  A 
son  of  John  Tuttle,  Sr.,  went  down  into  a  well  to  recover  a  cup  that  had  fallen 
in,  when  he  was  overpowered  by  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  died  before  he  could  be 
brought  to  the  surface.  David  Waller  lost  a  child  in  August.  E.  Cutler  was  the 
first  blacksmith,  and  opened  shop  in  1802  two  miles  south  of  the  Center.  The 
first  frame  house  was  built  in  1807  by  David  Daniels;  in  the  same  year  the 
first  tavern  was  opened  by  Capt.  Baldwin  at  the  Center,  and  the  first  postofiice 
established,  with  David  Waller  as  Postmaster.  The  first  distillery  was  started 
in  1808  by  John  Tuttle,  and  William  McKibbey,  a  brother  of  James,  officiated 
as  distiller,  and  here  they  turned  out  a  fine  brand  of  primitive  "  tangle- foot. " 
The  first  tannery  was  established  in  1810  by  Parrott  Hadley,  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  Center.  The  first  physician.  Dr.  Ezra  Chaffee,  came  in  1810. 
The  first  stock  of  goods  opened  in  the  township  was  brought  by  Walker  Can- 
field  and  David  Waller,  who  occupied  a  building  on  the   southeast  corner  of 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  503 

the  Center,  in  1813.  Joseph  Tuttle,  in  1820,  built  the  first  house  on  the 
southwest  corner,  and  in  1824  the  first  frame  building  was  put  up  at  the 
Center,  by  a  man  with  the  honored  name  of  "William  Shakespeare.  The  first 
saw-mill  was  built  in  this  same  year  by  Parker  Calvin,  and  a  grist-mill  was 
afterward  added  to  it,  in  ]828,  by  Henry  Kibler,  who  was  then  owner.  An 
ashery  was  operated  ab  an  early  day  by  Jabez  and  Ezra  Gilbert  near  the 
Center,  and  another  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  township  by  Horace  Hol- 
lister. 

One  of  the  first  preachers  to  expound  the  Word  of  God  to  the  settlers  in 
Palmyra  was  Rev.  Shewell,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  circuit  rider,  who, 
although  a  man  of  no  extraordinary  culture,  yet  had  those  qualities  that  amply 
make  up  for  any  lack  of  scholastic  attainments.  He  was  a  man  of  exemplary 
piety,  honest  and  earnest  in  all  his  works,  and  who  left  an  impress  for  good 
wherever  he  went.  He  was  very  zealous,  sometimes  terribly  emphatic  in  his 
gesticulation,  bringing  his  fist  down  upon  the  Bible  at  eveiy  word  with  a  force 
that  would  make  everything  around  rattle.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  he 
told  the  people  who  were  listening  to  him  that  if  they  did  not  repent  they 
"could  go  to  hell  and  be  damned!"  Several  other  early  ministers  preached 
occasionally,  but  it  was  not  till  October  10,  1813,  that  a  church  was  organ- 
ized. At  that  date  Rev.  Nathan  Darrow,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  formed  into 
a  congregation  Noah  and  Hannah  Smith,  Jemima,  Jesse  and  Samuel  Palmer. 
In  1818  another  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  Andrew  Clarke,  a  Baptist  min- 
ister of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  members  were  William  Brown  and  wife,  Ben- 
jamin McDaniels  and  wife,  George  Pownell  and  wife,  and  Abigail  Tuttle. 

The  Welsh  Regular  Baptist  Church  at  Palmyra  was  reorganized  May  23, 
1862,  when  W.  W.  Davis,  Morgan  Reese  and  James  Davis  were  elected  Trust- 
ees; Shadrach  James  was  elected  Clerk.  The  location  of  the  church  was 
known  as  Soar,  but  commonly  called  Stone  Chapel. 

The  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  society  met  at  Deerfield  June  7, 
1879,  when  Daniel  Collins,  Hiram  G.  Spooner,  T.  W.  Edwards,  Otis  Davis 
and  Enoch  Morgan  were  elected  Trustees. 

The  first  school  is  said  to  have  been  taught  by  Miss  Betsey  Diver,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  Diver,  and  the  first  schoolhouse  was  located  in  the  south  part  of 
the  township.  Another  very  early  teacher  was  Sophia  Hubbard.  Another  was 
John  Barr,  who  taught  the  first  school  at  the  Center.  Nathan  Boice,  or  Boys, 
Mattie  Ruggles  and  Lewis  Ely  were  also  teachers.  The  statistics  of  the 
schools  of  this  township  are  given  as  follows: 

Palmyra  Township  Schools. — Revenue  in  1884,  $3,767;  expenditures, 
^2,916;  7  schoolhouses  valued  at  $7,000;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $32  and 
$26;  enrollment,  132  boys  and  151  girls. 

Palmyra  Special  District. — Revenue  in  1884,  $1,454;  expenditures,  $851; 
1  school-building  valued  at  $3,000;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $27  and  $45; 
enrollment,  55  boys  and  55  girls. 

March  6,  1810,  the  County  Commissioners  issued  an  order  setting  off  from 
Deerfield  Township,  Towns  2  and  3,  with  the  name  of  Palmyra,  and  on 
April  2,  1810,  the  first  election  was  held,  resulting  in  the  selection  of  the  fol- 
lowing officers,  in  part:  Amos  Thurber,  William  Bacon,  David  Calvin,  Trust- 
ees; David  Waller,  Clerk;  David  Daniels,  Treasurer;  Silas  Waller,  Appraiser; 
Jabez  Gilbert,  John  Mc Arthur,  Overseers;  Charles  Gilbert,  Constable;  James 
McKelvey,  Lister;  Truman  Gilbert,  J.  T.  Baldwin,  Fence  Viewers;  John 
Stevens,  Zebulon  AValker,  Artemus  Ruggles,  Gibson  McDaniels,  Supervisors. 
May  21,  1810,  David  Daniels  and  Joseph  Fisher  were  elected  Justices  of  the 
Peace. 


504  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Palmyra  Center. — General  stores,  Carson  &  Diver,  W.  W.  Bigelow,  W.  B. 
Wilson;  drag  store,  E.  M.  Evans;  carriage  and  wagon-shop,  Edgar  Tuttle; 
undertaker,  David  C.  Davis;  saddle  and  harness,  John  Humes,  Charles  Brown; 
hotel,  Bidlake  House,  Ira  Bidlake  &  Son;  shingle  factory  and  tow-mill,  D.  C. 
Davis;  steam  saw-mill,  W.  E.  Steveson;  three  blacksmith  shops;  three  saloons; 
two  sboe-shops;  one  milliner;  one  barber;  physicians,  Dr.  W.  G.  Smith,  Dr. 
L.  C.  Rose,  Dr.  B.  B.  Davis;  veterinary  surgeon.  Dr.  William  Davis. 

Diamo/id. —General  store,  O.  B.  Mason;  hardware,  Johnson  &  Shively; 
drug  and  grocery,  Rose  &  Carson;  shoe  store,  Ralph  Stevens;  lumber  yard, 
O.  B.  Mason;  hotel,  Harris  House;  Postmaster,  O.  B.  Mason;  physician. 
Dr.  William  Jenkins;  Palmyra  Coal  Company,  W.  B.  Wilson,  manager, 
one  shaft  open;  Black  Diamond  Coal  Company,  proprietor,  Samuel  Kim- 
berly,  one  shaft  open;  Scott  Coal  Company,  proprietor,  Enoch  Filer,  one  shaft 
open;  Hutson  Coal  Company,  proprietor,  H.  D.  Hutson,  one  shaft  open.  Com- 
bined output  of  the  four  shafts  about  550  tons  per  day.  It  ranks  with  the 
well-known  Briar  Hill  coal  and  was  first  operated  in  1865. 

At  the  Center  there  is  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Pastor,  Rev.  Joseph 
Gledhill;  Congregational  Church  (Welsh),  Rev.  John  J.  Jenkins;  Baptist 
Church  (Welsh),  Pastor,  Rev.  Edward  Jenkins;  Welsh  Methodist  Church, 
Pastor,  Rev.  David  Evans.  Also,  a  Disciples  Church,  one  and  a  half  miles 
northwest  of  the  Center,  Pastor,  Rev.  Linas  Rogers.  At  the  Center  there  is  a 
fine  graded  school  with  good  attendance,  and  seven  other  schools  in  the  town- 
ship. 

A.  F.  &  A.  M.— Charity  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  No.  530,  was  chartered  in 
1883.  Acting  W.  M.,  Del  Ray  Thomas;  S.  W.,  Del  Ray  Thomas:  J.  W., 
Charles  Merwin;  Secretary,  W.  D.  Edwards;  Treasurer,  D.  D.  Carson;  mem- 
bership, thirty. 

K.  of  P. — Diamond  Lodge,  K.  of  P.,  No.  136,  was  organized  Januarv  26, 
1882.  P.  C.  C,  David  Joseph;  C.  C,  Stephen  Davis;  V.  C.  C,  William 
Barkley;  Prelate,  Arthur  Johns;  M.  A.,  Richard  Davis;  M.  E.,  James  Jones; 
M.  F.,^B.  J.  Morris;  K.  R.  S.,  J.  C.  Buckley;  L  G.,  Richard  Wells;  O.  G., 
Davis;  membership  sixty-eight. 

For  over  fifty  years  thei-e  has  been  held  annually  what  is  termed  the  Welsh 
Horse  Fair,  at  which  ai'e  exhibited  on  the  first  Monday  in  May  fine  horses  of 
all  kinds.  It  is  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  affording  an  opportunity  to  buy- 
ers and  sellers,  as  for  show.  There  are  usually  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  finest 
stallions  on  exhibition. 

Palmyra  Agricultural  Fair  is  held  for  two  days  in  the  fall.  The  present 
officers  are:  President,  Isaac  Tuttle;  Vice-President,  D.  D.  Carson;  Secretary, 
S.  A.  Church;  Treasurer,  Jacob  Scott. 

A  good  deal  of  fine  stock  is  raised  in  the  township,  and  the  land  is  highly 
productive,  though  hilly  in  some  portions.  The  Welsh,  who  form  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population,  are  generally  a  frugal  and  industrious  class  of 
citizens.  Palmyra  furnished  thirty-seven  soldiers  for  the  Union  in  the  late 
war,  eleven  of  whom  fell  in  the  service.  The  Cleveland,  Youngstown  &  Pitts- 
burgh Railroad  touches  at  Diamond. 

The  general  statistics  of  this  division  of  the  county  for  1884  are:  Acres  of 
wheat,  857.  bushels  10,-481;  no  rye;  of  oats  375  acres,  16,478  bushels;  3  bushels 
of  barley:  180  acres  of  corn  produced  1,857  bushels;  2,404  acres  of  meadow  gave 
2,942  tons  of  hay;  45  acres  of  clover  yielded  67  tons  of  hay  and  8  bushels  of 
seed;  4  acres  of  flax  gave  32  bushels  of  seed;  15  acres  of  potatoes  produced 
2,221  bushels;  home-made  butter,  24, 118  pounds;  9,335  maple  trees  yielded 
1,521  pounds  of  sugar  and  2,498  gallons  of  syrup;   26  hives  produced  440 


PARIS  TOWNSHIP.  505 

pounds  of  honey;  dozens  of  eggs,  2,298;  301  acres  of  orchard  produced  1,073 
bushels  of  apples;  pounds  of  wool,  25,476;  milch  cows,  333;  stallion,  1;  dogs, 
106;  killed,  17  sheep;  died  of  disease,  5  hogs,  39  sheep,  7  cattle  and  6  horses; 
acres  cultivated,  1,913;  pasture,  8,756;  woodland,  2,782;  total  13,451  acres. 
Population  in  1850  was  1,093,  including  642  youth;  in  1870,  848,  in  1880, 
1,105;  in  1884  (estimated),  1,300. 

The  number  of  bushels  of  coal  mined  in  1883  was  1,081,101,  valued  at 
$91,419.  During  the  year  ending  May,  1880,  there  were  only  471,200  bush- 
els mined  by  sixty-six  men,  valued  at  $37,780. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 
PARIS   TOWNSHIP. 


Good  Land  with  a  Bad  Xame— Slow  Settlement— Organization— Ciicrches 
AND   Schools  —  Some  First   Events  —  Notable    Happenings  — McClin- 

TOCKSBURG  AND  NEWPORT— OFFICERS,   BUSINESS,  RESOURCES   AND  STATISTICS. 

PARIS  was  originally  the  property  of  Lemuel  Gr.  Storrs,  Henry  Champion, 
Grideou  Granger  and  Thomas  Bull,  members  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Com- 
pany, and  is  Town  3,  Range  6,  of  the  surveys.  Up  to  1810  it  was  a  portion  of 
Deerfield,  but  at  that  time  it  was  placed  with  Palmyra  and  formed  a  portion  of 
that  township,  so  remaining  till  1820,  when  Paris  cut  adrift  and  has  since  been 
sailing  along  smoothly  on  the  sea  of  progress  without  her  convoy. 

For  many  years  before  the  truth  was  ascertained,  Paris,  or  rather  Storrsboro, 
as  it  was  formerly  called,  had  a  wretched  reputation,  and  a  passage  over  it  was 
avoided  by  persons  ignorant  of  the  real  state  of  affairs,  in  many  instances  set- 
tlers to  other  portions  of  the  Reserve  going  many  miles  out  of  their  way  in  order 
to  give  the  "  swamps  "  of  Paris  a  wide  berth.  It  was  commonly  reported  and 
believed  by  many  that  the  entire  township  was  one  vast  mud-hole,  and  that  to  get 
into  it  was  sure  destruction  to  wagon  and  team.  As  the  country  is  level  and  the 
soil  chiefly  claj,  in  those  early  days,  when  scarcely  a  foot  had  trodden  the  soil, 
water  would  naturally  accumulate  in  the  lower  sections,  and  it  icoidd  get  muddy, 
the  mud  being  tolerably  deep  and  sticky,  too  ;  so  sticky  that,  as  an  old  settler 
remarked,  one  had  to  go  home  and  get  a  shovel  to  dig  himself  out  of  the  mud 
when  he  got  "  stalled."  He  meant  his  team,  possibly.  It  was  pretty  bad,  and  no 
mistake,  but  cultivation  and  drainage  have  made  it  second  to  none  on  the  Reserve 
as  grazing  land,  whilst  all  other  crops  are  produced  easily.  The  soil,  from  the 
very  fact  of  its  original  damp  nature,  is  excellent,  as  it  is  composed  in  part  of  clay 
and  the  residue  of  decayed  vegetable  matter. 

One  hardy  old  Pennsylvanian,  from  Woodbury,  Huntingdon  County,  ventured 
into  the  badly  abused  township,  bringing  his  family  and  settling  on  Lot  21,  on  the 
20th  of  June,  1811.  This  was  Richard  Hudson,  and  he  resided  where  he  settled 
till  his  death,  which  occurred  June  27,  1819,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  one 
month,  she  dying  May  28,  1819. 

The  old  couple  and  their  family  were  the  only  settlers  till  the  following  spring 
of  1812,  when  their  son-in-law,  John  Bridges,  arrived  and  built  a  house  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  Hudson.  The  next  year  John  Young  and  John  Cox,  with  their  fami- 
lies, came  in  from  Huntingdon  County,  Penn.,  and  located  on  Lot  13,  making  four 
families  in  two  years. 


506  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

In  April,  1815,  a  valuable  addition  was  made  to  the  little  settlement  by  the 
arrival  of  Chauncy  Hawley  and  William  Selby  and  their  families  from  Sanders- 
field,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  who  located  on  Lots  27  and  33.  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  came  Calvin  Holcomb  and  family  from  Granby,  Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  and  set- 
tled on  Lot  21. 

In  December,  1816,  Brainard  Selby,  Sr.,  Newton  Selby  and  wife,  Thomas  B. 
Selby  and  Austin  Wilson  arrived  from  Sandersfield,  Mass.  Brainard  Selby  took 
up  his  residence  with  his  son  William,  who  had  come  the  year  before.  Newton 
Selby  located  on  Lot  40,  and  Wilson  on  Lot  39. 

In  the  summer  of  1817  John  Smith  and  family  arrived  and  settled  on  Lot  27, 
and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  Justus  Wilson  and  famil}',  from  Sandersfield, 
Mass.,  and  Rufus  Smith  from  Whitestown,  N.  Y.,  came  in.  Wilson  stayed  with 
his  son,  Austin,  and  Smith  built  on  the  southwest  part  of  Lot  39. 

In  February,  1818,  Stephen  Bingham,  Sr.,  Stephen  Bingham,  Jr.,  and  John  W. 
Whiting  came  in  from  Whitestown,  N.  Y.,  with  their  families,  and  located  on  the 
northwest  part  of  Lot  34. 

A  petition  being  presented  to  the  County  Commissioners,  and  granted  in  the 
fall  of  1820,  for  a  separation  from  Palmyra  and  its  erection  into  a  township, 
Storrsboro  became  such  on  the  10th  of  November,  when  the  first  election  for 
oflScers  was  held.  Justus  Wilson,  Stephen  Bingham  and  William  Selb}'^  were  the 
Judges,  and  Rufus  Smith  and  Stephen  Bingham,  Jr.,  Clerks.  The  following  were 
the  oflScers  elected  :  Trustees,  Rufus  Smith,  Justus  Wilson,  John  Smith  ;  Clerk, 
Chene}'  V.  Senter  ;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  John  W.  Whiting,  Titus  Stanley  ; 
Fence  Viewers,  iVustin  Wilson,  Calvin  Holcomb,  Jr.  ;  Lister,  Bidwell  Pinney  ; 
Appraiser,  Newton  Selby  ;  Treasurer,  Stephen  Bingham,  Jr.;  Constables,  Chauncy 
Hawle}',  Luther  Wilson  ;  Supervisors  of  Highways,  Newton  Selby,  John 
Smith  ;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Stephen  Bingham,  Calvin  Holcomb.  At  this  elec- 
tion there  were  twenty-five  votes  polled,  and  the  name  of  the  township  was 
changed  to  Paris. 

Calvin  Holcomb  refused  to  accept  the  office  of  Justice  with  its  multiplicity  of 
duties  and  heavy  emoluments,  preferring  to  attend  to  his  farm,  and  Squire  Bing- 
ham, therefore,  had  it  all  his  own  way.  In  1822  a  suit  was  brought  for  assault 
and  battery  against  Samuel  Hudson  by  Jarvis  Holcomb. 

In  1817  a  religious  event  of  much  importance  for  that  early  day  occurred. 
Richard  Hudson,  who  was  a  Methodist,  in  connection  with  some  others  of  the  same 
denomination,  assisted  in  a  camp-meeting  held  upon  his  place.  Quite  a  large 
number  of  persons  were  present,  and  several  ministers  conducted  the  services.  It 
might  be  more  properly  termed  a  "  bush  meeting,"  as  they  are  called  in  some 
sections,  and  lasted  onl}'  a  couple  of  daj's. 

In  1835  the  first  church,  the  Welsh  Congregational,  was  organized  by  Rev. 
David  Jenkins,  and  consisted  of  the  following  persons  :  Richard  Morris,  Mary 
Morris,  Robert  Roberts,  Elizabeth  Roberts,  William  Probert,  Maria  Probert, 
Edward  Morris,  Ann  Morris,  John  Morris,  Mary  Williams  and  Widow  Probert.  The 
organization  has  remained  intact  ever  since,  and  the}^  now  have  a  tasteful  and 
commodious  church  edifice  at  the  Center,  which  has  been  erected  forty  years. 
The  congregation  is  large  and  composed  almost  entirely  of  Welsh,  the  services 
being  mostly  conducted  in  that  language.  There  is  a  fine  Sunday-school  also 
connected  with  the  church.  Rev.  David  Davis  has  been  pastor  for  over  thirty 
years.  Welsh  Independent  Congregational  Church  of  Paris  Township,  at  New- 
port, was  reorganized  and  elected  D.  N.  Evans,  John  Rees  andfSamuel  JonesNTrust- 
ees  February  8,  1 850.  ^  ^ 

There  is  a  Baptist  Church  with  a  large  Sunday-school,  of  which  Rev.  A.  J. 
Morton  is  pastor. 

At  McClintocksburg  there  was  formerl}'  a  LTnited  Brethren  Church,  but  with 
the  deca}-  of  that  embryo  city  it  disappeared  in  the  general  wreck,  and  now  there 
is  no  society  of  that  kind  in  the  township. 


PARIS  TOWNSHIP.  50T 

Of  the  early  ministers  who  preached  for  the  settlers  may  be  mentioned  Revs. 
Joseph  Treat,  Nathan  Darrow,  Congregational,  and  Revs.  Robert  Roberts  and 
Shadrach  Bostwick,  Methodist. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  township  was  at  the  house  of  Richard  Hudson 
in  the  summer  of  1819  by  Miss  Betsey  North.  It  was  entirely  a  private  school 
for  the  benefit  of  the  children  of  "  Uncle  "  Richard,  but  a  couple  of  the  boys  of 
Chaunc}"  Hawley  were  admitted.  The  first  public  school  was  taught  in  the  winter 
of  1819-20  by  Daniel  Leavitt,  of  Trumbull  County,  in  a  log-schoolhouse  erected 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  Lot  34.  It  commenced  with  twenty-five  scholars. 
The  present  condition  of  the  schools  is  shown  by  the  following  statistics  :  Revenue 
in  1884,  $2,669;  expenditure,  $1,447.48;  six  schoolhouses  valued  at  $3,600; 
average  pay  of  teachers  S30  and  $23  ;  enrollment,  eighty-four  boys  and  seventy- 
six  girls. 

In  1812  Richard  Hudson  set  out  the  first  orchard  in  the  township,  and  in  1814 
gathered  some  apples  from  it,  which  was  the  first  cultivated  fruit  grown  here.  In 
March,  1813,  William  Bradford,  of  Braceville,  Trumbull  Count}-,  married  Betsey 
Hudson,  daughter  of  •'  Uncle  "  Richard  Hudson,  and  Squire  John  McArthur  tied  the 
knot.  In  the  spring  of  1814  Mrs.  Susan  Cox,  wife  of  John  Cox,  died.  The  first 
child  born  in  the  township  was  Elijah  Hawle}-,  which  event  occurred  October  11, 
1815.  This  gentleman,  who  is  still  living,  was  the  fourth  son  of  Chaunc}'  Haw- 
ley, who  first  settled  with  William  Selby  on  Lot  33,  but  afterward  moved  to  Lot 
27,  where  he  lived  till  he  died  June  14,  1846.  His  son,  Elijah,  still  occupies  the 
homestead.  The  first  roads  established  through  the  township  were  laid  out  in 
June,  1817,  one  from  Palmyra,  and  one  from  Charlestown,  through  to  Newton 
Falls.  The  first  saw-mill  was  erected  by  Alexander  and  Titus  Stanle}',  on  the 
Mahoning  River,  near  where  the  road  crosses  it  at  McClintocksburg.  The  first 
frame  building,  a  barn,  was  erected  in  1819,  by  Calvin  Holcomb,  on  the  southern 
part  of  Lot  21,  and  the  first  frame  dwelling-house  was  erected  in  1823  by  Gains 
A.  H.  Case,  at  the  Center,  and  it  still  stands  there,  but  was  removed  from  its  orig- 
inal place  some  years  ago.  In  1827  William  Case  commenced  keeping  tavern  at 
the  Center,  but  he  died  the  following  year,  when  the  business  was  continued  by 
his  widow,  who,  in  1 832,  married  again.  "Aunt  Cretia,"  as  she  was  called,  was  a 
very  strong-minded  woman,  and  a  zealous  champion  of  G-en.  Jackson  and  Dem- 
ocracy. She  used  to  say  that,  "Although  my  husband  is  dead,  thank  God  he  lived 
to  vote  for  'Old  Hickory.'"  In  1828  a  postofflce  was  established  and  Thomas  B. 
Selby  appointed  Postmaster.  The  office  was  in  the  house  of  William  Selby,  on 
the  northeast  corner  of  Lot  33.  A  weekl}'  mail  was  run  to  Warren.  A  tannery 
was  operated  in  the  early  times  in  the  south  part  of  the  township  by  Patrick 
Davidson,  and  hats  were  manufactured  by  Chauncy  Hawle}'.  There  was  also  a 
chair  factory,  a  basket  and  pail  factory,  and  a  small  foundry  for  making  hand 
irons,  flat  irons,  etc. 

In  the  year  1831  John  Morgan,  of  Wales,  came  into  the  township,  purchased 
a  part  of  Lot  32,  and  erected  a  log-cabin.  From  this  humble  beginnrng  the 
countrymen  of  Morgan  have  come  in  from  time  to  time,  and  have  so  increased 
that  the  population  is  now  about  two-thirds  Welsh.  Through  the  inducements  of 
the  first  settler,  who  wrote  to  the  old  country  about  the  cheap  lands  in  Paris 
Township,  these  thrifty  people  have  come  and  gradually  drained  and  improved  the 
country  till  it  is  now  one  of  the  finest  grazing  spots  in  the  count}-.  There  is  not 
an  acre  that  cannot  be  cultivated,  and  whilst  wheat  does  not  do  very  well,  corn 
can  be  raised  in  abundance,  but  dairying  is  the  main  resource.  Some  of  the 
finest  cattle  are  raised  here.  The  people  are  noted  for  their  honesty,  industry, 
economy  and  religious  devotion. 

In  1835  a  man  named  McClintock  started  a  town  on  the  east  and  west  road 
near  the  crossing  of  the  Mahoning,  which  bid  fair  to  become  a  fine  little  town 
during  the  canal  days,  but  when  that  water-way  began  to  run  down  so  did  the 


508  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

town,  and  now,  in  these  post-canal  days,  desolation  reigns  supreme  in  McClintocks- 
burg. 

Newport  was  also  laid  out  on  the  canal  about  the  same  time  as  McClintocks- 
burg,  flourished  for  a  while  and  then  retrograded,  but  since  the  building  of  the 
Pittsburgh,  Cleveland  &  Toledo  Railroad,  in  the  bed  of  the  old  canal,  it  has  taken 
an  onward  move,  several  buildings  having  lately  gone  up,  and  a  store  is  about  to 
be  opened. 

In  this  year,  1835^  Isaac  Hopkins  came  from  Pittsburgh  and  opened  the  first 
store  at  the  Center,  ran  it  one  year,  and  then  sold  out  and  left.  In  1839  the  first 
grist-mill  was  erected  bj'  two  Englishmen,  tWilliam  Philpot/and  Philip  Price,  on 
Lot  24,  where  Newport  now  is.  ^ 

Townsliip  Officers. — Trustees,  H.  A.  Chapman,  Smith  Busey  ;  Clerk,  Joseph 
W.  Jones  ;  Treasurer,  Richard  Morris  ;  Assessor,  William  B.  Phillips  ;  Constables, 
John  A.  Evans,  T.  C.  George  ;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  \^Iichael  Jones,)  Edward 
Roberts. 

At  the  Center  there  is  a  general  store  kept  by  Samuel  Evans.  Miss  Winnie 
Morton  is  Postmistress.  There  is  a  cheese  factor}'  near  the  Center,  operated  by 
John  R.  Thomas. 

The  P.,  C.  <fc  T.  R.  R.  runs  across  the  township,  and  affords  shipping  facilities 
for  the  various  products.  Paris  will  be  found  to  possess  considerable  mineral 
resources  after  the  proper  development  has  been  effected.  Alread}^,  and  in  fact 
for  many  years  past,  fine  quarries  of  freestone  have  been  opened,  fui'nishing  an 
almost  unlimited  supply  of  material  for  building  and  flagging.  It  can  also  be 
used  for  grindstones.  The  township  is  well  watered  by  the  Mahoning  River  and 
its  tributaries.  Paris  furnished  forty-nine  soldiers  to  the  war  for  the  Union,  ten 
of  whom  lost  their  lives  in  the  service. 

The  present  statistics  of  Paris  Township  are  as  follows  :  Acres  of  wheat, 
659,  bushels,  7,658  ;  buckwheat,  11  acres,  bushels  30;  oats,  69-4  acres,  21,291 
bushels  ;  corn,  494  acres,  2,088  bushels  ;  meadow,  2,188  acres,  2,860  tons  of  hay  ; 
clover,  2  acres,  2  tons  of  hay  and  4  bushels  of  seed  ;  flax,  3  acres,  20  bushels  of 
seed  and  1,000  pounds  of  fiber  ;  potatoes,  16  acres,  839  bushels  ;  butter,  51,011 
pounds  ;  maple  sugar,  2,134  pounds  and  1,517  gallons  of  syrup  from  8.037  trees  ; 
375  pounds  honey  from  32  hives  ;  14,687  dozen  of  eggs  ;  5,057  bushels  of  apples, 

21  of  peaches  and  1  of  pears  from  209  acres  of  orchard  (1883)  ;  16,279  pounds 
of  wool  ;  598  milch  cows  ;  4  stallions  ;  88  dogs  ;    killed,  13  sheep,  and  injured, 

22  ;  died  of  disease,  11  hogs,  274  sheep,  24  cattle  and  8  horses  ;  acres  cultivated, 
4,223  ;  in  pasture,  6,806  ;  in  woodland,  2,339  ;  waste  land,  65  ;  total,  13,433 
acres.  Population  in  1850  was  1,019,  including  470  youth;  in  1870,  691;  in 
1880,  666;  in  1884  (estimated),  650. 


r-.^ 


^  -w  - -*.T-*,-- V     ^- 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  511 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP. 

FiKST  Two  Settlers— Bela  Hubbard  and  Salmon  Ward— The  Tide  Flows 
ON— Ward's  Four  Trips— Oliver  Dickinson— First  Deaths,  Births  and 
Marriages— Initial  Industries— A  Few  Early  Facts— Organization 
AND  Officers— Churches  and  Schools— Old  and  Xew  Incidents— The 
Hubbard  Squash— Randolph  Fair  —  Underground  Railroad— Soil, 
Streams  and  Statistics. 

RANDOLPH,  which  is  Town  1,  Range  8,  originally-  fell  to  the  lot  of  Col.  Lem- 
uel Storrs,  of  Connecticut,  Heniy  Champion  and  others.  Some  time  after 
the  drawing,  however,  Col.  Storrs  purchased  the  interests  of  the  other  holders  of 
the  lots  in  the  township,  and  became  sole  owner,  he  being  the  proprietor  of  con- 
siderable other  property  on  the  Reserve.  Storrs  was  in  eveiy  sense  a  self-made 
man,  having  been  born  of  humble  parentage,  but  he  had  that  within  him  which  to 
so  many  men  has  been  better  than  wealth — integrity,  perseverance  and  fine  bus- 
iness qualities. 

The  first  persons,  other  than  Indians,  to  enter  the  township  were  the  surve\-or, 
Amzi  Atwater,  and  his  assistant,  Wareham  Shephard.  They  came  to  run  "the 
lines  in  the  summer  of  1797,  and  camped  on  a  small  stream  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  township,  where  the}'  made  their  headquarters. 

Among  the  number  of  first  settlers  were  Bela  Hubbard,  Salmon  Ward  and 
others,  of  Middletown,  Conn.  The  two  named,  in  the  early  part  of  1797,  I'emoved 
from  their  native  State  to  Jefferson  Count}',  N.  Y.,  where  they  remained  till  1802, 
but  not  being  satisfied  with  their  first  location  started  for  New  Connecticut  in  the 
early  part  of  March,  that  year,  with  an  ox-team  and  a  cart  loaded  with  flour,  bacon, 
tools,  etc.,  and  landed  in  Randolph  about  the  last  da}-  of  the  month  named.  They 
halted  at  a  spot  about  half  a  mile  west  of  the  present  Center,  and  made  prepara- 
tions for  establishing  a  home.  The  first  night  they  encamped  under  a  large  tree 
that  stood  for  years  afterward,  it  being  held  sacred  as  the  abiding  place  of  the  first 
settlers.  Here  the  two  pioneers  made  a  small  clearing,  and  with  the  timber  thus 
cut  built  a  cabin,  finishing  it  the  day  after  their  arrival.  This  old  cabin  was  for 
inany  years  a  land-mark  where  it  stood,  but  A-enerable  things  must,  or  rather  do, 
give  way  before  the  chariot  of  progress.  The  day  after  finishing  their  cabin  Ward 
was  taken  sick,  and  when  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  travel  he  made  as  straight  a 
streak  for  the  East  as  circumstances  and  the  roads  would  permit,  having  had  quite 
enough  of  life  in  the  wilderness,  yet,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  retaining  a  hanker- 
ing after  the  fine  lands  of  Randolph.  Hubbard  continued  to  reside  where  he  set- 
tled for  many  years,  but  some  time  before  his  death  he  removed  to  Mogadore,  on 
the  Summit  side  of  that  duplex  village,  having  attained  a  very  advanced  ao-e. 
From  the  time  Ward  left  till  July,  about  six  weeks,  the  only  white  inhabitant  was 
Bela  Hubbard,  and  he  used  to  say  that  it  was  awful  lonesome  to  be  far  away  from 
any  habitation  of  his  fellow  man,  and  when  the  only  sounds  of  the  night  would 
be  the  howling  of  the  wolves,  the  hootings  of  the  owls  and  the  soughing  of  the 
winds  through  the  almost  interminable  forests.  Yet,  had  it  not  been  for  such 
heroic  men  and  their  heroic  wives,  what  would  this  beautiful  Western  country  now 
be? 

In  July  of  the  same  year  came  Arad  Upson  from  Atwater,  where  he  had  been 

27 


512  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

living  a  short  time,  he  having  gone  there  from  New  Durham,  N.  Y.,  but  originally 
came  from  Plymouth,  Conn.  At  the  same  time  came  Joseph  Harris,  afterward  a 
prominent  citizen  of  the  county.  He  came  direct  from  Middletown,  Conn.,  and 
settled  here,  but  removed  some  years  afterward  to  Medina  County.  Late  in  the 
summer  Salmon  Ward,  accompanied  by  Calvin  Ward  and  John  Ludington,  arrived 
in  the  township  after  a  journe}'  of  many  hardships,  having  been  on  the  ragged 
edge  of  starvation  several  days  before  reaching  the  county.  They  came  by  the 
lake  shore,  and  after  leaving  the  water  had  to  almost  cut  their  way  to  the  section 
they  had  in  view,  the}'  having  chosen  a  route  that  was  very  little  frequented. 
The  following  winter,  1802-03,  there  were  but  six  persons  in  the  township. 

Early  in  1803  Salmon  Ward  returned  to  New  York  and  brought  back  with  him 
his  elder  brother,  Josiah  Ward,  wife  and  six  children.  They  came  in  an  open  boat 
up  the  lake,  and  suffered  greatly  from  cold  and  man}'  privations.  During  the 
summer  Jehial  Savage  and  Timothy  Culver  came  in  from  Atwater,  where  they 
at  first  located.  Savage  was  from  Connecticut,  and  settled  on  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Lot  57.  He  had  a  wife  and  five  children.  Culver  soon  after  locating  went 
to  Canada  and  brought  out  his  brother  Daniel.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  our 
old  friend,  Salmon  Ward,  for  the  third  time  made  the  trip  to  New  York,  and 
brought  back  Aaron  Weston,  Levi  Davis  and  two  men  named  Carey  and  Smith, 
the  latter  two  coming  to  trade  with  the  Indians.  They  only  remained  through  the 
following  winter. 

In  the  spring  of  1804  Salmon  Ward  started  for  the  fourth  time  to  New  York, 
but  was  never  afterward  heard  from.  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  either  drowned 
in  the  lake,  having  no  papers  about  him  to  show  his  identity,  or  was  murdered. 
June  13,  of  the  same  year,  Ebenezer  Goss  left  Plymouth,  Conn.,  and  came  by  way 
of  Pittsburgh  to  Mahoning  Count}-,  arriving  at  Canfield  July  29,  having  been  forty- 
six  days  on  the  road.  From  there  he  went  to  Atwater,  and  in  November  came  ta 
Randolph.  He  brought  a  wife  and  four  children,  and  when  he  arrived  had  only  $1 
in  money.  In  December  Eliakim  Merriman,  from  Wallingford,  Conn.,  came  in. 
He  originally,  in  1802,  settled  in  Atwater,  removing  afterward  to  Suffield  and 
thence  to  Randolph. 

July  17,  1805,  Oliver  Dickinson  came  into  the  township  with  his  family 
and  purchased  the  improvements  made  by  Timothy  Culver.  Mr.  Dickinson 
came  from  East  Gi'anville,  Mass.,  and  was  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  early  set- 
tlers. •  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade  and  worked  at  first  in  the  shop  of  Ebenezer 
Goss,  who  had  set  up  business  shortly  after  coming.  There  were  now  six  families 
in  the  township,  but  a  number  of  unmarried  men  were  also  here.  During  this 
year  Isaac  Merriman,  from  Connecticut,  x\rchibald  Coon,  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
Abisha  Chapman,  son-in-law  of  Ebenezer  Goss,  came  in.  Coon,  however,  soon 
moved  away,  but  he  left  his  name  in  Coon  Hill.  Chapman,  also,  afterward  moved 
away.  October  23,  John  Goss,  from  Connecticut,  ax'rived  with  his  family,  and 
about  the  same  time  Jeremiah  Sabin  and  his  son,  Abel  Sabin,  from  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.,  located  in  the  township. 

In  1806  Hiram  Raymond  and  Thomas  Miller,  from  Connecticut,  William 
Thornton,  from  Pennsylvania,  and  Daniel  Cross,  from  Vermont,  came  in.  Ray- 
mond was  a  tailor,  and  many  anecdotes  are  told  of  him  and  a  fellow  whom  the 
settlers  called  "  Bag  "  Jones,  from  the  fact  that  he  had  stolen  a  bag.  Miller  became 
a  Baptist  preacher  and  Thornton  went  into  the  war  of  1812,  contracted  disease 
and  died  from  its  effects,  i^lso,  came  this  year,  Nathan  Sears  and  his  son,  Elisha, 
and  Rev.  Henry  Ely,  all  from  Connecticut,  and  at  the  same  time  a  queer  character, 
Nathan  Muzzy,  from  Worcester,  Mass.,  of  whom  more  will  be  found  in  the  sketches 
on  Shalersville  and  Rootstown. 

In  1807  Deacon  Stephen  Butler  and  Caleb  Wetmore  moved  in  from  Connecti- 
cut, but  in  a  few  years  left  and  settled  in  Stowe  Township.  Nehemiah  Bacon  and 
his  son-in-law,  Ethelbert  Baker,  with  their  families  came  in    from  Palmyra.     Dr. 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  513 

Hufus  Belding,  from  Cattaraugus  County,  N.  Y.,  arrived  with  his  family  in  this 
year,  and  remained  till  his  death  in  1854.  For  nearly  thirty  years  he  was  the 
only  physician  in  the  township  and  had  a  very  lucrative  practice.  From  this  year 
till  the  war  of  1812,  many  settlers  came  in,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned 
Nathaniel  Bancroft  in  1810,  and  Sylvester  Tinker  and  Deacon  James  Coe  in  1811. 
The  latter  was  a  prominent  and  useful  man  in  his  church,  and  in  the  affairs  of  his 
township  and  county.  After  the  war  a  sort  of  boom  struck  Randolph  and  the 
country  rapidly  filled  up.  Some -of  the  best  citizens  of  the  county  came  in  at  that 
time,  and  their  descendants  are  among  the  leading  people  in  its  affairs  to-dav. 

The  first  death  in  the  township  was  that  of  a  man,  name  unknown,  an  assist- 
ant to  the  surveyors,  Atwater  and  Shephard,  who  died  in  July,  1797.  It  is  said 
that  he  imbibed  rather  too  strongly  of  '•  tangle  foot "  whiskyj  and  that,  together 
with  the  heat,  killed  him.  He  died  on  the  southern  line  of  the  township  and 
was  there  buried.  Mrs.  Clarissa  Ward,  wife  of  Josiah  Ward,  was  the  second  per- 
son, and  the  first  inhabitant  to  die.  This  was  in  February,  1804,  and  there  being 
no  lumber  in  Randolph,  suitable  boards  for  acoflSn  had  to  be  procured  in  Ravenna 
from  Robert  Easton. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  the  towriship  was  Sophronia.  a  daughter  of  Arad 
Upson,  in  the  spring  of  1803.  The  second  birth  was  Amanda,  a  daughter  of  Tim- 
othy Culver,  in  the  spring  of  18(16.  The  first  white  male  child  bon°in  the  town- 
ship was  Elisaph  R.,  son  of  P]liakim  Merriman,  April  23,  1807. 

The  first  marriage  was  that  of  Bela  Hubbard,  the  first  settler,  with  Clarissa 
Ward.  This  happened  in  April,  180G.  Mrs.  Hubbard  used  to  tell  her  husband 
that  he  had  to  marry  her,  or  none,  as  no  other  girl  in  the  township  would  have 
him,  simply  because  there  was  no  other  girl  there  at  the  time.  They  were  first 
married  by  a  minister,  but  to  make  the  knot  sure,  were  remarried  bva  Justice. 
The  second  wedding  took  place  June  16,  1806,  and  the  parties  thereto  were  Eli- 
akim  Merriman  and  Hannah  Bassett. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  Timothy  Culver  took  out  a  license  to  keep  tavern,  and 
keeping  tavern  in  those  days  meant  selling  whisky.  The  Indians  were  large  consum- 
ers of  the  stuff.  Ebenezer  Goss  started  and  carried  on  the  first  blacksmith  shop  in 
1804;  Eliakim  Merriman  opened  a  cooper  shop  in  the  latter  part  of  1804,  and 
ran  it  for  fifty  years.  A  barrel  that  he  made  in  1815  was  still  in  use  a  few  years 
ago.  In  1805  the  first  mill  was  constructed.  It  consisted  of  a  hollowed  stump 
and  a  pestle  six  feet  long  attached  to  a  pole,  nature's  winnowing  machine,  the 
wind,  being  used  to  clean  the  flour  of  the  chaff.  Hiram  Raymond  was  about  the 
first  tailor,  and  Thomas  Miller  the  first  shoe-maker,  to  settle  in  the  township. 
Raymond  invented  the  first  washing  machine  that  was  used  in  Randolph.  It  was 
a  pole  suspended  in  a  stream  of  water,  creek  or  branch,  upon  the  end  of  which 
pole  the  clothes  were  fastened  and  washed  as  the  sailors  at  sea  wash  their  clothins, 
by  the  action  of  the  water.  Calvin  Ward  and  Timothy  Culver  in  the  year  1808 
erected. the  first  distillery.  Whisky  at  this  time  was  worth,  or  rather  sold  at,  $1 
per  gallon,  and  it  therefore  was  profitable  to  use  the  grain  in  that  way  instead  of 
selling  it  at  the  low  price  it  would  bring.  A  grist-mill  and  saw-mill  were  also 
built  this  j'ear,  a  great  accommodation  to  the  settlers,  and  they  did  a  fine  business, 
Josiah  Ward  was  the  proprietor,  and  the  mills  stood  where  Hines'  mill  was 
afterward  built.  Nathan  Sears  had  commenced  a  mill  on  the  same  spot,  but  had 
to  abandon  it,  as  that  portion  of  the  township  was  not  yet  on  sale.  Josiah  Ward 
also  erected  the  first  cider-mill  in  1809.  It  was  a  very  rude  affair,  beino-  simply 
a  trough  in  which  was  a  block  of  wood  with  short  poles  or  handspikes  attached. 
The  apples  were  placed  in  the  trough,  and  the  block  pressed  down  upon  the  fruit 
The  cider  brought  more  per  gallon  In  Cleveland  at  that  time  than  whisky.  In 
1811  Sylvester  Tinker  put  up  a  tannery  west  of  the  Center.  He  also  started  a 
tavern  at  the  same  place,  to  which  he  added  a  stock  of  goods.  These  various 
businesses  of  Tinker,  together  with   his  general  usefulness  to  the  early  settlers, 


514  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

made  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1818,  veiy  much  lamented.  In  1817  Samuel  and 
Hiram  Webster  erected  a  cloth-dressing  establishment,  on  the  creek  west  of  the 
Center,  but  in  a  few  years  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

In  the  summer  of  1803  the  first  crop  of  wheat  was  raised  by  Bela  Hubbard 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  Lot  57.  He  obtained  his  seed-wheat  at  Little  Beaver, 
Penn.,  and  he  went  ten  miles  to  borrow  a  plow  which  he  brought  home  on  his  back. 
But  he  was  well  repaid,  as  four  acres  of  this  new  land  among  the  stumps  turned 
him  out  100  bushel.  He  lost  a  valuable  horse  bv  it,  however,  as  the  animal  got 
access  to  one  of  the  barrels  in  which  the  wheat  was  placed,  and  ate  so  much  that 
he  died.  Milling  at  this  time  was  not  a  ver}'  "  numerous  "  business,  and  the  set- 
tlers had  to  take  their  wheat  to  Chrisraan's  mill,  on  the  Ohio,  a  trip  occupying 
about  seven  days.  A  bachelor's  club  was  formed  about  this  time,  the  members 
of  which  were  Hubbard,  Harris,  Weston,  Davis  and  Calvin  Ward.  Sally  Bacon 
kept  house  for  them.  There  were  now  fifteen  able-bodied  men  in  the  township,  so 
they  formed  a  military  company  with  Bela  Hubbai'd,  Captain  ;  Ariel  Bradley, 
Lieutenant  ;  and  Aaron  Weston,  Ensign.  In  1805  the  first  sheep  were  owned  in 
the  township.  The  wife  of  Josiah  Ward  bought  nine  with  money  she  had  brought 
from  Connecticut.  This  year  Hubbard  and  Harris  raised  about  1,500  bushels  of 
corn,  about  a  mile  west  of  the  Center.  In  1806  three  orchards  were  set  out,  one 
by  Oliver  Dickinson,  one  by  Bela  Hubbard,  and  one  by  Josiah  Ward.  Dr.  Rufus 
Belding  was  the  first  physician  ;  he  came  with  his  family  in  1807.  In  1808  the 
first  frame  building  was  erected  by  Oliver  Dickinson.  A  portion  of  the  timbers 
are  now  in  the  barn  of  W.  J.  Dodge.  In  1820  the  first  postofflce  was  established, 
with  a  weekly  mail  to  and  from,  and  Oliver  Dickinson  was  appointed  Postmaster. 

The  petition  to  set  off  Randolph  as  a  township  was  considered  bj-  the  Com- 
missioners December  3,  1810,  and  authority  granted  to  organize  the  towns  of 
Suffield  and  Randolph  under  the  latter  name  in  honor  of  the  son  of  Mr.  Storrs. 

The  following  is  the  record  of  the  first  business  of  the  new  township  : 

Be  it  remembered  that  on  the  12th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1811,  the  electors  of  Ran- 
dolph Township  assembled  agreeable  to  public  notice  for  the  purpose  of  electing  township 
officers.  John  Goss  was  chosen  Chairman  of  said  meeting,  and  Rufus  Belding  and  Reuben 
Upson,  Judges;  Jonathan  Foster,  Clerk;  Abel  Sabin,  Clerk,  %^ro  tern. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  persons  elected  :  Samuel  Hale,  Reuben 
Upson  and  Rufus  Belding,  Trustees  ;  Nehemiah  Bacon  and  Raphael  Hurlburt. 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  ;  Joshua  Hollister  and  Abel  Sabin,  Fence  Viewers  ;  Thomas 
Hale,  Appraiser,  and  Timothy  Culver,  Lister  of  Taxable  Property  ;  Arad 
Upson,  Constable  ;  Martin  Kent,  Ezekiel  Tupper,  Ebenezer  Cutler,  E.  Merriman, 
A.  Upson,  Supervisors.  Moses  Adams,  Thomas  Hale,  John  Goss,  E.  Cutler,  John 
Sabin,  Bradford  Waldo,  E.  Merriman,  T.  Culver,  J.  Hollister,  Ephraim  Sabin,  A. 
Upson,  Schoby  Outcalt,  David  Ticknor  were  returned  as  jurors.  At  the  same 
time  Jonathan  Foster  was  elected  Justice,  but  did  not  receive  his  commission 
until  October  10.  Every  person  taking  part  in  the  election  has  been  dead 
several  years.  The  last  one,  Ephraim  Sabin,  died  in  1870.  Suffield  was  set  off 
from  Randolph  in  1818. 

The  main  business  of  the  township  was  transacted  at  an  early  day  at  the  set- 
tlement of  Gren.  Campbell,  Campbellsport,  Ravenna  Village  not  yet  being  laid  off, 
and  Akron  unknown  for  twent}-  3'ears  afterward.  The  road  from  Randolph  Cen- 
ter to  Campbellsport  ran  from  the  creek  west  of  the  Center  to  a  point  on  the  line 
between  Rootstown  and  Edinburg,  then  northward.  There  was  a  horse-path  to 
Canton  and  a  trail  to  Atwater.  There  was  not  a  bridge  in  the  whole  of  what  is 
now  Portage  County. 

The  "  Hubbard  squash  "  so  noted  not  only  in  the  West  but  eastern  sections  of 
the  country,  is  said  to  have  originated  in  the  Hubbard  family  of  this  township. 
Bela  Hubbard  produced  from  some  seeds  obtained  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  this  most  desirable  variet}'  of  winter  squash.  In  1805  land  was  worth  $2.50 
per  acre  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township. 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  515 

In  1818  an  epidemic  prevailed  in  tlie  form  of  a  fever,  and  tlie  mortality  was 
so  great  that  tlie  township  obtained  a  very  bad  name — '•  the  sickly  township  " — 
which  retarded  immigration  man}-  j-ears. 

When  the  war  of  1812  broke  out  there  were  forty-four  males  in  the  township 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Four  of  Randolph's  boys  were  in  the  service — 
David  James,  Samuel  Redfield,  William  Thornton  and  Elisha  Ward.  Bela  Hub- 
bard, who  had  removed  to  New  York,  was  Captain  of  a  company  of  men  who  were 
exempt  from  service  b}'  age,  but  they  went  in  nevertheless.  They  were  called 
"  Silver  Grays,"  and  went  out  three  times  to  protect  the  lake  shore.  Hubbard  had 
six  teams,  also,  in  the  service. 

The  township  sent  1 80  soldiers  to  the  defense  of  the  Union,  and  thirt}-  of  that 
number  died  or  were  killed  in  the  service. 

Randolph  was  a  station  on  the  "  Underground  Railroad."  In  October,  1846,  Gen. 
William  Steadman,  late  U.  S.  Consul  to  Santiago  de  Cuba,  made  a  visit  to  Gran- 
ville, Licking  Co  ,  Ohio.  There  he  overtook  John  and  Harriet,  two  colored  fugi- 
tives, who,  having  bid  defiance  to  their  bonds,  were  cautiously  threading  their  way 
to  Canada.  The  General  assisted  them  in  getting  to  Randolph,  a  flag-station  on 
the  "Underground  Railroad,"  Mead  &  Brainerd,  who  were  carrying  on  steam  flour- 
ing and  saw-mills  one  and  one-half  miles  southeast  from  the  Center,  in  a  secluded 
locality,  employing  these  runawa3's,  who  were  subsequently  claimed  to  be  the  prop- 
erty of  one  Mitchell,  in  Western  Virginia.  The  alleged  owner,  receiving  informa- 
tion of  their  whereabouts,  sought  to  recover  his  property.  On  a  rainy  Saturday 
evening  early  in  Ma}^,  18-17,  two  men  with  teams  and  heavy  wagons  drove  up.  to 
the  Randolph  Hotel  and  engaged  lodgings.  Soon  after  were  seen  ten  Ohio  River 
boatmen  in  sailor  dress  and  two  gentlemanly  looking  young  men  making  their 
way  east  on  the  steam-mill  road.  The  news  of  their  approach  was  quickl}'  con- 
veyed to  Mead  &  Brainerd,  who  at  once  secreted  the  fugitives  in  the  attic  of  Mead's 
house,  to  which  the  kidnappers  soon  arrived.  W^ith  axes  in  hand  Messrs.  Mead  and 
Brainerd  kept  the  party  at  bay  during  a  parley,  until  the  citizens  came  in  large 
numbers  from  all  directions,  surrounded  the  rescuing  party  and  conducted  them 
back  to  the  hotel,  where  they  were  guarded  till  eai'ly  morn,  when  they  were  escorted 
by  the  Randolph  citizens  to  Deerfield,  thence  by  two  trusty  spies  across  the  Ohio 
River.  The  fugitives  remained  secreted,  and  a  week  later  a  long-to-be-remem- 
bered wedding  took  place,  attended  by  scores  of  the  best  citizens  of  Randolph. 
After  being  made  one  these  fugitives  were  taken  to  Painesville  and  subsequently 
landed.  The  two  gentlemanly  young  men  mentioned  in  the  kidnapping  party, 
proved  to  be  the  sons  of  the  claimant.  They  returned  home  from  their  fruitless 
journey  more  than  ever  disgusted  with  Ohio  abolitionists,  and  with  exaggerated 
ideas  of  the  vigilance  and  militar}-  skill  of  the  citizens  of  the  quiet  town  of 
Randolph. 

The  following  history  of  the  Congregational,  Methodist  and  Baptist  Churches 
is  summarized  from  Walter  S.  Dickinson's  reminiscences  of  early  da3's  in  Randolph  : 
"  Before  the  arrival  of  Rev.  Henry  Ely  no  religious  meetings  had  been  held.  In 
1806  meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  Oliver  Dickinson.  In  1807  Rev.  Ely 
removed  to  Stowe,  and  meetings  of  a  religious  nature  were  discontinued  in  this 
part  of  the  town.  The  families  of  Nathan  Sears,  who  were  Methodists,  and 
Oliver  Dickinson,  who  were  Congregationalists,  were  all  that  were  connected  with 
a  church  until  the  arrival  of  the  Bacons,  E.  Cutler  and  E.  Baker  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  township.  Soon  afterward  there  was  considerable  religious  excite- 
ment in  that  neighborhood,  and  a  Methodist  class  was  formed.  It  was  broken  up 
by  the  removal  of  these  families  from  town,  and  no  record  remains,  so  far  as  is 
known,  of  this  organization.  At  the  organization  of  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Rootstown,  Oliver  Dickinson  and  wife  joined  by  letter  from  the  church  in  East 
Granville,  Mass.  Sylvester  Tinker,  although  not  a  member  of  any  church,  was 
pained  by  the  absence  of  the  religious  privileges  of  the  East,  and  seeing  the  effect 


516  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

of  such  a  condition  of  affairs,  said  to  himself  '  I  cannot  bear  it,'  and  appointed 
a  religious  meeting  in  the  old  log-schoolhouse  which  was  near  the  Little  Cu3'ahoga 
River.  It  was  well  attended.  Mr.  Tinker  opened  the  meeting,  led  in  the  singing, 
led  in  prayer  and  read  a  sermon.  The  meeting  was  so  successful  that  another 
was  appointed.  In  1811  there  was  a  revival  and  a  number  of  conversions,  and 
finally  a  church  was  organized.  At  one  time,  when  holding  a  meeting  in  the  house 
of  Oliver  Dickinson,  the  room  being  crowded,  the  floOr  gave  wa}',  scaring  a  good 
many  and  injuring,  slightl}-,  but  few.  The  Congregational  Church  was  organized 
July  5,  1812.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Oliver  Dickinson  in  the 
forenoon  and  in  the  barn  in  the  afternoon.  Rev.  John  Seward  officiated.  The 
following  persons  were  members  of  the  church  at  the  organization  :  Deacon 
James  Coe,  Oliver  Dickinson  and  wife,  Richard  Rogers  and  wife,  Mrs.  Eunice 
Culver,  Mrs.  Alvira  Dickinson,  Sylvester  Tinker,  Walter  Dickinson,  Jesse  Dick- 
inson, Miss  Betsy  Stow  and  Mrs.  Statira  Bancroft.  In  November  Mrs.  Louisa 
Dickinson,  Mrs.  Charit}'  Bancroft  and  0.  C.  Dickinson  united  with  the  church, 
making  a  membership  of  fifteen  at  the  close  of  the  year.  There  were  no  more 
additions  to  the  church  until  1818,  when  Deacon  Festus  Spellman  and  wdfe,  Mrs. 
Roxy  Dickinson  and  William  Jones  united  with  it.  The  death  of  Mr.  Tinker  and 
Deacon  Spellman  was  a  severe  blow  to  this  weak  church,  which  within  eighteen 
da3-s  lost  three  of  its  members,  two  of  them  being  its  active  workers.  For  a  time 
Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin,  of  Charlestown,  preached  for  the  church  once  in  four  weeks. 
After  the  completion  of  the  frame  schoolhouse  at  the  Center  meetings  were  held 
in  it.  In  1814  a  Methodist  class  was  farmed  by  Rev.  Ira  Edd}-,  of  persons  living 
in  the  southeast  part  of  Rootstown  and  the  north  part  of  this  township.  They 
met  on  week  da3'S,  when  supplied  b}' circuit  preachers,  at  private  dwelling-houses. 
Nathan  Sears  and  wife,  Samuel  Redfield  and  wife,  Grandison  Ferris  and  wife  and 
Mrs.  Nancy  Coe,  wife  of  Deacon  James  Coe,  were  the  members  of  the  class  that 
lived  in  this  township. 

In  1819  the  Baptist  Church  was  organized  with  twelve  members.  Deacon 
William  Churchill  and  wife,  Deacon  Calvin  Rawson  and  wife,  Eben  Smith  and 
wife,  Mrs.  Josiah  Ward  and  Philo  Beach  were  the  onl}-  members  living  in  this 
township  at  the  time  of  the  organization.  Whenever  any  one  of  the  religious 
societies  held  a  meeting  at  the  schoolhouse  it  was  attended  b}'  the  members  of  the 
other  religious  denominations  as  well  as  by  its  own  members.  If  no  minister  was 
there,  some  one  read  a  sermon.  In  consequence  of  a  revival  in  December,  1821, 
there  was  an  addition  to  the  Congregational  Church  of  eleven  members  ;  four  by 
letter  and  seven  by  profession.  One  who  then  joined  b}'  profession  (Alpheus 
Dickinson)  is  still  a  member.  Soon  after  the  revival  a  Sabbath-school  was  organ- 
ized by  members  of  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  Churches.  Deacon  Churchill 
and  0.  C.  Dickinson  were  active  workers  in  its  organization." 

In  1832  the  Congregationalists  erected  a  church,  and  the  year  following  the 
Methodists  built  their  first  house  of  worship. 

The  Disciples  Church  was  organized  in  1828  out  of  the  Methodist,  Baptist 
and  Congregational  societies,  and  in  1860  erected  a  house  of  woi'ship.  Their 
new  church  at  Randolph  Center  was  erected  in  188-1  and  completed  in  the  spring 
of  1885.     This  is  a  neat  edifice  among  the  neat  homes  of  this  pretty  village. 

The  German  Reformed  Church  was  founded  in  the  township  at  an  early  day, 
and  in  1857  the  memliers  of  this  societ}-  erected  a  house  of  woi'ship. 

St.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church  of  Randolph,  founded  in  1829  by  the  Germans, 
was  regularly  organized  by  Rev.  Victor  Housner  in  1865,  and  a  church  building  was 
erected  the  same  year.  Rev.  Matthias  Wertz  was  the  first  priest,  in  1838,  and  took 
charge  of  the  mission,  its  log  church  and  parochial  houses.  Rev.  B.  A.  Shorb 
succeeded.  Bishop  Henni  was  here  as  a  priest  from  1840  to  1844.  John  Nepo- 
muck  was  also  here  in  1841,  then  Rev.  Father  Hoffman  in  1844.  Dr.  Joseph 
Sadoc,  a  Spaniard,  came  in  1850  ;    he  was  afterward   Archbishop  of   California. 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  517 

Kev.  Jos.  Cheney  and  Rev.  McGrlogan  followed.  Rev.  Salasius  Bruner  came  in 
August,  1844,  then  Father  Howard  pro  tern.,  then  Peter  Anton  Capedes.  Rev. 
John  Vanderbrock  and  Rev.  John  Witmer  came  in  1845.  Jacob  Ruigley  came  in 
1847.  Rev.  John  Hackspill  came  in  1857  and  remained  until  1861,  when  Father 
Housner  and  Father  Herbstrick  came.  Father  Kahn  came  in  1869,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Father  Nicholas  Kirch  in  March,  1875.  The  congregation  numbers  900 
souls,  of  whom  700  were  communicants  in  1884.  This  parish  supports  a  large 
school  of  seventy-  children,  and  another  school  southeast  of  Randolph  Center  of 
twenty  children.     The  value  of  property  is  $22,000. 

In  the  summer  of  1805  the  members  of  the  Bachelors'  Club,  some  six  or  seven 
young  men,  built  a  schoolbouse,  a  small  building  of  logs,  with  "  puncheon 
floor,  slab  seats  and  greased  paper  windows,"  and  engaged  Miss  Laura  Ely  as 
teacher.  The  house  stood  west  of  the  bridge  over  the  creek,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  road.  As  part  pay  for  Miss  Ely's  services  they  made  her  a  large  rocking  chair. 
This  was  the  first  school  and  schoolhouse  in  the  township.  In  the  winter  of  1807- 
08  a  school  was  taught  by  Abel  Sabin,  from  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1810 
Dr.  Belding  and  Samuel  Redfield  taught  school  during  the  winter  season.  In 
1812-13  a  frame  schoolhouse  was  erected  at  the  Center.  The  condition  of  the 
schools  at  present  is  given  in  the  following  statistical  review  : 

Township  Schools. — Revenue  in  1884,  $2,860  ;  expenditures,  $1,904  ;  ten 
•schoolhouses  valued  at  $7,000  ;  pay  of  teachers,  $37  and  $22  per  month  ;  enroll- 
ment, 146  boys  and  120  girls. 

Randolph  Special  District. — Revenue  in  1884,  $2,677  ;  expenditures,  $2,266  ; 
one  schoolhouse  valued  at  $5,000  ;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $24  and  $55  ;  enroll- 
ment, 54  boys  and  70  girls. 

Randolph  Agricultural  Society  was  reorganized  September  21,  1871,  with  W. 
H.  Bettes.  H.  D.  Smalle}-,  A.  L.  Breach,  H.  B.  Fenton,  Simon  Perkins,  Alvah  Upson, 
W.  Brockett,  George  Brockett,  H.  Morse,  C.  W.  Barton,  D.  Dibble,  Frank  S. 
Myers,  G.  W.  Bettes,  Thomas  Gorby  and  George  Austin.  The  object  was  the 
■encouragement  of  agriculture. 

Randolph  sustains  a  fair  that  would  be  a  credit  to  the  county.  It  is  largely 
attended,  and  its  exhibits  are  numerous  and  fine,  very  liberal  premiums  being 
offered  for  the  best  of  everything  raised  on  a  farm,  whilst  its  sporting  events  are 
looked  forward  to  with  much  interest.  The  season  of  1884  the  twenty-second 
annual  fair  of  the  society  was  held,  and  the  attendance  was  extremely  large.  The 
oflBcers  were  :  S.  Perkins,  President;  A.  Bancroft,  Vice-President;  Dr.  G.  0.  Frazer 
Secretary  ;  W.  Bettes,  Treasurer  ;  J.  C.  Brainerd,  Superintendent  of  Grounds ;  C. 
Bettes,  Superintendent  of  Buildings ;  B.  F.  W.  Price,  Marshal  ;  J.  Y.  Johnson, 
€hief  of  Police. 

The  Randolph  Mill  Company's  flouring  and  feed  mills  were  founded  about 
sixteen  years  ago.  The  present  owners  are  Dr.  Bettes,  James  Sabin  and  George 
Dodge.  This  is  the  same  mill  which  was  moved  from  Campbellsport,  extended, 
new  machinery  added,  and  rendered  of  a  capacit}^  of  fifty  barrels  per  day  and 
16,000  bushels  of  chop -feed.  The  water-power  is  taken  from  Congress,  seven 
miles  distant.  This,  together  with  a  thirty  horse-power  engine,  insures  a  motive 
power  at  all  times.  Three  turbine  wheels,  four  run  of  buhrs,  etc.,  form  the  machinery. 
This  industry  employ's  five  men  the  3'ear  round.  The  Randolph  cider-mills  are 
carried  on  by  Adelman  0.  Keller,  just  south  of  the  Center.  A  saw-mill  is  operated 
by  the  same  machinery.  A  planing-mill  is  owned  b}-  Bentley  &  Simmerson.  Its 
location  is  near  the  saw-mill.  A  cheese  factory  east  of  the  Center  forms  an 
important  industry. 

Randolph  filled  up  rapidly  after  the  war  of  1812-14,  the  soil  being  very  pro- 
ductive and  finely  adapted  to  wheat ;  that  on  the  west  side  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga 
River,  which  flows  into  the  township  on  the  southern  border  and  passes  northwardly 
entirely  across  the  county,  being  of  a  sandy  nature,  while  that  'on  the  east  of 


518  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

this  stream  is  loamy  and  well  adapted  to  gi-ass  ;  on  the  west  oak  timber  abounds, 
and  on  the  east  beech  and  maple. 

The  citizens  of  Randolph  have  always  been  noted  for  their  progressive  spirit, 
and  have  taken  front  rank  in  temperance,  moralit}',  education  and  religion.  Origi- 
nally the  population  was  almost  exclusively  from  the  New  England  States,  but 
about  1850  a  number  of  French  and  Grermans  came  in,  and  they  have  so  steadily 
increased  that  at  the  present  time  the  population  of  the  west  half  is  largely  for- 
eign, contrasting  strongl}'^  with  the  eastern.  Together,  these  two  varieties  make 
up  the  most  populous  spot  in  the  county,  with  two  exceptions. 

The  statistics  of  Randolph  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat,  2,419,  bushels, 
41,466  ;  of  buckwheat,  3,  bushels,  48  ;  oats,  1,220,  bushels,  49,069  ;  barley,  7, 
bushels,  113  ;  corn,  747,  bushels,  19,082  ;  meadow,  1,700,  tons  of  hay,  2,529  ; 
clover,  638  ;  tons  of  hay,  772  ;  bushels  of  seed,  806  ;  flax,  3  acres,  bushels  of 
seed,  3;  potatoes,  191  acres,  21,647  bushels;  pounds  of  butter,  64,391  home- 
made, and  15,500  factory  ;  maple  sugar,  1,347  pounds,  and  4,563  gallons  syrup 
from  19,471  trees  ;  2,500  pounds  honey  from  102  hives;  32,424  dozens  of  eggs  ; 
500  pounds  of  grapes  and  20  gallons  of  wine  from  ^  acre  vineyard  ;  21,014  bush- 
els of  apples,  258  of  peaches,  68  of  pears  and  one  of  cherries  from  552  acres  of 
orchard;  13,041  pounds  of  wool ;  731  milch  cows;  1  stallion;  121  dogs;  died 
of  disease,  21  hogs,  155  sheep,  25  cattle  and  17  horses  ;  acres  under  cultivation, 
10,407  ;  in  pasture,  2,645  ;  woodland,  2,488  ;  waste,  103  ;  total,  15,643  acres. 
Population  in  1850  was  1,736,  including  845  youth;  in  1870,  1,564;  in  1880, 
1,684  ;  in  1884  (estimated),  1,750. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY 

Original  Propkietoes — The  Pioneers — First  Cabin— Benjamin  Tappan — 
First  Birth  and  Death— Primitive  Mills— The  Village  Site  in  1806— A 
Threshing  Machine— Laying  Out  of  the  Village— First  Building— Old 
Burying  Ground— Schools  and  Scholars— First  Court  House  and  Jail 
— Becipe  for  Clearing  off  Stumps— Two  Old  Structures— An  Incident 
OF  1812 — Pen  Picture  of  Primitive  Ravenna— John  Brown's  Father 
—Jesse  Grant's  Tannery— Some  Noted  Settlers— Some  Early  Facts— 
T"\vo  Notable  Raisings— First  Sunday-School— Sundry  Items— Early 
Merchants— A  School  Needed— First  School  Meeting— Growth  of  the 
City  —  Incorporation  —  Industries  —  Banks  and  Bankers  —  Pioneer 
Preachers  on  Religion— First  Congregational  Church,  and  Rev.  C.  B. 
Storrs— Methodist  Episcopal  Church— Disciples  Church — Universalist 
Church— Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception— Episcopal  Church- 
Secret  AND  OTHER  SOCIETIES— STATISTICS. 

RAVENNA,  Town  3,  Range  8,  at  the  original  drawing  of  the  lands  of  the 
Connecticut  Land  Company,  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  following  parties  :  The 
south  two-thirds  to  a  compan}^  at  Suffleld,  Conn.,  composed  of  Luther  Loomis, 
Ephraim  Robbins  and  Calvin  Austin  ;  the  northern  third  to  Stephen  W.  Jones,  of 
Stockbridge,  and  Nathaniel  Patch,  of  Boston.  September  2,  1798,  Loomis  &  Co. 
sold  their  interest  to  Benjamin  Tappan;  November  1,  1798,  Patch  sold  to  John 
Buell,  of  Hebron,  Conn.,  and  October  31,  1799,  Jones  sold  to  Ephraim  Starr  and 
Stanley  Griswold. 

In  June,  1799,  Benjamin  Tappan,  Jr.,  son  of  the  principal  proprietor,  came  to 
Ravenna  as  agent  for  his  father,  and  to  make  a  settlement.  He  located  in  the 
southeast  part  pf  the  township,  and  built  a  cabin  of  unhewn  logs,  which  was  fin- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  521 

ished  by  the  following  January,  1800.  This  was  the  first  cabin  built  in  the  town- 
ship and  stood  near  the  southeast  corner  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Capt.  J.  Q. 
King.  His  second  house  stood  on  the  fai"m  of  Marcus  Heath,  about  one  mile 
east  of  Ravenna.  The  following  summer  he  went  to  Connecticut  and  married  the 
sister  of  Hon.  John  C.  Wright,  and  returned  with  his  bride  to  the  unbroken  wil- 
derness to  build  up  a  home.  After  the  State  was  admitted  he  served  in  the  Second 
Legislature  of  Ohio,  but  in  1809,  at  the  urgent  solicitations  of  poli.tical  friends  in 
Jefferson  County,  he  settled  at  Steubenville.  where  he  remained  till  his  death  on 
the  19th  of  April,  1857.  Judge  Tappan  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many  respects, 
being  one  of  the  most  thorough  scholars  of  his  da}- ;  he  was  considerable  of  a  lin- 
guist, an  eminent  lawj'er.  He  was  Aid-de-camp  to  Gren.  Wadsworth  in  the  war  of 
1812;  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Ohio  Circuit;  United  States  Judge  for  Ohio;  was  the 
compiler  of  "  Tappan's  Reports,"  and  United  States  Senator  from   1835  to   1845. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Benjamin  Bigsby  and  his  family  came  in  at  the  time 
Tappan  came,  and  assisted  him  in  clearing  his  place  and  building  his  cabin.  He 
remained  only  a  few  months,  but  during  this  time  he  lost  a  son  about  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  of  age,  who  died  from  the  bite  of  a  rattlesnake,  and  was  buried  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  this  being  the  first  death.  There  not  being  any 
sawed  timber  at  hand,  a  log  of  the  proper  length  was  cut  and  trimmed,  and  split 
through  the  center,  then  both  halves  hollowed  out.  and  the  corpse  placed  therein, 
forming  a  coffin,  rude  but  secure. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  William  Chard  located  on  Lot  33,  and  in  August,  Con- 
rad Boosinger,  with  his  wife,  sons  George  and  John,  and  daughter  Polly,  came  in 
and  settled  on  the  Mahoning  about  one  mile  and  a  half  southeast  of  Ravenna 
Center.  He  purchased  200  acres  of  land  from  Tappan,  cleared  five  or  six  acres 
and  sowed  it  to  wheat.  Shortly  after  his  settlement,  he  being  a  tanner  by  trade, 
constructed  a  couple  of  vats,  and  as  fast  as  he  could  obtain  hides,  tanned  them. 
This  was  the  first  tanner3^  John  Boosinger,  his  son,  then  a  lad  of  fifteen  years, 
moved  to  Brimfield  in  1816,  being  the  first  settler  in  that  township.  He  lived  to 
be  over  ninety  years  of  age,  and  left  a  numerous  progeny,  his  descendants  now 
numbering  up  into  the  hundreds. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  John  Ward  and  his  step-son,  John  McManus,  came  in 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  following  fall  Alexander  3IcWhorter  settled  on  the 
west  side  of  Breakneck  Creek,  where,  the  following  year,  1802,  he  erected  a  mill, 
which  was  the  first  grist-mill  in  the  township,  and  was  for  a  long  time  a  great  con- 
venience to  the  settlers,  who  had,  otherwise,  to  go  long  distances  to  get  their  little 
grists  ground.  There  were  two  other  mills  in  the  county,  one  built  in  1799  by 
Rufus  Edwards  in  Mantua,  a  hand-mill,  and  one  in  Deerfield,  built  by  James 
Laughlin  in  1801. 

In  1802  David  Jennings,  Sr.,  father  of  Daniel  and  David  Jennings,  came  in 
from  Bradford,  Mass.,  and  settled  on  Lot  24,  and  about  the  same  time  came 
Robert  Eaton.  Jennings  and  Eaton,  in  1805,  erected  a  mill  on  the  Mahoning, 
which  was  the  second  grist-mill  in  the  township.  In  this  3^ear  also  came  David 
Moore,  William  Simcox,  one  of  the  Boszors,  who  afterward  removed  to  Brimfield, 
and  several  others. 

In  1803  Henry  Sapp  located  on  the  north  half  of  Lot  21,  where  he  lived  till  his 
death,  at  an  advanced  age.  His  wife  attained  the  age  of  over  one  hundred  years, 
when  she  died.  About  this  time  a  daughter  was  born  to  the  Mr.  Boszor  men- 
tioned above,  and  she  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  white  child  born  in  the 
township.  It  is  said,  also,  that  the  first  wedding  in  the  township  occurred  in  this 
year,  the  parties  being  Charles  Van  Home  and  Phoebe  Herrimon.  The  first  school 
was  opened  this  year,  it  being  held  in  a  little  log-house  near  Tappan's  settlement, 
and  the  teacher  was  his  sister-in-law,  Miss  Sarah  Wright.  The  pupils  were  children 
of  Boosinger,  Ward  and  Eaton.  The  school  cabin  belonged  to  Conrad  Boosinger. 
The  next  teacher  was  David  Root,  who  taught  at  the  house  of  Robert  Eaton  in 
1806. 


522  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

In  1806  Erastus  Carter  moved  into  the  township  from  Johnson,  Trnmbull 
County,  and  settled  on  Lot  16  with  his  wife  and  three  children:  Ruthalia,  Lois 
and  Howard.  The  latter  was  born  in  December,  1799,  and  is  yet  living,  remarka- 
bly well  preserved  in  all  his  faculties,  and  having  quite  a  vivid  recollection  of 
earl}'  events.  To  this  old  gentleman  we  are  indebted  for  much  of  the  information 
herein  contained,  and  who  has  set  right  many  disputed  facts  in  regard  to  the  da^'s 
now  remembered  by  scarcely  any  one  else  in  the  count}'.  Where  Erastus  Carter 
settled  was  in  the  upper  part  of  the  township,  on  the  third  owned  by  Ephraim 
Starr  and  Stanley  Griswold,  about  two  miles  north  of  Ravenna  Center.  Moses 
Smith  came  with  Carter  to  help  him  put  up  his  cabin,  and  was  so  well  pleased 
with  the  county  that  he  purchased  100  acres  of  land  and  moved  in  the  following 
year,  althoi^gh  he  had  bought  400  acres  in  Trumbull  at  the  time  he  and  Carter 
settled  there  in  1804.  In  this  year,  1807,  Howard  Fuller,  the  father-in-law  of 
Erastus  Carter,  with  Anson  Beeman,  moved  in.  Fuller  buying  Jotham  Blakesle^-'s 
place,  about  a  mile  southeast  of  Carter's  land. 

Not  long  after  their  arrival  Mr.  Carter  and  his  little  son,  Howard,  then  about 
seven  years  old,  came  down  to  the  grist-mill  on  the  Breakneck  to  get  a  grist 
ground.  They  passed  over  what  is  now  Ravenna  City,  blazing  their  way  as  they 
went,  in  order  to  get  back  over  the  same  track.  The  old  grist-mill  was  run  by  a 
man  named  Coosard.  The  mill  had  been  erected  by  McWhorter  in  1802.  This 
old  miller.  Coosard,  lived  till  he  was  nearl}'  one  hundred  and  two  yeai's  old.  The 
mill-stones  rested  upon  cob-work,  and  a  sort  of  bai'k  canop}',  upheld  by  crotched 
poles,  formed  a  roof. 

RAVENNA    CITY. 

Early  in  1808  Benjamin  Tappan  commenced  the  foundation  of  the  village  of 
Ravenna.  He  laid  off  a  plat  of  land  containing  192  lots,  the  boundaries  of  which 
.at  present  are  Bowery  Street  on  the  north.  Oak  Street  on  the  south,  Walnut  Street 
on  the  east  and  Sycamore  Street  on  the  west.  The  center  of  this  plat  is  at  the 
intersection  of  Main  and  Chestnut  Streets.  John  Boosinger,  then  quite  a  young 
man,  the  fall  previously  "  underbrushed  "  about  two  and  one-half  acres,  the  clear- 
ing comprising  the  present  Court  House  square  and  a  small  space"surrounding  it. 
The  first  building  of  any  kind  on  the  original  town  plat  is  thought  by  many  to 
have  been  erected  by  Henry  Sapp  for  William  Tappan  on  a  spot  now  covered  by 
the  west  end  of  Mechanics  Block,  but  Mr.  Howard  Carter,  who  is,  possibly,  the 
best  living  authority  as  to  the  original  settlement  of  Ravenna,  saj's  the  building  was 
erected  by  Joshua  Woodard  about  the  spring  of  1808.  At  any  rate  the  little 
log  building  stood  on  the  spot  indicated,  and  a  well  dug  at  the  time  is  now  under 
the  building,  just  a  little  east  of  the  east  foundation  of  Homer  C.  Frazer's  store. 
The  birth  of  the  first  child  on  the  town  plat,  or  rather  who  the  first  child  was,  is 
also  matter  of  dispute.  James  Woodard,  son  of  Joshua  Woodard,  is  thought  by 
many  to  have  the  honor  of  first  appearing  in  the  embryo  town,  but  Mr.  Carter 
says  that  David  Jennings  contended  and  often  told  him  that  David  Thompson 
had  a  son  born  before  Woodard,  and  as  proof  cites  the  fact  that  Thompson's 
son  won  the  prize  offered  to  the  first  child  born  on  the  town  plat.  *  The  prize  was 
a  lot  offered  by  Tappan,  and  3'oung  Thompson  came  into  possession  of  it  at  twen- 
ty-one years  of  age.  His  father  built  a  cabin  upon  it  soon  after  the  child  was 
born.  It  is  the  lot  where  the  old  water-cure  used  to  be.  David  Thompson  came 
here  from  Pennsylvania  with  his  brother  and  married  shortly  afterward.  His  son 
was  born  about  the  spring  of  1810. 

The  first  grave-j-ard  was  donated  by  Tappan,  and  was  located  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  town  plat,  where  Mr.  William  Holcomb's  garden  now  is,  and  most 
of  the  graves  were  in  the  southeast  corner.  Here  were  buried  David  Moore,  the 
first  Ravenna  blacksmith;  Mrs.  Ruggles  and  her  son;  Mrs.  Smith,  the  mother  of 
Mrs.  Frederick  Wadsworth ;  Mrs.  Patterson,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Tappan  ;  Jared 
Mason,  the  first  tanner  in  the  town  plat ;  Epaphras  Mathews,  who  was  murdered 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  523 

by  Henry  Aungst,  in  August,  181-i,  and  Robert  Campbell,  who  returned  from  the 
war  sick  and  died  shortly  afterward.  He  was  the  last  one  buried  in  this  grave- 
yard, and  a  singular  circumstance  is  connected  therewith:  The  grave-digger  dug 
the  grave  so  that  the  head  lay  to  the  east,  but  as  it  was  so  constructed  they  would 
not  alter  it  when  the  funeral  took  place.  This  circumstance  served  to  identify  his 
grave  many  years  afterward,  when  his  relatives  sought  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of 
■disinterring  the  remains  and  removing  them  to  Campbellsport.  Cobble-stones  onl}' 
being  placed  at  the  heads  of  the  graves,  and  no  inscriptions,  the  remains  of 
Campbell  could  never  have  been  selected  from  out  the  others,  had  the  corpse  been 
laid  in  the  usual  manner,  with  head  to  the  west. 

The  present  cemeter}-  was  laid  off  in  part  in  1813,  a  plat  of  land  being  donated 
for  that  purpose  by  Howard  Fuller,  Erastus  Carter,  Moses  Smith  and  Anson  Bee- 
man.  Fuller  made  the  suggestion  of  laying  out  another  cemetery,  as  the  one  in 
the  village  plat  seemed  to  him  to  be  too  close  to  the  dail}-  walks  of  man.  Sluman 
Smith,  a  lad  of  seventeen,  son  of  Moses  Smith,  was  the  first  person  buried  in  this 
cemetery.  He  died  June  9,  1813.  His  grave,  being  the  first  in  the  new  ground, 
was  of  universal  intei'est,  it  standing  alone  for  some  time.  In  1815  Zenas  Carter 
was  drowned  in  Muddy  Lake,  one-half  mile  south  of  Ravenna,  and  was  among 
the  first  buried  in  the  new  cemetery.  Carter  and  Grear,  both  heav}'  men,  were 
trying  the  floating  qualities  of  a  new  dug-out  canoe,  when  the  vessel  capsized,  and 
as  Carter  could  not  swim,  he  sank  to  the  bottom  and  was  drowned. 

In  1809  David  Jennings,  Sr.,  Erastus  Carter  and  Moses  Smith  erected  a  log- 
schoolhouse  about  opposite  where  the  residence  of  the  late  Mrs.  Lois  Judd  after- 
ward stood,  and  they  engaged  Miss  Achsah  Eggleston,  of  Aurora,  to  teach  the 
■children  of  the  three  families  mentioned.  Her  scholars  were  eight  in  number  : 
Daniel  and  David  Jennings,  Howard,  Ruthalia  and  Lois  Carter,  and  Samantha  and 
Lucina  Smith.  Ruthalia  Carter  married  Howard  Judd,  Lois  married  Lester  Judd, 
Samantha  Smith  married  Richard  McBride,  and  Lucina  married  Charles  Judd.  The 
teacher  married  Mr.  Kent.  Miss  Eggleston  was  very  tall  and  stately,  and  the  door 
■of  the  little  schoolhouse  was  very  low,  so  that,  when  she  entered  it  for  the  first 
time,  stooping,  she  remarked  to  the  proprietors,  "I  see  you  have  built  this  for 
small  people,  so  I  will  have  to  bring  myself  down  to  their  level,  or  them  up  to 
mine,  which?"  "Up  to  yours.  Miss  Eggleston,  and  we  will  be  satisfied,"  was  the 
gallant  reply.  Of  all  those  interested  in  that  school,  fathers,  mothers,  teacher 
and  scholars,  there  are  but  two  living:  Mrs.  Lucina  Judd,  aged  eighty-seven,  and 
Howard  Carter,  aged  eighty-four.  This  school  being  a  success,  others  wished  to 
share  in  its  benefits,  and  accordingly  a  meeting  was  held  which  resulted  in  enlarg- 
ing the  attendance,  at  the  same  time  deciding  by  vote  that  grammar  and  geogra- 
phy were  unnecessary  studies.  Another  school  was  taught  in  the  unfinished 
Court  House  some  time  during  1810  or  1811,  by  Thaddeus  Bradley. 

In  1814,  when  Maj.  Stephen  Mason  was  Sheriff,  he  taught  a  school  in  a  room 
in  the  Court  House,  and  when  he  was  off  on  oflBcial  business  the  school  was  closed. 
The  Major  was  a  man  of  very  versatile  talents,  and  peculiarly-  well  adapted  to 
the  times,  for  in  addition  to  filling  one  of  the  highest  offices  in  the  county,  he 
■could  "train"  as  a  Major  of  Militia,  and  teach  the  youth. 

The  school  statistics  for  1884  are  as  follows:  Ravenna  Township  schools — 
revenue  in  1884,  $4,451;  expenditures,  $3,334;  nine  schoolhouses,  valued  at 
$8,000;  average  pa}-  of  teachers,  $36  and  $27;  enrollment,  162  boys  and  126  girls. 
Ravenna  Village  schools— revenue  in  1884,  $27,047;  expenditures,  $20,161 ;  three 
schoolhouses  valued  at  $50,000;  average  pay  of  teachers,  $79  and  $72;  enroll- 
ment, 346  boys  and  408  girls;  number  of  teachers  employed,  15. 

In  1810  William  and  John  Tappan  completed  the  building  of  first  Court  House 
and  Jail.  During  this  year  a  number  of  boys  playing  ball  around  the  new  Court 
House,  discovered  a  fine  buck  in  the  underbrush,  when  all  hands,  headed  by  David 
Oreer,  surrounded  the  deer  and  captured  him  alive — the  last  deer  caught  or  killed 
on  the  town  plat. 


524  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

la  1811  Joshua  Woodard,  who  had  come  in  from  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  constructed 
a  dam  about  a  mile  below  the  old  Coosard  mill  which  had  then  disappeared,  at  a 
point  on  the  Breakneck  Creek  where  the  stream  was  wider.  Here  he  erected  a 
saw-mill,  grist-mill  and  fulling  establishment.  The  water  set  back  about  two  miles, 
nearl}'  to  Ravenna  Village,  causing  much  sickness  and  many  deaths.  This  state  of 
affairs  went  on  for  several  years,  when  Woodard  was  expostulated  with  by  citi- 
zens, notified  by  the  lawyers,  Messrs.  Sloane  and  Lyman,  and  threatened  b}'  every- 
bod}',  but  all  to  no  avail.  Heavy  damages  were  even  offered  him,  yet  he  persisted 
in  keeping  his  disease-dealing  dam  intact,  when  one  night  a  party  went  with  axes 
and  crow  bars  and  destroyed  the  dam.  He  moved  to  Franklin.  There  was  no 
more  malaria  after  the  dam  went. 

William  Tappan  had  a  frame  house  put  up  at  about  where  the  middle  of  the 
Phoenix  Block  now  is.  Now,  this  building  was  erected  before  Mr.  Tappan  came 
to  Ravenna,  and  as  he  was  here  December  5,  1809,  when  he  signed  the  agreement 
to  erect  the  Court  House  and  Jail,  it  looks  very  much  as  if  his  house  was  erected 
before  the  one  claimed  to  be  the  first,  yet  it  is  generally  supposed  that  the  house 
that  stood  on  the  Mechanics'  Block  lot  was  the  first.  It  is  x'easonable  to  presume 
that  the  way  these  buildings  came  to  be  in  dispute  is  that  one  was  a  frame,  the 
other  a  log  structure,  each  being  the  first  of  its  class. 

The  first  frame  building  iu  the  north  part  of  the  township  was  a  barn  erected  in 
1810  by  Moses  Smith.  Over  sixty  years  afterward  the  same  barn  was  moved  by 
the  grandson  of  the  original  owner,  and  it  still  stands.  They  put  up  buildings  in 
those  days  to  last.  A  little  later  Erastus  Skinner,  father  of  John  N.  Skinner,  the 
first  resident  carpenter,  raised  a  barn  on  the  Hotchkise  place,  on  which  occasion 
Skinner  made  a  brief  speech  in  honor  of  the  important  event.  Tom  Smith  and 
family  came  in  at  an  early  date,  and  occupied  a  small  building  where  now  stands 
the  First  National  Bank.  He  was  a  hatter  b}'  trade,  and  the  hunters  would  come 
into  his  little  shop  and  unload  their  bundles  of  coon  and  other  skins.  A  hat  that 
he  made  nearly  seventy  years  ago,  and  worn  at  a  school  exhibition,  is  still  in  the 
possession  of  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  the  township. 

The  oldest  building  in  Ravenna  City  is  the  one  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main 
and  Chestnut  Streets,  and  the  next  oldest  is  the  yellow  barn  standing  on  the  alley 
in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Kinney's  house  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Meridian  Streets. 
The  first  was  built  by  David  Grreer,  who  came  to  the  town  from  Pennsylvania  about 
the  time  the  Court  House  was  erected,  put  up  this  building  and  opened  the  first 
tavern.  He  also  opened  a  small  stock  of  goods,  and  the  writer  hereof  obtained 
this-  information  from  an  old  gentleman  who  in  1812  watched  the  members  of 
Capt.  John  Campbell's  company  purchase  powder  from  G-reer,  pour  it  into  their 
horns  and  march  away  toward  the  seat  of  war  on  the  lakes.  This  venerable  struct- 
ure stands  to-day  as  staunch,  apparently,  as  any  of  its  more  modern  companions. 
The  other  building  was  erected  by  (len.  John  Campbell,  who  at  the  time  was  keep- 
ing a  tavern  that  stood  on  the  four  corners  of  Ravenna,  Rootstown,  Edinburg  and 
Charlestown.  This  frame  building,  afterward  painted  a  peculiar  yellow,  which 
made  it  distinctively  known  as  the  "  old  yellow  house,"  originall}'  stood  about 
where  the  barber  shop  now  is  on  the  eastern  front  of  the  Etna  House,  and  was. 
built  with  the  intention  of  opening  a  tavern  in  it,  but,  soon  after  it  was  completed 
in  1812,  James  Haslip,  from  near  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  rented  it  and  put  in  a  stock 
of  goods,  this  being  the  first  regular  store  opened  in  the  township.  Greer,  also,  as 
has  been  stated,  kept  a  small  stock  of  goods,  but  he  made  no  pretensions  to  being 
a  merchant — his  business  was  tavern  keeping.  The  building  stood  upon  a  ridge 
running  east  and  west,  upon  which  the  Court  House,  also  stood.  This  ridge  fell  off 
abruptly  to  the  north  and  more  gently  to  the  south,  and  down  its  northern  slope 
the  boys  coasted  many  a  winter  day.  In  182Jr  the  "  old  3'ellow  house  "  was  moved 
away  and  now  is  used  as  a  barn.  It  was  a  grand  building  in  its  day,  as  it  stood 
proudly  in  front  of  the  Court  House,  where  the  county  magnates  would  ride  in  and 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  525 

hitch  their  steeds  around  it  and  across  the  way  at  Grreer's  Tavern  ;  for  a  full- 
fledged  store,  where  3-ou  could  exchange  two  bushels  of  wheat  for  a  yard  of  cotton 
cloth,  was  of  no  small  consequence. 

In  1812  a  volunteer  company  was  formed  in  this  vicinity,  with  John  Campbell 
as  Captain  ;  Alva  Day,  First  Lieutenant ;  John  Caris,  Second  Lieutenant,  and 
Aaron  Weston,  Ensign.  A  more  extended  recital  of  Portage  County  in  the  war 
of  1812  will  be  found  in  the  general  history  of  the  county,  the  following  incidents 
being  only  given  as  illustrations  of  the  times.  The  company  raised  by  Gen. 
Campbell  pitched  their  tents  of  homespun  linen  sheets  near  the  house  of  their 
commander,  and  went  into  training  for  a  week,  the  strictest  military  discipline 
being  maintained..  They  had  no  uniform,  very  poor  clothing,  and  very  bad  shoes, 
but  every  man  managed  to  get  a  rifle,  a  tomahawk  and  a  butcher  knife.  Thus, 
with  their  powder  horns  and  their  bullet  pouches  slung  about  them,  they  tramped 
ofl"  to  meet  the  highly  disciplined  and  well  accoutred  regulars  of  the  British. 
This  company  was  included  in  the  cowardly  surrender  of  Hull,  but  the  following 
year,  one  day  when  George  Barnes  had  a  raising,  Horace  Burroughs  suddenly  made 
his  appearance  among  the  men,  and  gave  them  orders  for  marching  to  Cleveland 
in  the  morning.  They  began  to  make  preparations,  and  the  next  day  left  for  the 
scene  of  war,  leaving  Erastus  Carter,  who  had  a  lame  arm,  to  look  after  the  women 
and  children,  and  to  prepare  for  retreat  to  Pittsburgh.  Then  came  an  alarm 
greater  than  the  first.  The  cannonading  between  Commodore  Perry  and  the 
British  vessels  on  the  lake  was  heard,  and  soon  a  night  messenger  came  riding 
down  through  Portage,  warning  the  people  to  fl}'  for  their  lives,  as  the  Indians 
were  about  swooping  down  upon  the  defenseless  settlers  of  this  section.  All  the 
next  day  preparations  were  going  on  for  flight,  and  still  another  messenger  arrived, 
warning  the  people  to  lose  no  time  in  retreating,  but  during  the  following  night  a 
horn  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  Shalersville,  and  soon  a  horseman  came  dash- 
ing along  the  road,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Hurrah,  hurrah  !  Perry  is 
victorious  !  "  and  the  dread  of  a  moment  before  fled  amidst  the  rejoicings  of  the 
happ3'  settlers,  who  made  the  welkin  ring  with  their  shouts  of  gladness. 

Mrs.  Betsy  (Eatinger)  "Ward,  widow  of  William  Ward,  states  that  Jacob  Eat- 
inger,  her  father,  came  to  Ravenna  in  the  spring  of  1804,  from  Poland,  Ohio, 
when  Mrs.  Ward  was  thirteen  years  old.  There  were  here  at  that  time  David 
Jennings,  Benjamin  Tappan,  Robert  Eaton,  William  Chard,  Samuel  Simcox,  the 
first  settler  in  Brimfield,  and  his  son  Benjamin,  Conrad  Boosinger  and  son,  John 
Boosinger,  John  and  Robert  Campbell,  John  McMannus,  John  Ward,  Henry  Buz- 
zard, Moses  Bradford,  Charles  Van  Home  (son-in-law  of  Chard),  William  Lyons, 
Jack  and  Thomas  Wright.  Henry  Sapp,  Alexander  Walker,  Robert  Bell,  David 
Moore,  Jotham  Blakesley,  David  Haines,  son-in-law  of  Simcox,  and  Polly  Boos- 
inger.    Sally  Wright  taught  the  first  school. 

Ten  or  twelve  j-ears  later  Ravenna  presents  a  village  appearance.  A  man  steps 
into  the  Seth  Day  store  with  wheat,  and  what  does  he  receive  for  his  twenty  bush- 
els of  golden  grain  ?  A  package  containing  ten  yards  of  cotton  cloth  !  Dr.  Isaac 
Swift  is  behind  the  counter  compounding  a  prescription,  for  on  one  side  of  this 
store  of  Day  &  Swift  is  kept  a  general  stock  of  goods  and  on  the  other,  drugs.  Mr. 
Day  had  moved  in  from  Deerfield,  and  Dr.  Swift,  then  a  fine-looking  single  gentleman, 
of  twenty-six  years,  had  ccmein  from  Connecticut  in  June,  1815.  He  married  in 
1818,  and  one  of  his  sons,  Henry  A.  Swift,  became  Governor  of  Minnesota,  besides 
occupying  other  important  positions.     Mr.  Day  filled  many  public  positions  also. 

Step  out  into  the  road  again.  There  is  another  store,  just  opened  by  Zenas 
Kent,  on  the  spot  now  occupied  b}'  the  Second  National  Bank.  Of  this  gentleman 
it  is  needless  to  make  only  mention,  as  he  is  so  well  known  that  nothing  here  can 
add  to  his  fame  as  a  splendid  business  man  and  good  citizen.  Now  from  your 
position  in  the  road  look  across  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Chestnut 
Streets,  and  you  will  see  a  building  that  still  stands  there.     It  is  Greer's  old  tav- 


526  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

ern,  long  known  as  "  King's  Tavern."  A  little  east  of  this  spot  you  will  notice  a 
loo--builcling  that  was  put  up  by  Joshua  Woodard.  Turn  plumb  around  and 
you  will  see  a  little  one-storied  building,  facing  you.  This  is  the  law  office  of  a 
man  who  was  afterward  known  not  only  in  Ohio,  but  throughout  the  land.  Jon- 
athan Sloane  occupies  this  unpretentious  little  building.  Darius  Lyman,  another 
noted  lawyer,  has  an  office  hei'e,  too.  Look  up  the  street,  eastward,  and  you  will 
see  the  house  of  Almon  Babcock  about  a  block  distant  on  the  north  side  of  the 
way,  and  a  little  westward  from  that  point  a  two-storied  frame  house  painted  red, 
looms  up.  It  was  built  for  Mr.  Tappan,  by  Henr}-  Sapp.  But  here  is  a  building 
going  up.  It  is  on  the  spot  now  occupied  b}-  the  Empire  Block.  Salmon  Carter, 
or  "Papa  "  Carter,  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  is  building  this  structure  for  a  tav- 
ern ;  so  the  one  diagonally  across  is  going  to  have  competition.  Turn  partly 
around  again  and  look  westwai'd  and  j'ou  will  see  a  hat  shop  on  the  corner,  now 
occupied  by  the  First  National  Bank.  It  was  the  shop  of  "  Uncle  "  Tom  Smith, 
and  not  far  from  this  was  where  Alexander  and  William  Frazer  made  harness  and 
saddles. 

Face  again  to  the  south  ;  look  across  the  Court  House  ground  to  the  southeast 
and  3-ou  will  see  a  man  getting  on  his  horse,  evidently  in  a  hurry,  in  front  of  a 
building,  a  frame,  that  stands  half  a  block  or  so  south  of  Main  Street.  This  gen- 
tleman, a  physician  and  surgeon,  who  has  just  been  summoned  ten  miles  away  to 
see  a  patient  who  had  been  injured  by  a  falling  tree,  a  few  years  later  performed 
a  surgical  operation  in  Ravenna,  which  for  boldness,  skill  and  success  stands 
unsurpassed,  if  not  unequaled,  even  to  this  day,  and  was  considered  of  so  much 
importance  that  a  scientific  record  was  made  of  it  in  the  French  surgical  journals. 
This  was  Dr.  Joseph  DeWolf,  and  the  operation  referred  to  is  described  in  the 
Western  Courier  of  November  12,1825.  It  was  a  ca.se  of  strangulated  hernia; 
the  patient,  William  McLaughlin  The  Doctor  opened  the  abdomen,  found  a  por- 
tion of  the  intestines  gangrenous,  cut  off  eight  or  nine  inches  of  the  same,  stitched 
together  the  several  pai'ts,  sewed  up  the  abdomen,  and  the  man  was  as  sound  as 
ever  in  a  couple  of  weeks. 

But,  take  another  look  in  the  same  direction  you  were,  when  Dr.  DeWolf  rode 
off,  and  3'ou  will  see  two  men  lifting  something  from  a  rude  wagon.  One  of  the 
men  is  a  farmer  and  he  has  just  sold  a  couple  of  ox  hides  to  the  other.  The 
buyer  is  a  sturdy  looking  young  man  of  about  twenty-three  years,  whose  sleeves 
are  rolled  up,  and  who  has  on  a  leather  apron,  for  he  is  a  tanner.  He  will  have  a 
son  after  a  while,  however,  who  will  carry  his  name  ringing  down  the  ages,  for  it 
is  Jesse  R.  Grant,  who  had  just  gone  into  business  with  John  F.  Wells,  on  the 
now  Gretzinger  lots.  A  few  years  ago  the  vats  of  this  old  tannery  were  taken 
up,  and  a  walking  stick  made  from  a  portion  of  them  now  awaits  the  illustrious 
General  at  the  home  of  E.  P.  Brainerd,  in  Ravenna.  Jared  Mason,  who  came 
from  Beaver  County,  Penn.,  in  1810,  started  this  tannery  and  did  a  lucrative 
business  for  three  years,  dying  in  1813.  In  1815  John  F.  Wells  married  the 
widow,  and  thus  came  into  possession  of  the  tannery.  Mr.  Mason  put  up  the 
building  now  standing  in  the  rear  of  the  Mechanics'  Block,  which  was  for  a  long 
time  the  residence  of  Hon.  Seth  Day,  while  it  stood  on  Main  Street. 

Take  another  look  around  you  and  you  will  see  a  blacksmith  shop  some  little 
distance  to  the  east,  and  a  few  cabins  dotted  here  and  there.  These  are  all  the 
buildings  in  sight,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  other  residences  on  Main  Street. 
Keep  this  picture  in  your  minds  eye,  and  notice  who  now  are  in  sight.  There  comes 
Amzi  Atwater,  one  of  the  County  Commissioners,  just  crossing  over  to  Greer's 
Tavern,  and  there  comes  Owen  Brown,  the  father  of  John  Brown,  of  Harper's 
Ferry  renown.  Owen  Brown  is,  also,  one  of  the  County  Commissioners, 
and  there  is  going  to  be  a  meeting  here  to-da}'.  Here  he  comes  on  his  old 
bay  horse  along  the  road  from  Franklin,  making  for  the  hitching  rack  in  front 
of  Zenas  Kent's  store,  in  the   doorway   of  which  stands  Capt.  Heman    Oviatt, 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  527 

who  had  furnished  3'oung  Kent  the  means  to  start  in  business.  Near  the  Court 
House  stand  Sheriff  Asa  K.  Burroughs,  Darius  Lyman,  Prosecuting  Attorney, 
William  Wetmore,  County  Treasurer,  and  Ira  Hudson,  Clerk.  A  little  further 
ofiF  is  another  group,  consisting  of  Rial  MciVrthur,  William  Coolman,  William  Fra- 
zer,  Orvill  Crane  and  Calvin  Pease.  These  groups  are  discussing  some  public 
measure,  and,  while  they  talk,  cross  over  to  G-reer's  Tavern.  Capt.  Delaun  Mills  has 
just  dismounted  from  his  horse,  and,  cane  in  hand,  is  shaking  hands  with  G-en. 
Campbell,  while  Lewis  Ely,  John  Diver  and  Capt.  John  T.  Baldwin,  with  Artemus 
Buggies,  are  discussing  politics,  but  as  they  all  think  the  same  way  there  is  not 
much  disputation.  Passing  along  the  road,  some  toward  the  Court  House  and 
some  toward  the  hat  shop  and  stores,  ma}^  be  seen  Capt.  Joseph  Eggleston,  Elias 
Harmon,  x\lpheus  Streator,  Col.  Benjamin  Higley,  Daniel  Dawley  and  Christian 
Cackler,  who  has  been  married  only  a  year  or  two,  Bela  Hubbard,  Oliver  Dickin- 
son, and -but  what  is  all  that  noise  about  among  the  boys  down  Main  Street, 

near  the  eastern  edge  of  the  village  ?  Why,  a  cow  belonging  to  Ira  Hudson,  the  late 
Clerk,  has  mired  just  opposite  the  frog-pond  in  the  lot  attached  to  the  residence 
of  Mrs.  Skinner,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  AValnut  Streets.  The  cow  stumbled 
off  the  corduroy  road  just  about  where  Mr.  Mertz's  beautiful  front  yard  now  is, 
and  the  boys,  who  were  stoning  the  frogs  in  the  pond,  raised  the  alarm.  It  took 
nearly  all  the  men  in  the  village  to  get  the  poor  brute  safely  out. 

Ravenna  was  reall}'  growing  into  importance,  foi',  in  1825,  they  had  two  mails 
per  week  from  Pittsburgh,  and  two  from  Clev^eland,  and  one  each  week  from  New 
Lisbon,  3Iedina,  Burton  and  Warren.  James  Belden  came  from  Wells ville  and 
took  charge  of  the  old  tavern  opposite  the  Court  House,  the  one  "  Papa  "  Carter 
ran  so  long  and  so  well,  and  named  it  the  "  Clinton  Tavern."  This  was  in  May, 
1825,  and  Belden  improved  the  house  ver}^  much.  In  this  same  month  occurred 
one  of  the  most  terrific  hail  storms  on  record.  On  May  18,  during  the  afternoon,  a 
rain  and  wind  storm  blew  up  from  the  southwest,  which  shortly  turned  into  hail, 
and  such  stones  fell  as  never  had  been  seen  here  before.  One  of  the  stones  that 
fell  in  the  village  measured  nine  inches  in  diameter,  according  to  the  Western  Cour- 
ier, published  here  at  the  time.  Many  windows  were  broken,  dwellings,  barns  and 
orchards  destroyed,  and  not  a  fence  was  left  standing  in  the  path  of  the  cyclone  ; 
for  cyclone  it  evidentl}'  was.  but  they  had  not  got  to  calling  these  visitations  by 
that  high  sounding  title,  as  yet.  William  McLaughlin  gave  notice,  May  2],  that 
he  had  leased  the  carding  works  of  Stoddard  &  Wads  worth,  and  was  prepared 
for  business.  He  also  stated  that  children  sent  to  his  establishment  with  wool, 
should  be  "  allowed  to  take  their  turn,  and  be  treated  like  anybody  else."  It 
evidently  had  been  the  habit  of  the  men  to  crowd  out  the  little  ones.  Gen.  La 
Fayette,  who  was  in  this  countiy  at  the  time,  had  been  invited  to  Ravenna,  and  was 
expected  to  honor  the  count}'  with  his  presence  at  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration  at 
the  Portage  Summit,  but  he  could  not  come — had  a  previous  engagment  for 
Bunker  Hill  and  Boston. 

The  second  day-book  used  by  Oviatt  &  Kent,  of  Ravenna,  was  opened  March 
2,  1818,  with  the  following  entries  : 

Almon  Babcock.  To  37  lbs.  iron,  at  14c $5  18 

Alanson  Eddy,  To  7  dollars  of  New  Philadelphia  money 

Sam'I  D.  Harris,  To  I  quire  of  paper,  at  31c 15^ 

A.  Baldwin,  To  i  lb.  tea,  at  $2.00,  50c.;   1  pipe,  3c.;    and  3  nut- 

raegs,  25c 

Giles  Sutliff,  To  1  lb.  sugar,  18fc.,  and  1  pipe,  3c 

Almon  Babcock,  To  12  lbs.  sugar 2  25 

Joseph  Torrey,  To  1  cake  of  soap,  12|c.,  and  1  sheet  of  sand  paper, 

6J 18f 

William  Veon,  To  J  lb.  ginger 12i 

Nathaniel  Austin,  To  i  lb.  coffee,  22c.;  1  pipe,  3c.;  snuff,  6c 

Joshua  Woodard,  To  6  yds.  shirting,  $3;  k  skeins  of  thread,  12^c. . 
Joshua  AVoodard,  To  1  pair  shoes,  $2.25,  delivered  to  E.  Baldwin. . 
Almon  Babcock,  To  1  qt.  brandy 1  25 


528  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Hezekiah  Hine,  To  1  almanac 06 

Joseph  Torrey,  To  1  pt.  of  oil 18| 

William  Coleman,  To  4  lbs.  15  oz.  hops 2  46 

Jacob  Stough,  To  i  lb.  tobacco,  18Jc.,  and  spirits  turpentine,  25c. 

By  credit,  deerskin,  99c 

Giles  Woodruff,  To  1  thimble '. 06i 

A  barn  was  raised  in  Ravenna  for  Lyman  Hotchkiss,  June  8,  1825,  in  three 
hours,  and  notice  the  dimensions  :  It  was  eighty-five  feet  long  b}'  fort^-two  feet 
broad,  with  ten  bents,  one  of  which  was  eighty-five  feet  long,  the  height  of  the 
building  being  in  proportion.  The  ridge-pole  of  the  barn  was  a  solid  and  whole 
piece  of  timber,  eighty-five  feet  long,  a  size  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  barn 
raising  up  to  that  time.  It  still  stands,  one  mile  east  of  Ravenna,  a  little  back 
from  the  road. 

Another  and  still  greater  undertaking  was  the  erection  on  June  23,  1825,  of  a 
building  for  Cyrus  Prentiss  and  William  Coolman,  but  let  the  editor  of  the  West- 
ern Coiirier  tell  it  in  his  way  :  "  We  witnessed  such  a  scene  on  Thursday  last.  The 
frame,  timbers,  etc.,  of  a  ver}^  large  brick  building,  belonging  to  Messrs.  Prentiss 
and  Coolman,  were  raised.  The  building  is  three  stories  high,  eighty-six  feet  long 
and  thirty-two  feet  in  width.  The  timbers  were  very  heavj-,  and  in  the  morning 
lay  scattered  on  the  ground,  but  under  the  direction  of  the  master-builder,  Mr. 
Hills,  the  different  pieces  were  collected,  put  in  proper  place,  and  now  assist  in 
forming  by  far  the  largest  building  in  this  place." 

In  1825  Perry  &  Prentiss  had  a  fine  store  for  the  times,  where  the}'  kept  ever}'- 
thing  "  from  a  needle  to  a  hay-stack  ";  so  had  Zenas  Kent  and  Isaac  Swift  fine 
stores.  Joseph  Carroll  made  and  sold  fashionable  boots  and  shoes  a  few  doors 
east  of  the  Court  House,  and  Alonzo  Bristol  made  and  sold  fashionable  hats  for 
men,  but  alas  !  there  was  not  a  milliner  in  the  village,  and  the  ladies  had  to  wear 
sun-bonnets,  or  their  mother's  "  calashes,"  brought  from  New  England.  A  beet 
was  raised  this  year  b}-  Hon.  Seth  Da}'  that  measured  two  feet  and  one  inch  in 
length,  twenty-four  inches  in  circumference,  and  weighed  nine  pounds  and  eight 
ounces.  Timothy  Holcomb  raised  a  potato  that  weighed  four  pounds,  twelve 
ounces  ;  and  William  Forbes  produced,  or  rather  one  of  his  hens  did.  an  egg  that 
weighed  four  ounces.  About  this  time  Thompsonianism,  a  peculiar  school  of 
medicine,  made  its  appearance  here,  and  the  death  of  one  or  two  patients  being 
attributed  to  this  system,  the  so-called  "  sweat  doctors "  were  visited  b}'  all 
sorts  of  anathemas  from  the  people.  Robert  Owen,  the  Scotch  vagarist,  who 
wanted  to  found  one  of  his  theoretical  Elysiums  near  Ravenna,  made  his 
appearance,  and  collected  a  numerous  following  ;  but  when  the  "Auxiliary 
Owen  Community "  asked  the  Legislature  for  a  charter,  that  practical  old 
body  "  sat  down  "  upon  the  project  b}'  refusing  to  grant  it,  and  Owen  went  to  pas- 
tures new — New  Harmony,  Ind.,  and  set  out  his  stakes.  According  to  the  pub- 
lished abstract  of  taxables,  there  was  but  one  pleasure  carriage  in  the  count}'. 
The  great  comet  of  1825  was  visible  here  in  November. 

In  January,  1826,  H.  A.  Brewster  opened  a  store  in  a  room  opposite  the  Court 
House,  Perry  &  Prentiss  removed  to  their  new  brick  building  on  the  public 
square,  and  M.  Oviatt  took  the  room  vacated  by  Perry  &  Prentiss.  Mark  Wood- 
ruff, in  February,  took  charge  of  the  tavern  that  Beldeu  had  been  owning,  and 
called  it  the  "Ravenna  Hotel."  Jabez  Gilbert,  "  Moze  Jabe,"  put  on  a  spick  and 
span  new  stage  coach  with  four  horses,  on  his  line  from  Beaver  to  Cleveland,  via 
Ravenna,  some  time  in  April.  Robert  E.  Campbell  opened  the  first  watch,  clock 
and  jewelry  establishment  in  a  room  next  door  to  Perry  &  Prentiss'  store  ;  Lyman 
Stephenson  opened  a  shoe  shop,  and  William  Forbes  was  carrying  on  the  tanners 
and  curriers'  business.  A  reward  of  $200  was  offered  for  the  capture  of  two  run- 
away slaves,  Ned  Branch  and  Bob  Booth,  who  ran  away  from  Washington,  D.  C. 
A  few  years  later  three  stations^ of  the  "Underground  Railroad"  were  located  in 
Portage — one  in  Randolph,  one  in  Ravenna  and  one  in  Hiram. 


.  ^ 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  531 

The  directory  of  Ravenna  for  1841  gives  the  following  names  and  occupations  : 
Clerli  of  Court,  William  Coleman,  Jr.;  Sheriff'  Laurin  Dewey  ;  Auditor, George  B. 
DePeyster  ;  Treasurer,  Henry  L.  Tilden  ;  Recorder,  John  N.  Skinner  ;  Notaries  Pub- 
lic, John  N.  Skinner,  Luther  Day  and  E.  Spalding  ;  attorne3's,  Jonathan  Sloane, 
Darius  Lyman,  E.  Spalding,  William  Turner,  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  Luther  Day, 
Joseph  Lyman,  Alonzo  A.  Skinner  and  Francis  W.  Tappan  ;  merchants,  Prentiss 
&  Whittlesey,  H.  L.  Day  &  Co  ,  C.  P.  &  F.  W.  Seymour,  S.  Mason  &  Co.;  commis- 
sion merchants  and  forwarders,  Babcock  &  McBride  ;  druggists,  Isaac  Swift,  Grod- 
dard  &  Hatch  ;  leather  manufacturers,  Cyrus  Prentiss  and  John  Gr^^lis  ;  tin  and 
copper  workers,  Cj'rus  Prentiss  and  John  W^'gle  ;  cabinet-ware,  Gr.  Lane,  0.  H. 
GritHn,  A.  S.  Collins  ;  carriage  builders,  J.  A.  Clarke  &  Co.,  William  Bond,  Jona- 
than Minard  ;  physicians.  Job  Clark,  Lyman  Collins,  Joseph  DeWolf  and  John  D. 
Wellman  ;  stage  office,  Hiram  Collins,  agent ;  tavern  and  livery  stable,  William 
Ward  ;  tailor,  William  B.  Matthews  ;  Ohio  Star,  A.  H.  Lewis,  editor,  R.  S.  Elkins 
publisher  ;   Western  Reserve  Cahmet,  L^'man  W.  Hall,  editor. 

The  citizens  resolved  to  petition  the  Commissioners  to  permit  them  to  set  up 
for  themselves  as  an  incorporated  village,  which  was  accomplished  in  1853.  0. 
P.  Brown  was  the  first  Ma3-or  and  S.  R.  Freeman  the  first  Recorder.  Six  Coun- 
cilmen  were  elected  March  5,  1853.  The  first  ordinance  passed  was  for  the  election 
of  Marshal,  Treasurer  and  Street  Commissioners,  and  prescribing  their  duties  and 
compensation.  The  Mayors  of  the  city  since  that  time  are  named  as  follows: 
Darius  Lvman,  1854;  Pluto  B.  Conant,  1855;  A.  B.  Griffin,  1856;  J.  D.  Horton, 
1857;  Sam  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  1858;  Joshua  T.  Catlin,  1859  to  18G2;  S.  D.  Nor- 
ton, 1863  ;  J.  D.  Horton,  1865;  H.  L.  Day,  1867; 'Royal  Taylor,  1869;  John 
Meharg,  1869  to  1873;  George  F.  Robinson,  1873  to  1882;  E.  P.  Hatfield,  1882; 
George  F.  Robinson,  1883;  N.  H.  Smith,  1884-85.  The  present  officers  are  N.  H. 
Smith,  Mayor;  A.  E.  Seaton,  Clerk;  A.  P.  Oviatt,  Q.  Cook,  C.  M.  Stillson,  Charles 
Merts,  G.  L.  Horr  and/'john  P.  Jones;  Councilmen;  W.  T.  Greundel,  Treasurer;  T. 
R.  Mason,  Marshal;  S.  B.  Norton,  J.  W.  Holcomb  and  N.  H.  Smith,  Justices. 

The  Clerks  of  the  city  from  1853  to  1885  are  named  in  the  following  list:  S. 
R.  Freeman,  1853;  H.  L  Miller,  1856;  H.  R.  W.  Hall,  1857;  A.  W.  Beeman,  1863; 
J.  P.  Catlin,  1864;  E.  G.  Russell,  1865  to  1877;  D.  B.  Lawrence,  1878;  and  A.  E. 
Seaton. 

On  Januar}-  12,  1885,  the  question  of  constructing  water- works  was  submitted 
to  the  people.  There  were  473  votes  for  and  217  votes  against.  Bonds  for  875,- 
000  were  ordered  to  be  issued.  The  vote  against  construction  by  private  enter- 
prise stood  232  for  and  244  against.  The  large  body  of  voters  did  not  notice 
the  latter  question. 

The  reservoir  from  which  the  water  supply  is  to  be  obtained  is  known  as 
"Mother  Wai-d's  Wash  Tub."  Theodore  Clark,  writing  of  this  pond,  says:  "This 
phenomenal  reservoir,  situated  upon  a  natural  elevated  plateau,  saucer-shaped,  is 
invisibly  supplied  with  water;  however,  supposed  to  be  by  some  unknown  subter- 
ranean hydrodynamic  power.  It  has  the  same  invisible,  subterranean  outlet — 
eastward — supplying  thousands  of  acres  and  hundreds  of  families  with  its  never- 
failing  underflow  of  soft  water,  in  an  area,  eastwai'd,  of  twelve  miles,  on  this  sand 
ridge.  This  is  a  reality,  based  upon  a  careful  examination  made  by  Charles  U. 
Shepard,  Professor  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology,  of  Yale  College,  and  myself  over 
thirty  years  ago." 

The  city  has  a  well  disciplined  fire  department,  with  a  steamer,  a  hand  engine 
and  a  hook  and  ladder  company.  An  extensive  telephone  sj'stem  networks  the 
town  and  stretches  away  to  all  important  points  within  forty  or  fifty  miles.  A  fine 
Opera  House,  latel}'  remodeled,  affords  a  place  of  occasional  amusement  for  play- 
goers, and  a  "stand"  for  peripatetic  shows.  Ravenna  sent  275  soldiers  to  the 
defense  of  the  Union  and  seventeen  fell  in  the  service. 

Evergreen  Cemetery  Association  of  Ravenna  was  organized  March  9,    1849, 

28 


532  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

with  the  following  members:  Dr.  Isaac  Swift,  Seth  A.  Gillett,  Edward  A.  Atwater, 
William  Frazer,  Sam.  Mason,  Isaac  Brayton,  F.  W.  Sej'mour,  H.  L.  Day,  William 
Coolman,  H.  Y.  Beebe,  E.  Spalding,  J.  L.  Ranney,  John  G-illis,  George  Robinson, 
Luther  Day,  Ransom  A.  Gillett,  Cyrus   Prentiss,  L.   Day  and  John  N.   Skinner. 

Church  Histor3^ — In  the  very  early  days  there  were  no  regular  religious  serv- 
ices held  in  Ravenna,  and  the  settlers  had  to  depend  upon  the  stray  crumbs 
that  fell  from  the  table  of  the  Lord  for  their  spiritual  sustenance.  Occasionally 
some  hardy  old  Methodist  circuit  rider,  or  some  missionary  of  the  Connecticut 
Society  of  Hj)me  Missions  would  come  along,  but  their  visits  were  very  infre- 
quent, yet  when  the^'  did  come  the  occasion  was  one  of  great  joy  and  satisfaction. 
The  preacher  was  well  taken  care  of,  and  if  it  was  a  Sabbath  when  he  preached, 
the  entire  township  would  turn  out  to  hear  the  word.  Denomination,  sect  and 
particular  belief  were  all  dropped;  immersion  and  sprinkling  were  not  thought  of, 
and  the  rigid  Predestinarian  and  the  absolute  Free-Wilier  clasped  hands  around  the 
Altar  of  the  Lord,  beneath  the  overarching  branches  of  some  grand  old  oak,  or  at 
the  humble  cabin  of  the  pioneer.  Occasionally  Rev.  Shadrach  Bostwick  and  old 
Father  Shewell  preached  in  the  Court  House,  and  afterward  a  minister  from  Beaver, 
Penn.,  would  call  every  month  or  two.  Rev.  Caleb  Pitkin,  of  Charlestown,  Rev. 
Nathan  B.  Darrow  and  Rev.  Mr.  Seward,  cf  Aurora,  Rev.  Hanford,  of  Hudson, 
and  Rev.  Woodruff,  of  Tallmadge,  all  paid  visits  to  Ravenna  and  ministered  to 
the  hungrj'  souls  of  the  settlers.  About  1816  Seth  Day,  Dr.  Isaac  Swift  and  Dan- 
iel Dawley  began  conducting  religious  services,  adopting  the  Episcopalian  form. 
Seth  Day  read  the  service.  Dr.  Swift  led  the  singing,  and  Mr.  Dawley  led  in  the 
responses.  Those  young  men  had  been  reared  in  the  Episcopal  Church  and  were 
taught  to  respect  the  Sabbath  in  their  Eastern  homes  when  they  were  boys.  This 
embryo  Episcopal  Church,  therefore,  can  lay  claim  to  being  the  first  organization 
for  religious  services  in  Ravenna.  Matters  went  on  this  way  for  several  years, 
but  one  day,  in  1822,  an  event  happened  that  shaped  in  large  measure  the  future 
of  the  township  and  village. 

First  Co  tig  relational  Church. — On  a  Saturday  afternoon,  early  in  May,  1822,  a 
traveler  on  horseback  rode  into  the  village  of  Ravenna  by  the  eastern  road,  and 
hitching  his  horse  in  front  of  one  of  the  taverns,  applied  for  accommodations  till 
the  following  Monday.  As  a  stranger  in  those  days,  traveling  on  horseback  and 
alone,  was  not  an  every-da^'  occurrence,  the  identity  and  business  of  this  person 
soon  became  known.  He  proved  to  be  Rev.  Charles  B.  Storrs,  a  Congregational 
minister,  sent  out  by  the  Connecticut  Home  Missionary  Society  to  carry  the  glad 
tidings  into  the  Western  wilds.  He  was  a  polished  gentleman,  a  man  of  culture 
and  refinement  and  a  zealous  worker  for  the  Lord — a  knight  errant  in  the  cause 
of  religion,  in  search  of  spiritual  adventure  and  to  give  succor  to  the  weak. 
Becoming  known  to  the  leading  citizens  of  Ravenna,  the  young  minister  was  called 
upon  by  Darius  Lyman  and  Seth  Day  and  invited  to  preach  the  following  Sunday, 
which  he  did,  the  service  being  so  highly  appreciated  and  the  hearts  of  the  people 
so  thoroughly  enlisted  in  the  preacher,  that  he  was  solicited  to  remain  a  few  days, 
which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  church  of  twelve  members,  and  a  call  for  Mr. 
Storrs  to  become  its  pastor. 

A  call  was  issued  June  25,  1825,  by  Rev.  Chai-les  B.  Storrs,  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  for  the  citizens  to  meet  in  the  Court  House  on  the  following  Sabbath 
to  take  into  consideration  the  establishment  of  a  Sunday-school.  All  persons 
were  urged  to  lend  their  aid  to  the  cause,  bring  their  children,  and  be  prepared  to 
act  as  teachers.  A  sufficient  number  went  to  the  meeting  and  a  school  was 
formed,  but  it  was  a  new  thing — these  schools  on  the  Lord's  Day — and  the  sturd}' 
old  descendants  of  the  Puritan  fathers  did  not  entirel}'  fancy  the  idea,  so  it 
languished  along  for  about  seventeen  weeks,  and,  November  6,  closed  for  the 
season.  Mr.  Homer  C.  Frazer,  of  Ravenna,  is  the  only  person  now  belonging  to 
the  Congregational  school,  who  was  a  member  of  that  little  school  of  1825. 


RAVENNA  TOAVNSHIP.  '  533 

The  first  regular  pastor  of  the  church  after  Mr.  Storrs  was  Rev.  Alvan  Nash, 
ordained  and  installed  in  September,  1829,  at  which  time  there  was  a  membership 
of  sixteen.  The  other  pastors  in  order  of  service  were  Eev.  Edward  Atwater, 
Rev.  Nutting,  Rev.  W.  D.  Saunders,  Rev.  J.  P.  Hart,  Rev.  E.  B.  Mason  and  Rev. 
A.  M.  Hills.  The  present  church  building  was  erected  in  1837,  and  the  present 
pastor  is  Rev.  Clarendon  A.  Stone,  who  began  his  labors  August  1,  1884.  The 
Sabbath-school  was  organized  in  1825  ;  present  Supei'intendent,  H.  B.  Coe. 

Free  Congregational  Church  of  Ravenna  was  organized  under  State  law  Novem- 
ber 12,  1852.  L^-man  W.  Hall,  Fred  W.  Seymour  and  J.  B.  Moll  wain  were 
elected  Trustees,  and  Homer  C.  Frazer,  Clerk. 

3Iethodist  Episcopal  Church.— In  the  3'ear  1824  the  first  regular  services  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  denomination  began  in  Ravenna.  Rev.  Ira  Eddy  was  eno-ao-ed 
to  preach  every  four  weeks,  he  belonging  to  the  Deerfield  Circuit.  This  gentleman 
and  other  itinerants  supplied  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  few  Methodists  here  at  that 
time  till  July,  1830,  when  Rev.  John  Wesley  Hill,  who  had  preached  in  the  brick 
schoolhouse  on  Prospect  Street,  formed  a  class,  which  was  only  temporary,  but  in 
October,  of  the  same  yeai-.  Rev(^ Cornelius  Jonespormed  a  permanent  class  of  pro- 
bationers, who  continued  sei'vices  and  class  meetings  until  March  31,  1831,  when 
the  same  minister  organized  the  class  into  a  church  organization,  in  a  little  log 
schoolhouse  about  two  miles  north  of  the  village.  Eight  persons  composed  this 
society,  viz.:  Dennis  Sutlifl",  Edwin  Bostwick,  Darius  Ely,  Hannah  and  Sarah  Sapp, 
Samuel  Foljambe,  Mrs.  Eliza  Foljambe  and  Mrs.  Susan  Brown.  During  the  fol- 
lowing summer  Cyrus  Prentiss  and  wife,  Ashbel  Bostwick  and  wife,  Mary  Carter, 
Lucy  Burnham  and  Pha?be  Mason  joined  this  class.  At  this  time,  1831,  Ravemia 
was  included  in  the  Ohio  District,  Deerfield  Circuit,  and  Revs.'^ornelius  Jones 
and  the  famous  John  N.  MaflBtt  were  the  circuit  riders. 

Rev.  Ira  P.  Eddy  was  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  church  at  this  time.  Early 
in  September  the  congregation  got  the  privilege  of  using  conjointly  with  the  Con- 
gregational Society  the  brick  schoolhouse  in  the  village,  but  they  had  it  all  to 
themselves,  for  the  Congregational  brethren  thereafter  held  their  meetings  in  the 
dining-room  of  Maj.  Shaler's  tavern,  on  the  present  site  of  the  Etna  House.  The 
Sunday-school  of  the  church  was  organized  at  this  time,  also.  The  society  con- 
tinued to  occupy  the  schoolhouse  till  their  first  church  edifice  was  erected,  it 
being  dedicated  December  15,  1832,  Rev.  Wilder  B.  Mack  officiating. 

In  August,  1832,  the  church  received  its  first  appointment  from  the  Conference. 
Revs.  Eddy,  Hill  and  Horton  being  the  preachers  on  the  circuit,  and  Rev.  W.  B, 
Mack,  Presiding  Elder.  In  July,  1833,  Ravenna  was  made  a  station,  with  Rev, 
John  McLean  pastor.  In  1834  Rev.  Aurora  Callenan  was  sent  as  pastor,  and  Ir 
1835  Rev.  Hiram  Gilmon  took  charge. 

In  August,  183G,  Ravenna  was  raised  from  a  station  to  the  dignity  of  head 
center  to  a  circuit,  around  which  revolved  Franklin,  Brimfield,  Cuyahoga  Falls 
and  Northampton.  The  circuit  preachers  were  Revs.  William  Stevens,  W.  S. 
Warrello,  and  Isaac  Winans,  Presiding  Elder.  In  1837  Revs.  William  Stevens 
and  E.  J.  Kinne^'  were  on  this  circuit,  and  in  1838  Revs.  A.  G.  Sturges  and  E.  J. 
L.  Baker  were  the  preachers.  In  1839  Revs.  E.  J.  Sturges  and  William  F.  Wilsoii 
were  sent  by  the  Conference,  and  in  1840  Revs.  L.  D.  Mix  and  D.  M.  Stearns  were 
the  pastors  in  charge,  and  Rev.  John  Chandler  was  Presiding  Elder.  In  July, 
•18-1:1,  Ravenna  was  again  made  a  station,  and  Rev.  L.  D.  IMix  was  appointed  pas- 
tor. A  quarterly  meeting,  held  in  Ravenna  October  31,  1841,  was  the  initial  point 
of  a  very  remarkable  revival,  unprecedented  in  its  results  before  or  since.  Rev.  A. 
M.  Brown,  of  Cleveland,  was  present,  and  during  the  service  he  and  Rev.  L.  D. 
Mix  became  so  warmed  up  by  their  feelings  that  they  embraced  each  other  within 
the  altar.  The  act  seemed  to  fire  the  audience,  and  a  series  of  meetings  followed, 
resulting  in  the  conversion  of  a  large  number  of  persons,  eight}'  of  whom  joined 
the  church,  William  Coolman,  George  Robinson,  Israel  Foraker,  John  Wait  anS 


534  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

R.  S.  Elkins,  and  their  wives,  and  Recellus  Root,  George  Somerville,  Isaac  Hudson 
and  Dr.  Carter  being  among  the  number.  Seventy-four  of  the  probationers  became 
members  in  full  connection. 

The  first  building,  erected  in  1832,  was  used  till  1856,  when  it  gave  place  to 
the  present  edifice,  which  was  dedicated  with  impressive  ceremonies  on  Friday,  Jan- 
nary  30,  1857,  by  Bishop  Simpson.  Thus  from  so  small  a  beginning  as  that  little 
class  of  1830,  has  grown  a  large  congregation  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Ravenna, 
with  a  church  edifice  that  is  a  monument  to  their  Zealand  liberality.  Rev.  Fresh- 
water is  the  present  pastor. 

Church  of  Disciples. — In  the  year  1827  the  religious  movement  in  which  Alexan- 
der Campbell  and  Thomas  Campbell,  his  father,  were  the  most  prominent  actors, 
found  the  Western  Reserve  its  most  fruitful  field  of  labor,  through  the  evangelistic 
work  of  Walter  Scott.  The  whole  Reserve  was  kindled  to  a  blaze  of  religious 
interest  never  known  before.  Scott  never  visited  Ravenna  in  person,  save  to 
preach  one  discourse  in  the  summer  of  1830,  but  he  had  sown  the  seeds  of  his  faith 
in  the  mind  of  one  of  his  opponents,  Aylett  Raines,  a  minister  of  the  Restorationist 
Societ}',  so  deeply,  that  Raines  came  to  Ravenna,  had  a  discussion  with  Ebenezer 
Williams,  the  acknowledged  champion  of  a  sect  opposed  to  the  Disciples,  con- 
vinced that  dought}'  foe  of  the  correctness  of  Scott's  teachings  in  a  four  days'  can- 
vass, at  the  end  of  which  time  they  both,  Raines  and  Williams,  repaired  to  Sand}' 
Lake  and  immersed  each  other.  This  was  June  1,  1828.  P]benezer  Williams 
immediately  began  preaching  the  new  doctrine. 

March  12,  1830,  William  Hayden  converted  seven  persons  in  the  Clements 
district' in  the  northwest  part  of  the  township,  and  baptized  them  in  the  run  flow- 
ing through  the  Clements  farm.  They  were  Thomas,  Mary  and  Margaret  Cle- 
ments, Mrs.  Jonathan  Stewart,  Mrs.  Sophia  Hurlbut,  Mrs.  Mary  Austin  and  Henry 
Sturdevant.  Shortly  afterward  Marcus  Bosworth  came  and  baptized  two  others, 
Misses  Eliza  Clements  and  Almira  Austin.  On  the  second  Sunday  of  May,  1830, 
William  Hayden  organized  the  little  band,  now  numbering  twent3--six,  into  a  soci- 
ety, and  the  infant  church  was  placed  under  the  cai'e  of  Abijah  Sturdevant,  who  was 
elected  First  Elder.  Regular  meetings  were  held  in  the  old  log  schoolhouse  on 
the  Clements  place,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  the  members  of  that  church 
have  not  failed  to  meet  on  the  Sabbath,  with  but  half  a  dozen  exceptions,  when 
they  have  adjouraed  to  attend  the  3'early  meeting  or  a  funeral.  First  Congrega- 
tion of  Disciples  in  Ravenna  was  reorganized  January  26,  1860,  with  Charles 
Judd,E.  B.  Reeves,  Henry  J.  White,  William  Price  and  D.  W.  Jennings,  Trustees, 

E.  B.  Reeves  was  Clerk.  ' 

The  log  schoolhouse  was  used  for  the  church  services  for  a  few  years,  when  a 
frame  schoolhouse  was  erected,  which  they  occupied  for  some  time  and  then 
removed  to  another  schoolhouse,  whence  they  came  to  Ravenna  and  used  the  brick 
schoolhouse  of  the  village  till  they  built  their  present  structure  in  1843-44,  it 
being  dedicated  by  Elder  A.  B.  Green  in  December  of  1844.  Soon  after  the  dedi- 
cation Elders  0.  E.  Brown  and  Symonds  Rj-der  preached  for  the  church,  after 
whom  came  Charles  McDougal,  John  T.  Smith,  who  were  followed  successively 
by  Prof.  Thomas  Munnell,  Joel  W.  James,  0.  P.  Miller,  C.  C.  Foote,  A.  B.  Green, 
J.  S.  Lowe,  Prof.  Amzi  Atwater,  J.  L.  Pinkerton;  then  for  three  months  previous 
to  the  commencement  of  the  ministrations  of  George  Darsie,  H.  J.  White  and  C. 

F.  W.  Cronemeyer  oflSciated.  Mr.  Darsie  took  charge  April  9,  1871,  continuing 
till  1876,  when  J.  M.  Van  Home  became  the  pastor,  dui'ing  whose  career  the 
church  was  rebuilt  at  a  cost  of  over  ^9,000,  and  dedicated  on  the  18th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1877,  Elder  Isaac  Errett,  of  Cincinnati,  officiating.  In  1881  M.  L.  Streator 
succeeded  Van  Home,  and  labored  two  years,  when  the  church  was  without  a 
pastor  for  nine  months,  but  in  Jixly,  1883,  Elder  W.  H.  Scott  became  the  pastor, 
under  whose  charge  it  still  is.  The  church  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  free  of 
debt  and  has  an  enrolled  membership  of  370. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  535 

JJniversalist  Church. — Among  the  early  settlers  there  were  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  persons  holding  to  the  faith  of  Universalism,  but  they  had  no  church  edi- 
fice until  18-42,  during  which  year  they  built  a  small  one  in  Ravenna,  and 
on  November  25  it  was  dedicated.  This  church  in  the  course  of  thirt}-  years 
became  too  small  to  accommodate  the  congregation  and  measures  were  then  taken 
to  remodel  it.  Accordingly,  by  July  29,  1877,  the  building  had  been  so  materially 
repaired  that  it  was  substantially  a  new  church,  and  on  that  date  it  was  rededicated. 
The  services  opened  with  music  by  the  choir,  followed  by  Scripture  reading  by 
Rev.  C.  L.  Shipman,  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  S.  G-ledhill,  and  a  sermon  by  Rev.  A.  Will- 
son.  In  the  afternoon  the  pastor,  Mr.  Willson,  was  installed,  the  services  consist- 
ing of  music,  pra^-er  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  in  addition  to  the  installation 
rites.  A  sermon  was  also  delivered  by  Rev.  C.  L.  Shipman  in  an  eloquent  and 
forcible  manner.  The  address  to  the  pastor  was  made  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Gledhill,  and 
the  address  to  the  people  by  Rev.  A.  Canfield.  The  building  is  a  creditable  struct- 
ure, has  a  fair  membership,  and  the  pastor.  Rev.  Mr.  Willson,  is  one  of  Ravenna's 
best  citizens,  he  being  connected  by  marriage  with  one  of  the  leading  families. 

Oakwood  Chapel  Sunday-school  was  reorganized  November  11,  1883,  and 
incorporated.  Samuel  F.  Butts  was  Superintendent  and  Miss  Mary  Musser  Secre- 
tary. G-eorge  Sadler,  Gr.  S.  Husted,  H.  C.  Frazer,  W.  C.  Lacey  and  W.  H.  Lepper 
were  incorporators. 

This  chapel  is  now  (winter  1884-85)  headquarters  of  the  Salvation  Army. 

Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. — This  congregation  was  formed  November 
9, 1 854,  by  a  number  of  railroad  emplo\-es,  who  removed  from  Earlville  to  Ravenna. 
As  Father  McG-ahan,  of  Akron,  Summit  County,  had  visited  this  small  congregation 
of  eight  families  for  eighteen  months  previous  to  their  removal  from  Earlville,  the 
same  monthly  visits  were  continued  by  him  until  the  spring  of  1856.  Father  Walsh, 
his  successor  in  Akron,  visited  monthl}-  until  1857,  when  the  increasing  interests  of 
that  town  and  its  nearer- home  missions  rendered  it  necessarj'  to  have  Ravenna' 
attended  from  some  other  available  source.  About  this  time  Ravenna  became  an 
out-mission  of  the  Cathedral  at  Cleveland,  and  was  visited  b}'  Rev.  Father  O'Connor 
from  September,  1857,  to  September,  1858.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Father 
O'Sullivan,  who  ministered  to  his  charge  for  some  three  months,  when  he  was 
assigned  to  other  duties.  As  circumstances  would  permit,  the  congregation  was 
visited  during  the  year  1859  by  various  priests  from  the  Cathedral,  among  whom 
were  Fathers  Hannan  and  OCallahan.  The  latter  gentleman  seeing  the  necessity 
of  a  church  for  his  rapidly  increasing  flock,  set  about  raising  subscriptions  for 
that  purpose  when  he  was  removed  to  Youngstown.  The  Catholics  having  suffi- 
ciently increased  in  number  during  the  past  five  years  in  the  Missions  of  Hud- 
son, Kent  and  Ravenna  to  maintain  a  pastor.  Rev.  P.  H.  Brown  was  assigned 
in  1860  to  the  pastoi'ate  of  the  church  at  Hudson,  with  the  two  last-mentioned 
towns  as  out-missions.  Ravenna  and  Kent  having  in  the  meantime  acquired  suf- 
ficient growth  to  demand  the  services  of  a  pastor  independent  of  Hudson,  Father 
Brown,  in  1863,  was  placed  in  charge  of  these  two  congregations.  The  year  pre- 
vious to  his  permanent  location  at  Ravenna,  he  resumed  the  work  of  raising 
funds,  which  had  been  alread}-  begun  by  Father  O'Callahan  to  prosecute  the  erec- 
tion of  a  church.  Up  to  this  time  mass  had  been  frequently  celebrated  at  the 
Town  Hall  and  the  houses  of  Peter  King  and  Bernard  Kinney. 

During  the  administration  of  Father  Brown  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Rt. 
Rev.  A.  Rappe,  of  Cleveland,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1862,  on  which  occasion  the 
Rev.  T.  P.  'Thorpe  preached  an  appropriate  discourse,  and  a  little  later  on  the 
completion  crowned  his  efforts  with  success.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  structure 
was  about  $7,00.)  To  the  untiring  zeal  of  Father  Brown  is  largely  due  the  pres- 
ent flourishing  condition  of  the  congregation  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Few 
can  realize  the  amount  of  labor  performed  by  this  noble  priest  in  his  endeavors  to 
promote  the   welfare  of  his  charge.     He  knew  no  rest  until  he  saw  a  fitting  tem- 


536  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

pie  erected  in  which  the  Hoi}-  Sacrifice  could  be  decently  and  worthily  celebrated. 
He  was  frequently  away  from  home  for  weeks  collecting  along  the  railroads  to 
defray  the  expense  in  this,  at  that  time,  great  undertaking.  In  his  travels  he  was 
obliged  to  mingle  with  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and  share  their  scanty  fare  and 
meager  accommodations.  But  what  would  have  been  almost  an  impossibility  to 
other  men  was  to  him  a  pleasure,  so  long  as  it  afforded  an  opportunity  to  accom- 
plish the  work  of  building  up  his  mission.  This  life  of  privation  and  sacrifice 
soon  told  upon  his  once  robust  and  vigorous  constitution.  Shortly  after  his  pro- 
motion from  Ravenna  to  Youngstown  in  1872,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and 
died  at  St.  Vincent's  Hospital,  Cleveland.  The  church  schools  (except  the  frame 
building  erected  by  Father  Bowles)  and  cemetery  are  all  monuments  to  the  zeal 
and  labors  of  Father  Brown,  whose  name  is  a  household  word,  and  whom  none 
mention  but  to  praise. 

The  Rev.  W.  J.  Gibbons  became  pastor  in  1872  and  continued  in  charge  until 
August,  1874.  The  Rev.  J.  T.  Carroll  was  next  installed  and  directed  the  afiairs 
of  the  congregation  till  March  9,  1876,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  D. 
Bowles.  The  growing  wants  of  Ravenna  and  Kent  requiring  a  pastor  for  each. 
Father  Bowles  was  relieved  of  Kent  July  6,  1878,  and  given  sole  charge  of 
Ravenna.  In  April,  1883  he  was  removed  from  Ravenna  to  Fremont,  Ohio.  The 
present  incumbent,  Rev.  John  T.  Cahill,  succeeded  Father  Bowles.  The  pioneer 
families  of  the  congregation,  and  likewise  those  who  have  generously  maintained 
it  with  their  means  and  counsel,  are  Peter  King,  John  McNamara,  Edward  Brod- 
erick,  Michael  3IcMahon,  George  Jennings,  Charles  Murphy,  Edward  Breen  and 
Patrick  Keene.  A  short  time  after  the  formation  of  the  congregation  the  follow- 
ing families  settled  in  Ravenna  and  helped  to  forward  the  work  in  hand,  viz.: 
Frank  McGoorty,  Michael  Quirk,  Patrick  Lee,  James  King,  Patrick  Bergiu,  Dan- 
iel Gary,  Matthew  and  Thomas  McTighe,  Bernard  and  Thomas  Kinney,  Christo- 
pher Jennings,  George  Madole,  Garrett  Herley  and  Michael  Donohue.  Among 
the  citizens  of  Ravenna  who  generously  aided  the  congregations  in  their  early 
struggles  to  obtain  a  place  of  worship,  are  the  Hon.  Luther  Day,  ex-Supreme 
Judge  of  Ohio,  and  Mr.  Isaiah  Linton,  Civil;  Engineer  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pitts- 
burgh Railroad.  The  congregation  at  present  comprises  125  families,  who  sup- 
port two  large  schools,  respectively  primary  and  grammar,  ably  conducted  by 
lay  teachers.  The  present  enrollment  is  125— girls,  65;  boys,  6li.  The  Sunday- 
school  has  a  membership  of  130  children.  The  cemetery  is  located  a  short  dis- 
tance outside  the  corporation  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  village  and  contains 
five  acres.  When  Father  Cahill  assumed  charge  of  the  congregation,  he  found  it 
indebted  to  the  amount  of  $1,040,  but  under  his  earnest  and  indefatigable  labors 
this  debt  has  been  canceled,  and  steps  taken  toward  the  enlargement  of  the 
church  to  meet  the  growing  wants  of  tlie  parish. 

Grace  Protestant  Ejnscojml  Church,  Parish  of  Ravenna,  was  organized  April 
10,  1865,  with  the  following  members:  W.  E.  Smith,  ^.  C.  Ranney,  E.  Spalding, 
E.  S.  Comstock,  senior  and  junior,  H.  D.  Sejmour,  f.  M.  Jones/j.  M.  Kelly,  P. 
Banon,  Charles  B.  Stowe,  T.  J.  Bailey,  Charles  Rogers,  S.  H.  Ferry,  L.  E.  Hotch- 
kiss,  J.  H.  Ferry,  F.  J.  Ferry,  H.  W.  Riddle,  D  C.  Coolman.  W.  L.  Coolman,  J. 
L.  Ranney,  B.  J.  Wells,  Daniel  B.  Wells,  Francis  L.  Clark,  M.  Stuart,  H.  M. 
Clarke  and  C.  W.  Brainerd.  Rev.  Levi  L.  Holden  presided.  Their  present  beau- 
tiful edifice  was  built  in  1873-74,  at  a  cost,  including  lot  and  fixtures,  of  $8,000, 
and  was  consecrated  April  10,  1883,  by  Bishop  G.  T.  Bedell.  The  rectors  have 
been,  in  their  order  of  succession,  Revs.  Levi  L.  Holden,  Edward  Hubbell.  George 
S.  Davis,  T.  J.  Taylor,  W.  H.  Capers,  A.  J.  Brockway  and  J.  W.  Gilman.  First 
Vestry:  P.  Banon,  Senior  Warden;  W.  E.  Smith,  Junior  Warden;  and  E.  S.  Com- 
stock, H.  C.  Ranney,  B.  J.  Wells,  E.  Spalding.  Present  Vestry:  G.  Fairchild, 
Senior  Warden;  A.  B.  Fairchild,  Junior  Warden;  and  D.  C.  Coolman,  H.  D.  Sey- 
mour, J.  C.  Beatty,  E.  S.  Comstock,  D.  L.  Rockwell,  E.   S.   Comstock,  Jr.,  J.  H. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  537 

Jones,  F.  S.  Comstock.  Superintendent  of  Sunday-school,  J.  H.  Jones.  The 
late  rector.  Rev.  J.  W.  Gilman,  resigned  November,  1,  1883,  since  which  time  the 
parish  has  been  without  a  rector. 

In  the  fore  part  of  January,  1826,  there  was  not  a  school  of  any  kind  in 
Ravenna,  although  the  population  more  than  justified  one  or  two  schools,  and 
business  was  increasing  at  a  very  rapid  rate.  Xew  stores  were  starting  up,  some 
little  manufacturing  was  being  done,  and  altogether  Ravenna  had  a  "boom"  with 
a  full  head  on,  that  lasted  several  years.  The  great  canal  was  being  rapidly 
pushed  forward  to  completion,  the  mails  were  increased  to  tri-weekly  arrivals  and 
departures,  a  good  weekly  paper  was  being  printed  in  the  village,  yet  there  was 
no  school. 

The  Legislature  the  year  previous  had  passed  the  act  providing  for  common 
schools,  so  May  29,  1826,  a  meeting  was  called  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Almon 
Babcock,  where  the  Opera  House  now  stands,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  measures 
to  build  a  schoolhouse  in  the  First  (Ravenna)  District.  A  house  was  shortly 
afterward  built,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  Ravenna  has  always  had  schools 
suitable  to  the  necessities  of  all  its  citizens.  There  are  two  more  than  ordinarily 
handsome  and  conveniently  arranged  buildings  in  the  city  of  Ravenna  and  the 
curriculum  is  particularly  good  under  the  charge  of  Principal  Pickitt  and  his  able 
assistants.  Throughout  the  township,  at  suitable  distances,  there  are  comfortable 
schoolhouses  with  good  teachers  and  full  attendance. 

Unity  Lodge,  No.  12,  F.  d-  A.  M. — This  lodge  commenced  work  under  dispen- 
sation from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  May  28,  1810,  and  organized 
under  charter  signed  by  Lewis  Cass,  Grand  Master,  January  15,  1812.  The  char- 
ter members  were  Rial  McArthur,  Joel  Walter,  George  Darrow,  Jr.,  George  Dar- 
row,  Sr.,  Joseph  Hart,  Joshua  Culver,  William  Throop,  Timothy  Culver,  Gideon 
Chittenden,  Jeremiah  Root  and  Elijah  Blackman. 

In  1831  or  1832,  in  consequence  of  the  intense  excitement  in  regard  to  the 
fraternity  throughout  the  northern  section  of  the  country,  the  lodge  suspended 
work.  The  late  Gen.  L.  V.  Bierce,  being  at  the  time  Secretary  of  the  lodge,  took 
charge  of  the  Charter  of  the  Three  Lesser  Lights,  the  Altar  and  the  Jewels,  and 
twenty  years  thereafter  restored  them  to  their  former  places  within  the  lodge, 
which  resumed  work  under  dispensation  on  the  23d  day  of  August,  1852.  Octo- 
ber 22  of  the  same  year  the  lodge  was  again  instituted  under  charter,  to  E.  T.  Rich- 
ardson, W.  M.;  E.  Spalding,  S.  W.;  C.  Lawrence,  J.  W.;  and  members  A.  K.  King, 
J.  G.  McBride,  Ephraim  Clark  and  Henry  Beach.  Upon  the  rolls  there  are  135 
members. 

Tyrian  Chapter,  No.  91,  R.  A.  31. — This  chapter  was  organized  under  charter 
granted  December  13,  1864,  to  Companions  E.  T.  Richardson,  H.  L.  Day,  J.  C. 
Beatty,  Joseph  Vance,  M.  Bosworth,  James  E.  Wilson,  W.  H.  Day,  F.  L.  Sawyer 
and  William  Coolman.  The  charter  was  'granted  b}^  George  Rex,  G.".  H.-.  P.*.; 
Charles  C.  Kiefer,  D.-.  G.-.  H.-.  P.-.,  and  J.  D.  Caldwell,  G.-.  S.-.  The  chapter  has 
seventy-nine  members. 

Richardson  Council,  No.  63,  R.  d-  S.  M. — This  council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  under  charter  dated  x\ugust,  1876,  to  Companions  E.  T. 
Richardson,  D.  C.  Coolman,  D.  Lindsay,  A.  G.  Bradley,  Quincy  Cook.  W.  Holcomb,. 
C.  H.  Ray,  James  Reynolds  and  G.  Seymour.  The  charter  was  issued  by  J.  W, 
Courtright,  M.-.  L-.  G.-.  M.-.;  0.  A.  B.  Senter,  L-.  D.-.  G.-.  M.-.,  J.  D.  Caldwell 
G.-.  R.-.  The  council  has  twenty-two  members.  The  three  Masonic  bodies  own 
conjointly  a  fine  hall,  handsomely  and  appropriately  fitted  up. 

Ravenna  Lodge,  No.  65,  J.  0.  0.  F. — This  lodge  was  chartered  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  Stat^  of  Ohio,  April  25,  18-46.  The  charter  members  were  Horace 
Y.  Beebe,  Edward  T.  Tremaine,  Ransom  A.  Gillette,  James  D.  Watson,  Henrv  L. 
Tilden,  James  W.  Clark  and  A.  W.  Bruce.  The  lodge  was  instituted  May  27, 
1846,  by  Edward  Downs,  D.  D.  G.  M.     The  first  officers  were  Horace  Y.  Beebe, 


538  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

N.  G.;  R.  A.  Gillette,  V.  G,;  E.  T.  Tremaine,  Secretary,  and  Henry  L.  Tildeii,  Treas- 
urer. There  is  a  membership  of  something  over  200.  The  lodge  owns  the  third 
story  over  a  building  on  Main  Street,  their  propert}^  being  worth  about  $3,0U0. 

Ravenna  Encampment,  No.  129,  I.  0.  0.  F. — This  body  was  chartered  by  the 
Grand  Encampment  of  Ohio,  at  the  May  term,  1870,  the  charter  members  being 
William  H.  Beebe,  Horace  Y.  Beebe,  Benjamin  J.  Wells,  David  E.  Wells,  William 
Ward,  J.  G.  Willis  and  John  Phillips.  The  encampment  was  instituted  Jul}^  5, 
1870,  bv  Robert  B.  Innes,  Grand  Patriarch  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  first  offi- 
cers were  William  H.  Beebe,  C.  P.;  H.  Y.  Beebe,  H.  P.;  B.  J.  Wells,  S.  W.;  John 
Phillips,  J.  W.;  David  E.  Wells,  Scribe,  and  William  Ward,  Treasurer.  The  mem- 
bership is  125 

Ravenna.  Council,  No.  376,  R.  A.,  was  organized  August  29,  1879.  The  first 
officers  were:  Regent,  G.  Seymour;  V.  R.,  D.  C.  Coolman;  Past  R.,  W.  H.  Beebe; 
Orator,  D.  R.  Lawsmer;  Secretarv,  C.  H.  Griffin;  Collector,  W.  S.  Krake;  Treasurer, 
B.  F.  Keller;  Chaplain,  A.  M.  Hills;  Guide,  J.  H.  Oakley;  Warden,  D.  L.  Rock- 
well; Sentry,  A.  T.  Smith.  The  present  Regent  is  E.  M.  Davis;  Secretary,  C.  H. 
Griffin;  Collector,  G.  P.  Reed,  and  Treasurer,  Quinc}^  Cook.  Membership,  fifty-nine. 
Place  of  meeting.  Reed's  Opera  House. 

David  Mcintosh  Post,  No.  327,  G.  A.  R.,  was  organized  at  Ravenna,  June  14, 
1883,  and  named  in  honor  of  the  old  militia  General  of  northern  Ohio.  The 
members  of  this  post  are  Philo  Bierce,  A.  D.  Bishop,  Hiram  Bentley,  S.  P.  Barr, 
H.  0.  Barber,  George  N.  Bissell,  C.  L.  Bartlett,  G.  R.  Braden,  James  Baxter, 
George  W.  Barrett,  Joel  Beery. 

C.  S.  Colter,  James  Calhoun,  Seymour  Codding,  John  Campbell,  H.  B.  Coe. 
John  S.  Dix. 

S.  R.  Freeman,  H.  Furrv.  George  and  John  P.  Frank. 

W.  Gill,  J.  H.  Goddard,"  William  Grennell,  W.  S.  Gibbons  and  D.  C.  Gardner. 

L.  P.  Hunt,  L.  F.  Hunt  and  Joseph  Henson. 

J.  Jewell  and  E.  M.  Jennings. 

Philo  L.  King,  W.  S.  Krake,  I.  W.  Kirk  and  S.  Kick. 

W.  Lewis,  John  C.  Lindsay. 

D.  W.  B.  Marsh,  T.  R.  Mason,  H.  H.  Moore,  John  Meharg,  J.  W.  McGahan, 
F.  N,  3Iarvin,  James  Miller  and  C.  A.  Mason. 

A.  P.  Oviatt,  J.  H.  Oakley  and  H.  L.  Osborn. 

L.  R.  Pryor,  A.  A.  Parker,  Simon  Perkins  and  F.  B.  Powell. 

George  F.  Robinson,  0.  C.  Risdon,  D.  L.  Rockwell,  J.  B.  Russell,  Peter  Rich- 
ards and  George  E.  Robinson. 

George  Sadler,  Robert  Smith,  J.  C.  Shreader,  James  Sutliff,  J.  J.  Shreader, 
Charles  Sweeney,  Henry  Sears,  J.  F.  and  R.  W.  Sapp,  James  Stewart,  Marion  Sin- 
clair, C.  A.  Stone  and  William  Stowell. 

W.  B.  Taylor  and  W.  D.  Turner.   ' 

H.  J.  Webber,  William  Wilcox,  John  Wilson,  0.  D.  Wheeler  and  John  S. 
Walker. 

Dr.  Bevington,  of  Freedom,  was  voted  in  a  member  in  December,  1884,  but 
died  in  January  before  muster  in, 

American  Health  College  and  Religio- Medical  Society  was  first  incorporated 
December  15,  1874,  for  the  purpose  of  practicing  and  teaching  the  Vitapathic 
system  of  health,  by  Prof  J.  B.  Campbell,  M.  D.,  V.  D.,  the  founder  of  the  system. 
The  college  was  reincorporated  June  15,  1856,  when  J.  B.  Campbell  was  elected 
Permanent  President,  Treasurer  and  Secretary.  The  names  of  the  incorporators 
are  J.  B.  Campbell,  William  Rose.  J.  T.  Johnson,  J.  C.  Haver,  G.  D.  Binkley, 
T.  J.  Derver,  W.  D.  Church  and  A.  D.  Howard,  all  having  the  degrees  of  M.  D. 
and  V.  D.;  J.  E.  xMahan,  E.  Henderson,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Flint,  xAIrs.  xM.  E.  Gile,  E.  W. 
Bretz,  W.  E.  Sweetland,  Mrs.  M.  Prav  and  Mrs.  L.  C.  Bassett,  having  the  degree  of 
V.  D.  , 


ij^.; 


4 


^^yn-j^x/y^i^t. 


^(you^^^ 


RAVENNA    TOWNSHIP.  541 

Western  Reserve  Hurse  Breeders  Association  was  oi'ganized  May  2,  1859,  with 
the  following  :  J.  B.  King,  William  Ward,  J.  P.  Alcorn,  Chris.  Green,  W.  P. 
Hazen,  J.  L.  Lefflngwell,  J.  W.  Wilson,  R.  King,  F.  Willard  and  Samuel  D.  Harris, 
Jr.     The  capital  was  $2,000  in  $10  shares. 

Portage  County  Park  Association  was  organized  February  4,  1878,  with  Alex. 
Topping,  M.  H.  Carter,  Horace  Y.  Beebe,  H.  W.  Riddle,  R.  E.  Wait,  W.  William- 
son and  A.  J.  Jennings  members,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  out  a  park,  holding 
fairs,  etc.  During  the  last  half  century  many  societies  have  been  organized,  of 
which  but  a  few  have  survived. 

Portage  County  Branch  Bank  was  established  at  Ravenna  December  15,  1847, 
as  a  branch  of  the  State  Bank.  The  capital  stock  was  $103,000.  The  principal 
stockholders  were  David  J.  Beardsley,  Freedom  ;  Robert  C.  Campbell,  Ravenna  ; 
Sylvester  Beachen,  Shalers-ville  ;  Rufus  Paine,  Stark  County  ;  Seth  A.  G-illette 
and  F.  W.  Seymour,  Ravenna.  Henry  Dwight.  New  York  City,  held  122  shares. 
The  Presidents  from  1847  to  1863  were  R.  E.  Campbell,  F.  W.  Seymour,  B.  P. 
Brainerd  and  Henry  Beecher.  H.  D.  Williams,  John  H.  Ebbert  and  Ezra  S.  Corn- 
stock  were  its  Cashiers.  This  banking  house  has  been  carried  on  under  the  name 
First  National  since  August  19,  1863. 

Ravenna  Savings  and  Loan  Association  was  organized  January  8,  1872,  with 
Philo  B.  Couant,  F.  E.  Udell,  J.  H.  NichoUs,  Noble  Haven  and  N.  S.  Olin  members. 
The  capital  stock  was  placed  at  .$100,000.  In  1879  this  association  ceased  busi- 
ness, suice  which  time  a  private  banking  business  has  been  conducted  by  Ezra  S. 
Comstock. 

First  National  Bank  of  Ravenna. — This  bank  was  organized  under  the  United 
States  banking  law  with  $100,000  capital  stock.  August  19,  1863.  The  first 
Directors  were  Frederick  W.  Seymour,  E.  P.  Brainerd,  Silas  Crocker,  Hemy 
Beecher,  Newell  D.  Clark  and  John  L.  Ranney.  F.  W.  Seymour  was  the  first 
President,  and  at  his  death  in  1863  John  L.  Ranne}"^  was  elected  as  his  successor, 
and  held  the  position  till  his  death  in  1866,  when  Newell  D.  Clark  was  elected 
President,  which  position  he  has  held  to  the  present  time.  Ezra  S.  Comstock 
was  chosen  the  first  Cashier  and  served  until  January  20,  1868,  when  Charles 
B.  Witter  was  placed  in  that  position,  where  he  has  continued  to  the  present 
time. 

Rohinson,  King  &  Co.,  Private  Bankers. — These  gentlemen  formed  a  private 
banking  house  ^Iay  8,  1857.  G-eox'ge  Robinson  was  first  President  ;  Horace  Y. 
Beebe,  Cashier.  In  1863  W.  H.  Beebe  was  appointed  Cashier,  his  father  resign- 
ing. This  company  continued  to  do  business  till  1864,  when  it  was  merged  into 
the  Second  National  Bank. 

Second  National  Bank  of  Ravenna. — This  institution  was  organized  under  the 
United  States  banking  law  February  25,  1864,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000. 
March  12,  1872,  its  capital  stock  was  increased  $50,000.  The  first  Directors  were 
George  Robinson,  E.  T.  Richardson,  D.  C.  Coolman,  F.  W.  Coffin,  Robert  King, 
Eli  P.  Kiug  and  H.  L.  Day.  George  Robinson  was  the  first  President,  and  he 
and  E.  T.  Richardson  have  filled  that  position  since  the  organization  of  the  bank. 
D.  C.  Coolman  is  Vice-President.  W.  H.  Beebe  was  chosen  the  first  Cashier  and 
has  retained  the  position  to  the  present  time,  1885. 

The  Peoples  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Ravenna  was  organized  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1876,  with  E.  T.  Richardson,  President,  and  Andrew  Jackson,  Secretary. 
There  were  210  holders  of  premium  notes. 

Diamond  Glass  Company  was  organized  October  28, 1867,  with  F.  W.  Coffin, 
George  Robinson,  D.  C.  Coolman,  H.  H.  Stevens  and  J.  D.  Horton  members.  In 
1874  Messrs.  Robinson,  Coolman  and  Holcomb  formed  the  company  and  in  1879 
the  latter  purchased  Robinson's  interest.  Messrs.  Coolman  and  Holcomb  are  the 
proprietors,  with  George  T.  Smith  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  Sixty  men  are 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  window  glass,  the  annual  product  of  which  is 
valued  at  $100,000. 


542  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Ravenna  Flint  Glass  Company  (limited)  was  organized  August  26,  1882,  for 
the  manufacture  of  glass,  lamp  chimneys,  hollow  and  other  glassware,  with  B. 
Zeigler,  John  Myrick,  J.  Bladenheiser,  Henry  Sweitzer,  Henry  Evans,  Geo.  S. 
Jade,  Mat.  Harre,  J.  A.  Creighton,  John  H.  Ganse,  William  Grinnell,  John  Staiger, 
Theo.  Creighton,  Geo.  Kline,  William  Myrick,  W.  S.  Gibbons  and  Frank 
Woolpert.  The  members  of  the  company  subscribed  $14,500  and  the  citizens  of 
Ravenna.  On  January  8,  1883,  the  Crown  Flint  Glass  Company  purchased  the 
interests  and  works  of  this  company,  and  in  1884  erected  the  large  furnace. 

Croum  Flint  Glass  Company  was  organized  January  15,  1883,  with  H.  D.  Sey- 
mour, George  E.  Fairchild,  William  Grinnell,  Frank  Woolpert,  Theo.  Creighton 
and  James  Bladenheiser  members,  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  pressed  and 
blown  glassware  at  Ravenna.  The  capital  stock  was  $40,000.  George  E.  Fair- 
child,  President ;  H.  D.  Seymour,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  and  F.  W. 
Woodbridge,  Secretarj^  and  Treasurer.  Average  number  men  employed,  175  ; 
amount  annual  sales,  $175,000 ;  pay  roll  about  $7,500  per  month. 

Fnterprise  Glass  Co7npany  of  Ravenna  was  organized  January  16,  1878,  with 
Michael  Krebs,  C.  H.  W.  Ruhe,  George  Kleen,  James  Bladenheiser  and  Julius 
Schenk  members.  They  purchased  the  Ballinger  Glass  Pail  Works,  extended  the 
buildings  and  conducted  a  successful  business  up  to  a  few  years  ago.  The  works 
were  shut  down  in  June,  1883.  Anthony  Schneider  now  holds  the  works  ready  for 
operation. 

Star  Agricultural  Works  were  established  in  1874  at  Ravenna.  The  company 
was  organized  October  29,  1874,  with  E.  P.  Brainerd,  P.  P.  Dawley,  Benjamin  J. 
Wells,  Henry  D.  Seymour  and  H.  R.  W.  Hall  members.  The  capital  stock  was 
placed  at  $40,000.  The  works  were  founded  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing 
O'Neil's  Universal  Fodder  Cutter,  agricultural  implements,  steam  engines,  tools, 
machinery,  and  carrying  on  a  repairing  shop.  This  was  the  successor  of  the 
Ravenna  Mowing  Machine  Manufacturing  Compan}-.  The  buildings  are  now 
owned  by  the  Quaker  Mills. 

Quaker  Mill  Company  of  Ravenna  was  organized  May  3, 1877,  with  Francis  B. 
King,  John  B.  King,  Henry  D.  Seymour,  William  Hisler,  Henry  H.  Stevens  orig- 
inal members.  In  November,  1881,  the  present  company  purchased  the  mills  from 
W.  H.  Corning,  who  purchased  the  mills  from  the  original  company-.  H.  B.  Crow- 
ell,  President ;  J.  H.  Andrews,  Secretary  ;  E.  R.  Crowell,  Treasurer  ;  R.  L.  Phelps, 
Manager.  The  mill  gives  employment  to  forty  men  ;  capacity  200  barrels  of  oat- 
meal. 

Ravenna  Mills  were  established  a  few  years  ago  on  Main  Street  near  the 
Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  Railroad  Depot.  Quincy  Cook  is  proprietor.  This  indus- 
try gives  employment  to  five  men. 

Atlantic  Mill  was  moved  to  Ravenna  from  Campbellsport,  and  rebuilt  in  1881. 

E.  &  A  Knapp  Pump  Factory  was  established  by  G.  W.  Lowe,  who  sold  the 
building  to  Mr.  Knapp  in  1874.  This  industry  gives  employment  to  four  men. 
The  value  of  machinery  and  buildings  is  placed  at  $4,000. 

D.  L.  Baldwin  &  Son's  planing-mill  was  established  by  A.  C.  Chapman  &  Son 
as  a  cheese  box  factor}',  about  1863  ;  the  buildings,  grounds  and  machinery  were 
purchased  in  1879  by  D.  L.  Baldwin,  and  new  machinery  was  introduced.  The 
capacity  is  40,000  foot  surface,  matching  10,000  per  day.  This  mill  employs  five 
men  throughout  the  year.     The  value  of  building  and  machinery  is  about  $6,000. 

The  old  hub  and  spoke  factory  was  started  by  E.  B.  GriflSn,  was  converted  into 
a  planing-mill  and  operated  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

Work  &  Yeend  established  their  steam  saw- mill  in  the"^fall  of  1873  at  Shalers- 
ville,  moved  the  mill  and  machinery  to  Charlestowa  early  in  1879,  and  thence  to 
Ravenna  in  the  fall  of  1883.  The  capacity  is  10,000  per  day.  This  industry  gives 
employment  to  six  men  the  year  round.  Their  lumber  yard  was  established 
about  this  time. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  543 

Kiiigsbui*}'  &  Sons'  planing  mill  was  erected  about  1867  by  K.  H.  Kline,  and 
purchased  in  1871  by  J.  Kingsbur}-.  The  value  of  buildings  and  machinery  is 
placed  at  $6,000  ;  capacity  is  about  20,000  surface  feet,  15,000  matching,  and 
15,000  resaw  per  day.     There  are  four  men  employed. 

Grohe's  planing-mill  and  sash  and  blind  factory  (the  old  Griffin  hub  factor}'^ 
and  planing-raill)  was  purchased  by  Henr}'  Grohe  in  December,  1884.  The 
industr}'  gives  emplo3'ment  to  five  men.  Here  A.  B.  Griffin  continues  to  operate 
the  bending  works. 

Ravenna  Gas  Light  d-  Coke  Company  was  organized  April  19,  1873,  with  the 
following  members  :  Isaiah  Lenton,  Henr^'  W.  Riddle,  Dewitt  C.  Coolman,  H.  D. 
Seymour,  William  L.  Poe  and  W.  Holcomb.  The  capital  stock  was  placed 
at  $40,000.  On  March  3,  1873,  the  Village  Council  ordered  an  election  to  be  held 
to  decide  the  question  of  gas  works.  This  election  gave  a  majority  of  contents, 
and  on  April  11,  1875,  the   Council  authorized  the  organization  of  the  company. 

Zeller  Valve  Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  August  17,  1881,  with 
Mahlon  M.  Zeller,  J.  H.  Whitehead  and  E.  L.  Day  members.  Mr.  Zeller's  sub- 
scription to  the  capital  was  his  patent  for  valves  and  rights  therein. 

Stockwell,  Griffin  d-  Co.,  comprising  Levi  W.  Stockwell,  A.  B.  Griffin,  M.  F. 
King,  Benjamin  J.  W^ells  and  D.  W.  Summerville,  was  organized  August  16,  1873, 
for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  bolts,  nuts,  lapping-pipe,  fittings  and  other 
machinery,  tools  and  implements.     The  capital  was  placed  at  $100,000. 

The  Haley  Foundry  and  Machine  Shop  was  established  b}'  William  Haley  & 
Co.,  January  21,  1881.  In  January,  1884,  William  Haley  purchased  the  inter- 
ests of  J.  Blackshaw,  Solomon  Haley  and  Andrew  Marshall.  The  leading 
manufactures  comprise  molds  and  tools  for  glass  works  and  general  machinery. 
The  value  of  machinery  is  about  $7,000.     There  are  nine  men  emplo^'ed. 

J.  F.  Byers  machine  shop  was  established  by  Mr.  M3'ers  in  1873  and,  in  1876, 
in  the  buildings  previousl}-  occupied  by  Ferr}'  &  King  as  a  carriage  factor}'.  The 
machinery  is  valued  at  about  $4,000.  The  business  of  the  shop  is  repairing  and 
jobbing.     This  industry  gives  employment  to  three  men. 

Doig's  foundry  was  established  in  1876  b}^  Robert  Doig,  who  converted  a  part 
of  the  Ferry  &  King  factory  into  a  plow  factor}',  and  erected  the  brick  building, 
just  west,  for  a  foundry.     During  the  winter  of  1884-85  it  was  closed  down. 

The  Ravenna  Woolen  Mills,  near  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Depot, 
are  operated  by  J.  and  J.  M.  Gledhill. 

Osborn's  marble  and  granite  works  are  operated  by  H.  L.  Osborn. 

JStna  Block  Company  was  permanently  organized  February  19,  1867,  with 
Henry  Beecher,  President ;  William  Ward,  Secretary  ;  D.  K.  Wheeler,  Superin- 
tendent, and  H.  D.  Seymour,  Treasurer.  The  building  committee  comprised  H. 
Beecher,  D.  K.  Wheeler  and  William  Ward.  During  the  same  month  the  mason 
work  of  the  proposed  building  was  sold  to  Brigham  and  Jennings  and  the  joiner 
work  to  George  Thomas. 

On  January  25,  1868,  W.  S.  Streator,  N.  D.  Clark,  H.  D.  Seymour,  W.  M.  But- 
ler, D.  K.  Wheeler,  William  Ward  and  Nelson  Converse  agreed  that  W.  S.  Streator, 
in  consideration  of  his  conveyance  of  three  fourths  interest  in  his  property,  known 
as  the  Gillette  House  and  Stables,  he  should  hold  a  one-fourth  interest,  the  com- 
pany agreeing  to  remodel  the  old  Gillette  House,  so  as  to  render  it  suitable  for 
stores,  offices,  etc.,  Streator  paying  one-fourth  of  expense  and  the  other  members 
three-fourths,  the  profits  to  be  divided  in  the  same  proportion.  The  sum  paid  to 
R.  P.  Gillette  was  $5,000,  and  to  him  the  house  was  rented  in  January,  1868. 
The  first  officers  were  re-elected,  and  this  re-election  was  followed  down  to  July 
8,  1884,  when  William  Ward,  the  Secretary,  died  ;  William  Ward,  Jr.,  was  acting 
Secretary  for  some  time  in  1884,  and  in  September  of  that  year  was  appointed 
Secretary,  which  position  he  now  holds.  N.  D.  Clark  succeeded  Mr.  Beecher  as 
President.     The  company  owns  the  frame   blocks  known  as  the  Empire  and  the 


544  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Exchange,  as  well  as  the  large  brick  block  known  as  the  Etna  House.  This  was 
the  second  brick  block  erected  in  Ravenna,  the  Phoenix  Block  being  the  first. 

The  Commercial  Hotel  was  erected  by  Andrew  Poe  in  1873,  at  a  total  cost  of 
$20,000.     This  house  has  seen  many  changes  in  its  ownership. 

The  first  liveries  were  established  by  Ira  Mason,  Hiram  Collins,  Nathan  Leo- 
nard, H.  Hartell,  James  Letfingwell,  Buck  &  Wheeler  and  Simon  Stowe,  from  1840 
to  1850.  In  1855  Benjamin  Morris  opened  a  livery  ;  in  1860,  S.  B.  Poe  and 
Newton  &  Bills  entered  the  business.  From  1866  to  1869  George  Alvin  and 
Simpson  Poe  operated  the  three  establishments  then  at  Ravenna.  There  are  a 
few  liveries  and  hack-lines  now  in  operation. 

Ravenna  Carriage  Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  September  15, 1855, 
with  James  L  Curtiss,  D.  N.  Furry,  M,  F.  King,  E.  P.  Evans  and  James  Johnson 
original  members.     The  capital  stock  was  $25,000. 

The  3Iertz  &  Riddle  Carriage  Factory  is  one  of  the  great  manufacturing  indus- 
tries of  the  count}'.     This  firm  gives  employment  to  over  100  men  the  year  round. 

The  general  statistics  for  1884  are  as  follows  :  Acres  of  wheat  1,106,  bushels 
16,695  ;  rye  6,  bushels  38  ;  buckwheat  6,  bushels  61  ;  oats  777,  bushels  26,081  ; 
barley,  3  acres;  corn  625,  bushels  7,607  ;  meadow  1,853,  hay  3,053  tons  ;  clover 
149  acres,  193  tons  and  70  bushels  of  seed  ;  potatoes  228  acres,  27,123  bushels  ; 
milk  sold  for  family  use,  82,650  gallons  ;  home-made  butter,  59,969  pounds  ; 
factory  butter,  6,30!)  pounds  ;  cheese,  93,506  pounds  ;  maple  sugar,  2,400  pounds  ; 
gallons  oT  syrup  1,317,  from  5,302  trees  ;  507  pounds  honey  from  66  hives  ;  eggs, 
17,783  dozens  ;  sweet  potatoes,  4  bushels;  orchards,  313  acres;  apples,  8,716 
bushels  ;  peaches,  57  bushels ;  pears,  96  bushels  ;  pounds  of  wool,  5,144  ;  milch 
cows,  715;  stallions,  3  ;  dogs,  260  ;  killed,  21  sheep  ;  died  of  disease,  14  hogs, 
21  sheep,  13  cattle  and  3  horses;  acres  under  cultivation,  7.456  :  pasture,  4,266  ; 
woodland,  2,095  ;  wasteland,  120  ;  total,  13,937  acres.  Population  in  185')  was 
2,239,  including  808  youth  ;  1870,  3,423  ;  in  1880,  4,224  ;  in  1884  (estimated), 
4,800,  Including  village,  the  population  of  which  is  estimated  at  3,900. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 
ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP. 


The  First  Cabin— David  Root— A  Sad  Death— First  Wheat  Crop— Nathan 
Muzzy— A  Distillery— An  Alien  Justice— First  Birth— The  Chap3ians 
— First  Frame  Structure— Mother  Ward— The  First  Criminal— Punii- 
TivE  Schools— The  Old  Grave-yard— Early  Churches— Organization 
AND  Officers— Noted  Events— Soil,  Products  and  Statistics. 

ROOTSTOWN  was  originally  the  property  of  Ephraim  Root  and  John 
Wyles,  Root  being  the  principal  proprietor,  and  owning,  in  addition  to 
the  land  here,  a  great  deal  of  other  property  on  the  Western  Reserve.  He 
was  a  native  of  Coventry,  Conn.,  and  a  lawyer  of  some  note.  He  was  also 
agent  for  a  number  of  other  land  owuers,  and  paid  at  least  one  visit  a  year  to- 
this  section  after  its  settlement  till  about  1811,  when  the  Indian  troubles  and 
the  war  of  1812  had  the  effect  of  keeping  him  away.      He  died  in  1825. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  Mr.  Root,  in  company  with  a  young  man  named 
Harvey  Davenport,  paid  his  first  visit  to  the  township.  He  employed  Nathan- 
iel Cook  to  survey  his  property,  Town  2,  Range  8,  into  forty-eight  lots  of  vari- 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  545 

ous  sizes,  commencing  with  Lot  1  in  the  southeast  corner,  then  running  north, 
then  south,  and  so  on,  ending  with  Lot  48  in  the  southwest  corner. 

The  first  death  of  a  white  person  in  Rootstown  was  that  of  the  young  man 
spoken  of  above,  Davenport.  He  had  over-heated  himself  and  lain  down  on 
the  damp  ground,  whereby  he  took  a  violent  cold,  that  in  a  short  time 
caused  his  death.     He  was  buried  near  where  he  died,  on  Lot  7. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  Mr.  Root  returned,  he  having  gone  back  to  Connect- 
icut the  fall  previously,  and  this  time  brought  out  his  brother  David.  They 
commenced  improvements  on  Lot  6,  which  Ephraim  Root  reserved  for  himself, 
as  it  touched  upon  the  portage  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland.  Here  the 
Roots  put  up  a  two-story  log-cabin  near  where  Campbellsport  now  stands. 
Nathan  Muzzy,  who  came  out  about  this  time,  was  engaged  to  do  the  carpen- 
tering. Muzzy  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  bad  been  a  very  able  and 
promising  young  minister  in  Massachusetts,  but  meeting  with  disappointment 
in  a  love  affair,  a  screw  became  loose  in  his  mental  machinery  and  he  wandered 
away  to  the  West.  He  always  carved  the  name  "  Emma  Hale  "  on  all  build- 
ings and  gates  he  constrvicted.  He  discovered  the  little  lake  in  this  township 
which  has  ever  since  borne  his  name.  The  poor  old  man  died  many  years  ago, 
and  was  buried  in  Palmyra  by  some  friends  who  took  pity  on  his  lonely  and 
decrepit  old  age,  and  removed  him  from  the  county  poor-house  to  their 
homes. 

The  first  crop  of  wheat  was  put  in  during  the  fall  of  1801  by  the  Roots, 
who  then  returned  to  their  homes  in  the  East,  but  David  came  out  again  in 
April  of  the  following  year  and  settled  upon  the  place  they  had  inJjDroved, 
afterward  removing  to  Lot  7,  where  he  lived  till  his  death. 

In  1802  Henry  O'Niell  and  Samuel  McCoy,  natives  of  Ireland,  who  had 
a  lived  in  Pennsylvania  awhile,  moved  in  and  settled  on  Lot  3.  O'Niell  had 
a  family  of  children,  mostly  grown;  McCoy  had  only  a  wife.  Together 
they  put  up  a  cabin,  but  McCoy  afterward  moved  to  Lot  28,  and  put  up  a 
cabin  by  the  well-known  "McCoy  Springs."  He  was  a  man  of  very  little 
education,  but  could,  in  the  language  of  the  old  English  tar,  "play  the  fiddle 
like  a  hangel! "  Mr.  O'Niell  was  well  educated,  and  in  1806  was  elected  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  for  Franklin,  which  at  that  time  comprised  what  is  now 
Franklin,  Ravenna,  Rootstown,  Atwater,  Randolph,  Suffield  and  Brimfield. 
O'Niell  erected  the  first  distillery,  a  small  affair,  but  enough  to  supply  the 
wants  of  himself  and  McCoy  and  their  families,  and  a  few  friends  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. He  remained  Justice  for  four  or  five  years,  but  his  magisterial 
career  was  cut  very  short  just  before  he  left  in  1811.  He  had  offended  some 
person  by  one  of  his  decisions,  when  that  person  went  to  the  Irish  Justice  and 
asked  him  to  show  his  naturalization  papers.  Being  unable  to  do  so,  he  was 
informed  that  he  was  liable  to  prosecution  for  illegally  exercising  the  duties 
of  a  magistrate  without  being  a  citizen,  and  that  if  he  did  not  immediately 
"  git  up  and  dust,"  he  would  be  arrested.  He  left,  and  the  township  lost  one 
of  its  best  residents. 

Epraim  Root  gave  notice  that  he  would  give  to  the  first  child  born  in  the 
township  fifty  acres  of  land,  and  John  McCoy,  son  of  Samuel  McCoy,  won  the 
prize.  This  event  happened  in  August,  1802,  and  was  the  first  birth  in  the 
township.  It  is  said  there  was  considerable  competition  between  the  mother 
of  this  little  land-winner  and  the  wife  of  David  Root,  whose  son,  Solomon, 
came  in  second-best;  time,  about  twenty  days  behind  McCoy's  "W.  C.  Johnnie. 

In  the  fall  of  1802  Michael  Hartle  and  Frederick  Caris  came  in  and  set- 
tled the  first  on  Lot  42,  on  the  east  side  of  Muddy  Lake,  and  Caris  on  Lot  43, 
on  the  west  of  the  lake.     They  were  originally  from  Northumberland  County, 


546  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

Penn.,  but  had  been  living  on  the  Ohio  River  about  thirty  miles  below  Pitts- 
burgh. In  January,  1803,  John  Caris,  a  son  of  Frederick,  came  in,  and  with 
him  Arthur  Anderson,  both  of  whom  wei'e  engaged  by  Root  to  clear  land.  In 
April  following  John  Caris,  a  brother  of  Frederick,  with  his  wife,  came  and 
settled  at  Muddy  Lake.  Anderson  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  married,  and 
then  lived  in  Ravenna  awhile,  but  finally  came  to  Rootstown. 

May  2,  1803,  Ashur  Ely,  of  Deerfield,  was  married  to  Lydia  Lyman,  who 
lived  in  the  family  of  David  Root,  at  whose  house  the  ceremonies  were  per- 
formed by  Squire  Hudson,  of  Hudson  Township,  he  being  the  nearest  official 
capable  of  tying  the  knot. 

In  1804  a  large  number  of  persons  came  in,  among  whom  were  Frederick 
Caris,  Sr. ,  father  of  Frederick,  Jr.,  and  John,  and  in  the  fall  of  this  year 
Thaddeus  Andrews,  Nathan  Chapman  and  his  son  Ephraim,  Jacob,  Charles 
and  Abraham  Reed,  and  Hannah  Russell,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Andrews,  all  from 
Connecticut.  Those  who  came  in  the  fall  remained  at  Root's  place  till  they 
erected  cabins,  which  they  did  during  the  following  winter.  Andrews  selected 
Lot  21,  the  northwest  quarter  at  the  Center,  but  did  not  move  on  to  the  same 
till  a  year  or  two  afterward,  as  he  was  engaged  by  Root  to  keep  his  tavern 
near  the  corners  of  the  four  townships.  The  Chapmans  settled  on  Lot  4,  and 
put  up  a  cabin.  Ephraim  soon  afterward  moved  to  where  he  resided  for 
many  years,  a  highly  respected  citizen.  He  drove  the  first  team  from 
Rootstown  to  Ravenna.  Jacob  and  Abraham  Reed  settled  on  the  south 
west  corner  of  Lot  15,  but  Abraham  afterward  moved  to  the  southwest  corner 
of  centfer  Lot  22,  where  he  kept  a  tavern  for  many  years.  Charles  Reed  lived 
with  his  brother  till  he  was  married,  when  he  moved  onto  Lot  16.  This  year, 
1804,  Ml-.  Root  erected  the  first  frame  barn  in  the  township,  which  stood  a  lit- 
tle north  of  his  house.  David  Wright,  of  Ravenna,  hewed  the  timber,  and 
Nathan  Muzzy  framed  it.  The  lumber  was  obtained  at  the  little  McWhorter 
Mill,  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Ravenna  Township. 

In  the  fall  of  1805  Beeman  Chapman,  a  brother  of  Ephraim,  arrived  with 
his  w^ife  and  brother  Nathan;  the  latter,  after  a  year  passed  at  Root's  settle- 
ment, moved  to  the  south  part  of  Lot  4.  Stephen  Colton  and  family  also  came 
in  from  Connecticut  and  settled  on  Lot  21,  but  afterward  moved  to  Lot  14. 
In  May,  1806,  Gersham  Bostwick  moved  in  and  settled  on  Lot  8,  in  a  cabin 
he  had  built  the  fall  previously.  With  his  family  came  Edmund  Bostwick  and 
his  wife,  the  parents  of  Gersham.  Edmund  died  in  1826,  aged  ninety-six 
years.  When  past  eighty  years  he  made  a  trip  on  horseback  from  Rootstown 
to  Philadelphia,  and  thence  to  Vermont,  and  back  again  to  Rootstown.  Cal- 
vin Ellsworth,  from  Ellington,  Conn.,  came  in  July,  and  settled  on  Lot  28. 
In  November  Alpheus,  a  twin-brother  of  Thaddeus  Andrews,  and  their  brother 
Samuel,  wuth  Martin  Bissell,  came  in  with  their  families.  The  Andrews  set- 
tled on  Lot  23,  but  Samuel  soon  after  moved  to  Lot  21,  where  he  erected  the 
first  frame  house  in  the  township.  Thaddeus  having  exchanged  land  with  his 
bi'other  Samuel,  moved  to  Lot  14.  Bissell  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  road, 
on  the  south  part  of  Lot  22.  Samuel  Andrews  afterward  moved  to  Franklin 
Township,  and  Alpheus  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Brimfield.  With  the 
Andrews  brothers  came  a  niece,  Miss  Mary  W^hituey,  and  a  teamster,  Gersham 
Norris.  This  year  also  came  Mother  Wai'd,  but  she  did  not  bring  her  husband 
along  with  her.  She  located  on  Lot  18,  and  the  pond  at  that  point  was  named 
for  her.  She  was  a  remarkable  woman;  could  split  rails,  lay  a  fence,  and  plow 
as  good  as  any  man.  She  walked  one  day  from  Poland  to  Rootstown,  a 
distance  of  forty  miles.  She  was  married  twice,  separating  from  her  last  hus- 
band when  she  came  here.  Benjamin  Simcox,  noted  as  being  the  first  person 
to  be  tried  by  the  County  Court  in  1808,  after  organization,  also  came. 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  547 

In  February,  1807,  Hiram  Roundy,  his  wife  and  their  adopted  son,  G.  H. 
R.  Prindle,  came  in,  and  about  the  same  time  Heman  Bostwick,  who,  how- 
ever, did  not  stay  long.  Titus  Belding  came  in  with  Bostwick,  and  in  1809 
married  Miss  Lucy,  a  daughter  of  Gersham  Bostwick,  and  settled  on  Lot  17. 
Robert  McKnight  also  came  this  year,  and  settled  on  Lot  10.  He  had  been 
oat  the  year  before,  purchased  300  acres  of  land  and  set  out  a  nursery.  His 
family  consisted  of  his  wife,  his  mother  and  an  only  son,  Robert,  Jr.  Will- 
iam and  James  Alcorn,  Irishmen  and  bachelors,  came  with  McKnight. 

The  first  school  that  was  open  to  all  children  was  taught  by  Samuel 
Andrews  in  the  winter  of  1807-08,  in  a  cabin  at  the  Center,  which  was  soon 
after  burned  down,  and  another  built,  which  for  many  years  was  used  as  a 
schoolhouse,  meeting  bouse  and  town -house.  Miss  Polly  Harmon,  sister  of 
the  late  John  Harmon,  taught  after  Andrews.  Three  or  four  years  previous 
to  this  time  Mrs.  Ephraim  Chapman  had  taught  a  few  children  at  her  house, 
but  it  was  not  a  school  for  the  public.  A  number  of  the  Rootstown  children 
had  attended  the  school  kept  by  David  Root,  on  the  road  from  Ravenna  to 
Campbellsport,  about  1805.  The  school  statistics  are:  Revenue  in  1884, 
14,975;  expenditures,  $3,412;  number  of  schoolhouses,  10,  valued  at  $6,500; 
average  pay  of  teachers,  $35  and  $20;  em'ollment,  193  boys  and  187  girls. 

In  1808  Ebenezer  Bostwick  and  his  family  came,  and  settled  on  Lot  17, 
where  not  long  afterward  he  started  a  pottery  for  the  manufacture  of  earthen- 
ware. About  this  time  Ephraim  Root  put  up  a  saw-mill  on  the  creek  north  of 
the  Center.  Also  came  Philip  Willard  and  Valentine  Coosard,  the  former  set- 
tling on  Lot  42,  and  the  latter  on  Lot  41.  In  tbe  summer  of  this  year  Ariel 
Case  and  John  Wright  cleared  a  piece  of  land  on  Lot  10,  and  sowed  it  to 
wheat. 

August  31,  1809,  Nathan  Chapman  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years,  and 
was  the  first  person  interred  in  the  first  burial  ground.  The  body  was  carried 
by  hand  to  the  grave,  there  being  no  road  from  Beeman  Chapman's,  where  the 
father  died.  In  this  year  came  Israel  Coe,  who  settled  on  Lot  5;  also  Will- 
iam and  Cbauncy  Newbury.  William  located  on  Lot  27,  and  Chauncy,  who  at 
the  time  was  single,  lived  with  his  brother  till  his  marriage,  when  he  settled 
on  Lot  28.  In  1810  Merriam  Richardson  and  David  Parker  arrived  in  the 
township  with  their  families,  Richardson  settling  on  Lot  33,  and  Parker  mov- 
ing into  the  cabin  built  by  McCoy.  Also  came  Daniel  and  Reuben  Hall,  and 
their  sister  Eliza,  w^ho  married  Gersham  Norris,  and  moved  to  Canton.  In 
1811  Samuel  B.  Spellman  and  Asa  Seymour  came  from  Massachusetts,  and  Asher 
Gurley,  from  Connecticut.  Spellman  settled  on  Lot  21,  Gurley  on  Lot  9,  and 
Seymour  returned  to  the  East.  In  August,  1811,  Robert  J.  Collins,  Sr.,  and  his 
thi'ee  sons,  Robert  J.,  Jr.,  David  and  Daniel,  with  their  families,  arrived,  Dan- 
iel locating  on  Lot  28,  and  the  othwrs  on  Lot  20,  on  the  Center  road.  In  1819 
James  Wright  settled  in  the  township,  and  January  28,  1821,  was  appointed 
first  Postmaster.  William  Huffman,  Thomas  Hayden  and  others  came  in 
about  1819.  Wright  held  his  position  for  twenty  years.  Mr.  Wright  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Abraham  Reed.  He  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Otis  Reed, 
his  deputy.      He,  also,  for  nine  successive  years,  was  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Until  the  year  1806  the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  west  of  the  Cuyahoga 
River  and  Portage  path  had  not  been  extinguished,  and  some  uneasiness  was 
felt  by  the  settlers  on  these  lands  for  fear  that  their  title  might  not  be  as  per- 
fect as  they  could  wish.  On  Mai'ch  5,  1805,  Ephraim  Root  wrote  to  Elijah 
Wadsworth  that  measures  were  pending  for  the  extinguishment  of  these  claims 
of  the  Indians,  and  stated  that  a  treaty  would  shortly  be  made  with  them, 
and,  accordingly,  a  Treaty  Council  was  held  at  Fort  Industry,  and  the  titles  of 


548  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

the  lands  obtained,  but  the  measure  had  yet  to  pass  the  Senate.  It  came 
before  the  Senate,  that  body  ratified  the  proceedings  of  the  Council,  and  the 
claims  of  the  aboriginies  were  forever  silenced. 

On  the  16th  day  of  August,  1810,  the  Rev.  Giles  H.  Cowles,  a  missionary 
from  the  Connecticut  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
organized  the  first  church  society  in  Rootstown.  It  was  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing persons:  Samuel  Andrews  and  wife,  Alpheus  Andrews  and  wife, 
Thaddeus  Andrews  and  wife,  Israel  Coe  and  wife,  Mason  Richardson  and 
wife,  Michael  Hartle  and  wife,  Oliver  Dickinson  and  wife,  Mrs.  Lois  Chap- 
man, Mrs.  Ephraim  Chapman,  Mrs.  Nathan  Chapman,  Jr.,  and  Mrs.  William 
Newbury.  Samuel  Andrews  was  chosen  Deacon,  and  his  brother  Thaddeus 
succeeded  him.  In  1829  the  congregation  built  a  very  neat  edifice  for  the 
times,  which  was  36x46  feet,  and  various  pastors  have  filled  the  pulpit  of  the 
church.  This  society  reorganized  under  State  law  March  27,  1861,  as  the 
First  Congregational  Society  of  Rootstown,  with  Erastus  Seymour,  President, 
and  A.  H.  Barlow,  Clerk;  J,  Seymour,  J.  S.  Austin  and  Gideon  Seymour  were 
elected  Trustees. 

In  1814  Rev.  Henry  Shewell  came  to  Rootstown  and  settled  on  Lot  12. 
Shortly  after  coming  Shewell  formed  a  class,  and  in  1815  organized  the  first 
Methodist  Episcopal  Congregation  in  the  township.  Meetings,  for  a  number 
of  years,  were  held  at  the  house  of  the  minister.  The  church  belonged  to  the 
Warren  District,  and  the  circuit  was  400  miles  in  extent.  Rev.  Ira  Eddy  was 
the  first  pastor  of  the  Rootstown  charge. 

The  first  election  held  in  Rootstown  as  an  organized  township  was  Sep- 
tember 10,  1810,  when  Gersham  Bostwick  was  chosen  Chairman  and  Samuel 
Andrews  and  Jacob  Reed  Judges  of  the  Election.  The  following  are  the  only 
names  that  are  now  remembered  as  appearing  among  the  ofiicers  elected  at  that 
time:  Trustees,  Gersham  Bostwick,  Frederick  Caris,  Jr.,  Thaddeus  Andrews; 
Clerk,  Alpheus  Andrews;  Samuel  Andrews,  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  oldest 
records  of  the  township,  of  date  March  7,  1812,  give  the  following  ofiicers: 
Trustees,  Stephen  Colton,  Thaddeus  Andrews,  Frederick  Caris,  Jr. ;  Clerk, 
Alpheus  Andrews;  Supervisors,  Israel  Coe,  Ephraim  Chapman,  Philip  Will- 
ard,  Stephen  Colton. 

In  the  very  early  days  a  man  named  Robert  Wright,  a  member  of  a  family 
which  bore  a  bad  reputation,  was  found  on  the  banks  of  Silver  Creek  with  his 
throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.     Family  trouble  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  cause. 

In  1815  Robert  McKnight  and  his  son  Robert,  Jr.,  and  a  boy  cut  a  bee 
tree,  which  in  falling  struck  all  thi'ee  of  them,  injuring  the  elder  McKnight 
and  the  boy,  and  killing  Robert  McKnight,  Jr.,  instantly.  He  left  a  wife  and 
four  children. 

March  4,  1834,  the  dwelling-house  of  Hawkins  Clark  was  burned  to  the 
ground  and  his  two  daughters,  Louisa  and  Henrietta,  were  consumed  in  "the 
building  before  they  could  be  rescued.  It  was  one  of  the  saddest  occurrences 
that  has  ever  visited  the  county.  A  building  that  occupied  the  same  spot  in 
1868  was  also  destroyed  by  fire. 

In  1845  an  epidemic  called  the  black  erysipelas  prevailed  to  an  alarming 
extent,  and  seemed  to  baffle  the  skill  of  the  best  physicians.  About  one- 
twentieth  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  entire  township  fell  before  the  almost 
irresistible  plague,  for  it  was  so  virulent  as  to  deserve  that  title. 

One  of  the  most  singular  cases  in  the  annals  of  surgery  and  disease 
occurred  about  ten  years  ago.  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Burnham  had  been  afflicted  for 
about  twenty  years  with  throat  afi'ections,  which  gave  her  great  annoyance, 
and  in  1874  whilst  eating  dinner  was  taken  with  what  appeared  to  be  a  choking 


J^^J^Ac^a   ^^/Lu^-t^L^ 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  551 

spell,  and  in  her  efforts  to  dislodge  what  she  supposed  was  a  piece  of  meat, 
threw  her  tongue  out  of  her  mouth.  She  lived  till  1876,  when  death  ended 
her  suflferings.  Various  theories  were  advanced  by  physicians,  some  attribut- 
ing the  disease  to  cancer,  others  to  catarrh,  others  to  something  else.  '  For 
some  time  before  it  fell  out  her  tongue  was  paralyzed,  but  she  learned  to  talk 
intelligibly  with  her  lips. 

Mrs.  Gurley,  who  settled  here  with  her  husband  in  1819,  had  a  singular 
adventure  with  a  bear.  Her  husband  brought  two  young  pigs  to  the  town- 
ship in  1823-24,  which  were  placed  within  strong  pickets.  One  night  in 
1824  she  heard  the  squeals  of  the  pigs,  and  rushing  out  saw  what  appeared  to 
be  a  large  dog  within  the  pen.  On  the  approach  of  the  woman  this  supposed 
large  dog  turned  toward  her,  and  as  he  looked  over  the  fence,  Mrs.  Gurley  struck 
him  in  the  head  with  an  ax.  By  this  time  she  realized  that  her  battle  was 
with  a  bear  rather  than  a  dog,  and  ran  toward  the  house.  Some  friends  there 
at  the  time  ran  forth  to  continue  the  battle,  when,  to  their  surprise,  they  found 
the  bear  dead. 

Rootstown  Protective  Association  was  organized  three  years  ago.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1885,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  G.  W.  Bow,  President;  H.  M. 
Deming,  Vice-President;  H.  O.  Reed,  Secretary;  C.  H.  Bradshaw,  Treasurer; 
David  Bogue,  Homer  Chapman  and  Elam  Underwood  were  elected  Directors. 

The  affairs  of  the  association  are  in  a  very  satisfactory  shape.  The 
amount  of  risks  in  force  at  the  end  of  last  year  was  ^480, 963,  an  increase  dm'ing 
the  year  of  nearly  $60,000.  The  losses  during  the  past  year  have  been 
$16.76  or  about  3J  cents  upon  each  $1,000  insured.  The  association  has  been 
in  operation  nearly  three  years.  The  average  annual  cost  of  insurance  has 
been  about  70  cents  per  $1,000. 

The  school  biiilding  at  Rootstown  was  erected  in  1884  at  a  cost  of  about 
$3,400.  This  is  a  two-story  structiu'e,  slated;  close  to  it  is  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  old  Methodist  Church  here  was  restored  about  ten  years  ago. 
The  only  mercantile  house  at  the  Center  is  that  of  G.  W.  Bow.  At  New  Mil- 
ford  a  general  store  is  conducted  by  L.  F.  Pike.  At  New  Milford  or  Roots- 
town  Station,  a  grist  and  flouring-mill  was  founded  years  ago.  It  is  now 
operated  by  F.  P.  Root.      The  capacity  is  about  seventy-five  barrels. 

The  C.  H.  Bradshaw  saw-mill  south  of  Rootstown  is  an  important  industry. 

Jacob  Kriss  established  his  wagon  and  carriage-shop  at  New  Milford 
twenty-five  years  ago.      His  sons  now  operate  it,  and  do  a  large  business. 

Rootstown  is  one  of  the  best  townships  in  the  county,  and  is  populated  by 
a  thrifty,  industrious  class  of  citizens.  The  soil  is  very  productive,  and  in 
addition  to  the  usual  farm  crops  considerable  dairying  is  done,  and  its  cheese 
interests  are  gradually  growing  in  importance.  The  country  is  well  watered, 
having  besides  the  numerous  small  streams,  several  lakes,  or  large  ponds. 
Two  of  the  larger,  Sandy  and  Muddy  Lakes  are  favorite  resorts  during 
the  summer  season.  Muzzy  and  Ward's  ponds  are  the  other  two.  The  town- 
ship is  well  supplied  with  schools,  and  the  standard  of  education  of  the 
citizens  is  much  above  the  average.  The  Center  is  a  very  thriving  little  vil- 
lage, and  considerable  business  is  transacted  there,  but  it  lies  about  one  mile 
and  a  half  west  of  New  Milford,  the  station  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh 
branch  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  Railroad,  a  portion  of  the 
great  Pennsylvania  system  of  railroads.  During  the  struggle  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Union,  Rootstown  sent  to  the  front  fifty-seven  of  her  best  sons, 
eleven  of  whom  were  either  killed  or  died  in  the  service. 

The  statistics  of  the  township  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat,  1^430,  bushels, 
22,947;  of  oats,  779,  bushels,  26,840;  of  corn,    6,610  bushels;  of  hay,  3,164 

29 


552  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

tons;  of  clover,  60  tons  and  247  bushels  of  seed;  of  potatoes,  3,385  bushels; 
home-made  butter,  50,700  pounds;  of  factory  butter,  30,000  pounds;  of  cheese, 
200,000  pounds;  of  sugar,  190  pounds  and  1,370  gallons  of  syrup  from  6,430 
trees;  of  honey,  1,120  pounds  from  262  hives;  orchards,  421  acres;  apples, 
12,920  bushels;  peaches,  340  bushels;  pears,  30 bushels;  wool,  3,035  pounds; 
milch  cows,  657;  dogs,  143;  killed,  8  sheep;  died  of  disease,  11  hogs,  106 
sheep,  16  cattle  and  6  horses;  acres  under  cultivation,  7,104;  in  pasture, 
7,560;  woodland,  2,091;  waste,  420;  total,  17,175  acres.  Population  in '1850 
was  1,308,  including  468  youth;  in  1870,  1,169;  in  1880,  1,217;  in 'l884 
(estimated),  1,250. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP. 

A  Pioneer  Family— Early  Privations— Some  Other  Settlers — Three  Self- 
made  Men— Silas  Crocker,  Sylvester  Beecher,  David  McIntosh— 
Organization— Births,  Deaths  and  Marriages— Muzzy  and  his  Mill- 
First  Industries— Schools  and  Churches— War  Record— Incidents  and 
Facts- An  Aged  Land-mark— Business — Resources— Statistics. 

SHALERSVILLE  at  the  drawing  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company  fell  to 
the  lot  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  Shaler,  of  Middietown,  Conn. ,  and  from  this  fact 
the  township  at  one  time  was  called  Middietown.  He  was  the  father  of  Charles 
Shaler,  of  Pittsburgh,  and  William  D.  Shaler,  at  one  time  a  merchant 
of  Ravenna.  One  of  his  daughters  was  the  wife  of  Commodore  McDon- 
ough,  and  it  is  said  that  after  the  victory  of  that  naval  hero  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  when  the  people  of  Middietown  illuminated,  Shaler  refused  to  do  so, 
he  being  a  violent  Federalist,  until  the  enraged  populace  threatened  to  tear  his 
house  down,  when  the  old  Tory  came  to  terms.  The  township  is  Town  4, 
Range  8. 

In  the  spring  of  1806  Joel  Baker  with  his  wife  and  one  child  started  from 
Tolland  County,  Conn.,  in  a  wagon,  and  after  a  long  and  tiresome  journey 
arrived  on  the  spot  where  now  is  the  center  of  Shalersville.  The  country  at 
that  time  was  an  unbroken  wilderness,  and  not  the  least  sign  of  a  clearing 
appeared,  so  when  Baker  got  out  of  his  wagon  and  looked  around,  it  mast 
have  been  upon  a  scene  calculated  to  daunt  any  but  the  most  determined  nat- 
ure. He,  however,  went  to  work  with  a  will  and,  fortunately,  had  a  wife 
who  was,  indeed,  a  helpmeet  to  him,  for  when  he  dug  a  well,  which  was  almost 
the  first  thing  he  did,  his  wife  handled  the  windlass  while  he  delved  down  in 
the  depths.  For  the  first  few  nights  after  his  arrival  the  whole  family  slept 
in  a  large  hollow  log,  but  soon  he  reared  a  small  cabin  and  made  a  clear- 
ing around  it  on  Lot  46,  160  acres  having  been  given  him  by  Shaler  to 
settle  upon  it.  This  cabin  was  located  nearly  opposite  where  the  hotel  now 
stands,  and  the  well,  we  learn,  is  in  good  condition  yet.  Baker,  some  time 
previous  to  coming  to  the  Reserve,  had  purchased  Lot  33,  and  after  spending 
two  years  at  his  first  settlement,  moved  to  this  lot,  where  he  opened  up  a  farm, 
erected  good  buildings,  and  died  in  1849.  Those  two  first  years  were  terribly 
lonesome  ones  to  the  sturdy  pioneer  and  his  wife,  as  no  settler  came  in  during  that 
time.     He  had  to  go  long  distances  for  provisions,  and  the  townships  of  Free- 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  553 

dom  and  Streetsboro  were  still  as  nature  had  formed  them,  they  not  being  set- 
tled up  for  several  years  afterward.  Mantua  was  beginning  to  till  up,  however, 
and  he  had  some  neighbors  there,  within  two  or  three  miles.  Mrs.  Baker  is 
said  to  have  been  an  extraordinary  woman  in  points  of  endurance  and  resources, 
and  with  a  patience  that  never  wearied;  just  the  brave  wife  for  one  of  those 
grand  old  "  builders  without  wage,"  who  laid  their  foundations  deep  and  strong, 
and  made  possible  this  marvellous  occidental  civilization. 

In  the  year  1801  Simeon  Crane,  with  his  family,  came  to  Canfield,  Trum- 
bull County,  with  an  ox-team,  a  horse  and  a  cow,  making  the  journey  in  forty 
days.  There  he  resided  till  1808,  when  he,  in  company  with  two  brothers, 
Belden  and  Calvin,  came  to  Shalersville.  Simeon  was  born  in  Saybrook, 
Conn.,  but  the  family  were  of  "Welsh  extraction,  an  ancestor  having  immi- 
grated to  America  at  an  early  day,  whence  sprung  the  entire  Crane  family,  so 
numerous  throughout  the  country.  The  three  brothers  built  two  log- houses 
during  this  year,  then  returned  to  Canfield,  and  in  the  spring  of  1809  moved 
in  for  permanent  settlement,  and  where  their  descendants  live  to  this  day,  E. 
M.  Crane  being  the  leading  representative  of  the  family,  and  having  the  honor 
or  good  fortune  to  have  been  the  first  white  male  child  born  in  the  township. 
Simeon  died  September  14,  1846,  and  their  first  son.  Squire  Manly  Crane, 
as  he  is  better  known,  is  a  worthy  scion  of  the  original  stbck. 

In  1808  came  Hezekiah  Hine,  a  young  man,  from  old  Milford,  Conn.,  who 
afterward  married  and  became  a  leading  citizen.  He  settled  at  the  Center. 
In  1809  Daniel  Keyes,  from  Connecticut,  came  and  settled  also  at  the  Center. 
The  family  did  not  remain  long,  however.  Daniel  was  the  father  of  Asa  D. 
Keyes,  a  lawyer,  and  agent  for  Gen.  Shaler,  and  at  the  organization  of  the 
county  was  elected  the  first  Prosecuting  Attorney.  Asa  was  a  man  of  consid- 
erable natural  talent  and  culture,  but  let  the  demon  of  intemperance  get  the 
better  of  him  at  times.  Elisha  Burroughs,  who  came  in  1808,  was  in  Stark's 
command  and  heard  Stark's  celebrated  order. 

In  ISIO  William  Coolman  and  family  came  from  Middletown,  Conn.  He 
became  one  of  the  Trustees  at  the  organization  of  the  township  in  1812,  and 
his  son,  William,  Jr.,  was  Sheriff  in  1820-23,  Eepresentative  in  the  Legislat- 
ure, Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  for  many  years  an  editor.  In  this  year  there 
came  Daniel  Burroughs,  with  his  family,  and  sons  Asa  K.  and  Greenhood, 
with  their  families,  from  Vermont,  Joel  Walter  from  Connecticut,  and  Benja- 
min Bradley.      Moses  Carpenter  also  came  from  Connecticut. 

In  1811  Horace  Burroughs  with  wife  and  family  came  from  Vermont; 
Ephraim  Brown,  a  son-in-law  of  Daniel  Burroughs,  and  Daniel  Hine  and 
family  from  old  Milford,  Conn.  Vine  Welch  also  came  in  this  year,  and  set- 
tled south  of  the  Center. 

In  1814  Silas  Crocker,  then  a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  having  been  born  at 
Chelsea,  Vt. ,  in  1799,  came  in  with  the  Thompsons — Job  Thompson,  Sr. ,  and 
Benoni  Thompson,  and  their  families — with  whom  he  had  lived  from  his  ninth 
year.  The  mother  of  young  Crocker  died  when  he  was  nine  years  old,  and  he 
being  of  poor  parents  was  put  out  at  that  tender  age  to  carve  his  fortune  for 
himself,  and  well  he  has  done  it.  He  has  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  many  years,  and  is  now  comparatively  hale  and  hearty  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five. 

Gen.  David  Mcintosh,  a  half  brother  of  Paschal  P.  Mcintosh,  of  Mantua, 
started  in  life  a  poor  boy,  but  fell  into  good  hands  on  obtaining  work  with 
Judge  Atwater,  who  sent  him  to  school.  His  death  occurred  April  17,  1883; 
no  man  was  more  honored  in  his  county  than  Gen.  Mcintosh.  He  left  a  sum 
of  money  to  be  applied  to  furnishing  flags  forever  to  the  county,  as  his  patriotism 


554  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

was  such  that  it  amounted  almost  to  devotion  to  the  "  starry  banner. "  He 
was  a  Major-General  of  Militia  and  represented  his  county  in  the  Legislature. 

Sylvester  Beecher,  also  a  poor  boy,  came  from  Connecticut  at  an  early  day, 
and  worked  for  many  years  as  a  hired  hand,  chopping  and  clearing  land.  He 
became  very  enterprising,  running  a  large  ashery,  and  merchandising. 
Also  owned  considerable  land,  and  was  a  stockholder  in  the  bank  at  Eavenna. 
He  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  at  the  battle  of  the  River  Raisin.  He 
died  in  1855. 

Th,e  township  was  organized  and  an  election  held  April  6,  1812,  when  the 
following  officers  were  chosen:  Trustees,  William  Coolman,  Joel  Walter, 
Simeon  Crane;  Clerk,  Horace  Burroughs;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Daniel  Bur- 
roughs, Daniel  Keys;  Fence  Viewers,  Samuel  Munson,  Benjamin  Bradley; 
Supervisors,  Daniel  Burroughs,  Abel  Hine;  Lister,  Asa  K.  Burroughs;  Treas- 
urer, Belden  Crane;  Constable,  Richard  E.  Gay.  At  an  election  held  the 
following  September  Daniel  Burroughs  and  Belden  Crane  were  elected  Justices 
of  the  Peace,  but  for  the  first  two  years  there  was  scarcely  any  business,  only 
one  suit  being  entered,  Greenhood  Burroughs  vs.  Richard  Gay,  the  Constable, 
and  that  official  had  to  serve  the  notice  upon  himself.  It  is  said  that  he  took 
himself  aside  and  gravely  read  the  summons  to  appear  before  the  magistrate. 
The  suit  was  to  recover  the  value  of  a  cow  bell  that  had  been  loaned  and 
lost.  The  plaintiff  did  not  recover.  At  the  second  Justices'  election  in  1815, 
Job  Thompson  and  George  Barnes  were  chosen.  Barnes  was  not  thought  of 
in  connection  with  the  office  when  the  candidates  were  nominated,  he  being 
an  erratic  sort  of  a  fellow,  living  down  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
township,  without  a  I'oad  leading  to  his  place.  But  the  voters,  not  liking  one 
of  the  regular  candidates,  threw  their  votes  away,  as  they  supposed,  voting  for 
Barnes,  when  lo!  at  the  counting  of  the  ballots,  Barnes  was  found  to  be 
elected.  Everybody  was  surprised,  but  Barnes,  pocketing  the  joke,  qualified 
and  made  a  good  Justice.  Three  cases  were  appealed  from  his  decisions,  but 
in  every  instance  he  was  sustained  by  the  higher  court. 

After  the  organization  in  1814-15,  some  settlers  came  into  the  township, 
among  whom  were  many  prominent  families:  James  Goodell  and  family, 
from  Warwick,  Mass. ;  Isaac  Kneeland  from  Colebrook,  Conn.,  and  John  Hos- 
kins,  with  a  large  family,  from  Colchester,  Conn. 

The  first  child  born  in  the  township  was  a  daughter,  Lucinda,  in  1808,  to 
Joel  Baker,  the  first  settler.  She  died  in  her  seventeenth  year.  The  first 
male  child  and  the  second  birth  was  that  of  a  son,  E.  M.  Crane,  to  Simeon 
Crane,  Jvine  14,  1810.  Squire  Crane,  as  stated  elsewhere,  is  not  only  yet  in 
the  land  of  the  living  but  good  for  many  a  year  hence.  He  is  a  hale  and 
hearty,  active  and  vigorous  gentleman  of  apparently  sixty  years,  but  he  has 
the  weight  of  seventy- four  winters  upon  his  broad  shoulders.  The  first  death 
was  that  of  Edward  Crane,  aged  seven,  a  son  of  Simeon  Crane,  September  23, 
1809.  The  next  death,  and  the  first  of  an  adult,  was  in  1812,  a  Mr.  Dem- 
ing,  from  Vermont,  father-in-law  of  Asa  K.  Burroughs. 

In  1810  an  event  occurred,  and  in  the  higher  circles,  so  to  speak,  if  there 
was  any  difference  where  all  were  upon  the  same  footing.  It  was  a  wedding, 
and  the  high  contracting  parties  were  Mr.  Hezekiah  Hine  and  Miss  Mary 
Atwater,  of  Mantua,  a  sister  of  the  noted  surveyor,  large  land  owner,  and  after- 
ward Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Amzi  Atwater.  The  occasion 
drew  out  all  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  those  primitive  times,  and  the  knot  was 
tied  by  Squire  Elias  Harmon,  ministers  in  those  days  seeming  not  to  have  been 
employed  for  the  interesting  ceremony. 

An  eccentric   character  named  Nathan   Muzzy    in    1812  came  to  the  town- 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  555 

ship,  having  been  employed  by  Stephen  Mason  to  look  iip  a  site  for  a  saw- 
mill, which  he  found  on  the  Cuyahoga  near  the  western  line  of  the  township. 
Muzzy  was  a  man  who  had  been  highly  educated,  graduating  at  Yale  College, 
and  afterward  studied  for  the  ministry,  but  was  either  a  little  "  oflf "  of  his 
mental  balance,  or  bad  a  queer  streak  of  drollery  running  through  him  accom- 
panied by  a  penchant  for  machine  poetry,  which  he  would  get  off  on  all 
occasions.  After  he  had  framed  his  mill  and  got  ready  for  operations  in  the 
fall,  a  freshet  came  and  destroyed  the  dam,  and  his  neighbors  went  over  to  see 
how  the  dam  stood  the  rushing  waters.  They  found  Muzzy  silently  contem- 
plating the  devastation,  and  as  they  approached  him  he  exclaimed,  "  God 
be  praised,  the  Devil's  raised,  the  world  rolls  round  in  water." 

The  damage  being  repaired,  the  mill  was  largely  patronized,  for  timber 
could  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  Mr.  Mason,  who  was  elected  Sheriff  in  1814, 
added  a  grist-mill  to  the  property.  After  studying  for  the  ministry  Muzzy 
became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  but,  true  to  his  impulsive  nat- 
ure, fell  in  love  with  a  girl  he  could  not  get,  and  fled  for  consolation  to  the 
wilds  of  the  West,  totally  disappearing  from  his  former  connections  for 
twenty-five  years,  when  he  turned  up  as  a  carpenter  in  Edinburg  Township. 
Noah  and  Noble  Rogers  moved  into  Shalersville  from  Mantua  in  1829,  and 
established  a  tannery  near  the  north  line  of  the  township.  This  ceased  exist- 
ence over  forty  years  ago. 

In  1810  Moses  Carpenter  came  in  from  Connecticut  and  started  a  tannery 
half  a  mile  west  of  the  Center,  where  he  had  more  business  than  he  could  do. 
It  is  said  that  he  made  an  excellent  quality  of  leather,  having  learned  the 
trade  thoroughly  before  he  left  the  East.  He  was  a  singular,  reticent  man, 
and  thoroughly  honest  in  all  his  dealings.  He  lived  entirely  alone,  and 
never  talked  of  his  former  home.  It  was  said  that  some  infelicity,  or  wrong, 
in  his  household,  had  soured  a  naturally  good  and  confiding  husband;  at  any 
rate,  he  never  returned  to  his  family,  which  he  had  left  in  Connecticut,  and 
died  under  the  care  of  Trustees  in  1826. 

Vine  Welch  was  the  first  blacksmith.  He  came  in  1811  and  settled  south 
of  the  Center.  He  lived  to  an  exceedingly  advanced  age,  dying  some  time 
during  the  late  war  at  the  house  of  his  son  in  Euclid,  nearly  touching  his  one 
hundredth  year. 

The  first  stock  of  goods  was  brought  in  and  the  first  store  was  opened  by 
Sylvester  Beecher  in  1816.  Mr.  Beecher  also  had  a  factory  for  the  manufact- 
ure of  pot  and  pearl  ashes.  In  1817  David  Mcintosh  cut  a  road  through  from 
Shalersville  to  Freedom,  the  country  at  that  time  being  an  unbroken  forest. 

In  1810  the  population  having  grown  to  proportions  sufficient  to  demand  a 
school.  Miss  AVitter,  of  Aurora,  opened  one  at  the  Center,  about  where  the 
barn  of  Dr.  Proctor  now  stands.  It  was  a  log  building  of  small  dimensions, 
but  scholars  were  not  numerous.  It  was  built  of  unhewn  logs,  "  with  punch- 
eon floor,  slab  seats,  greased  paper  windows,  etc.,"  in  short,  having  all  the 
conveniences  usually  to  be  found  in  schoolhouses  of  that  period,  yet,  primitive 
as  it  was,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  such  families  as  the  Bakers,  Cranes,  Bur- 
roughs and  Coolmaus  received  the  foundations  of  their  education.  Another 
teacher  that  came  afterward  was  Miss  Sophia  Coe.  The  condition  of  the 
schools  at  present  is  told  in  the  following  statistics:  Revenue  in  1884,  $4,596; 
expenditures,  $2,144;  8  schoolhouses  valued  at  85,110;  average  pay  of  teach- 
ers, S21;  enrollment,  63  boys  and  61  girls. 

Shalersville  Library  Association  was  organized  February  15,  1847,  with 
Silas  Cracker,  President;  E.  M.  Crane,  Secretary;  Samuel  Ledyard,  P.  C. 
Bennett  and  A.  V.  Horr,  Trustees,  and  John  D.  Ramsey,  Treasurer. 


556  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

During  the  early  settlement  there  came  occasionally  one  of  those  ever  rest- 
less, never-tiring  cii'cuit  riders  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  among  the  num- 
ber were  R.  R.  Roberts,  afterward  Bishop,  John  Waterman,  Martin  Retter 
and  James  McMahon.  The  Presbyterians,  or  Congregationalists,  also  had 
some  early  missionaries  in  this  field,  and  Rev.  John  Seward,  Rev.  Timothy 
Hopkins  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hanford  preached  here.  The  First  Congregational 
Church  was  organized  in  iSlS,  with  eight  members,  the  male  portion  being 
Enoch  Searle,  Roswell  Waldo  and  Isaac  Kneeland,  but  they  never  had  a  set. 
tied  pastor. 

Disciples  Church  was  organized  under  State  law,  September  20,  1850,  with 
Silas  H.  Eldridge,  Cyrus  Haskins,  Trustees,  and  Justin  Hayes,  Clerk. 

In  the  war  of  1812  the  township  filled  its  quota  promptly.  The  able- 
bodied  men  had  been  so  reduced  by  voluntary  enlistments  that  when  the  draft 
was  made  in  that  portion  of  the  town  where  a  company  had  been  raised,  there 
was  only  one  man  liable  to  duty.  Joel  Baker  was  drawn  and  he  hired  a  sub- 
stitute; Asa  K.  Burroughs  was  a  Captain.  Amongst  those  who  went  into  the 
service  were  William  Coolman,  Jr.,  Job  Thompson,  Jr.,  George  Barnes,  Hez- 
ekiah  Hine,  Lyman  Hine,  Daniel  Burroughs,  Jr.,  and  Joel  Baker,  the  last  by 
proxy.  Capt.  Campbell's  company,  to  which  they  belonged,  was  included  in 
the  surrender  of  Hull,  and  they  were  sent  to  Maiden  and  paroled. 

At  the  breaking-out  of  the  Rebelliou  Shalersville  rushed  to  the  rescue  of 
the  Nation  with  a  promptitude  and  zeal  that  placed  her  among  the  front  ranks. 
During  the  war  she  sent  108  soldiers  to  the  field,  and  thirteen  of  them  laid 
down  their  lives  in  the  contest  for  the  right,  while  six  others  were  disabled. 

About  1815  Asa  Burroughs  went  in  search  of  his  cows  which,  according  to 
the  custom,  or  necessities,  of  the  times,  had  been  turned  loose  in  the  woods. 
He  went  in  the  direction  of  Freedom,  but  somehow  got  turned  around  in  his 
mind  so  effectually,  that,  although  he  had  a  pocket  compass  with  him,  he 
believed  the  instrument  pointed  just  the  opposite  of  what  it  ought  to,  and  fol- 
lowing this  guide,  mistaking  the  east  for  the  west  wandered  along  far  into  the 
night  and  the  next  morning  he  found  himself  at  Garrettsville. 

In  1812  Horace  Burroughs  was  going  homethrough  the  woods  at  about  sun- 
set, half  a  mile  east  of  the  Center,  when  out  walked,  in  front  of  him,  an 
immense  bear,  which  seemed  bent  on  disputing  the  path  with  Burroughs.  The 
latter,  however,  swung  a  shovel  he  had  in  hand,  but  the  bear  still  advanced, 
when  Horace,  thinking  it  a  good  "time  for  disappearing,"  backed  out,  keeping 
his  eyes  on  Bruin,  who  did  not  follow.  Getting  arms  and  assistance  Burroughs 
returned,  but  the  bear,  evidently  suspecting  foul  play,  scampered  off  into  the 
forest. 

Rattlesnakes  were  common,  and  numerous  adventures  and  narrow  escapes 
were  related.  Mrs.  Goodell,  the  mother  of  the  wife  of  Squire  Crocker,  was  one 
day  spinning  at  her  wheel,  when  she  heard  an  accompaniment  to  the  buzzing 
noise  of  the  machine,  and  listening  close  to  the  floor  heard  that  peculiar 
z — ing,  which,  when  once  heard  close  to  one's  person  in  field  or  woods  is  never 
forgotten.  His  snakeship  was  routed  out  and  killed;  he  measured  six  feet, 
two  inches. 

About  1825  Squire  Crocker,  while  surveying  in  the  southwest  portion  of  the 
township,  came  across  a  pile  of  stones  five  or  six  feet  high  and  about  eight  feet 
in  diametei'.  They  were  placed  in  order,  and  evidently  brought  some  distance 
from  where  they  were.  What  the  purpose  of  them  was  and  when  they  were 
placed  there,  is  only  a  matter  of  conjecture.  They  may  have  been  the  work 
of  Mound-Builders,  but  there  are  no  other  indications  of  that  mysterious  race 
having  located  in  this  county;  yet,  it  is  possible  that  in  passing  along — having 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  557 

lived  both  east  and  west  of  this  point — they  may  have  erected  this  pile  as  a 
temporary  altar.  The  Indians  never  were  guilty  of  doing  as  much  work  as  the 
placing  of  those  stones  required,  so  we  cannot  blame  them  for  this  piece  of 
mystery. 

On  the  return  of  Jonas  Goodell,  who  came  to  Shalersville  from  Vermont  to 
locate  lands,  he  reported  "that  he  was  homesick  on  account  of  it  being  so  wet 
and  muddy;  but  he  found  a  small  piece  a  leetel  rollin. "  This  piece  is  now 
known  as  Goodell  Hill,  certainly  one  of  the  largest  hills  in  the  county. 

There  is  a  huge  boulder  lying  in  a  field  nearly  opposite  Squire  Crane's 
place,  that  was  originally  about  20x30  feet  and  eight  or  ten  feet  in  height. 
It  lies  perfectly  isolated  from  any  rock  of  its  kind,  and  is  one  of  those  masses, 
or  a  portion  of  one,  that  were  transported  to  this  section  in  the  glacial  period, 
when  this  whole  country,  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  far  westward,  was  covered 
with  slowly  moving  ice.  This  rock  was  first  broken  from  its  original  bed  in 
an  upheaval  by  volcanic  force,  and  then  when  the  ice  which  had  formed 
around  it  began  to  move  southward  it  was  carried  onward,  rolling  slowly  over 
and  over  until  it  became  rounded  and  smooth;  then  when  the  thaw  began,  it 
slowly  sank  through  the  ice  and  remained  where  we  now  find  it. 

The  township  is  well  watered,  the  Cuyahoga  River  and  its  tributaries 
affording  a  plentiful  supply  in  the  northern  and  northwestern  sections,  while 
smaller  streams  traverse  the  township  in  various  directions.  The  land  is 
highly  productive,  the  soil  being  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  potato,  and  many 
thousands  of  bushels  of  the  finest  in  the  world  are  produced  annually.  In 
the  season  of  1884  one  field  north  of  Shalei'sville  Center  contained  forty  acres 
of  the  best  varietie  of  this  essential  article  of  food.  Cheese,  also,  forms  one 
of  the  staple  products,  and  the  township  stands  No.  3  in  the  quantity  manu- 
factured. Considerable  grazing  and  raising  of  stock  is  done,  while  the  usual 
farm  crops  are  produced,  some  of  the  finest  farms  in  the  county  being  here. 
The  County  Infirmary  is  located  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town. 

In  the  Center  there  are  one  general  store,  the  postoflice,  and  two  hotels,  two 
physicians,  a  saw-mill,  and  one  church  building,  used  by  both  the  Christian 
and  Methodist  denominations,  neither  of  whom  have  any  settled  pastor.  There 
are  a  number  of  good  schools  scattered  throughout  the  township. 

The  statistics  for  1884  are  as  follows:  Acres  of  wheat,  1,630,  bushels, 
17,606;  bushels  of  rye,  105;  oats,  1,032  acres,  38,490  bushels;  barley,  200 
bushels;  corn,  9,650  bushels  from  412  acres;  2,729  tons  of  hay  from  1,420 
acres;  1,219  tons  of  hay  from  752  acres  of  clover,  and  177  bushels  of  seed; 
694  acres  of  potatoes  gave  75,242  bushels;  milk  sold  for  family  use,  28,100 
gallons;  home-made  butter,  37,934  pounds;  factory  butter,  70,797  pounds; 
cheese,  613,860  pounds;  maple  sugar,  11,081  pounds;  syrup,  3,340  gallons, 
from  15,290  trees;  2,035  pounds  of  honey  from  61  hives;  32,441  dozens  of 
eggs;  295  acres  of  orchard;  8,377  bushels  of  apples;  67  bushels  of  peaches, 
8  of  pears  and  5  of  plums;  5,427  pounds  of  wool;  1,234  milch  cows;  2  stall- 
ions; 121  dogs;  killed,  11  sheep;  animals  died  of  disease,  12  hogs,  27  sheep, 
23  cattle,  and  10  horses;  acres  cultivated,  5,861;  in  pasture,  7,329;  woodland, 
3,046;  waste,  243;  total,  16,479  acres.  Population  in  1850,  1,190,  including 
439  youth;  in  1870,  977;  in  1880,  960;  in  1884  (estimated),  900. 


558  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIL 
STREETSBORO   TOWNSHIP. 

Eapid  Settlement— Some  Well-known  Names— Cleveland  &  Wellsville 
Turnpike  — Organization  — No  Paupers  Wanted  — Early  Liberality 
AND  Enterprise — A  Few  First  Events — Churches  and  Schools— Busi- 
ness, Officers,  etc— Statistics. 

STREETSBORO,  Towii  4,  Range  9,  was  originally  owned  by  Titus  Street,  of 
Connecticut,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company,  who 
held  back  his  property  for  many  years  after  most  of  the  townships  in  Portage 
County  had  been  settled  up  and  organized,  in  order  to  get  a  higher  price  for 
his  land;  in  fact,  it  was  not  surveyed,  except  as  to  boundaries,  till  1822,  in 
which  year  Ralph  Cowles  laid  off  into  lots  of  100  acres  the  15,279  acres  com- 
prised in  the  township,  and  Lemuel  Punderson  was  appointed  agent  for  the 
sale  of  them;  $6  per  acre  was  the  price  fixed  upon,  but  as  it  was  considerably 
above  the  average  price  of  wild  land  on  the  Reserve,  very  little  was  sold.  Pun- 
derson died  the  following  year,  1823,  and  shortly  afterward  Amzi  Atwater,  of 
Mantua,  was  appointed  agent  for  Street,  and  the  price  lowered  to  from  $2  to 
$5  an  acre,  in  consequence  of  which  many  settlers  came  in  from  that  time 
forward. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1822  Stephen  Myers,  Jr.,  came  into  the  township 
and  settled  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Lot  82,  he  having,  in  conjunction  with 
George  Walker,  pm'chased  sixty  acres  of  that  lot.  He  made  a  clearing,  put 
out  a  small  crop,  and  erected  a  cabin.  The  following  summer  he  with  his 
partner.  Walker,  erected  a  building  for  the  purpose  of  distilling  whisky, 
which  business  they  conducted  for  about  six  years,  when  the  still-house  was 
converted  into  an  ashery.  In  1823  Samuel  Walker,  from  Hudson,  moved  in 
and  settled  on  a  portion  of  Lot  82. 

In  1824  and  1825  quite  a  number  of  persons  came  in,  not  only  from  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts,  but  several  from  other  townships  in  the  county. 
About  the  latter  year,  among  those  who  are  remembered  by  the  oldest  settlers 
were  Solomon  Carlton,  Levi  M.  Cochran,  Michael  Stewart,  Ephraim  W^ood, 
Riley  Miller  and  Daniel  M.  Johnson.  Wood  built  a  house  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  Center,  Lot  56,  which  he  sold  to  Chauncy  Case  several  years 
afterward.  Benjamin  Doolittle,  from  Connecticut,  came  in  the  fall  of  1825, 
made  a  clearing  and  built  a  log-cabin  on  Lot  50,  where  he  lived  for  many 
years,  a  prominent  citizen  and  a  good  and  useful  man.  He  was  elected  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  1827,  at  the  organization. 

The  location  of  a  turnpike  from  Cleveland  to  Wellsville  being  decided 
upon  in  this  year,  1825,  Street,  who  was  a  very  enterprising,  and  when  the 
occasion  arose,  a  very  liberal  man,  ofifered  to  donate  land  sufficient  for  the 
road  if  the  managers  would  run  said  road  through  the  township,  which  was 
agreed  to,  and  he  made  the  company  a  deed  for  840  acres,  which  was  an 
exceedingly  wise  business  transaction,  as  this  liberal  policy  soon  brought  his 
land  into  demand,  for  at  the  completion  of  the  road  settlers  flocked  in  from  all 
quarters  to  secure  the  tine  farms  offered  at  the  low  price  asked.     The  road  was 


.'^^^' 


1 


/i^^ 


t?^u^^ 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  561 

completed  in  1827,  but  before  that  time  the  township  was  rapidly  settling  up. 
In  1826,  or  thereabouts,  came  George  Powers  from  Connecticut,  who  took  up 
his  quarters  in  a  cabin  erected  by  the  workmen  while  building  the  road.  It 
stood  just  a  little  west  of  the  Center,  and  gave  place  many  years  ago  to  better 
improvements.  About  this  time  came  Chauncy  Case,  Jr.,  Alvin  Loomis, 
Alpheus  Streator,  Gideon  H.  Mills,  Heman  Thomas,  Alonzo  Root  and  others. 

In  1826  Col.  John  C.  Singletaiy  built  a  log-house  on  Lot  45,  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  Center,  into  which  Riley  Cochran  moved,  and  the  following  sum- 
mer he  boarded  the  hands  while  they  were  constructing  the  frame  building 
into  which  Col.  Singletary  moved  the  following  spring  of  1828.  He  opened 
there  the  lirst  tavern  in  the  township,  and  his  was  the  first  frame  house  at  the 
Center,  and  in  which  he  lived  till  his  death  in  1851.  In  the  spring  of  1827 
Frederick  Nighman  bought  a  portion  of  Lot  80  and  built  a  log-cabin  upon  it. 

Streetsboro  was  the  last  township  organized  in  the  county,  leaving  Gar- 
rettsville  out  of  the  enumeration.  It  was,  in  1800,  made  a  portion  of  Hud- 
son, now  a  township  of  Summit  County,  and  so  remained  until  1806,  when  it 
became  a  portion  of  Aurora,  under  whose  convoy  it  sailed  till  1821,  when 
Aurora  cut  loose  from  it,  and  Mantua  took  it  under  her  wing  and  kept  her 
safely  there  till  1827,  when  the  township  thought  herself  big  enough  to  go 
alone,  which  she  has  done,  and  with  credit  to  herself,  too,  standing  for  years 
No.  1  in  the  manufactiire  of  cheese,  and  high  in  other  products. 

April  2,  1827,  an  election  was  held  for  officers.  Levi  M.  Cochran,  Chauncy 
Case,  Jr.,  and  Alvin  Loomis  were  Judges  of  Election,  and  Ephraim  Wood, 
Jr.,  and  George  Powers,  Clerks.  The  following  were  selected:  Trustees,  Ben- 
jamin Doolittle,  Daniel  H.  Johnson,  Ephraim  Wood,  Jr.;  Clerk,  Alpheus 
Streator;  Treasurer,  Chauncy  Case,  Jr.;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Alvin  Loomis, 
Levi  M.  Cochran;  Fence  Viewers,  Riley  Miller,  Alonzo  Root;  Constables,  Gid- 
eon H.  Mills,  Heman  Thomas. 

Benjamin  Doolittle  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  the  first  suit 
before  him  was  George  Powers  vs.  Alvin  Loomis.  Loomis  hired  Powers  to  do 
a  piece  of  work  on  the  turnpike,  but  Powers  not  finishing  it  in  a  manner  sat- 
isfactory to  Loomis,  the  latter  refused  to  pay  for  it,  when  he  was  sued  for  the 
amount.  The  Justice  found  for  the  defendant  and  Powers  appealing  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  beaten  there  also.  The  expenses  of  the  township  in 
those  early  times  did  not  exceed  $20  annually. 

The  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  who  more  properly  should  have  been  termed  the 
Rooters-out  of  the  Poor,  were  very  efficient  officers,  and  were  determined 
that  Streetsboro  should  have  no  poor  to  oversee;  so,  accordingly,  three  days 
after  the  election  of  those  officials,  they  issued  an  order  to  Constable  Thomas 
to  notify  James  Walker  and  family  to  leave  the  township,  to  which  they  paid  no 
attention,  but  a  second  order  being  served  some  time  afterward  on  Walker,  ac- 
companied by  the  information  that  if  he  did  not  wish  himself  and  family  to 
be  put  up  for  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  they  quickly  took  themselves  off.  In 
1829  Erastus  Smith  and  family,  and  in  1830  Atlander  Eddy  and  family,  were 
ordered  to  vacate  the  sacred  soil  of  Streetsboro.  One  old  woman,  Sally 
Fleming,  would  not  leave,  so  they  put  her  up  on  the  block  and  sold  her  for 
$12  for  two  months.  This  was  March  1,  1831.  In  1832,  January  11,  Justus 
VVelen,  was  ordered  to  leaVe;  on  the  12th,  Micah  Richardson  and  family,  and 
on  the  17th  Julius  Granger  and  his  daughter  Almira  were  notified.  About 
the  same  time  Mrs.  Catharine  Dexter  and  family,  and  William  Beeman, 
received  their  walking  papers.  Where  the  poor  people  came  from,  and  what 
their  condition  was,  doth  not  now  appear,  but  no  drones  were  wanted  in  the 
Streetsboro  hive. 


562  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUxNTY. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  through  the  wise  foresight  and  liberality 
of  Titns  Street,  the  road  from  Cleveland  to  Wellsville  was  constructed  through 
Streetsboro,  he  contributing  largely  in  land  for  that  purpose.  The  road  was 
the  first  extensive  thoroughfare  through  this  section,  and  was  the  route  over 
which  the  famous  old  mail  carrier  and  contractor,  Jabez  Gilbert,  of  Palmyra, 
familiarly  known  as  "Moses  Jabe,"  and  "Old  Mose,"  passed  over,  an  account 
of  whom  and  his  exploits  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Palmyra.  Street 
gave  an  acre  of  ground  at  each  corner  of  the  Center,  exclusive  of  the  roads 
for  a  public  square,  and  a  stone  was  placed  in  the  center  thereof,  to  desig- 
nate the  exact  center  of  the  township.  He  also  donated  two  aci'es  a  short 
distance  south  of  the  Center  for  a  burial  ground,  and  gave  $60  to  have  it  and 
the  public  square  cleared  off. 

The  first  frame  house  in  the  township  was  built  by  David  Johnson,  at 
Johnson's  Corners,  in  the  spring  of  1827.  Street  had  offered  to  give  $50  to  the 
person  who  would  put  up  the  first  frame  house,  and  Johnson  won  the  prize. 
The  first  house  erected  at  the  Center  was  by  Levi  M.  Cochran,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1825.  It  was  a  log-house,  and  stood  on  the  southeast  center  lot.  The 
first  saw-mill  was  erected  at  Johnson's  Corners,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
township,  by  David  Johnson.  The  first  stage  coach  over  the  State  road  passed 
through  in  1829,  Jabez  Gilbert  driving. 

In  the  fall  of  1823  a  child  was  born  to  Samuel  Walker,  which  lived  only  a 
few  hours,  that  being  the  first  birth  and  first  death  in  the  township.  The 
first  death  of  an  adult  was  the  wife  of  Solomon  Carlton,  shortly  after  the 
burial  ground  was  laid  off,  and  she  was  the  first  interred  there. 

The  first  wedding  was  that  of  Frederick  Nighman  and  Parmelia  Van, 
November,  9,  1826.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Squire  Mills,  of  Hud- 
son. 

The  first  school  was  opened  in  June,  ]826,  by  Clarinda  Case,  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  township.  She  also  cooked  for  her  father  and  other  men 
employed  on  the  road.  This  schoolhouse  was  erected  by  David  Johnson,  the 
owner  of  a  saw-mill  at  Johnson's  Corners,  and  attending  it  were  five  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  three  of  Case's  children.  Three  and  one-half  years  later  a  district  school 
was  opened  inSingletary's  original  log-house,  by  Almira  Taylor.  The  growth 
of  educational  interests  since  that  time  is  shown  by  the  following  statistics: 
Revenue  in  1884,  $5,657;  expenditures,  $3,642;  9  schoolhouses  valued  at 
$3,800;  pay  of  teachers,  $34  and  $31;  enrollment,  103  boys,  and  88  girls. 

There  is  at  the  Center  a  Presbyterian  Chui'ch  with  a  good  membership  and 
a  prosperous  Sabbath-school.  Rev.  A.  C.  Barrows  is  pastor  and  Newton 
Sperry  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  have  a  neat  building  and  a  fair  member- 
ship, with  a  good  Sunday-school.  Rev.  Mr.  Jacobs  is  pastor  and  E.  E.  Olin 
Superintendent  of  the  school. 

A  Baptist  Church  having  a  good  membership  and  a  thriving  Sunday-school 
is  also  at  the  Center.  Rev.  A.  M.  Eley  is  pastor  and  J.  T.  Judd  Superin- 
tendent of  the  school. 

In  addition  to  the  burial-ground  donated  by  Mr.  Street,  there  is  a  very 
beautiful  spot  devoted  to  the  dead — Evergreen  Cemetery — which  also  is  town- 
ship property.  Evergreen  Cemetery  Association,  of  Streetsboro,  was  organized 
May  10,  1864.  W.  S.  Hill  was  Chairman,  and  Albert  Doolittle,  Clerk;  Enos 
Payne,  John  Thompson,  Elin  Olin,  Osmund  Thomas,  Lewis  Green  and  Albert 
Doolittle,  Ti'ustees. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees,  Wallace  Root,  E.  H.  Wait,  J.  W.  Ellsworth; 
Clerk,  F.  M.  Wilcox;  Treasurer,  N.  D.  Peck;  Assessor,  Lynn  Hawkins;  Con- 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  563 

stables,  Erving  Niman,  William  Ferguson;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  N.  D.  Peck, 
P.  Y.  Barnes. 

At  the  Center  there  is  a  general  store,  by  N.  D.  Peck,  and  a  grocery  by  C. 
W.  Stewart  N.  D.  Peck  is  Postmaster.  The  Central  Telephone  Company 
have  atoll-station  here.  A  tine  brass  band  furnishes  excellent  music  occasionally. 
There  are  five  cheese  factories  in  operation  in  the  township,  and  cheese  making 
is  the  principal  industry,  averaging  over  600,000  pounds  of  cheese  annually. 
There  is  a  singular  industry  carried  on  about  one  mile  southwest  of  the  Center, 
there  being  very  few  factories  of  the  kind  anywhere:  Charles  E.  Peck  is 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  glass  cutters'  tools.  N.  S.  Olin  &  Son  conduct 
a  large  stock  farm  two  miles  southeast  of  the  Center,  known  as  the  Cuy- 
ahoga Stock  Farm,  and  have  a  fine  herd  of  short-horn  cattle.  The  township 
furnished  eighty-one  soldiers  for  the  defense  of  the  Union,  and  eleven  were 
either  killed  or  died  in  the  service,  and  eight  disabled. 

The  statistics  of  the  township  for  1884  are:  Acres  of  wheat,  738,  bushels, 
7,067:  rye,  3  acres,  25  bushels;  buckwheat,  5  acres,  20  bushels;  oats,  555  acres, 
22,178  bushels;  coi'n,  602  acres,  8,801  bushels  (shelled);  meadow,  2,329  acres, 
3,143  tons  of  hay;  295  tons  of  clover,  and  108  bushels  of  clover  seed  from  259 
acres;  76  acres  of  potatoes  yielded  7,169  bushels;  home-made  butter,  8,098 
pounds;  factory  butter,  138,292  pounds;  cheese,  397,992  pounds;  maple  sugar, 
7,340  pounds,  syrup,  1,894  gallons,  from  7,923  trees;  honey,  1,710  pounds, 
from  75  hives;  eggs,  5,160  dozens;  orchards,  183  acres,  apples,  2,846  bushels; 
wool,  3,669  pounds;  milch  cows,  1,594;  dogs,  69;  killed,  11  sheep;  animals  died 
of  disease,  13  hogs,  25  sheep,  29  cattle,  2  horses;  acres  cultivated,  4,331;  in 
pasture,  7,693;  woodland,  1,881;  waste,  564;  total,  14,469  acres.  Population 
in  1850  was  1,108,  including  392  youth;  in  1870,  706;  in  1880,  702;  in  1884 
(estimated),  700. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 
SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 

A  Fine  Township— One  Lonely  Settler— Benjamin  Baldwin,  and  the 
"Baldwin"  Apple— Other  Settlers— Honest  John  Fritch— A  Noted 
Hunter — Two  Organizations- A  "Flustrated"  Justice— First  Mills, 
Stores,  etc. — Coming  or  the  Germans— First  Churches  and  Schools — 
First  Birth  and  Death— Mogadore — Suffield  Center — A  Duplex 
Town,  etc.— Statistics,  etc.— Business,  Resources  and  Officers. 

SUFFIELD,  at  the  division  of  the  Reserve  lands,  fell  to  the  lot  of  par 
ties  in  Connecticut,  living  at  Suffield,  the  principal  one  of  whom  was 
Benejob  Kent.  Royal  Pease  also  owned  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
land,  and  as  he  was  the  first  to  come  out  the  township  was  known  as  Pease- 
town,  being  in  the  surveys  Town  1,  Range  9.  The  township  was  slow  of 
settlement,  and  although  it  was  one  of  the  first  in  the  county  to  I'eceive  a  set- 
tler, yet  some  sixteen  years  elapsed  before  it  was  regularly  organized.  The 
land  is  highly  productive,  and  although  somewhat  hilly  throughout  and 
swampy  in  the  lower  sections,  it  is  finely  adapted  to  wheat.  It  is  excellent  for 
sheep  and  general  grazing,  and  the  soil  being  principally  a  sandy,  light  grav- 
elly loam,  with  the  many  southerly  exposed  uplands,  makes  it  peculiarly  well 


564  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

adapted  to  grape  culture.  Fruit  is  raised  easily  and  abundantly,  and  it  is 
here  that  originated  the  famous  "Baldwin"  apple.  One  of  the  first  settlers,  Ben- 
jamin Baldwin,  brought  with  him  from  his  home  in  Connecticut  a  large  quan- 
tity of  apple  seeds,  gathered  at  diiferent  times  and  from  many  orchards.  He 
planted  some  of  these  seeds  and  gave  some  to  his  neighbors.  In  a  few  years 
he  had  a  fine  young  orchard,  and  among  the  bearing  trees  he  found  an  apple 
that  was  particularly  tine.  Only  here  and  there  was  a  ti*ee  of  this  kind,  so  he 
wondered  where  he  had  obtained  the  seed  that  grew  such  good  fruit,  and  no  mat- 
ter how  much  he  puzzled  over  it,  he  could  never  think  where  they  came  from. 
From  those  few  trees  the  "Baldwin"  apple  has  spread,  not  only  over  Ohio,  but 
to  many  other  States. 

About  the  1st  of  May,  1802,  Eoyal  Pease  started  from  his  home  in  Con- 
necticut and  made  his  way  slowly  and  with  many  hardships  to  his  land  on  the 
Reserve,  arriving  here  in  June.  He  located  on  what  was  known  as  the  Kent 
place,  where  he  made  a  clearing,  built  a  cabin,  and  put  out  his  first  crop.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  1802  was  quite  an  early  date  to  be  in  the  woods  of 
Ohio,  for  there  were  at  the  time  probably  not  much  over  a  dozen  families  in 
the  county  of  Portage,  or  rather  what  is  now  Portage,  There  were  no  roads 
leading  to  where  Pease  settled,  and  not  a  human  being  nearer  to  him  than  five 
or  six  miles.  He  had  many  neighbors,  however,  in  the  dense  forests  that  sur- 
rounded bim — entirely  too  many — and  their  bowlings  through  the  long  and 
dreary  nights  of  this  tii'st  winter  in  the  wilds  was  enough  to  "  fright  the  souls" 
of  sterner  men  than  Royal  Pease. 

In  April,  1803,  arrived  Benjamin  Baldwin  from  Connecticut,  the  origi- 
nator, as  stated  above,  of  the  "Baldwin"  apple,  and  at  the  same  time  came  Elia- 
kim  Merriman,  also  from  Connecticut.  In  the  same  month  David  Way  and 
family  moved  in,  and  located  on  the  northern  part  of  Lot  9. 

The  first  birth  was  that  of  a  daughter,  Rebecca,  to  David  Way,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1803.  The  first  death,  that  of  Orestes  Hale,  son  of  Samuel  Hale,  occurred 
in  June,  1805.  The  first  couple  married  after  the  organization  were  Alpha 
Wright  and  Lucy  Foster. 

In  1804  John  Fritch,  a  Pennsylvania  German,  arrived,  and  made  his  set- 
tlement at  the  small  lake  southwest  of  the  Center,  for  whom  it  has  since  been 
called  Fritch's  Pond.  This  lake  is  about  one  mile  in  diameter,  and  is  one  of 
the  sources  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga  River.  Here  honest  John,  the  first  of  the 
Germans  to  make  this  township  their  habitation,  but  who  have  since  come  in 
in  such  numbers  as  to  form  fully  three- fourths  of  the  population,  erected  a 
mill,  which  was  a  great  accommodation  to  the  settlers,  but  in  the  construction 
of  the  dam  it  uncovered  considerable  soil,  which  bred  malarious  diseases,  and 
it  had  finally  to  be  destroyed,  thereby  putting  an  end  to  the  mill  as  well. 
Also  in  this  year  came  from  Connecticut  Daniel  Warner,  and  soon  after  Ezekiel 
Tupper,  Bradford  Waldo  and  Champlin  Minard,  the  latter  in  1816  removing 
to  Brimtield  Township,  where  he  remained.  Waldo  built  the  first  house  in 
Mogadore  on  the  Sufiield  side 

In  1805  Martin  Kent  and  family,  and  Jonathan  Foster,  a  single  man,  came 
in.  Foster  afterward  married  Betsey  Eggleston,  of  Aurora,  moved  to  Mantua, 
became  a  prosperous  farmer,  a  useful  citizen,  and  for  many  years  was  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  besides  tilling  the  position  of  Associate  Judge.  Both  him- 
self and  wife  died  in  1867.  In  this  year  came  Samuel  Hale  and  his  two  sons 
Thomas  and  Orestes,  the  latter  dying  shortly  after  his  arrival,  from  small -pox, 
which  he  had  contracted  at  Pittsburgh.  The  father  died  in  1808  and  was  the 
tirst  person  interred  in  the  grave-yard  north  of  Josiah  Kent's. 

Settlers  now  began  coming  in  more  frequently,  and  in  1808  quite  a  number 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  565 

arrived,  among  whom  was  Moses  Adams  from  Massachusetts.  He  had  a  large 
family  of  children,  but  his  wife  died  on  the  road  out.  In  1810  he  was  elected 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  served  nine  years;  he  also  represented  Portage 
County  in  the  Legislature.  Mr.  Adams  took  as  his  second  wife  Sarah  Packer, 
a  widow  with  six  children.  His  son  Horace,  born  in  1811,  is  now  a  hale  and 
hearty  old  gentleman.  His  father  settled  on  Lot  48.  Moses  Adams,  Jr. ,  was 
a  noted  hunter  in  his  day,  also  Miles  and  Hiram  Culver  and  John  Fritch,  and 
many  are  the  stories  related  by  the  old  settlers  of  how  they  would  bring  a  fine 
buck  in  before  breakfast,  or  a  bear,  or  a  brace  of  turkeys. 

In  April,  1808,  Springfield  Township  was  organized,  embracing  the  terri- 
tory of  six  townships  now  included  m  this  and  Summit  Counties.  Benjamin 
Baldwin  was  elected  the  first"  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  about  his  first  oflicial 
act  was  to  marry  Fi-eeman  Upson  and  Sally  Culver. 

Sufiield  with  its  present  boundaries  was  organized  April  6,  1818,  and  at  the 
request  of  some  of  the  land  owners  in  Sufifield,  Coan.,  was  so  named  in  place 
of  retaining  the  unofficial  title,  Peasetown,  by  which  it  had  been  known.  At 
the  election  held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Hale,  Martin  Kent  was  chosen 
Chairman;  Thomas  Hale,  Clerk,  and  Samuel  Hale  and  Isaac  Miller,  Judges, 
the  election  resulting  as  follows:  Trustees,  Martin  Kent,  James  L.  Van  Gor- 
der,  Ebenezer  Cutler;  Clerk,  Thomas  Hale;  Treasurer,  Samuel  Hale;  Overseers 
of  the  Poor,  Isaac  Harget,  John  Martin;  Lister  and  Constable,  Arad  Upson. 
On  the  7th  day  of  May,  following,  Thomas  Hale  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  On  May  15,  1818,  the  first  list  of  taxable  property  was  filed  by  Arad 
Upson,  with  the  Township  Clerk,  Thomas  Hale.  The  present  Township  Offi- 
cers are:  Trustees,  G.  F.  Newbaur,  Joseph  Paulus,  George  Lutz;  Clerk,  G.  D. 
Fritch;  Treasurer,  Lawrence  Memmer;  Assessor,  J.  B.  Stine;  Constables,  Lewis 
Knapp,  Henry  Weaver;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  William  Paulus,  M.  O.  Martin. 

Suffield  sent  to  the  war  for  the  Union  10-1  gallant  boys  in  blue  and  twelve 
of  them  were  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  their  country. 

In  1807  Harvey  Hulbert  presided  over  a  school  of  nine  pupils.  In  the 
summer  of  1809  Laura  Moore  (Mrs  Thomas  Hale),  presided  over  a  school  of 
six  pupils  in  the  same  house  where  Hulbert  taught  in  1807.  The  present  con- 
dition of  schools  is  shown  by  the  following  statistics:  Revenue  in  1884,  $4,- 
936.48;  expenditure,  $3,083.15;  number  of  houses,  10,  valued  at  $10,000;  pay 
of  teachers,  $20;  enrollment,  220  boys  and  185  girls. 

Mogadore  Union  School  District. — Revenue  in  1884,  $497.70;  expenditure, 
$414.35:  one  schoolhouse  valued  at  S2,000;  pay  of  teachers,  $35  and  $55; 
enrollment,  66  boys  and  59  girls. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  in  1875,  a  house  of  worship 
erected  in  1876,  is  served  by  Rev.  Harshman,  of  Mogadore.  The  membership 
enrolled  is  about  thirty.  John  Royer  is  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school, 
and  Isaac  Slabaugh,  Steward. 

Suffield  Reformed  Church  was  founded  in  1841,  by  Rev.  Ham,  of  Manches- 
ter, under  the  name  German  Reformed  Church.  In  1883  the  society  was  reor- 
ganized under  the  present  name  with  sixty-five  members,  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Beek, 
pastor,  who  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Novinger.  The  house  now  occupied 
by  the  Newbauer  family  contains  the  logs  of  the  first  church;  the  frame  of  the 
second  building  is  now  Smith  &  Walter's  store.  In  1882  the  present  church 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $3,500.  The  Trustees  are  G.  F.  Newbauer,  Daniel 
Bolander,  Ambrose  Garris  and  Newton  Cook. 

St.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church  in  Randolph  Township  claims  a  large  number 
of  its  members  from  this  township  (see  Randolph  Township). 

The  first  store  was  opened  in  1816,  by  James  L.  Van  G order,  at  the  mill, 


566  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

when  he  was  trying  to  find  out,  like  the  rest  of  the  owners  of  that  property, 
what  it  was  best  suited  for.  The  next  store  was  opened  in  Mogadore,  in  1827, 
by  William  Kichards,  on  the  lot  owned  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Ferguson.  The  first 
postoffice  was  established  iu  1833,  one  mile  and  one-fourth  west  of  the  Center, 
and  Benjamin  Fritch  was  the  first  Postmaster.  The  first  tavern  was  opened  in 
1840,  by  Seth  Dustin,  at  the  Center. 

In  1835-37  a  large  German  immigration  set  into  the  township,  and  as  lands 
were  cheap,  soon  largely  increased  the  population.  The  emigrants  brought 
with  them  principles  of  strict  economy,  industry  and  honesty,  and  they  have 
made  Suffield  "  blossom  as  a  rose."  Some  of  the  best  farms  to  be  found  any- 
where are  here;  splendid  orchards  everywhere,  and  the  finest  barn  on  the 
Reserve  can  be  seen  on  the  road  between  the  Center  and  Brimfield. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1825,  a  fearful  wind  storm  passed  through  the  town- 
ship from  southwest  to  northeast.  It  was  a  genuine  cyclone,  and  tore  down 
trees  as  though  they  were  so  many  dry  weeds,  killing  quite  a  number  of  cattle 
and  destroying  all  buildings  in  its  path.  It  also  passed  across  the  southeast 
corner  of  Brimfield,  and  other  points  to  the  northeast. 

Mogadore. — This  village  lies  exactly  upon  the  line  dividing  Portage  from 
Summit  County,  and  most  of  the  business  is  on  the  west  side  of  the  line.  The 
name  is  singular,  and  it  is  not  known  who  suggested  it.  There  is  only  one 
other  Mogadore,  and  that  is  in  Africa.  The  stores  are  in  Summit  County,  but 
there  are  here  two  large  potteries,  operated  respectively  by  Monroe  &  Son,  and 
Martin  Bros.-,  also  a  steam  clay-mill,  a  water  clay-mill,  a  cider-mill  and  a 
grist-mill.  There  is  a  tile  factory  one  mile  from  this  village,  and  a  pottery 
two  miles  therefrom.  S.  Bitterraan  keeps  a  hotel.  Drs.  Ferguson  &  Bowers 
are  the  physicians.     Dr.  Francis  Schuck  lives  in  the  east  part  of  the  township. 

Suffield  Center. — General  stores,  Geidlinger  Bros.,  Smith  &  Walter.  Car- 
riage factory,  Michael  Bletzer.  Harness  shop,  F.  E.  Schumacher.  Carriage 
shop,  Nicholas  Luly.  Tinners  and  slaters,  F.  C.  Sweeney  &  Co.  Physician, 
Dr.  F.  P.  Russell.  Postmaster,  C.  R.  Geidlinger.  There  is  at  the  Center  a 
Reformed  Church,  no  pastor,  and  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  pastor.  Rev. 
G.  L.  Norris. 

The  Fritch  Mills  at  Fritch's  Pond  were  erected  in  1805  or  1806;  but  owing 
to  the  miasma  generated  by  the  damming  of  the  pond,  the  whole  industry  was 
declared  a  nuisance,  and  the  dam  destroyed.  The  second  mill  was  built  by 
James  Shields,  who  sold  it  to  Van  Gorder.  After  passing  through  many 
hands,  Daniel  Harper  converted  it  into  a  carding  shop.  Sometime  after  this 
David  Ely  put  in  saw-mill  machinery  and  operated  it  for  some  years.  In  after 
years  David  and  Samuel  Ely  established  a  pottery  here. 

Nicholas  Luly's  carriage  shop  on  the  east  side  of  the  village  was  estab- 
lished many  years  ago.  About  1878  Mr.  Luly  established  it  as  a  carriage  shop. 
He  gives  employment  to  five  men. 

The  new  Fritch  saw-mill  was  established  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  ago, 
by  G.  W.  Fritch.  This  mill  employs  three  men  annually.  In  1884  he  put 
up  a  cider-mill  and  operated  it  that  fall. 

The  harness  shop  was  established  by  F.  C.  Sweeney  and  Jacob  Ebell  three 
years  ago  (February,  1882).  In  1884  they  sold  their  interests  to  F.  E.  Schu- 
macher (at  the  time  he  sold  his  carriage  shop  to  Michael  Bletzer)  who  carries 
on  the  work  of  harness  making.  Ambrose  G arris  is  employed  here.  He  has 
worked  at  this  trade  in  the  township  over  twelve  years. 

The  carriage  and  wagon  factory  of  Michael  Bletzer  was  started  by  F.  E. 
Schumacher  seven  years  ago.      This  industry  gives  employment  to  three  hands. 

George  Michael  established  the  first  harness  shop  and  Ambrose  Garris  the 
second. 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  567 

There  is  a  Schweitzer  kase  factory  near  the  southern  border  of  the  town- 
ship, where  is  manufactured  an  article  almost  equal  to  the  imported.  A  num- 
ber of  schoolhouses  dot  the  township  at  different  points.  The  business  of 
pottery  is  the  largest  interest  in  the  township,  the  clay  being  obtained  across 
the  line  in  Summit  County. 

The  statistics  of  the  township  for  1884  give  the  following  figures:  Acres 
of  wheat,  2,556,  bushels,  41,005;  rye,  2  acres,  bushels,  26;  oats,  1,226  acres, 
46,544  bushels;  corn,  1,203  acres,  bushels,  33,851;  meadow,  717  acres,  1,062 
tons  of  hay;  clover,  977  acres,  1,373  tons  of  hay  and  547  bushels  of  seed; 
flax,  15  acres;  potatoes,  151  acres,  18,938  bushels;  home  made  butter,  53,835 
pounds;  honey,  462  pounds  from  77  hives;  eggs,  22,887  dozens;  vineyards, 
3  acres;  sweet  potatoes,  1  acre;  orchards,  362  acres;  apples,  11,832  bushels; 
peaches,  154  bushels;  pears,  97  bushels;  plums,  82  bushels;  wool,  5,595 
pounds;  milch  cows,  520;  dogs,  142;  killed,  6  sheep;  animals  died  of  disease, 
48  hogs,  161  sheep,  27  cattle  and  JO  horses;  acres  cultivated,  7,564;  in  past- 
ure, 2,223;  in  woodland,  1.904;  waste  land,  1,410,  total,  13,101  acres.  Pop- 
ulation in  1850  was  1,275,  including  626  vouth;  in  1870,  1,444;  in  1880, 
1,530;  in  1884,  1,550  (estimated). 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
*  WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP. 

The  Becket  Land  Company  —The  March  Westward— Some  Early  Settlers 
—  Organization  and  Officers  —  Churches  and  Preachers  —  Initial 
Events  of  Interest— Primitive  Educators— Building  and  Enterprise- 
Business— Grand  Army— Township  Officers— Statistics. 

WINDHAM  was  owned  originally  by  Gov.  Caleb  Strong,  of  Massachusetts, 
Lemuel  and  Asahel  Pomeroy  and  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Strong  owning 
twelve-thirteenths  of  the  wj^ole  property  which  in  the  survey  was  known  as 
Town  4,  Range  6. 

On  the  11th  day  of  September,  1810,  the  following  persons  met  at  the 
house  of  Thatcher  Couant,  in  Becket,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  company  to  purchase  a  township  in  New  Connecticut  and  remove 
there:  Bills  Messenger,  John  Seeley,  Jeremiah  Lyman,  Aaron  P.  Jagger, 
Benjamin  C.  Perkins,  Elijah  Alford,  Alpheus  Streator,  Benjamin  Higley, 
Elisha  Clark,  Isaac  Clark,  Ebenezer  Messenger,  Thatcher  Conant,  Nathan 
Birchard,  Enos  Kingsley,  Gideon  Bush  and  Dillingham  Clark.  The  company 
being  formed,  a  committee  of  one,  Dillingham  Clark,  was  appointed  to  wait 
upon  Gov.  Strong  and  ascertain  upon  what  terms  thej  could  purchase  the 
township,  nearly  all  the  land  of  which  he  held.  A  favorable  report  having 
been  made  by  Clark,  the  company  appointed  him  and  Jeremiah  Lyman  to  pro- 
ceed to  their  proposed  purchase  and  explore  it,  which  they  did,  returning 
in  about  six  weeks  with  accounts  that  the  purchase  was  closed  with  the 
proprietors,  Strong  and  the  Pomeroys.  Hunt  in  the  meantime  had  disposed  of 
his  interest  to  the  two  latter.  The  terms  of  the  sale  were  that  the  purchasers 
should  turn  over  to  the  sellers  their  property  in  Massachusetts  at  its  appraised 
value,  and  in  this  way  Gov.  Strong's  interest  was  entirely  paid  for.     The  sale 


568  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

was  consummated  in  November,  and  the  price  per  acre  was  $1.76,  there  being 
about  14,845  acres.  Tlie  deed  was  made  to  "Dillingham  Clark,  Esquire, 
Alpheus  Streator.  yeoman,  and  Thatcher  Conant,  gentleman."  The  township 
having  been  surveyed  into  100  equal  lots,  each  purchaser  had  the  pvoportion, 
according  to  his  investment,  deeded  to  him,  the  south  half  of  Lot  56  being 
previously  reserved  for  public  use,  an  act  of  wisdom  of  those  early  settlers 
that  is  fully  appreciated  by  their  descendants.  Dillingham  Clark,  afterward 
so  well  known  as  one  of  the  best  and  wealthiest  citizens  of  Portage,  having 
invested  16,000,  became  the  owner  of  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  township.  The 
name  of  the  township  was  then  changed  from  its  survey  title  to  Strongsburg. 

Having  made  all  arrangements  necessary  for  a  departure  to  the  Western 
country,  the  company  selected  four  young  men  to  go  in  advance  and  prepare 
the  way  for  the  rest  of  them.  These  young  men  were  Elijah  Alford,  Jr., 
Oliver  Alford,  Ebenezer  O.  Messenger  and  Nathan  H.  Messenger.  They  came 
on  foot,  and  had  a  sled  and  horse  to  carry  their  baggage.  Arriving  on  the  16th 
day  of  March,  1811,  they  immediately  commenced  a  settlement.  The  Alfords 
made  a  clearing  on  Lot  84,  and  erected  a  cabin  twenty  feet  in  length  by  fifteen 
in  width,  which  was  the  first  house  in  the  township.  The  Messengers  erected 
a  cabin  on  Lot  82,  and  made  a  clearing  at  the  same  time.  On  the  clearing 
opened  by  the  Alfords  a  crop  of  wheat  was  put  out  for  them  in  the  following 
fall  by  Col.  Benjamin  Higley,  who,  from  three  bushels  of  wheat  sown  on  four 
acres,  harvested  lOQ  bushels  the  next  season,  which  was  the  first  crop  raised  in 
the  township.  Elijah  Alford,  however,  remained  only  two  months,  when  he 
returned  to  Becketand  gave  many  discouraging  reports  of  New  Connecticut,  but 
returned  to  his  Western  home  in  a  couple  of  years.  Ebenezer  O.  Messenger 
also  made  several  changes  and  finally  moved  to  Wisconsin.  On  the  27th  of 
same  month  Wareham  Loomis  and  family  moved  into  the  township  and  settled 
on  Lot  92.  He  moved  in  from  Nelson,  where  he  had  lived  for  some  time,  and 
remained  only  until  the  following  year,  when  he  settled  in  Mantua.  Loomis 
was  not  a  very  valuable  acquisition  to  the  township  as  he  was  ''  half  crook, 
half  crank,"  as  he  would  now  be  called,  and  although  he  was  a  kind-hearted 
and  accommodating  fellow,  could  not  keep  his  hands  off  of  other  people's  prop- 
erty. As  stated  in  the  history  of  Mantua,  he  wound  up  his  career  in  Portage 
with  a  twelve  years'  term  in  the  penitentiary  for  passing  "  home-made  "  money. 
On  the  12th  of  June  of  this  year,  1811.  Bills  Messenger,  the  farst  one  of  the 
proprietors  to  come  in,  arrived  with  his  son  Hiram  and  his  family,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  his  son  in  his  new  home.  The  old  gentleman  remained 
only  about  three  months,  when  he  returned  to  the  East.  Hiram  settled 
on  Lot  76.  Joseph  Southworth,  a  single  man,  came  in  with  the  Messengers. 
On  the  5th  of  July  Alpheus  Streator  arrived  and  settled  on  Lot  85.  Mr. 
Streator  was  a  kind  and  good  neighbor  and  an  excellent  citizen.  He  died  in 
1829,  leaving  forty-seven  descendants,  living  in  ten  diiferent  States.  On  the 
13th  of  July  Thatcher  Conant  and  Jeremiah  Lyman  arrived,  but  did  not  com- 
mence their  settlement  till  the  27th;  they  settled  upon  Lot  86.  On  the  15th 
Col.  Benjamin  Higley  came  in  and  settled  on  Lot  36.  On  the  20th  Ebenezer 
N.  Messenger,  father  of  Ebenezer  O.  Messenger,  who  had  been  sent  on  ahead, 
came  in  and  settled  on  Lot  82,  which  his  son  had  commenced  to  clear.  Gideon 
Bush  also  came  in  and  settled  on  Lot  77.  On  the  12th  day  of  October 
Deacon  Elijah  Alford  arrived  and  settled  on  Lot  57.  Nathan  Birchard  also 
came  in  this  year,  1811,  from  Becket,  Mass.,  but  not  for  permanent  settlement, 
as  he  left  his  family  in  the  East  till  he  could  make  a  clearing  and  erect  a 
cabin.     On  the  30th  of  June  following  he  moved  his  family  in. 

The  names  of  some  of  the  early  settlers  who  came  in  during  the  first  eight 


f^s 


M.tAJA}-Brn        "^Qn^^^f^ 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  571 

or  ten  years  will  be  given,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased:  Asahel  Blair,  who 
drove  one  of  Mr.  Birchard's  teams,  came  in  1812;  he  enlisted  in  the  war  of 
that  period  and  was  killed  at  Black  Rock,  near  Buffalo,  in  1814.  Dr.  Ezra 
Chaffee  also  came  in  this  year,  was  married  shortly  afterward  and  removed  to 
Palmyra  in  1814.  Oliver  Eggleston,  who  afterward  removed  to  Mantua,  came 
in  this  year.  In  1813  Ephraim  Seely,  son  of  John  Seely,  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors, came  in  on  foot  and  commenced  preparing  a  home  for  his  father. 
Erastus  Snow,  in  company  with  Nathan  Snow,  Stillman  Scott  and  H.  Crane, 
arrived  this  year  on  foot. 

January  2,  1814,  Dillingham  Clark,  one  of  the  proprietors  who  was  born 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Cod,  but  who  in  early  life  moved  west,  but  still  in 
Massachusetts,  came  in,  and  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  was  one  of  the  most 
honored  citizens  of  the  county.  Jacob  Earl,  a  brother  of  Deacon  Robert 
Earl,    and  James  Snow,  father  of  Erastus  Snow,  also  came  this  year. 

In  1815  John  Seely,  an  old  Revolutionary  sire,  came  in,  as  did  also 
Daniel  Jagger,  who  was  considerable  of  a  property  holder  when  he  came  here, 
and  afterward  getting  wealthy  was  a  liberal  contributor  to  all  worthy  objects, 
giving  at  one  time  $100  toward  the  payment  of  an  organ  for  his  church.  Joseph 
Higley  came  this  year.  In  1816  came  Joel  Bradford,  Deacon  Robert  Earl, 
"William  Hobart,  Ezra  Taylor,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Treat,  a  Congregational  min- 
ister. In  1817  came  Joseph  Earl,  Levi  Ellis,  Deacon  Isaac  Clark,  Jonathan 
Foot,  Reuben  Ferguson,  James  Robe,  Xenophon  Wadsworth,  and  Benjamin 
"Wroth,  who  soon  after  went  away  and  returned  in  1820.  In  1818  came 
Deacon  Henry  Bliss,  Levi  Bush,  Joseph  Belong,  Samuel  Foster,  Stephen  B. 
Pulsifer,  and  many  others.  In  1819  Jason  Streator,  an  erratic  genius  with 
a  weakness  for  poetry,  came  and  lived  till  1838,  when  he  moved  to  Shalers- 
ville;  also  came  Nathaniel  Ruddand  Moses  Sanford.  In  1820,  among  a  number 
of  others,  came  William  Millikan,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a  self-made 
man  of  energy  and  activity,  and  with  great  capacity  to  lead  in  any  move- 
ment. 

March  2,  1813,  the  township,  which  had  been  informally  christened 
Strongsburg,  and  which,  with  Nelson,  was  included  in  the  township  of  Hiram 
for  election  pui'poses,  was  set  apart  and  the  name  changed  to  Sharon,  as  Gov. 
Strong  was  an  unflinching  Federalist,  and  opposed  the  Government  in  the  war 
then  raging  with  England,  thereby  rendering  himself  extremely  unpopular  with 
the  settlers  on  the  Reserve.  On  the  first  Monday  in  April  following  an  election 
was  held  which  resulted  as  follows:  Trustees,  Thatcher  Conant,  Benjamin 
Higley,  Jeremiah  Lyman;  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Hiram  Messenger,  Thatcher 
Conant;  Fence  Viewers,  Levi  Alford,  Ephraim  H.  Seeley;  Lister  and  Appraiser, 
Ebenezer  N.  Messenger;  Constable,  •  Hiram  Messenger;  Treasurer,  Oliver 
Alford.  On  the  15th  of  November  following,  Deacon  Elijah  Alford  was  elected 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  seventeen  votes  being  cast,  and  but  one  ticket  was  in  the 
field.  There  was  little  use  for  a  Conservator  of  the  Peace  in  those  harmonious 
times,  and  not  a  case  appeared  upon  the  virgin  docket  of  the  old  Justice  for 
nearly  two  years,  when,  as  the  best  of  friends  will  fall  out  sometimes,  Hiram 
Messenger  sued  Thatcher  F.  Conant  for  $3,  for  an  otter  he  had  sold  him. 
Messenger  discovered  a  hole,  where  he  saw  an  otter  go  in,  so  he  put  a  stone  at 
the  hole  and  afterward  sold  otter,  stone,  hole,  etc.,  for  the  sum  named,  but  the 
buyer  found  nothing,  and  refused  to  pay.  The  plaintiff  gained  the  suit,  but 
the  defendant  threatening  to  appeal,  the  Justice  paid  the  amount.  In  1820 
the  name  of  the  township  was  changed  to  Windham.  The  first  child  born  in 
the  township  was  to  Mrs.  Hiram  Messenger,  October  27,  1811,  but  it  never 
opened  its  eyes,  dying  at  its  birth.   The  first  living  white  child  was  a  girl,  born 

30 


572  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

to  Wareham  Loomis,  August  27.  1812.  The  first  death  was  that  of  Miss  Lucy- 
Ashley,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1812. 

The  first  wedding  occurred  June  11,  1812,  when  Dr.  Ezra  Chaffee  married 
Miss  Polly  Messenger.  The  Doctor  was  a  man  of  exceptional  ability  in  his 
profession,  and  it  was  a  great  loss  to  the  settlement  when  he  moved  away  in 
18 1-1.  The  next  marriage  was  that  of  Levi  Alford  and  Miss  Edna  E.  Conant, 
a  daughter  of  Thatcher  Conant.  She  was  a  school-teacher  of  considerable 
reputation,  and  when  she  gave  up  teaching  for  household  duties  her  place  was 
difficult  to  till. 

In  1811,  shortly  after  the  first  settlers  arrived,  Dillingham  Clark  donated 
a  plat  of  ground  at  the  Center  to  be  used  as  a  burial-ground,  but  in  1817  the 
present  beautiful  location  was  selected,  and  the  remains  of  the  seven  persons 
buried  in  the  first  grounds  were  transferred  to  the  new  cemetery.  A  singular 
coincidence  in  regard  to  quite  a  number  of  the  early  settlers  is  that  they  died 
at  sixty-six  years,  or  thereabout,  some  seven  or  eight  passing  away  at  that  age. 
Up  to  1823  the  township  was  remarkably  healthy,  bat  in  this  year  there  were 
eleven  deaths.  In  1818  a  benevolent  society  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
rendering  assistance  to  the  worthy,  as  well  as  for  missionary  work. 

The  early  settlers  of  this  district,  before  starting  out  on  their  long  jour- 
ney, organized  themselves  into  a  Congregational  Church,  and  selected  Deacon 
Elijah  Alford,  who  had  held  the  same  position  over  their  church  at  Becket 
since  1807,  as  their  Deacon  in  the  New  Connecticut.  Thatcher  Conant  was 
Clerk  of  the  church,  and  the  day  after  his  arrival  in  the  settlement,  which  was 
Sunday,  the  14th  of  July,  1811,  religious  services  were  held  at  the  house  of 
Alpheus  Streator,  attended  by  all  the  settlers,  forty- two  in  number.  On  the 
last  day  of  August  following  the  first  sermon  was  preached  at  the  same  place 
by  Rev.  Nathan  B.  Darrow. 

The  Congregational  Society  was  reorganized  under  State  law,  February 
25,  1876.  T.  O.  Angel  was  Moderator;  C.  F.  Jagger,  Clerk;  E.  P.  Clark.  W. 
Chaffee,  Jason  Angel,  M.  G.  Donaldson  and  William  A.  Perkins  were  elected 
Trustees. 

By  the  spring  of  1817  the  township  had  made  such  progress  that  the  pop- 
ulation had  grown  to  203  persons,  comprised  in  thirty-seven  families,  and  they 
sorely  felt  the  need  of  a  building  in  which  to  hold  any  public  meeting,  and 
especially  religious  services,  so  a  hewn- log  structui'e  was  reared  at  the  Center, 
30x24  feet,  and  comfortably  finished,  in  which,  on  the  24th  of  September,  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Treat  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  Sharon,  he  having  previously  received  a  "call  "  from  the  new  organization, 
and  which  relation  he  held  till  October  2,  1827.  In  1828,  the  church  feeling 
the  need  of  a  building  of  their  own,  instituted  such  measures  that  in  1829  a 
commodious  and  tasteful  building  was  commenced,  and  finished  in  1830. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ,  on  May  27,  1828,  organized  a  church  society, 
which  met  in  a  schoolhouse  on  the  State  road,  near  where  it  crosses  Indian 
Creek,  but  in  1834  erected  a  neat  brick  building  at  the  Center. 

Up  to  1843  the  Methodists  held  service,  at  the  houses  of  the  members  of 
that  church  and  other  places,  but  in  that  year  they  erected  a  small  building, 
which  was  shortly  afterward  burned  down  and  the  following  year  built  an 
elegant  and  commodious  edifice  at  the  Center.  The  society  was  reorganized 
June  16,  1871,  when  Bidwell  Pinney,  J.  C.  Ensign,  William  Moore,.  F.  D. 
Snow,  George  S.  Belden,  C.  L.  Weed,  Royal  Buckley,  Daniel  Stroup,  Clark 
L.  Bryant  were  elected  Trustees.  James  Greer,  P.  E.,  was  present.  In  1884 
the  work  of  building  a  new  church  was  entered  upon,  and  on  February  8,  1885, 
the  building  was  dedicated.      The  basement  is  divided  into  Sunday-school 


WINDHAM  TOAVNSHIP.  57S 

rooms  and  vestibule.  The  audience  room  is  arranged  much  after  the  manner 
of  the  majority  at  the  present  time — platform  for  preacher  and  singers  at  end 
farthest  from  the  doors,  and  gallery  at  opposite  end  from  platform.  The 
church  is  heated  by  furnaces.  It  is  covered  with  a  slate  roof,  and  cost,  com- 
pleted, about  $9,000.  The  principal  contributions  were:  Amount  subscribed, 
$5,000;  amount  left  by  will  from  Mrs.  Seeley's  estate,  $700;  amount  donated, 
$2,134.  Among  the  principal  articles  and  amounts  donated  are:  Moving  old 
church,  G.  S.  Pinney,  $50;  bell,  John  Patterson;  chandelier,  Moses  A.  Birch - 
ard;  stone,  Pinney  Bros. ;  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  $250.  The  bell  weighs  about 
1,000  pounds. 

The  lirst  school  in  the  township  was  taught  gratuitously  in  the  house  of 
Alpheus  Streator  by  his  daughter  Eliza,  and  Rebecca  Conant,  daughter  of 
Thatcher  Conant,  in  the  winter  of  1811-12.  They  taught  alternate  weeks. 
Miss  Streator  married  Mr.  Cochran,  of  Aurora,  in  1823,  and  Miss  Conant  mar- 
ried  Leander  Sacett,  of  Tallmadge,  in  1822,  and  went  to  Maumoe  as  a  mission- 
ary. In  the  fall  of  1812  a  log  schoolhouse  was  erected  on  Lot  86,  near  where 
the  stone  schoolhouse  was  afterward  erected,  and  Dr.  Chaffee  taught  school  the 
following  winter,  having  about  twenty  scholars,  there  being  then  thirteen  fam- 
ilies in  the  township.  From  this  time  on  schools  were  maintained.  An  edu- 
cational association  was  formed  in  1834,  for  the  purpose  of  affording  better 
facilities  for  instruction  in  the  higher  branches,  and  accordingly  an  academy 
building  was  erected  and  in  1835  chartered  by  the  Legislature,  a  school  being 
opened  in  the  spring  of  that  year  as  the  "  academy,"  by  John  F.  Hopkins. 

In  1824  a  library  association  was  formed,  and  about  100  volumes  collected 
and  placed  in  charge  of  one  of  the  members.  Not  much  interest  was  taken  in 
the  project  and  it  went  down,  but  in  1851  a  new  association  was  formed  and 
regularly  chartered,  since  which  time  it  has  been  quite  successful,  having  now 
about  500  select  volumes. 

The  statistics  of  schools  are  as  follows:  Windham  schools,  revenue  m 
1884,  $2,855;  expenditures,  $1,940;  number  of  houses,  8,  valued  at  $5,000; 
teachers'  average  pay,  $36  and  $24;  eni'ollment,  92  boys  and  78  girls. 

Windham  Special  School  District,  revenue  in  1884,  $5,054;  expenditure, 
$4,734;  two  schoolhouses,  valued  at  $6,178;  average  wages  of  teachers,  $40 
and  $65;  enrollment,  49  boys  and  62  girls.  Population  in  1870,  865;  in  1880, 
1,029;  in  1884,  1,100  (estimated). 

November  6,  1813,  Jacob  Earl  and  Benjamin  Yale  erected  the  first  frame 
building  in  the  township.  It  was  a  saw-mill,  located  about  half  a  mile  south- 
west of  the  Center.  April  16,  1814,  Nathan  Birchard  erected  the  first  frame 
barn,  and  April  11,  1816,  the  same  gentleman  erected  the  first  frame  dwelling- 
house.  In  this  year  from  an  orchard  set  out  by  Ebenezer  N.  Messenger, 
peaches  were  raised,  and  in  1818  some  apples  were  taken  from  trees  grown 
from  seeds  brought  from  Massachusetts  seven  years  before.  In  June,  1817., 
Deacon  Isaac  Clark  arrived,  and  July  11  he  opened  a  stock  of  goods  in  a  Ice- 
house at  the  Center.  They  were  valued  at  $500,  and  he  sold  calico  at  60  cents 
per  yard,  cambric  at  80  cents  and  fulled  cloth  at  $1.75;  tea  was  $1.50  and 
pepper  50  cents  per  pound.  The  first  Postmaster  was  Dillingham  Clark, 
appointed  in  1818,  and  he  had  his  office  at  his  house  on  the  State  road.  la 
1820  Thomas  Lee,  a  blacksmith,  opened  for  business  on  Lot  54.  In  1825  a 
distillery  was  started,  but  it  did  not  last  long.  In  1829  Henry  E.  Canfield 
opened  a  cabinet  shop  in  the  house  of  Col.  Benjamin  Higley.  In  1824  the 
first  regular  practitioner  of  medicine.  Dr.  John  S.  Matson,  came  in,  and  set- 
tled, but  Windham  was  too  healthy  for  him,  and  he  left  in  a  few  months. 

The  Atlantic  &  Great  Western   Railroad  runs  from  east  to  west  across  the 


574  HISTORY  OF  PORTAGE  COUNTY. 

township,  and  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railroad,  runs  across 
the  northeast  corner.  The  former  has  a  station  near  Windham  Center  and 
the  latter  at  Mahoning.  They  are  both  now  a  portion  of  the  system  of  the 
New  York,   Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Road. 

Earl-Millikan  Post,  No.  333,  G.  A.  R.,  was  organized  June  29, 1883,  with  the 
following  named  original  members:  B.  F.  Lovett,  C.  W.  Hoskins,  W.  W.  Ran- 
dall, I.  N.  Wilcox,  H.  C.  Hastlerode,  O.  L.  Earl,  G.  A.  Merwin,  W.  H.  Dor- 
worth,  G.  S.  Pinney,  P.  R.  Higley,  T.  O.  Angil,  H.  B.  Walden,  E.  S.  Wood- 
worth,  F.  C.  Applegate,  F.  D.  Snow,  J.  A.  Snow,  L.  L.  Kinney.  The  names 
of  Commanders  are  B.  F.  Lovett  and  C.  W.  Hoskins;  the  names  of  adjutants, 
P.  R.  Higley,  G.  A.  Merwin,  T.  O.  Angil;  names  of  members  other  than  orig- 
inal members,  W.  A.  Higley,  J.  S.  Chapman,  H.  D.  Walker.  The  present 
number  of  members  is  twenty. 

Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  was  organized  July  25,  1870,  by  W. 
Chaffee,  who  has  been  D.  D.  G.  M.  for  four  years.  This  lodge  is  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  in  the  district. 

Windham  Center. — Two  general  stores,  Higley  &  Bosley,  J.  B.  Harrison  & 
Co.;  hardware  and  furniture,  H.  J.  Noble;  drug  store,  E.  S.  Shaw;  tin-ware, 
H.  A.  Wadsworth;  carriage  shop  and  furniture,  J.  W.  Furry;  saw-mill  and 
pail  factory,  Hunt  Bros.;  basket  factory,  wagon,  blacksmith  and  barber  shops; 
physicians.  Dr.  F.  C.  Applegate,  Dr.  B.  B.  Longhead;  dentist,  E.  S.  Shaw; 
Postmaster,  B.  A.  Higley.  There  are  two  stone  quarries  open  northwest  of 
the  Center. 

There  is  at  the  Center  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  with  Rev.  H.  S. 
Jackson,  pastor;  Congregational  Church,  Rev.  T.  R.  Jones,  pastor.  An  excel- 
lent high  school  is  taught  in  a  fine  new  building  that  cost  $6,000;  Prof.  Duane 
Tilden,  Principal.  At  Mahoning  Station  M.  G.  Donaldson  is  Postmaster,  who 
also  is  station  agent  and  runs  a  coal  yard.  A  beautiful  soldiers'  monument 
stands  at  the  Center,  which  was  erected  in  1866  at  a  cost  of  $1,100.  It  is 
twenty-one  feet  in  height,  and  is  exquisitely  wrought  from  white  Italian  mar- 
ble. Windham  furnished  thirty-eight  soldiers  for  the  Union  during  the 
Rebellion,  sixteen  of  whom  were  either  killed  or  died. 

Township  Officers. — Trustees,  John  Keller,  Samuel  Yale,  Joseph  Birchard; 
Treasurer,  D.  W.  Bosley;  Assessor,  P.  R.  Higley;  Clerk,  J.  W.  Furry;  Con- 
stables, M.  D.  Higley,  P.  B.  Higley;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  L.  B.  Reed,  J.  B. 
Harrison. 

The  statistics  for  1884  are:  Acres  of  wheat,  961,  bushels,  10,917;  buck- 
wheat, 8,  bushels,  86;  oats,  767,  bushels,  22,028;  barley,  6  acres;  corn,  3J0, 
bushels,  4,563;  meadow,  2,073  acres,  2,770  tons  of  hay;  clover,  27  acres,.  39 
tons  of  hay,  14  bushels  of  seed;  flax,  26  acres,  254  bushels  of  seed;  potatoes, 
64  acres,  14,910  bushels  of  seed;  home  made  butter,  52,273  pounds;  cheese, 
5,100  pounds;  maple  sugar,  13,862  pounds,  syrup,  9,438  gallons,  from  36,227 
trees;  hoaey,  300  pounds,  from  30  hives;  eggs,  4,216  dozen;  orchards,  213 
acres;  apples,  4,277  bushels,  peaches,  63  bushels,  and  pears,  25  bushels;  wool, 
13,388  pounds;  milch  cows,  570;  stallions,  1;  dogs,  109;  acres  cultivated, 
5,357;  in  pasture,  4,835;  in  wood-land,  2,694;  waste  land,  40;  total,  12,926 
acres.  The  population  in  1850  was  813,  of  which  number  310  represented  the 
youth;  in  1870  the  number  was  865,  and  in  1880  1,029.  The  estimated  popu- 
lation at  present  is  about  1,200. 


PART  IT. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES, 


ATWATEK  TOWNSHIP. 

E.  D.  BAITH,  member  of  the  firm  of  Baith  &  Jackson,  merchants,  Atwater, 
is  a  native  of  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  born  in  1854,  son  of  Amos 
and  Mary  A.  (Kump)  Baith,  natives  of  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  who  settled  in 
Atwater  Township,  this  county,  in  1850.  They  reared  a  family  of  five  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  now  living:  E.  D.,  Hattie  (wife  of  L.  C.  Porter),  Ella 
(wife  of  E.  R.  Spires),  Albert  and  Anna.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm  and  followed  agricultural  pursuits  until  1883,  when  he  purchased  the 
interest  of  Brush  and  Alden,  of  the  firm  of  Brush,  Alden  &  Butler.  In  1884 
Mr.  Jackson  succeeded  Mr.  Butler,  and  the  firm  became  Baith  &  Jackson. 
They  carry  a  general  stock  of  merchandise  worth  about  $10,000,  and  do  an 
extensive  business.     Mr.  Baith  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

MRS.  E.  H.  BEACH,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  February  6,  1817,  in  Dur- 
ham, Greene  Co.,  N.  Y. ;  daughter  of  Eliakim,  Jr.,  and  Frances  Stannard, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  born  May  16,  1786,  and  March  22,  1790,  respectively. 
They  wei'e  the  parents  of  nine  children,  viz.:  Adaline,  Antoinette,  Harriet, 
Lucinda  M.,  Edward,  Lucy,  Piatt,  Mary,  Eliakim.  Mrs.  Beach's  grandpar- 
ents were  Eliakim,  Sr.,  and  Bethia  Stannard,  of  Puritan  stock,  both  natives  of 
Connecticut,  former  born  August  31,  1753,  and  latter  born  July  15,  1759. 
Lucinda  M.,  our  subject,  was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  November  26, 
1843,  to  Ransom  Hinman,  born  in  Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1813,  and  who, 
when  but  a  child,  came  with  his  parents  to  this  county,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  dying  December  22,  1857.  Our  subject  afterward, 
May  1,  1861,  was  united  in  marriage  with  E.  H.  Beach,  also  a  native  of  New 
York,  born  in  Victor.  Mr.  Beach  came  to  this  county  in  1861  and  is  highly 
respected  and  favorably  known  in  this  community. 

NELSON  BENJAMIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Greene  County, 
N.  Y.,  September  15,  1814,  son  of  Richard  and  Jerusha  (Clark)  Benjamin, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  New  York  State, 
where  they  both  died.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  only  living  child  born 
to  this  couple.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1846  and  began  the  work  of  his  life 
without  means,  but  possessed  of  untiring  energy  and  perseverance.  He  cleared 
the  farm,  consisting  of  175  acres,  where  he  now  resides  and  which  is  finely 
improved.  Mr.  Benjamin  was  married,  in  his  native  county,  to  Miss  Adeline 
Stannard,  born  May  20,  1811.  Their  generation  is  as  follows:  Piatt,  married 
to  Nellie  Baldwin  (have  seven  children:  AddieL.,  Frances  S.,  Pearl  R.,  Mabel 
G.,  Ray  L.,  Chester  and  Josephine);  Frances,  wife  of  Amos  Whitten,  residing 
in  Boston,  Mass.  (have  the  following  children:  Chester  H.,  Edgar  B.,  Charles 
N.  and  William  M.);  Cyrus,  married  to  Jerusha  Blakesley   (have  three  chil- 


578  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

dren:    Bertie  S. ,   Mamie  and  Freddie  L.);  Amos,   married  to  Josephine  G. 
Whittelsey,  resides  at  home. 

LUTHER  BUTLER,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  North 
Branford,  Conn.,  in  1801;  son  of  David  and  Betsey  Butler,  who  were  among 
the  pilgrims  of  1827  to  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  where  they  located  on 
land  now  occupied  by  our  subject,  and  there  lived  to  the  close  of  their  lives. 
Of  thirteen  children  born  to  them,  seven  survive.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
served  seven  years  as  Drum  Major  in  the  militia,  and  took  an  active  part  as 
drummer  in  the  Presidential  Campaign  of  1884,  joining  in  most  if  not  in  all 
the  torch-light  processions  and  parades,  and  he  is  ever  happiest  when  in  the 
ranks  beating  the  drum.  He  was  married,  in  1830,  to  Miss  Eliza  Jones,  by 
whom  he  has  the  following  children:  Lyman  W.,  Lucius  F.,  Susan  S.,  and 
Henry  W.,  married  to  Weltha  Wintersteen  (they  have  two  children:  Albert  H. 
and  Arthur  W.)  In  1880  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butler  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  their  wedding  day,  when  there  were  present,  besides  other  guests,  thir- 
teen grandchildren. 

W.  W.  CLEVERLY,  farmer,  P.  .0.  Atwater,  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Atwater  Township,  where  he  was  born  in  1835;  son  of  William 
and  Eliza  Cleverly,  natives  of  New  York  and  Maryland,  respectively,  who  were 
the  parents  of  six  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living  (the  oldest  being 
dead):  W.  W. ;  Eliza,  wife  of  J.  E.  Garrison,  of  Junction  City,  Kan.; 
Fannie,  wife  of  E.  Ellison;  Abbey,  wife  of  William  Ripple,  of  Warsaw,  Ind.; 
and  Frank.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Cleverly  located  in  Atwater  Township 
in  1831,  settling  on  land  now  owned  by  Charles  Bradley,  Jr.,  and  both  died  in 
the  township.  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1861,  to  Miss  Lydia,  daughter  of 
John  Webber,  of  Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  By  this  union  were  born 
five  children:  Chase,  Charles,  John,  Florence  and  Bertie.  In  1862  Mr.  Cle- 
verly settled  on  his  present  farm  of  107  acres,  which  was  then  wholly 
wooded  but  he  has  cleared  about  sixty  acres,  has  erected  a  fine  commodious 
brick  residence,  and  is  making  other  improvements. 

THORNTON  DOUTHITT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater  Center,  was  born  in  Edin- 
burg  Township,  this  county,  October  11,  1831;  son  of  Daniel  and  Rachel  (Pum- 
phrey)  Douthitt,  the  former  born  in  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  a  native  of  Huron 
County,  Ohio,  and  Avho  joined  the  early  settlement  at  Edinburg.  They  were 
parents  of  twelve  children,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  third. 
Daniel  Douthitt,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  removed  to  Hardin  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  died  in  February,  1881,  Mrs.  Douthitt  dying  in  1849.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  with  scarcely  any  educational 
advantages  outside  the  severe  discipline  of  labor,  which  taught  him  economy. 
Honesty,  perseverance  and  regular  habits,  giving  him  a  vigorous  constitution, 
combined  with  a  natural  ambition  to  achieve  success,  seconded  by  excellent 
judgment,  have  caused  him  to  more  than  equal  his  greatest  anticipations. 
Neither  early  habits  nor  later  indulgences  have  weakened  him  in  body  or 
mind,  using  neither  strong  drink  nor  tobacco.  He  married,  February  16,  1852, 
at  Atwater,  Ohio,  Miss  Matilda  Ann  Siddull,  second  child  of  Mahlon  and  Eliza- 
beth (Gould)  Siddall,  of  Atwater,  Ohio.  Mrs.  Douthitt  was  born  April  1, 
1831,  and  in  all  the  laborious  undertakings  of  her  husband  has  borne  her 
equal  share,  acting  nobly  and  truly  a  self-sacrificing  part.  She  is  a  kind 
friend,  afi'ectionate  mother  and  good  wife;  their  home  being  ample  and  suffi- 
ciently ornamental  to  dispense  to  a  large  circle  of  friends  that  free-hearted 
hospitality  for  which  they  are  justly  noted.  She  (Mrs.  Douthitt)  has  borne 
our  subject  five  children:  Andrew  M.,  born  April  20,  1853,  admitted  to  the  bar, 
but   engaged  in  teaching  (has  two  children:    Bertha  Ann  and  Dudley  M.); 


ann^-'-x^^ 


tom^ut^ 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  581 

George  F.,  born  June  12,  1856,  a  teacher  in  the  Union  Schools,  but  preparing 
for  the  practice  of  law;  Jennie  T.,  born  September  10,  1864,  mai*ried,  January 
1,  1885,  to  H.  Alva  Myers,  a  teacher;  Thomas  D.,  born  January  27,  1867, 
engaged  in  teaching:  Clinton  A.,  born  June  1,  1870,  attending  school  and 
helping  his  father  on  the  farm.  During  the  late  war  Mr.  Douthitt  located  on  his 
present  farm  of  225  acres,  clearing  it  of  timber,  etc.,  besides  several  other  large 
tracts,  and  with  the  revenue  received  from  the  railroad  company  (in  payment 
for  thousands  of  cords  of  wood)  he  has  paid  for  the  farm  and  liquidated  other 
large  obligations.  The  majority  of  the  family  are  regular  attendants  on  the 
service  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  not  any  are  members  of  any 
religious  denomination.  In  politics  Mr.  Douthitt  is  an  unswerving  disciple  of 
Jefferson,  but  although  living  in  a  township  overwhelmingly  Republican, 
his  fellow- townsmen  have  seen  fit  to  repose  in  him  the  responsible  position  of 
Real  Estate  Assessor  in  1880,  and  Township  Trustee  for  three  terms. 

JAMES  B.  ELTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Atwater  January 
14,  1848,  son  of  Erbin  and  Caroline  (Woodruff)  Elton,  and  grandson  of 
Ebenezer  and  Emily  Elton,  of  Piiritan  stock,  who  came  from  Connecticut  in 
1833  via  canal  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  lake  to  Ohio,  and  settled  on  the  land  now 
occupied  by  their  son  Erbin.  Mrs.  Caroline  Elton  came  with  her  parents. 
Chancy  and  Perlina  Woodruff,  from  Farmington,  Conn.,  to  Atwater  Township, 
this  county.  They  had  with  them  their  seven  childi'en:  Havey,  Ezekiel, 
Henry,  Caroline,  Cornelius,  Cornelia  and  Alfred,  and  after  coming  here  had 
two  more — Sarah  and  William.  Ebenezer  and  Emily  Elton  had  six  children: 
Lucella,  married  Watrous  Fairchild  Taylor;  Erbin,  married  Caroline  Elton; 
Elizabeth,  married  John  Norton;  Harriett,  married  Lucius  Walker;  Edwin, 
married  Harriett  Knapj),  aud  Ebenezer,  died  at  the  age  of  two  years.  Ebenezer 
Elton  lived  to  enjoy  pioneer  life  but  a  short  time,  dying  December  22,  1835, 
aged  forty-three.  At  hia  death,  Erbin,  who  was  but  a  boy  at  the  time,  took 
charge  of  the  homestead  and  diligently  cleared  it  of  timber,  etc.,  and  still 
makes  it  his  residence.  He  had  four  children:  Edwin,  died  April  18,  1870, 
aged  twenty-six;  those  now  living  are  James  B.,  born  in  this  township  in  1848, 
(married,  in  1871,  Miss  Sarah  Hacock,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  lona  A.  and 
Edwin);  Henry,  a  farmer,  Windham  Township,  this  county  (married  Miss  Eliza 
Hacock,  June  26,  1883,  have  two  daughters:  Carrie  and  Nina);  Emily,  married 
October  8,  1879,  to  Earnest  Youngman,  farmer,  Windham  Township,  this 
county.  The  family  are  highly  esteemed  and  respected  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Chvirch. 

THOMAS  W.  GILSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Oil  Creek 
Township,  Crawford  County,  Penn.,  in  1823;  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Laf- 
ferty)  Gilson,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  both  now  deceased.  Of  their  chil- 
dren, John,  Alice,  Peter,  Margaret  and  Thomas  W.  are  now  living.  Our  sub- 
ject spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  his  native  county,  and  has  always  been 
a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  was  married,  in  1846,  to  Miss  Cynthia  Fowler,  a 
native  of  Crawford  County,  Penn.,  who  died  January  19,  1876,  the  mother  of 
five  children,  viz.:  M.  H. ,  M.  W. ,  L.  A.,  A.  T.  and  E.  L.,  who  have  been 
spared  to  care  for  their  father  and  his  home  through  the  declining  years  of 
his  life.  In  1865  Mr.  Gilson  purchased  and  settled  on  his  present  estate, 
comprising  120  acres,  now  one  of  the  best  cultivated  farms  in  Atwater  Town- 
ship.    He  and  his  family  are  highly  respected  in  this  community. 

HOMER  HILLYER,  retired,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this 
county,  November  17,  1815;  son  of  Daniel  and  Charity  (Loomis)  Hill- 
yer,  natives  of  Southwick,  Mass.  The  family,  along  with  a  colony  of 
seventy-five  persons,  embarked  for  the  West  in  1815,  and  were  forty-four  days 


582  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

on  the  road,  settling  in  this  county  daring  October,  1815.  Daniel  Hillyer  was 
a  farmer  and  did  considerable  surveying  in  Atwater  and  Randolph  Towuships. 
Of  the  six  children  born  to  him  and  his  wife,  three  are  now  living:  Homer, 
Joseph  T.  and  Edwin,  the  two  younger  now  residents  of  Dodge  County,  Wis. 
Homer  Hillyer  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  was  married,  June  11,  1845,  to 
Miss  Hannah  Cooney,  a  native  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  who  died  Janu- 
ary 17,  1865,  without  issue.  He  was  married,  on  second  occasion,  September 
6,  1865,  to  Miss  Celinda  C.  Crail,born  in  Beaver  County,  Penn.  Mr.  Hillyer 
was  appointed  station  agent  at  Atwater  on  the  C.  &  P.  R.  R.  at  the  time  it  was 
built  and  acceptably  served  in  that  capacity  until  1884,  when  he  resigned, 
being  one  of  the  oldest  agents  on  the  road,  and  retired  to  enjoy  the  well- 
earned  results  of  his  labors.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  for  years,  and  is  widely  known  and  esteemed  by  all. 

IRA  JACKSON,  firm  of  Baith  &  Jackson,  merchants,  Atwater,  was  born 
in  Mt.  Vernon,  Knox  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1853,  and  is  an  adopted  son  of  Josiah  and 
Lucy  A.  (Phinney)  Jackson,  former  of  whom,  now  in  his  seventy-ninth  year, 
is  a  native  of  Rutland  County,  Vt.,  and  the  latter  of  Dover,  Ohio.  The  family 
settled  in  Freedom  Township,  this  county,  at  an  early  date  and  cleared  a  farm 
where  they  resided  until  their  removal  to  this  village.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  served  an  apprenticeship  of  ten  years  at  Ravenna  in  merchandising, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1884  formed  the  present  partnership.  This  firm  are  suc- 
cessors to  Brush,  Alden  &  Butler,  the  leading  business  house  of  Atwater.  Mr. 
Jackson  married,  August  15, 1877,  Miss  Mary  F.,  daughter  of  Capt.  J.  C.  Long, 
of  Nantucket,  commander  of  a  whaling  vessel  for  years,  but  now  living  a 
retired  life  in  Ravenna.  The  children  born  to  this  union  are  William  and 
George.  Mr.  Jackson  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church;  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

S.  W.  JOHNSON,  farmer,  P,  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  New  Haven  County, 
Conn.,  in  1825;  son  of  Levi  and  Eliza  (Riggs)  Johnson,  who  crossed  the 
country,  arriving  in  this  county  in  1834,  and  settling  in  Rootstown  Township, 
where  the  father  purchased  a  farm  and  founded  a  home.  In  1846  Levi  John- 
son removed  to  Atwater  Township,  where  he  lived  till  the  close  of  his  life, 
August  25,  1862.  His  widow  is  now  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  her  age.  Of 
the  children  born  to  this  couple,  but  two  survive:  S.  W.  and  Henry.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married,  in  1849,  to  Miss  Sally,  daughter  of  Ste- 
phen Wooley,  deceased.  His  living  children  are  James  R.  and  Eliza,  wife  of 
B.  F.  Hathaway,  present  Clerk  of  Atwater  Township.  In  1850  Mr.  Johnson 
settled  on  a  farm  of  100  acres  in  the  northern  part  of  Atwater  Township,  on 
which  he  resided  until  1882,  when  he  moved  to  his  present  farm,  comprising 
sixty  acres,  situated  near  Atwater  Station.  He  has  spent  a  life-time  of  labor 
and  toil  in  clearing  land  and  creating  from  the  wilderness  scenes  of  growth 
and  abundance. 

JOHN  KENNEDY,  section  foreman  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  P. 
O.  Atwater,  was  born  inTipperary,  Ireland,  in  1819;  son  of  John  and  Ann  Ken- 
nedy. He  crossed  the  ocean  in  1851  and  began  the  struggle  of  life,  posses- 
sing a  vigorous  constitution,  strong  ambition  and  an  honest  heart  as  his  only 
capital.  He  made  his  way  to  the  "West"  and  worked  for  two  months  on  the 
Akron  branch  of  the  Cleveland,  Mt.  Vernon  &  Delaware  Railroad.  In  1852 
he  was  appointed  to  his  present  position,  and  has  proved,  by  his  careful  appli- 
cation to  business,  one  of  the  best,  as  he  is  one  of  the  oldest,  men  in  the  com- 
pany's employ.  He  was  married  first  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Sebrell,  who  died  in 
1871,  leaving  four  children:  Ellen,  Ann.  John  and  Patrick.  He  was  married, 
on  second   occasion,  to  Mrs.  Margret  Coats,  who  died  in  March,  1883.     Mr. 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  583 

Kennedy,  who  has  ever  been  temperate  and  frugal  in  habits,  in  1864  was 
enabled  to  purchase  his  present  farm,  consisting  of  128  acres  of  land. 

WILLIAM  W.  KETTRING,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Atwater 
Township,  this  county,  in  1842;  son  of  Jacob  and  Rachel  (Petrie)  Kettring, 
natives  of  Baden,  Geruiany,  the  former  born  in  November,  1815,  the  latter  in 
1822,  the  respective  families  immigrating  to  America  in  1831.  They  were  the 
parents  of  six  sons:  William  W.,  George,  Joshua,  Jacob,  Caleb  and  Eli.  Jacob 
Eettring,  Sr.,  cleared  forty  acres  of  land  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming  till  his  death.  His  widow,  who  survives  him,  is  a 
resident  of  Atwater,  this  county.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and 
has  always  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  In  1862  he  joined  the  Union  Army, 
enlisting  in  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and  Eleventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
serving  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Stone 
River,  siege  of  Knoxville,  the  Georgia  and  Atlanta  campaigns,  Franklin,  Ft. 
Fisher  and  Nashville  under  Thomas,  and  received  an  honorable  discharge  as 
Corporal  in  July,  1865.  Returning  to  peaceful  pui'suits  he  was  married,  in 
1867,  to  Miss  Lucy  A.,  daughter  of  Thomas  Gilson,  of  Atwater  Township,  this 
county.  Six  children  were  born  to  this  union,  all  now  living:  Henry,  Clara, 
Charles,  Maggie,  Edith  and  Mary.     Mr.  Kettring  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

JOHN  MANSFIELD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater  Centre,  was  born  in  Walling- 
ford.  Conn.,  November  18,  1806;  son  of  Ira  and  Susan  (Kirtland)  Mansfield, 
who  had  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  only  survivor. 
His  grandfather,  John  Mansfield,  was  an  officer  of  some  distinction  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle.  Ira  Mansfield,  his  father,  better  known  as  Maj. 
Mansfield,  made  his  way  through  the  wilderness  of  Ohio  in  1806,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  trade  of  land  with  Joshua  Atwater,  the  original  proprietor 
of  the  township,  securing  360  acres.  Returning  to  the  East  he  brought  his 
family  back  with  him  in  1808,  and  here  founded  a  home.  This  land  he  sub- 
sequently sold,  and  purchased  150  acres  near  the  present  homestead.  He 
raised  a  company  of  volunteers  for  the  war  of  1812,  in  which  he  took  an 
active  part.  While  in  camp  at  Detroit  his  trusted  clerk  decamped  with  $1,500 
of  his  money.  For  a  time  this  crippled  him,  but  his  untiring  ambition  soon 
enabled  him  to  retrieve  the  loss.  Ira  Mansfield's  death  occurred  in  Atwater  in 
1849.  His  widow  survived  him  until  1851.  Oui-  subject  was  married,  in  1833, 
to  Miss  Mary  Hall,  also  a  native  af  W^allingford,  Conn.,  and  who  has  borne 
him  two  sons:  Ira  K.,  residing  at  Chicago,  111,  is  married  to  Emma  J.  Cook 
(their  living  children  are  Mary  M.,  Susan  M.  and  Bessie  I.);  Silliman  S., 
married  to  Margaret  Goss,  they  reside  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county, 
(Their  children  are  Charles  K.,  Alfred  H.,  Pearl  Vi.,  Henry  L.,  Carrie  J., 
Frankie  G.  and  Ira  S.).  Mr.  Mansfield  is  among  the  oldest  settlers  of 
Atwater  Township.  He  has  served  as  Assessor  several  terms,  and  has  ever 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  development  of  his  township. 

EDGAR  H.  MANSFIELD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  May  4,  1843, 
in  Atwater  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Henry  E.  Mansfield,  born  in  Wal- 
lingford.  Conn.,  August  16,  1803,  and  grandson  of  Maj.  Ii'a  Mansfield,  a 
pioneer  of  1807  to  Atwater  Township.  Henry  E.  Mansfield  was  twice  mar- 
ried, first  to  Miss  Jane  Stanly,  a  native  of  Newton  Falls,  Trumbull  Co., 
Ohio,  who  died  April  2,  1837.  Jane,  the  only  surviving  child  of  this  union, 
married  M.  D.  Motherspaw,  and  is  the  mother  of  two  children — Harry  and 
Frank — and  grandmother  of  Carl  and  Ruby.  His  second  union  was  with  Ann 
S.  Stanly,  a  sister  of  his  deceased  wife,  born  August  16,  1815,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  and  Mary  (Moore)  Stanly,  the  former  born  November  15,  1768,  died 
August  13,  184S,  the  latter  born  August  22,  1772,  died  June  11,  1847,  and  who 


584  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

had  thirteen  children,  of  whom  two  survive:  James,  born  July  23,  1801,  and 
Ann  S.  There  are  seventy-nine  living  descendants  of  this  couple.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  married,  in  1869,  to  Miss  Lora  E.,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Campbell,  a  native  of  Atwater  Township,  this  county.  This  family  and 
its  connections  are  among  the  oldest  and  most  respected  in  Atwater  Township; 
they  are  both  industrious  and  successful,  walking  in  the  steps  of  their  fore- 
fathers. 

SIDNEY  A.  MATTOON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  is  a  native  of  Atwater 
Township,  this  county,  born  December  25,  1832,  son  of  Caleb  and  Betsey  (Hall) 
Mattoon,  of  Connecticut,  and  grandson  of  Caleb  Mattoon,  one  of  the  earliest 
pioneers  of  this  township,  coming  here  from  Connecticut  with  an  ox  team.  Here 
he  cleared  a  farm  comprising  100  acres  and  lived  the  balance  of  his  life.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  united  in  marriage,  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county, 
January  9, 1856,  with  Miss  Elizabeth,  adopted  daughter  of  Aaron  Baldwin.  This 
union  has  been  blessed  with  five  children,  four  now  living:  Charles  A.,  Jessie, 
Estella  and  Edwin.  In  1858  Mr.  Mattoon  settled  on  his  present  farm  of  240 
acres.  He  is  Trustee  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  Superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath-school  The  family  are  among  the  oldest  and  most  respected  in 
Atwater  Township. 

JOHN  MYEKS,  Atwater,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Berlin  Township,  Mahoning 
Co.,  Ohio,  December  22,  1828,  son  of  Daniel  and  Polly  Myei's  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  early  pioneers  of  Mahoning  County,  Ohio.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  had  not  the  advantages  of  acquiring  an  education  that  many  boys,  even 
of  his  time,  possessed.  Arithmetic  was  his  "main  fort,"  and  in  that  branch 
he  got  as  far  as  the  "double  rule  of  three."  His  constant  practice  in  com- 
pound numbers,  interest,  percentage  and  mensuration  has  made  him  so  proficient 
in  these  departments  of  arithmetic,  that  better  scholars  than  he  frequently 
acknowlege  his  superiority  in  these  departments.  When  about  twenty  years 
old  he  commenced  to  battle  with  life  for  himself,  and  his  first  undertaking 
was  a  contract  to  cut  100  cords  of  four-foot  wood  at  25  cents  per  cord  for  John 
Boles,  of  Campbellsport.  Taking  for  a  partner  his  brother  Henry,  they  accom- 
plished the  feat  in  ten  days,  going  to  and  from  their  work  twice  during  the 
time,  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles.  With  his  share  of  the  proceeds,  as  part  pay- 
ment, Mr.  Myers  purchased  a  "Cantield  grain  thresher"  for  which  he  paid 
$200.  This  was  his  first  investment,  and  he  continued  to  follow  threshing  for 
sixteen  years.  In  February,  1851,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sophia  Betts,  a 
native  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  but  who  when  two  years  old  moved  with 
her  parents  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  she  lived  until  united  in  marriage 
to  Mr.  Myers.  Our  subject  and  wife  spent  one  year  of  their  married  life  in 
Berlin  Township,  and  in  the  fall  of  1852  they  moved  to  Atwater  Township, 
this  county,  on  the  farm  where  they  now  live, consisting  of  120  acres,  for  which 
Mr.  Myers  paid  $17.50  per  acre;  about  ten  acres  of  this  farm  were  cleared 
off  when  Mr.  Myers  moved  ;  on  it,  but  being  possessed  of  a  strong  constitution 
and  a  tireless  ambition,  with  the  best  elements  of  character  and  natural  frugal- 
ity, his  life's  work  has  been  crowned  with  merited  success.  He  is  owner  of 
over  500  acres  of  land  in  Atwater  Township,  and  notwithstanding  the  vast 
apaount  of  labor  connected  with  operating  such  a  farm,  he  has  always  taken 
an  active  interest  in  educational  matters,  giving  his  children  every  advantage 
of  acquiring  a  thorough  education.  The  record  of  his  family,  all  of  whom  are 
now  living,  is:  AV.  C,  born  November  3,  1852;  Lucy  A.,  born  July  11,  1854, 
married  to  L.  I.  Glass;  Chester  A.,  born  December  16,  1856,  married  to  Clara 
E.  Hawn;  H.  Alva,  born  August  20,  1859,  married  to  Jennie  T.  Douthitt; 
Vinnie  M.,  born  August  27,  1861;  Eddie  M.,  born  December  11,  1864;  Hattie 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  .  585 

J.,  born  January  8,  1867;  Jesse  O.,  born  May  26,  1870,  and  Worthy  Allen, 
born  December  14,  1873.  Six  of  these  have  taught  school,  viz.:  VV.  C, 
Chester  A.,  H.  Alva.  Vinnie  M.,  Eddie  M.  and  Hattie  J.  Mr.  Myers  is  a 
strong  supporter  of  Democracy,  casting  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Franklin 
Pierce,  and  voting  for  every  Democratic  candidate  for  President  since  that 
time. 

HENKY  NICHOLS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater  Centre,  was  born  in  Fairfield, 
Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  September  20,  1825,  son  of  Nasin  and  Elizabeth 
(Gould)  Nichols,  natives  of  New  York  State,  where  the  former  died  when  our 
subject  was  but  two  years  of  age.  The  widowed  mother,  with  her  son,  came 
West  and  located  in  Ellsworth,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  and  three  years  later 
removed  to  this  county,  settling  in  Edinbtirg  Township,  where  she  was  mar- 
ried,'on  second  occasiou,  in  Columbiana  County,  to  Mahlon  Siddall,  by  whom 
she  had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living:  Marilda  J.,  George  W., 
Matilda  A.,  Louisa  and  Elisha  (twins),  Lovinia,  Keller,  Isaac  and  Melissa. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  been  a  resident  of  Atwater  and  Edinburg 
Townships,  this  county,  since  1834  and  experienced  all  the  hardships  incident 
to  pioneer  life.  Between  his  residence  and  Atwater  Center  the  road  covers 
hidden  timber  which  he  helped  to  fell  in  order  to  obtain  a  pass  through  the 
woods.  He  has  been  twice  married,  first  in  1850  to  Miss  Mary  K.  Lynn,  born 
in  Limestone,  Fayette  Co.,  Penn.,  September  29,  1831,  and  who  died  in  1874, 
the  mother  of  two  children,  both  now  living:  Frances  J.,  wife  of  Jerome  Hux- 
ley, of  Princeton,  Kan.  (have  two  children:  Dallas  H.  and  George  E  ),  and 
Samuel  E.,  residing  in  Atwater,  married  to  Ada  Wireman  (have  two  sons: 
Bernard  H.  and  Walter).  Mr.  Nichols  was  married  on  second  occasion,  in 
1875,  to  Miss  Eliza,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Emily  Rogers,  a  pioneer  family. 
Mr.  Nichols  in  1866  settled  on  his  present  estate,  comprising  126  acres,  where 
he  has  established  a  permanent  home.  He  and  his  wife  are  connected  with 
the  Disciples  Church  of  Edinburg. 

JOHN  NORTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  one  of  the  oldest  native  resi- 
dents of  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  was  born  here  in  1813;  son  of  Jerry 
and  Rachel  (Hubbard)  Norton,  who  journeyed  fi*om  Connecticut  in  1812,  with 
ox  teams  and  one  horse.  They  had  two  children  with  them,  were  six  weeks  on 
the  road,  and  located  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county.  They  had  a  family 
of  twelve  children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living:  Sarah,  wife  of  Daniel  Hall, 
in  Richmond,  Mich.;  Mary,  wife  of  Isaac  Elliott;  John;  James;  and  Ellen, 
wife  of  Henry  Beebe.  Jerry  Norton  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  removed  to 
Randolph  Township,  where  he  died.  Our  subject  was  married  in  Edinburg, 
this  county,  March  11,  1846,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Elton,  of  Atwater  Township. 
Their  only  child  (adopted),  Martha,  married  Z.  Strong  and  has  three  children: 
Willie,  Henry  and  Landa.  Mr.  Norton  lives  on  the  homestead  farm  consist- 
ing of  100  acres.     He  has  served  his  township  as  Treasurer. 

JAMES  SPIERS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  England,  October 
16,  1813,  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann  (Parkins)  Spiers,  with  whom  he  immigrated 
to  this  country  in  1833,  and  located  in  Deerfield  Township,  where  Thomas 
Spiers  died  the  following  week.  In  1840  our  subject  secured  fifty  acres  of 
his  present  estate,  now  comprising  eighty-two  acres,  which  at  that  time  was 
wholly  wooded.  A  road  through  the  forests  had  to  be  cut  to  make  a  clearing 
for  the  erection  of  a  cabin.  Their  bread  was  baked  in  a  kettle  suspended  on 
poles,  over  a  fire,  and  they  experienced  all  the  other  hardships  and  privations 
incident  to  a  pioneer's  life.  He  was  married  in  Boardman,  then  Trumbull, 
now  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  February  29,  1844,  to  Miss  Betsey,  daughter  of 
Peter  and   Elizabeth  Webber,  by  whom  he  has  the  following  children  living: 


586  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

Milo;  Lucy,  wife  of  Charles  Craig  (have  one  child — Ethel  M. ),  and  Celeste, 
residing  at  home,  the  joy  and  solace  of  her  parents'  declining  years.  The  fam- 
ily are  widely  known  and  highly  esteemed. 

C.  J.  STANFORD,  member  of  firm  of  Stanford  &  Mendenhall,  furniture 
dealers  and  undertakers,  Atwater,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county, 
September  7,  1841.  His  father,  Orrin  Stanford,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
came  to  this  county  when  a  youth,  with  his  father,  Oliver,  who  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Randolph  Township.  Orrin  Stanford  married  Eliza  Coe,  a 
daughter  of  Deacon  James  Coe,  Sr. ,  who  was  born  in  Granville,  Mass.,  March 
19,  1769,  and  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  1811.  The  Coe 
family  came  to  this  country  from  the  County  of  Suffolk,  England,  where  their 
ancestors  for  many  generations  back  had  resided.  Robert  Coe,  of  Milford, 
Suffolk,  was  burned  at  the  stake  by  orders  from  Queen  Mary,  September,  1555. 
Robert  Coe  (of  the  ninth  generation)  is  the  first  of  this  name  who  came  to  this 
county.  The  svibject  of  this  sketch  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  of  his  father, 
and  worked  at  the  same  until  he  joined  the  Union  Army,  in  1861,  enlisting  in 
Company  A,  Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  serving  three  years. 
Ho  participated  in  the  battles  of  Middle  Creek,  Ky.,  under  Garfield,  Pound 
Gap,  Siege  of  Vicksburg,  Arkansas  Post,  and  in  other  skirmishes.  After  his 
return  he  worked  at  his  trade  until  1877  when  he  opened  a  furniture  store  and 
undertaking  establishment  at  Edinburg.  In  1880  he  removed  his  business  to 
Atwater,  and  in  1883  Mr.  Mendenhall  was  admitted  a  partner  in  the  concern. 
Mr.  Stanford  was  married,  March  15,  1883,  to  Miss  Nina  Mendenhall,  by 
whom  he  has  one  son — William. 

W.  H.  STOCKBERGER,  carriage  manufacturer,  P.  O.  Atwater  Center,  was 
born  in  New  Lisbon,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  in  September,  1841,  son  of  Fred- 
erick and  Elizabeth  Stockberger,  who  emigrated  from  Germany  in  1835. 
They  were  married  at  New  Lisbon  and  settled  at  Atwater  Center  in  1854. 
Their  family  consisted  of  four  children:  Caroline,  W.  H.,  Daniel  and  Lizzie. 
Frederick  Stockberger  was  a  carriage-maker  by  trade,  and  established  tha 
present  business  here,  which  he  carried  on  to  the  close  of  his  life,  in  1878. 
His  widow  is  still  surviving.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.,  in  1862,  to  Miss  Louisa  Rettman,  also  a  native  of  Germany. 
Their  living  children  are  Jessie,  Carrie,  Mary,  Frank,  Lottie,  Frederick,  Wal- 
ter and  one  net  named.  Mr.  Stockberger  has  made  great  improvements  in  the 
carriage  factory,  moving  the  old  building  to  the  rear  and  erecting  a  substantial 
two-story  structure.  The  main  floor  is  used  as  a  carriage  repository  and  the 
upper  floor  as  a  paint  shop  and  drying  room.  This  addition  was  completed  in 
1880.     Mr.  Stockberger  and  family  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

JARED  STRATTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  1841,  in  Atwater 
Township,  this  county;  son  of  Jared  and  Damaris  (Perkins)  Stratton,  natives 
of  Connecticut,  who  settled  in  Atwater  Township  in  1821.  Of  their  children, 
three  are  now  living:  Almon,  born  in  this  township,  in  1831,  married  to 
Rebecca  Henline  (they  have  two  children:  Willie  J.  and  Howard  S. );  Jared; 
and  Samuel,  unmarried.  Jared  Stratton,  Sr.,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and 
worked  at  this  dccupation  until  within  a  few  years  previous  to  his  death  in 
1883.  His  widow  is  now  a  resident  of  the  old  homestead  farm.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch,  in  1871,  settled  on  his  present  farm,  consisting  of  fifty-six 
acres,  which  he  has  greatly  improved  and  cultivated.  He  was  married  in  1872, 
to  Miss  Lydia  B.  McLeish,  who  has  borne  him  four  children:  Fannie,  Frank, 
John  and  Walter.  Mr.  Stratton  is  present  Clerk  of  this  district,  School  Direct- 
or and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education.  He  was  appointed  a  Deacon  in 
the  Congregational  Church,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  in  1883. 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  587 

SAMUEL  STRATTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Atwater 
Township,  this  county,  June  21,  1843;  youngest  son  of  Jared  Stratton,  Sr., 
whose  history  appears  above.  Samuel  Stratton  has  always  remained  on  the 
homestead  farm,  and  since  his  father's  death,  February  18,  1883,  has  been  the 
support  and  companion  of  his  respected  mother,  now  in  her  eightieth  year. 
Our  subject  has  added  thil'ty-seven  and  one- quarter  acres  to  the  original 
homestead,  making  a  total  of  seventy- five  and  one-fourth  acres.  He  is  con- 
nected with  the  Congregational  Church. 

WILLIAM  THOMPSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Deerfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1822,  son  of  Uriah  and  Elizabeth  (Allen)  Thompson, 
natives  of  New  Jersey,  and  among  the  pioneers  of  1810  to  settle  in  Deerfield 
Township.  At  that  time  there  were  but  ten  families  in  the  township,  the 
country  was  covered  with  woods,  and  wild  animals  were  in  abundance.  Their 
nearest  market  was  New  Lisbon.  Uriah  Thompson  secured  eighty  acres  of 
land  which  he  cleared,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Atwater  Township,  where 
he  and  his  wife  died  at  the  ages  of  eighty-four  and  seventy-nine,  respectively. 
Of  their  six  children,  three  now  survive:  Uriah,  Jr.,  William  and  Elizabeth. 
Our  subject  has  occupied  his  present  farm,  now  comprising  225  acres,  since  he 
was  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  erected  a  cheese  factory  on  his  place,  and  has 
won  for  himself  a  wide  reputation  as  a  successful  manufacturer  of  this  com- 
modity. He  began  life  empty-handed,  clearing  his  farm  of  woods  and  slowly 
improving  it  until  he  has  now  one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  Mr.  Thompson 
was  married  in  1855,  to  Miss  Emily  Fowler,  of  Pennsylvania.  Of  the  chil- 
dren born  to  this  union  five  are  living:  Louie,  Owen  P.,  Lillie,  Leona  and 
Wendell. 

SAMUEL  TOWNSEND.  ticket  and  station  agent,  Atwater,  was  born  in 
Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  in  1836;  son  of  Jonathan  and  Ann  Townsend,  of 
English  and  French  descent,  I'espectively.  They  came  from  Bucks  County, 
Penn.,  and  settled  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  in  1833,  where  they  both  died. 
Our  subject  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss  Lois  Roller,  of  his  native  county. 
He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  followed  various  occupations  until  his 
removal  to  Atwater  in  1870.  He  was  subsequently  employed  as  assistant  sta- 
tion agent  until  the  resignation  of  H.  Hillyer,  in  January,  1884,  when  he 
succeeded  him,  and  has  proved  himself  to  be  an  efficient  officer.  He  is  well 
known  and  highly  respected. 

SILAS  P.  WALLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  November  6,  1841, 
on  the  Waller  estate,  this  township,  in  the  old  log-cabin  which  his  father  first 
occupied  in  1837,  since  when  two  generations  have  been  born  within  its  hon- 
ored walls.  His  father,  David  G.  Waller,  was  born  in  Palmyra  Township, 
this  county,  August  12,  1812,  and  was  married  to  Catherine  Webber,  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  October  17,  1804,  daughter  of  Peter  Webber,  who  was  born 
September  4,  1779,  in  Berkshire  County,  Penn.,  a  son  of  Christian  Webber,  a 
native  of  Germany  who  fled  from  that  country  when  eighteen  years  of  age  to 
avoid  being  pressed  into  the  army.  To  this  union  were  born  the  following 
children,  viz.:  Hiram,  Silas  P.  (our  subject),  and  David  Webber.  David  G. 
Waller's  parents,  Silas,  Sr.,  and  Betsey  (Knappen)  Waller,  were  natives  of 
Connecticut  and  parents  of  thirteen  children,  only  two  of  whom  now  survive: 
David  G.,  and  Mason,  a  native  of  Palmyra  Township,  where  he  still  resides. 
Silas  Waller,  Sr.,  was  a  son  of  Joseph  (who  died  in  Connecticut)  and  Sarah 
Waller,  who  accompanied  her  three  sons,  Silas,  David  and  Asel,  with  their 
families,  who  settled  in  Palmyra  in  1805;  she  died  February  21,  1815.  Our 
subject  was  married  June  2,  1870,  to  Miss  Angeiine  V.,  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Sophia  Dawes,  early  settlers  of  Deerfield  Township,  natives  of  England 


588  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

and  the  parents  of  twelve  children.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waller  have  been  born 
six  children,  four  now  living:  Mary  Sophia,  Fannie  Betsey,  Cora  Elizabeth 
and  George  Edmund.  Our  subject  enlisted  in  1861  in  the  three  months'  call, 
but  did  not  go  out.  He  re-enlisted  for  three  years  in  Company  G,  Seventh 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain, 
Va.,  August  9,  1862,  and  was  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  same,  March 
16,  1863.  After  being  dischai'ged  from  the  army  he  attended  school  at  the 
Poland  Seminary,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  for  one  year,  and  during  the  winter  of 
1864-65  he  attended  the  Iron  City  Commercial  College,  from  which  he  grad- 
uated in  the  spring  of  1865.  In  October,  1865,  he  removed  to  Lawrence 
County,  Mo.,  and  was  engaged  in  teaching  school  for  live  years,  during  which 
time  he  assisted  in  organizing  a  teachers'  institute,  and  establishing  a  teachers' 
library  of  over  350  volumes;  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  establishing  a 
normal  school  at  Marionville  (the  building  costing  $12,000).  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  its  first  Board  of  Directors,  and  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
for  three  years,  and  also  one  of  the  Building  Committee.  In  the  spring  of 
1870  he  returned  to  the  old  homestead  on  a  visit,  during  which  he  mar- 
ried Angeline  Victoria  Dawes,  and  in  September  returned  with  his  bride  to 
Missouri.  During  the  winter  he  taught  school.  In  the  spring  of  1871  he 
engaged  in  farming,  in  which  he  continued  for  five  years,  and  during  that  time 
he  held  the  ofiices  of  Township  Clerk,  Township  Treasurer  and  Collector  of 
Taxes;  he  was  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  I,  Missouri  State  Militia.  During 
the  fall  of  1873  they  lost  their  little  boy,  Edmund  Guy,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1874  they  buried  their  little  boy,  Henry  Lester,  over  which  his  wife  became 
very  despondent.  Her  health  remaining  very  poor  all  summer,  she  returned 
to  Ohio  on  a  visit  the  first  of  October,  staying  all  the  winter  of  1874-75. 
During  that  time  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school.  In  the  spring  of  1875 
he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  stayed  all  summer,  during  which  time  his  wife's 
health  greatly  improved.  In  the  fall  of  1875  he  proposed  to  his  wife  that 
they  return  to  Missouri  again,  to  which  she  objected,  saying  that  she  would 
rather  live  in  Ohio  in  a  log-cabin  than  in  Missouri  in  a  mansion.  He  then, 
decided  to  return  to  Missouri,  dispose  of  his  property  and  come  back  and  set- 
tle on  the  old  homestead,  and  is  now  living  in  the  old  log-cabin  which  has 
been  standing  some  sixty- five  years,  and  in  which  the  third  generation  is  now 
living.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Township  Board  of  Education  for  seven 
years,  and  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  public  and  private  enterprises. 

E.  WARRINGTON,  M.  D.,  Atwater,  was  born  in  Butler  Township,  Colum- 
biana Co.,  Ohio,  in  April,  1821,  son  of  Abraham  and  Keziah  (Woolman)  W^ar- 
rington,  who  were  the  first  couple  married  in  Springfield  Settlement,  Colum- 
biana Co.,  Ohio,  where  they  raised  their  family  of  ten  children  and  resided 
the  balance  of  their  lives.  Our  subject  was  raised  on  a  farm,  receiving  a 
primary  education  in  Friends'  select  schools  and  at  Mt.  Pleasant  Academy. 
After  teaching  twelve  years  and  practicing  surveying  he  began  the  study  of 
medicine,  and  graduated  at  Cleveland  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve  College  in  1852.  For  five  years  he  practiced  his  profession  at 
North  Benton,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio.  In  1857  he  settled  in  Atwater  Center, 
where  he  has  since  been  in  constant  and  successful  practice,  and  with  two 
exceptions  is  the  oldest  living  physician  in  the  county.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Portage  County  Medical  Society  for  sixteen  years,  ever  since  it  was 
started;  is  also  a  member  of  the  Northeastern  Ohio  Medical  Association. 
During  his  twenty-eight  years'  residence  in  Atwater  seven  doctors  at  different 
times  have  tried  to  get  a  foothold  there,  but  would  remain  only  a  short  time. 
Dr.  W^arrington  for  many  years  back  has  used  antiseptic  method  in  the  treat- 


C'^uy-  cc^  ct  qJo^  ^atc< 


ATWATER  TOWNSHIP.  591 

ment  of  both  wounds  and  diseases  with  marked  success  generally,  and  in  some 
individual  cases  with  marvellous  results.  In  1853  the  Doctor  was  married  to 
Miss  Jane  Sproat,  who  died  in  1863,  leaving  two  children — Richard  and  Jes- 
sie. He  was  married  on  second  occasion  in  April,  1865,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Ritchie,  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  Dr.  Warrington  has  served  as  Town- 
ship Treasurer  and  on  Board  of  Education.  He  is  connected  with  the  Con- 
gregational Church. 

JAMES  WEBBER,  Jr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater  Centre,  was  born  on  the 
homestead  farm  where  ho  now  resides  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  April 
8,  1825,  the  second  son  of  James,  Sr.,  and  Phebe  (Mix)  Webber  (whose  record 
appears  in  this  book  elsewhere).  Our  subject  was  married  in  1855  to  Mar- 
garet, widow  of  Isaac  L.  Webber,  eldest  son  of  James  Webber,  Sr.  (by  whom 
she  had  three  children:  James  B.,  Charles  E.  and  Lida  L.),  and  a  native  of 
Harrison  County,  Ind.  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  two  sons: 
Robert  L.  and  Howard  H.  Residing  from  birth  on  the  old  homestead,  our 
subject's  life  has  necessarily  been  uneventful.  He  has  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  some  years  and  in  various  other  township  offices  of  trust. 

HIRAM  B.  WEBBER,  merchant,  P.  O.  Atwater  Centre,  was  born  in 
Atwater  Township,  this  county,  July  18,  1828,  son  of  James,  Sr.,  and  Phebe 
(Mix)  Webber,  natives  of  Wallingford,  Conn.,  whose  history  appeal's  in  this 
work.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  left  home  when  seventeen  years  of  age,  and 
followed  mercantile  business  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  where  he  was  extensively 
engaged  for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  He  was  united  in  marriage  in  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  in  1856,  with  Miss  Fannie  E.  Smith,  of  Bloomington,  Ind.,  and 
who  died  in  Atwater,  this  township,  March  6,  1881.  By  this  union  there  are 
three  children,  now  living:  Louis  C,  Mary  J.  and  John  L,  Mr.  Webber 
moved  to  St.  Louis  in  1872,  and  engaged  in  the  sale  of  carpets,  but  in  1875 
returned  to  his  native  place,  where  he  erected  his  present  place  of  business,  in 
which  he  carries  a  general  stock  of  goods.  Mr.  Webber  was  a  stock-holder 
and  Dii'ector  in  the  Ohio  Falls  Iron  Works  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  and  has  been 
otherwise  identified  with  prominent  operations  here  and  elsewhere. 

FRIEND  WHITTELSEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  April  10, 1830, 
in  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Randolph  and  Clarissa  (Mansfield) 
Whittelsey,  of  Wallingford,  Conn.,  who  were  the  parents  of  five  children: 
Patrick,  Edgar,  Friend,  Randall,  and  Clara,  wife  of  Ambrose  Goss.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  John  H.  Whittelsey,  also  a  native  of  Wal- 
lingford, Conn.,  of  Scotch  descent,  settled  in  the  woods  near  Atwater  about 
1807,  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  John  B.  Whittelsey,  Jr.,  his 
only  living  child.  Our  subject  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss  Eliza  Ballinger, 
of  Atwater,  who  came  from  Cheltenham,  England,  with  her  parents  in  1850, 
and  who  died  in  November,  1859,  leaving  one  son — Elisha.  Mr.  Whittelsey 
was  married,  on  second  occasion,  to  Miss  Susan  B.  Smith,  of  Deerfield,  by  whom 
he  has  two  childi'en:  Susan  B.  and  Edgar;  Mr.  Whittelsey  occupies  a  part 
of  the  old  homestead,  having  a  farm  of  260  acres.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of 
the  substantial  men  of  Atwater  Township. 

RANDALL  WHITTELSEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  on  the  home- 
stead farm,  upon  Avhich  he  now  lives,  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county, 
August  30,  1842,  the  youngest  son  of  Randolph  S.  and  Clarissa  (Mansfield) 
Whittelsey,  natives  of  Wallingford,  Conn.,  where  the  former  was  born  Sep- 
tember, 1799,  and  the  latter  in  November,  1800.  They  reared  a  family  of  five 
children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living:  Patrick,  Edgar,  Friend,  Randall,  and 
Clara,  wife  of  Ambrose  Gross.  Randolph  S.  Whittelsey  came  to  this  county 
when  seven  years  of  age,  with  his  father,  John  H. ,  who  founded  a  home  on  the 

31 


592  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

land  in  Atwater  Township,  now  occupied  by  John  B.  Whittelsey.  Our  subject 
was  married  November  16,  1876,  to  Miss  Lucy  L. ,  daughter  of  Royal  Merwin, 
of  Palmyra  Township,  this  county,  and  whose  family  were  pioneers  of  that 
township.  The  three  children  boi'n  to  this  union  are  all  living:  Lois,  born 
June  11,  1878;  Clara  Jane,  born  August  7,  1880,  and  Koyal,  born  August  1, 
1882.  The  Whittelseys  are  among  the  most  numerous  of  the  pioneers,  and 
are  highly  respected.  Under  our  subject's  able  administration  the  homestead 
farm  has  become  one  of  the  finest  in  Atwater  Township. 

A.  V.  WILLSEY,  Postmaster  and  merchant,  Atwater,  was  born  in  Scho- 
harie County,  N.  Y.,  in  1823,  son  of  Henry  T.  and  Orpha  (Snow)  Willsey, 
natives  of  that  State.  The  family  located  north  of  Atwater  Center  in  1840,  and 
subsequently  moved  to  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  Willsey  died.  His 
widow  lived  to  attain  her  eighty-fifth  year,  and  died  in  Atwater  Township,  this 
county,  March  28,  1884.  They  raised  a  family  of  five  children,  all  of  whom 
are  living,  and  of  these,  Moses,  who  served  three  years  in  the  Union  Army  dur- 
ing the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  is  now  a  resident  of  Ashtabula  County, 
Ohio.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  his  native 
place,  and  followed  this  occupation  in  connection  with  farming  until  his 
appointment  as  Postmaster  of  Atwater  by  President  Grant  in  1871,  which 
position  he  has  filled  continuously  since  that  time.  Mr.  Willsey  was  married 
in  1843,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Clover,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  by  whom  he  has 
three  children:  Louisa,  wife  of  Z.  Crubaugh;  Henry,  and  Delilah,  wife  of 
G.  Gelbart.  Mr.  Willsey  owns  a  farm  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county, 
which  he  operates  in  connection  with  his  other  business.  He  has  served  six 
years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  two  terms  as  Notary. 

HOMER  H.  WOOLF,  hardware  merchant,  Atwater,  was  born  in  Mahoning 
County,  Ohio,  October  24,  1851,  son  of  George  and  Eliza  A.  (Baum)  Woolf, 
natives  of  Columbiana  County  and  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  respectively,  and 
who  had  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living:  Preston  G., 
Homer  H.,  Maurice  O.,  Clark  E.  and  Wilson  W.  George  W^oolf  came  to  this 
county  in  1848,  and  followed  farming  until  he  retired  from  business.  He  is  now 
a  resident  of  Atwater  township.  His  wife  died  December  2,  1880.  Our  sub- 
ject was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  after  attending  Mt.  Union  College  three 
years,  taught  school  nine  terms  and  then  embarked  in  business.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Ravenna,  June  17,  1875,  to  Miss  Carry  V.  Crumrine,  a  native  of 
Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  three  children:  Edith  A.,  A.  Leslie 
and  Elsie  L.  Mr.  Woolf,  with  his  brother  Preston,  established  their  present 
business  in  Atwater  in  1874,  and  in  March,  1882,  Preston  disposed  of  his 
interest  to  our  subject,  who  has  since  carried  it  on  alone  and  is  doing  a  good 
trade,  having  a  stock  of  about  $3,000.  He  is  now  serving  his  third  term  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  filled  other  township  ofiices.  His  father's  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


AURORA  TOWNSHIP.  593 


AURORA    TOAVXSHIP. 

REUBEN  N.  AVERY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora,  was  born  on  his  present 
farm  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  December  10,  1829,  son  of  Reuben  and 
Corrinna  (Lewis)  Avery.  Reuben  Avery,  Sr. ,  was  born  at  Horseneck,  Conn., 
March  7, 1772,  and  removed  to  this  township  in  1816  with  his  first  wife,  Rachel 
Baldwin,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children.  xlfter  her  death  he  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Corrinna  (Lewis)  Faxon,  widow  of  Isaac  D.  Faxon,  by  whom  she  had  four 
children.  She  was  born  in  Farmington,  Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  December  23, 
1789,  came  to  Mantua  TownshijD,  this  county,  in  1813,  and  in  early  life 
taught  school.  Her  union  with  Mr.  Avery  resulted  in  the  birth  of  six  children: 
Amelia  M.,  Minerva  C,  Augustus,  Henry,  Reuben  N.  and  Betsey  E.  The 
father  died  May  22,  1873.  Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  common  school 
of  his  native  township.  He  was  piarried  January  1,  1854,  to  Frances  Hatch, 
born  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  December  14,  1835,  daughter  of  Dr. 
John  and  Harriet  (Gordon)  Hatch,  natives  of  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  who 
removed  to  Aurora  Township  in  1826  and  1829  respectively,  and  where  the 
former  died  in  1842-  His  widow  is  still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Avery  are  the 
parents  of  six  children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  Lawrence  G.,  Willis  L.,  John 
H.  and  Lillian  F.  Our  subject  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  owns  eighty 
acres  of  land.  He  has  filled  a  number  of  the  township  offices.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Democrat. 

HARVEY  BALDWIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora,  was  born  in  Geauga  County, 
Ohio,  April  14,  1823;  son  of  Harvey  and  Laura  (Kent)  Baldwin,  who  were  the 
parents  of  four  children:  Laura  Ann  (deceased),  Harvey,  Philander  (deceased) 
and  Oscar  O. ,  residing  in  Minnesota.  Harvey  Baldwin,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Dan- 
bury,  Conn.,  in  1796,  and  came  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  with  his  father  and  family 
in  1806,  and  the  following  year  to  Aurora  Township,  this  county.  At  eighteen 
years  of  age  he  left  his  home  and  embarked  upon  his  career  in  life,  first  taking 
a  trip  South,  thence  to  New  York.  In  1819  he  purchased  a  quantity  of  cheese 
and  cranberries,  which  he  conveyed  overland  to  the  Ohio  River,  thence  by  skiff- 
boat  to  Louisville,  where  he  disposed  of  them.  The  following  year  he  shipped 
a  cargo  to  New  Orleans,  and  continued  in  the  cheese  business  for  a  period  of 
twenty-five  years,  making  frequent  trips  down  the  Ohio  River,  and  as  often  as 
once  a  year  to  New  Orleans.  In  1830  he  purchased  land  in  Streetsboro,  this 
county,  and  in  connection  with  farming,  engaged  extensively  in  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  cheese.  He  died  in  February,  1882.  His  wife,  the  mother 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Suffield,  Conn.,  March,  1797,  came 
to  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1807,  and  is  now  residing  with  our  sub- 
ject. Mr.  Baldwin,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  reared  on  the  farm,  anJ. 
educated  in  the  common  schools.  Leaving  home  when  eighteen  years  of  age, 
he  engaged  as  farm-hand  for  Charles  Harmon,  and  in  1847  commenced  farm- 
ing for  himself  in  connection  with  dairying,  which  he  has  since  continued, 
excepting  three  years  spent  in  California.  In  December,  1847,  he  mar- 
ried Emily  Carver,  who  has  borne  him  the  following  children:  Ella  F.,  wife 
of  E.  R.  Merrill;  Alice  W.,  wife  of  F.  A.  Gould;  Carrie  E.  deceased;  Hattie 
E. ;  Anna  Laura  and  Minnie  C. 


594  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

GEN.  NELSON  EGGLESTON,  farmer,  was  born  October  3, 1811 ,  in  Aurora 
Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio  ;  son  of  Moses  and  Sally  (Taylor)  Eggleston.  His 
father  was  born  in  Middlefield,  Mass.,  in  1784.  He  came  to  this  township  with 
his  brother  Joseph  in  the  spring  of  1806;  after  arriving,  and  looking  up  the 
land  for  which  their  father's  farm  in  Massachusetts  was  exchanged,  they  com- 
menced clearing  away  the  trees,  and  making  preparations  for  the  arrival  of  the 
rest  of  the  family  the  coming  year.  Among  other  labors,  the  ensuing  spring,  they 
made  maple  sugar,  fashioning  the  spouts  and  buckets,  for  gathering  sap,  from 
basswood,  with  only  their  axes,  knives  and  a  sap  gouge  for  tools.  During  the 
succeeding  summer  Joseph  revisited  Massachusetts,  and  returned  with  the 
Eggleston,  Taylor,  and  Root  families,  in  all,  thirty-two  in  number.  They  came 
through  Pennsylvania  and  by  way  of  Pittsburgh.  In  1810  Moses  had  made 
uite  an  opening  on  his  land  and  erected  a  cabin;  having  provided  it  according 
to  the  fashion  of  those  times,  he  proposed  to  Miss  Sally  Taylor  to  come  and 
join  with  him  in  the  labors  and  struggles  of  a  border  life.  This  place  was  one 
mile  and  a  quarter  northwest  of  the  center  of  Aurora,  on  the  old  Cleveland  and 
Newburg  road.  In  the  war  of  1812  Moses  enlisted  in  the  service,  and  was 
sent  to  Huron  with  his  company  immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Hull.  His 
wife  stayed  at  the  cabin,  not  knowing  what  hour  the  British  and  Indians  might 
defeat  her  defenders,  and  repeat  again  the  scenes  of  the  River  Raisin.  In 
1824  he  moved  to  the  Center,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  August  6, 
1866.  He  was  formerly  of  the  Federal,  then  of  the  Whig  and  Republican 
party,  by  which  he  was  honored  with  repeated  elections  to  the  offices  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace  and  County  Commissioner.  He  was  an  influential  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his  career  that  of  a  man  of  industry,  economy  and 
integrity.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1792,  and 
died  in  April,  1838.  She  had  three  children,  two  of  whom  survive  her — Nelson 
and  Wealtha.  The  latter  is  now  living  in  Tuscola,  111.,  the  widow  of  Simeon  D. 
Kelley,  by  whom  she  had  seven  children,  three  boys  and  four  girls;  the  sons, 
Moses,  Hiram,  and  Randolph,  served  through  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion. 
Moses,  settled  at  El  Presidio,  Texas,  where  he  in  a  short  time  accumulated  a 
handsome  property,  and  became  a  prominent  citizen,  but  was  murdered  about 
1880.  His  two  brothers  still  reside  there.  Oar  subject  passed  his  early  life 
on  his  father's  farm,  received  a  common  school  education,  and  spent  some  time 
at  Hudson  College,  whence  he  graduated  in  1831.  He  taught  school  in  Cal- 
loway (bounty,  Ky.,  nearly  a  year,  returned,  and  commenced  to  read  law  with 
Mathews  &  Hitchcock,  of  Painsville,  Ohio;  subsequently  he  studied  with  Humph- 
rey &  Hale,  of  Hudson,  and  September  9,  1834,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  upon 
motion  before  the  Supreme  Court  sitting  at  Ravenna.  He  was  mari'ied,  January 
29,  1835,  to  Miss  Caroline  Lacy,  daughter  of  Isaac  J.  Lacy.  By  this  union 
there  are  two  children,  Emmett  and  Addis.  Mr.  Eggleston  engaged  earnestly 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  for  a  time,  but  submitting  to  the  demands  made 
upon  him  by  his  father  for  help  in  the  working  of  land,  and  receiving  no 
pecuniary  aid  from  him  in  the  purchase  of  books,  or  in  the  erection  of  an 
office,  for  which  things  he  was  unwilling  to  run  in  debt,  he  flung  up  the  law, 
and  has  devoted  himself  since  to  farming.  In  1834-35  he  was  Adjutant  of  the 
cavalry  regiment  in  the  Twentieth  Brigade,  Ohio  Militia,  under  Col.  O.  L.  Drake, 
of  Freedom;  afterward  was  promoted  to  the  Colonelcy,  which  office  he  held 
two  or  three  years  until  his  resignation.  Still  later  he  was  elected  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  brigade  with  the  rank  of  General.  Mr.  Eggleston  has  a  wide 
acquaintance  with  the  early  settlers  of  noi'theastern  Ohio,  and  has  been  con- 
nected In  various  ways  with  its  progress.  He  called  the  first  meeting  at  his 
own  house  that  was  ever  held  to  consider  the  subject  of  a  railroad   from 


AURORA  TOWNSHIP.  595 

Pittsburgh  to  Cleveland.  The  report  of  this  meeting  raade  by  him  and  pub- 
lished, resulted  immediately  in  a  large  convention  at  the  center  of  Aurora,  from 
all  the  towns  on  the  route.  He  has  earned  a  handsome  competence,  owning  500 
acres  of  improved  land  in  Ohio,  and  1,200  in  Missouri.  He  takes  a  lively  interest 
in  literature  and  polititcs,  but  does  not  permit  them  to  interfere  with  his  daily 
labor  and  the  management  of  his  farms.  He  is  a  disciple  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, and  acknowledges  no  other  master. 

JOHN  GOULD,  of  Aurora  Township,  Portage  County  the  gentleman  here  in- 
troduced, a  well  known  citizen  of  Aurora,  is  now  in  his  forty-second  year,  having 
been  born  in  Twinsburg,  Ohio,  in  1844,  of  New  England  parentage.  His 
father,  John  W.  Goald,  came  from  Vermont  to  Ohio  in  1837,  and  his  mother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Eliza  Post,  from  Saybrook,  Conn.,  removed  to 
Ohio  with  her  parents  in  1821.  Mr.  Gould  and  Miss  Post  were  married  in 
1839,  which  relation  was  broken  in  1882,  when  the  beloved  mother  died,  leav- 
ing besides  her  husband,  three  children:  John,  Aaron,  and  Ettie.  In  1848  the 
family  removed  to  Aurora,  where  they  resided  an  unbroken  family  until  1879. 
John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  led  much  the  life  of  any  farmer's  son,  going  to 
township  schools,  and  for  several  winters  was  under  the  tutorship  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  S.  Graves;  being  of  a  very  studious  turn  of  mind,  he  added  to  his  limited 
school  advantages  a  general  fund  of  information  gleaned  from  an  extended 
reading  of  books,  magazines  and  the  best  papers.  In  1870  Mr.  Gould  became 
locally  connected  with  the  Cleveland  Herald,  and  in  1878  was  advanced  to 
the  position  of  traveling  agent  of  the  paper.  The  year  following  he  became 
a  staif  correspondent,  and  in  that  capacity  made  extended  tours,  his  travels  in 
one  year  alone  taking  him  into  nearly  a  score  of  States.  When  the  temperance 
movement  known  as  the  "  Woman's  Crusade"  began,  Mr.  Gould  was  delegated 
by  his  paper  to  report  it,  and  for  over  three  months  this  was  his  exclusive  duty, 
his  observations  taking  him  to  nearly  every  corner  of  the  State.  In  1879  Mr. 
Gould  was  married  to  Miss  Helen  Ferris,  only  daughter  of  Dr.  Osman  Ferris, 
of  Mantua,  Ohio.  Giving  up  journalism,  they  located  at  Auroia  Station, 
Ohio,  and  farming  became  his  occupation,  but  in  1880,  upon  the  reorganization 
of  the  editorial  staflf  of  the  Herald,  he  again  became  connected  with  the  edi- 
torial force  of  that  paper,  with  special  assignment  to  its  agricultural  depart- 
ment, though  his  pen  furnished  manji  columns  to  other  departments,  and  many 
long  journeys  were  taken  as  a  "special  correspondent."  The  same  year,  by 
urgent  solicitation,  Mr.  Gould  also  became  dairy  editor  of  the  Ohio  Farmer, 
and  for  years  his  writings  for  that  journal  over  the  pseudonym  of  "  Sam,"  have 
been  widely  read.  W^hen  Secretary  Chamberlain,  of  Columbus,  organized  the 
lecture  course  known  as  "Farmers'  Institutes,"  Mr.  Gould  was  early  assigned 
to  a  prominent  place  as  a  special  lecturer  upon  dairy  and  kindred  subjects,  and 
during  the  winters  of  1882-83  and  1884,  he  has  visited  nearly  every  part  of  the 
State  in  that  capacity.  While  rarely  ever  speaking  of  the  extent  of  his  literary 
work,  it  is  known  that  he  is  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  better  class  of  farm 
journals,  and  his  writings  are  sought  for,  from  East  to  West,  by  such  papers  as 
the  New  York  Tribune,  Rural  Neiv  Yorker,  Country  Gentleman,  Coleman''s 
Rural,  Prairie  Farmer,  etc.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  Herald  in  1885,  Mr. 
Gould  was  promptly  offered  a  position  upon  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Cleveland 
Plain  Dealer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gould  have  always  resided  at  Aurora  Station, 
where  they  assert  they  shall  always  continue  to  reside,  and  in  the  future,  as  in 
the  past,  welcome  their  many  friends  to  the  hospitalities  of  their  home. 

SAMUEL  F.  HICKOX,  retired  farmer,  Aurora,  was  born  in  Hartford  County, 
Conn.,  September  9,  ISIO;  son  of  Josiah  and  Betsey  (Forward)  Hickox,  who 
were  the  parents  of  four  children:  Josiah  V. ;  Betsey, wife  of  Marcus  Taylor;  Sam- 


596  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

uel  F. ,  and  Chauncey,  deceased  in  1836,  Josiah  Hickox,  a  native  of  Watertown, 
Conn.,  was  born  August  22,  1777,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Hickox,  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  who  was  descended  from  one  of  three  brothers,  natives  of 
England,  who  immigrated  to  America  in  the  early  part  of  1700.  The  father 
of  our  subject  came  with  his  family  to  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1818, 
and  here  engaged  in  farming  until  his  death,  which  occurred  August  2,  1840. 
His  widow,  who  survived  him  until  January  15,  1884,  was  born  in  Granby, 
Conn.,  June  18,  ]787,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Susanna  (Holcomb)  Forward, 
also  natives  of  Granby,  Conn.,  who  came  to  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in 
1803,  and  here  died,  the  father  in  1821,  and  the  mother  in  1830.  Samuel  F. 
Hickox  was  I'eared  on  a  farm,  and  received  a  common  school  education.  In 
1840  he  was  married  to  Miss  Emily  Blair,  born  in  Aurora,  November  21,1816, 
and  died  January  26,  1884,  leaving  four  children:  Oliver,  Walter  G. ,  Henry 
M.  B.  and  Olivia,  wife  of  Albert  Sheldon.  Mr.  Hickox  is  a  Democrat  in  poli- 
tics; an  active  member  of  the  order  of  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 

CHESTER  R.  HOWARD,  farmer  and  mechanic,  P.  O.  Aurora  Station,  was 
born  February  3, 1812,  in  Hartford,  Conn. ;  son  of  Freeman  and  Eunice  A.  (Ris- 
ley)  Howard,  natives  of  Hartford,  Conn. ,  and  a  descendant  of  Thomas  and 
Susanna  Howard,  who  emigrated  from  England  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Ipswich,  Mass. ,  in  the  year  1634.  Freeman  Howard,  subject's  father,  was 
born  in  1789;  was  a  carriage-maker  by  trade,  and  in  1828  came  to  Aurora  and 
erected  and  controlled  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill.  He  died  in  Chardon,  Ohio, 
February  3,  1867.  His  wife  was  born  June  15,  1788,  died  June  26,  1866,  at 
Chardon,  also.  They  were  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Freeman,  Jr., 
Chester  Risley,  Eliza,  Celestia  and  Julius  Field.  Our  subject  remained  at 
iiome  during  his  minority,  assisting  his  father  in  farming  and  in  the  saw-mill. 
In  1846  he  bought  the  property  his  father  had  first  owned  in  Ohio,  and  has 
since  continued  to  occupy  it.  He  has  been  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  to 
Harriet  Benjamin,  who  died  July  10, 1864,  leaving  the  following  children:  Emer- 
ett,  Emerson,  Elmira  and  Eliza.  He  subsequently,  September  7,  1865,  married 
Harriet,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Rhoda  (Henry)  Root.  Mr.  Howard  has  always 
quietly  and  assiduously  devoted  himself  to  his  private  affairs,  except  when  he 
bas  been  called  by  the  citizens  of  his  township  from  time  to  time  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  District  Assessor,  and  other  local  offices. 

ELISHA  HURD  (deceased)  was  born  March  10,  1822,  in  Aurora  Township, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Hopson  and  Betsey  (Lacy)  Hard,  who  had  a  family 
of  seven  children:  Maria,  wife  of  P.  H.  Babcock,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio; 
Elisha;  Hopson;  Eliza,  wife  of  S.  C.  Greene;  Frank;  Cornelia,  wife  of  J. 
E.  Williams,  and  a  daughter  deceased.  About  1815  Hopson  Hurd,  accompa- 
nied by  Roman  Humphrey,  came  over  the  mountains  with  a  stock  of  goods 
and  embarked  in  business  in  Aurora.  Mr.  Humphrey  in  a  short  time  withdrew 
from  the  firm,  and  the  business  was  then  carried  on  for  many  years  by  Mr. 
Hurd  alone.  He  accumulated  a  large  fortune  and  died  in  Aurora  in  1869. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  educated  in  Aurora  Township,  and 
here  married,  October  13,  1852,  Louisa  Williams,  boi-n  in  Newark  Valley,  N. 
Y.,  May  13,  1830,  daughter  of  Stephen  Williams,  of  Tioga  County,  N.  Y. 
Four  children  were  born  to  this  union:  Eliza,  wife  of  Frank  Aldrich,  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  C.  Williams;  Fred  S. ;  and  McClellan.  also  in  Cleveland.  Mr. 
Hui-d  remained  at  home  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he  was  twenty- 
nine  years  of  age,  when  he  engaged  in  cattle  dealing  on  his  own  account,  and 
about  1857,  in  company  with  his  brother  Frank,  embarked  in  mei'cantile  trade, 
and  at  the  same  time  attended  to  his  dairy,  live  stock  and  farming  interests, 
This  firm  continued  until  the  death  of  Elisha,  when  Frank  carried  on  the  bus- 


AURORA  TOWNSHIP.  597 

inesB  until  1879,  and  then  sold  out  to  Fred  and  William  S. ,  sons  of  Elisha 
Hurd.  Mr.  Hurd  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  By  industry,  tact  and  perse- 
verance he  accumulated  considerable  propeiiiy,  and  owned  over  700  acres  of 
land  at  the  time  of  his  death,  June  17,  1868. 

ZENO  KENT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora,  was  born  on  his  present  farm  in 
Aurora  Township,  this  county,  February  20,  1821,  son  of  Zeno  and  Emily 
(Granger)  Kent,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  made  a  permanent  settlement  in 
Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1810.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Julius,  a  farmer  in  Chagrin  Falls,  Ohio; 
Zeno,  and  Delight,  wife  of  Mr.  Gillman,  of  Iowa.  Mr.  Kent  died  March  27, 
1837,  and  his  widow,  February,  1865.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
and  received  such  an  education  as  could  be  obtained  at  the  schools  of  Aurora 
and  Ravenna  in  those  early  days.  In  1848  he  was  married  to  Miss  Almira, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Rebecca  Gould,  who  were  natives  of  Vermont.  Mrs. 
Kent  died  November  27,  1867,  leaving  six  children:  Helen  H. ;  Leroy  Zeno; 
Charles  E. ;  Emily  D.,  wife  of  Arthur  Stanton;  Dora  and  Nora.  Keno  Kent 
is  one  of  the  oldest  living  residents  and  natives  of  this  township.  He  has 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  during  his  life,  and  is  now  owner  of  340 
acres  of  good  land,  besides  having  given  each  of  his  sons  a  farm  to  start  them 
in  life. 

SOLOMON  LITTLE,  farmer,  P.  0.  Aurora,  was  born  on  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides  in  Aurora  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  December  27,  1825, 
son  of  Warren  and  Susanna  (Spencer)  Little.     Warren  Little  was  born  April 

16,  1780,  in  Middlefield,  Mass.  He  was  thrice  married,  on  the  second  occasion 
to  the  mother  of  our  subject,  also  a  native  of  Middlefield,  where  she  was  born 
September  12,  1781,  and  who  bore  him  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Harmony,  wife  of  Seth  Sawyer;  Nancy,  widow  of  Oliver  Smith,  and 
Solomon.  Our  subject's  father  and  mother  both  died  in  Aurora  Township, 
this  county,  the  former  November  8,  1868,  the  latter  July  30,  1838.  Our  sub- 
ject was  reared  on  the  farm  upon  which  he  now  resides,  and  in  1864  he  mar- 
ried Myra  Ward,  born  at  Middlefield,  Mass.,  January  13,  1840,  daughter  of 
John  and  Phoebe  (Church)  Ward,  also  natives  and  residents  of  Middlefield, 
Mass.  To  this  union  have  been  born  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Elma  and  Harry.  Mr.  Little,  who  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  owns  one 
of  the  best  farms  in  the  township,  comprising  330  acres  of  tine  land.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

HERBERT  T.  SHELDON,  Sheriff  and  farmer,  P.O.  Aurora,  was  born  April 

17,  1842,  in  Aurora  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio;  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah  K. 
(Sizer)  Sheldon,  who  were  the  parents  of  six  children:  Horace  S. ;  Herbert  T. ; 
Arthur  E. ;  Sarah  A.  (Mrs.  C.  W.  Hammond),  in  Hubbard,  Ohio;  Ruby  E. 
(Mrs.  Seymour  Higley),  in  Windham,  Ohio;  Charles  S.,  in  Yellow  Springs, 
Greene  County,  Ohio.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native  of  Aurora 
Township,  this  county,  born  April  30,  1811,  and  was  reared,  educated  and 
married  here;  he  engaged  in  farming  and  merchandising,  was  a  Republican  in 
politics,  Clerk  of  the  township  for  a  number  of  years;  he  died  February  7,1876. 
His  widow,  who  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  March  13,  1818,  came  to  Mantua 
with  her  parents  in  1831,  and  died  in  Aurora  in  August,  1881.  Our  subject 
passed  his  early  life  at  home,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  the 
township.  When  twenty  years  of  age  he  engaged  in  farming  for  a  year  on 
hi  sown  account;  February  20,  1862,  he  was  married  to  EllaG.,  daughter  of  Ros- 
well  and  Dorothy  L.  (Ellsworth)  Bissell,  who  has  borne  him  two  children: 
Maud,  wife  of  William^Reed,  of  Bainbridge,  and  Claude  E.  In  3853  Mr. 
Sheldon  entered  the  store  of  G.   L.    Hoor  &  Co.,  remaining  with  them  four 


598  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

years,  after  which  he  canvassed  for  the  sale  of  fruit  trees  in  West  Virginia. 
In  1868  he  piirchased  a  farm  one  mile  east  of  Aurora  Center,  where  he 
remained  nine  years,  but  in  the  spring  of  1877  removed  to  a  farm  of  C.  R. 
Harmon's  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  has  sei'ved 
as  Trustee  of  the  township  several  times,  and  for  years  has  been  ,  Township 
Clerk.  In  August,  1884,  he  was  nominated  Sheriff  by  his  party,  and  in  Octo- 
ber; 1884,  was  elected  Sheriff,  and  took  his  seat,  January  5,  1885. 

OLIVER  SPENCER,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora,  was  born  in  Middle- 
field,  Mass.,  August  25,  1801;  son  of  Samuel  W.  and  Lucy  (Fisk)  Spencer, who 
settled  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1812,  but  after  living  here  one 
year  went  back  to  Massachusetts.  After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Samuel  W. 
Spencer  returned  to  Aurora  Township,  where  he  remained  the  balance  of  his 
life.  He  was  the  father  of  twelve  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Oliver,  Selden,  Thompson  and  Nelson.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, John  Spencer,  of  Middlefield,  Mass.,  settled  here  in  1812,  and  lived  with 
his  son  Brainerd  until  his  death.  In  1829  Oliver  Spencer  settled  in  Aurora 
Township  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  all  of  which  he  cleared  and 
improved.  He  has  been  twice  married,  first,  in  1823,  to  Sally  Little;  on  the 
second  occasion,  September  3,  1829,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Anna, 
daughter  of  Sylvanus  Eldridge,  of  Aurora  Township,  this  county.  They  have 
had  three  children:  Melinda  (deceased),  Matilda  (Mrs.  O.  J.  Payne)  and  Rus- 
sell. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spencer  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  with 
which  he  has  been  connected  for  upward  of  forty  years,  and  for  thirty -five 
years  has  been  a  Deacon  in  same. 

WORTHY  TAYLOR,  retired  farmer,  Aurora,  was  born  in  Hampshire 
County,  Mass.,  January  10,  1797;  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Jaggers)  Taylor. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  came  to  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  with  his  family, 
in  1807,  and  died  in  1813.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Hebron,  Mass.,  and  died 
in  1853,  leaving  eleven  children,  of  whom  are  now  living.  Worthy,  Col.  Royl  and 
Marcus.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  a  common  school  education  in 
Aurora  Township,  this  county,  and  upon  attaining  his  majority  engaged  in 
farming,  which  occupation  he  has  since  cotltinued.  On  February  17,  1817,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  Kent.  In  i8'72  Mr.  Taylor  removed  to  Aurora 
Center,  where  he  is  now  residing.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church; 
has  served  the  people  of  his  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  twenty- 
seven  years.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

MARCUS  TAYLOR,  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora,  was  born  in  Middlefield,  Mass., 
September  22,  1805;  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Jaggers)  Taylor  (see  biography 
of  Worthy  Taylor).  In  1807  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Aurora  Town- 
ship, this  county,  locating  on  the  farm  which  he  now  occupies,  and  which  has 
since  been  in  the  name  of  the  Taylor  family.  In  1828  he  purchased  the  home- 
stead of  his  elder  brother,  Samuel,  who  had  become  its  owner  after  the  death 
of  their  father.  Our  subject  was  married,  September  22,  1833,  to  Betsey  M. , 
daughter  of  Josiah  and  Betsey  (Forward)  Hickox  (see  biography  of  Samuel  F. 
Hickox),  by  whom  he  has  had  two  children:  Sally  M.  (deceased)  and  Chauncy 
M.,  who  married  Emma  Stanton,  of  Streetsboro.  and  resides  on  the  home 
farm,  having  three  children.  Mr.  Taylor  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  and  cit- 
izens of  Aurora  Towhship,  and  has  served  in  several  positions  of  trust. 


»     f 


UCiyr^ru^      Jj   ^2^Ciyl^iUi:^n^_ 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  601 


BKIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 

EDWIN  BARBER,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  June  28,  lv97;  son  of  Joseph  and  Abigail  (Coe)  Barber.  On  May  8, 
1819,  he  arrived  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  but  in  January,  1820, 
revisited  Connecticut,  returning  to  Brimtield  Township  in  1822,  and  settling 
on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides  and  which  he  cleared  and  improved.  He 
was  married,  August  5,  1823,  to  Elvira,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Sarah  Bene- 
dict, of  Coi'nwall,  Conn.,  by  whom  he  had  three  children:  Frederick  (deceased), 
Ozias,  and  Elvira  (deceased).  Ozias  is  a  resident  of  Akron,  Ohio,  and  married 
to  Harriet  Campbell,  of  Tallmadge.  Mr.  Barber  is  one  of  the  few  pioneers 
now  left  in  Brimfield  Township.  After  a  wedded  life  of  nearly  sixty-one 
years,  he  lost  his  wife,  who  died,  May  9,  1884,  in  her  eighty-second  year.  Mr, 
Barber  has  been  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  over  fifty  years.  He  has 
been  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Brimfield  Township  one  term.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican. 

ELI  E.  BENEDICT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Conn., 
March  8, 1828,  son  of  Eli  and  Marcella  (Stoddard)  Benedict.  His  maternal  grand- 
father, Levi  Stoddard,  was  an  early  settler  of  Perry,  Lake  County,  and  in  1830 
removed  to  Brimfield  Township,  this  county.  The  parents  of  our  subject  set- 
tled in  what  is  now  Northampton,  Summit  Co. ,  Ohio,  in  1830,  whex-e  his  father 
cleared  and  improved  a  farm  on  which  he  lived  until  his  death  in  1876;  he  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy -seven.  His  widow  then  removed  to  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  and  resided  with  the  subject  of  this  sketch  until  her  death,  March  8, 
1884;  she  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five.  They  had  a  family  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren, ten  of  whom  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood:  Levi  (deceased),  Matilda 
(Mrs.  George  Allen),  Melissa  (Mrs.  A.  Cummings),  William,  Eli  E.,  Henry, 
Edwin,  Lewis  (deceased),  Martha  (deceased),  and  Charlotte.  Our  subject  lived  in 
Northampton  until  1842,  since  when  he  has  been  a  resident  of  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  living  on  the  old  homestead  of  his  grandfather,  Levi  Stod- 
dard. He  was  married  in  1851  to  Harriet,  daughter  of  Horace  and  Harriet 
Barton,  of  Shalersville,  by  whom  he  has  four  children:  Julia  (Mrs.  A.  Wilder), 
Charles,  Albert  and  Lucy.  Mr.  Benedict  is  one  of  the  representative  farmers 
of  this  county.     In  politics  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  BOOSINGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county.  May  8,  1818,  son  of  John  and  Barbara  (Williard) 
Boosinger,  who  settled  here  in  1816.  Mr.  Boosinger  was  raised  on  his  father's 
farm,  one  mile  west  of  Brimfield  Center,  where  he  resided  until  he  was  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  He  has  been  twice  married,  first,  November  4,  1845,  to 
Caroline,  daughter  of  Conrad  and  Mary  C.  (Kline)  Neflf,  by  whom  he  had  two 
<;hildren:  Vernon  L.,  born  July  16,  1847,  and  Lucy  C,  born  March  5,  1853, 
married  to  George  H.  Meachem  July  31,  1879.  Mrs.  Caroline  Boosinger  died 
April  10,  1853,  aged  twenty-nine  years,  and  August  1,  1853,  Mr.  Boosinger 
was  married  to  Juliett  Neff,  sister  of  his  deceased  wife,  who  has  borne  him 
three  children:  Edward  C,  born  April  7,  1854,  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Spencer 
December  24,  1884;  Omer  C,  born  January  5,  1858,  married  Emma  J. 
Brown  March  9,  1882,  and  Zaidee  B.,  born  January  29,  1863,  married  WillM. 
Moulton  November  21,  1882.     Mr.  Boosinger  is  a  Democrat  in  politics;  has 


602  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

held  several  offices  in  the  township.  He  and  his  wife  have  been  members  of 
the  Universalist  Church  for  about  twenty  years.  Mr.  Boosinger  still  resides 
on  the  farm  which  he  cleared  and  improved  when  lirst  married. 

GEORGE  W.  BOOSINGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Roots- 
town,  this  county,  September  16,  1827,  son  of  John  and  Barbara  (Williard) 
Boosinger,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1816,  the  first 
family  who  settled  here.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Conrad 
Boosinger,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  settled  in  Ravenna  Township  in  1800 
and  who  in  1809  removed  to  Tallmadge,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  John  Boosinger,  the  father  of  ovir  subject,  was  born  in  eastern 
Virginia  March  17,  1785.  In  December,  1813,  he  married  Barbara  Williard, 
a  daughter  of  Philip  AYilliard,  an  early  settler  of  Rootstown,  and  reared  a 
family  of  eightchildren  (see  sketch  of  Philip  Boosinger  in  Franklin  Township). 
Mrs.  Boosinger  died  March  28,  1867,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  and  Mr. 
Boosinger  died  March  16,  1875,  in  his  ninetieth  year.  Our  subject  was  reared 
in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  received  a  common  school  educa- 
tion. When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  worked  his  father's  farm,  continuing 
with  him  until  his  death.  He  was  married  December  25,  1851,  to  Amanda 
M.,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Elizabeth  Burdge,of  Brimfield  Township.  By  this 
union  there  were  nine  childi-en:  Elsie  M.  (Mrs.  Joseph  Meloy),  Charles  N. 
(deceased),  Banks  W.,  Charlie  Q. ,  Hoyt  F.,  Frank  L.,  Ida  M.,  Henry  S.  and 
Hattie  L.  Mr.  Boosinger  came  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides  in  1875, 
though  he  had  owned  it  several  years  previous  to  that  time.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  First  Universalist  Church  of  Brimfield.  He  has  held 
various  offices  in  the  township;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

THE  BOSZOR  FAMILY  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Portage  County, 

and  were  of  German  origin Boszor  came  from  his  native  country  to 

America  about  1772,  and  settled  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  he  married  Barbara 
Stoyer.  He  died  at  Baltimore  in  1798,  and  the  widow  subsequently  came  to 
this  county  and  died  in  Brimfield  Township.  Their  sou,  Henry  Boszor,  settled 
at  Ravenna  in  1804;  he  was  a  shoe-maker  by  trade,  but  after  coming  to  this 
county  his  principal  occupation  was  farming.  He  at  once  bought  fifty  acres 
of  land  a  short  distance  east  of  Ravenna,  and  in  1805  was  married  to  Polly 
Boosinger,  a  daughter  of  Conrad  Boosinger,  a  pioneer  of  this  county.  The 
following  year  he  sold  this  farm  and  bought  a  farm  by  the  Stark  County  line, 
but  a  year  or  so  afterward  he  sold  out  and  bought  a  place  in  the  northeast  part 
of  Springfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  lived  for  several  years,  and  in 
1816  bought  a  farm  one  mile  west  of  Brimfield  Center,  and  for  the  remainder 
of  his  life  was  a  resident  of  Brimfield  Township.  The  last-mentioned  farm 
was  afterward  known  as  the  "  Israel  Thorndyke  "  farm,  and  a  year  or  so  after  his 
purchase  he  traded  his  place  with  Mr.  Thorndyke  for  a  farm  of  100  acres  one- 
half  mile  north  of  Brimfield  Center,  which  became  his  homestead  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  Some  five  or  six  years  after  his  last  trade  he  discovered 
that  this  farm  had  been  heavily  mortgaged  previous  to  his  purchase  of  it, 
which  involved  him  in  a  heavy  additional  expense,  and  he  was  obliged  to  pay 
for  it  a  second  time.  This  to  a  man  with  a  young  and  growing  family  was 
quite  a  hardship,  but  he  may  be  said  to  have  surmounted  all  obstacles — raised 
a  family  of  nine  children,  and  at  his  death  in  1862  left  a  comfortable  property 
to  his  widow  and  children.  He  was  a  representative  pioneer  and  a  highly 
esteemed  and  trusted  citizen.  From  the  records  it  would  appear  that  he  served 
the  township  in  various  local  offices,  such  as  Trustee,  etc.,  etc.  He  was  for- 
merly an  old-line  Whig,  but  in  the  later  years  of  his  life  he  adhered  to  the 
Democratic  party.      During  the  war  of  1812  he  was  drafted   and  hired  a  sub- 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  603 

stitute;  only  a  short  time  afterward,  however,  he  volunteered,  and  was  on  his  way 
with  others  to  re-euforce,  and  was  only  a  short  distance  from  Gen.  Hull's  army 
at  the  time  of  its  surrender,  but  the  company  of  which  he  was  a  member  escaped. 
He  died  in  August,  1862.  His  widow,  Polly,  died  February  11,  1874.  They 
were  both  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  They  were  the  parents  of  the 
following  named  children:  Elizabeth,  born  in  1805,  died  in  1881;  John,  born 
December  28,  1807,  died  in  August,  1884;  Jacob,  born  December  26,  1809; 
Polly,  born  in  1811,  died  in  1835;  Barbara,  born  in  1813,  died  November  20, 
1875;  Susan,  born  in -September,  1815;  Henry,  born  August  1,  1818;  David, 
born  February  2,  1821,  died  May  6,  1861;  Martin,  born  June  2,  1824;  Simon 
Peter,  born  in  1830,  died  in  1831. 

Henry  Boszoe,  son  of  Henry  and  Polly  (Boosinger)  Boszor,  P.  O.  Kent, 
was  born  August  1,  1818,  one  mile  west  of  Brimfield  Center.  He  lived  with 
his  parents  until  twenty-six  years  of  age,  in  the  meantime  having  received  a 
fair  common  school  education.  November  20,  1844,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Netf.  daughter  of  Conrad  and  Catharine  (Kline)  Neff,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  on  April  16  following  they  commenced  housekeeping  in  a  little 
log- house  on  a  farm  of  ninety- seven  acres  which  they  purchased  that  spring, 
located  on  Lot  17,  Brimtield  Township.  On  this  farm  they  have  ever  since 
resided.  Except  the  log  house  mentioned  and  some  twenty-live  acres  upon 
which  the  trees  had  been  girdled  and  the  land  in  part  cultivated  sufficient  to 
raise  enough  to  afford  a  bare  subsistence  to  the  former  owners,  this  farm  was 
in  a  wild  state,  and  as  the  purchase  was  made  nearly  all  on  credit,  the  young 
couple  not  only  saw  before  them  the  prospect  of  many  yeai'S  of  patient  indus- 
try in  order  to  improve  the  land  and  build  up  a  home,  but  also  to  create  the 
wherewithal  to  pay  for  the  same;  but  they  set  themselves  to  the  task  with  a 
right  good  will.  The  log-house  has  long  since  disappeared,  and  in  its  place, 
a  short  distance  west  of  the  spot,  stands  a  neat  and  commodious  frame  resi- 
dence and  out-buildings,  surrounded  by  well-kept  fences  and  attractive 
grounds,  while  the  twenty  iive  acres  of  girdled  trees  and  land  covered  with 
bush  and  briers  have  given  place  to  over  seventy  acres  of  cultivated  and  highly 
productive  land,  and  the  homestead  has  grown  to  110  acres,  while  a  short  dis- 
tance away  Mr.  Boszor  owns  another  farm  of  100  acres,  nearly  as  valuable  as 
the  homestead,  which  at  a  reasonable  valuation  would  be  worth  ^100  per  acre. 
A  very  attractive  feature  of  Mr.  Henry  Boszor's  home  is  a  green-house,  built 
on  the  east  end  of  his  residence,  to  which  Mrs.  Boszor  devotes  much  care.  A 
curiosity  in  this  climate  is  a  lemon  tree  that  Mrs.  Boszor  set  out  thirty  years 
ago,  which  for  the  past  twenty  years  has  borne  excellent  fruit,  much  better 
than  can  ordinarily  be  bought,  as  the  lemons  thoroughly  ripen  and  drop  from 
the  branch.  No  two  people  in  the  county  are  held  in  greater  respect  for  their 
many  excellent  qualities.  They  have  ever  been  ready,  in  a  quiet  way,  to  do 
their  full  part  toward  promoting  all  those  enterprises  which  are  calculated  to 
benefit  society.  Mr.  Boszor  has  served  his  township  three  terms  as  Trustee,  and 
Assessor  one  term.  He  was  for  some  time  a  Director  of  the  bank  at  Kent,  and 
for  the  past  ten  years  has  been  a  Trustee  of  Bouthtel  College,  an  institution  to 
which  he  has  donated  nearly  $2,000.  Mr.  Boszor  ascribes  his  success  in  life 
to  the  fact  that  he  made  punctuality  in  all  business  transactions  his  motto. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boszor  are  members  of  the  Universalist  Church.  Politically  he 
is  a  Democrat.  The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Sarah  (Neff)  Boszor  was  Conrad 
Neff,  a  native  of  Sweden,  who  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Ohio  with  his  wife 
and  seven  children  in  1805,  and  settled  in  Canfield  Township,  Mahoning  Co., 
Ohio,  in  1830.  He  died  in  Canfield,  that  county,  and  his  wife  followed  a  few 
years  later.      They  lie  buried  side  by  side.     Conrad  and  Mary  Catharine  Neff 


604  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

had  a  family  of  eleven  children:  Rebecca,  born  April  15,  1815;  Henry  and 
John  (twins),  born  November  20,  1816,  and  died  respectively  February  15, 
1832,  and  April  20,  1817;  Mary  A.,  born  November  21,  1818;  Sarah,  born 
May  24,  1820;  Samuel,  born  June  25,  1821,  and  died  December  18,  1825; 
Caroline,  born  December  27,  1823,  and  died  April  11,  1853;  La  Fayette,  born 
in  November,  1826,  died  August  2,  1828;  Juliette,  born  February  3,  1829; 
John,  born  January  22,  1831,  and  died  February  13,  1885,  in  Osceola,  Iowa; 
and  Lucy  Ann,  born  October  20,  1834.  The  father  of  this  family  was  reared 
in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  though  in  later  years  of  his  life  he  became  more  of 
a  Universalist  in  thought.  He  died  December  5,  1866,  aged  seventy  two  years, 
ten  months  and  nineteen  days;  his  wife  died  July  15,  1865,  agefl  seventy-two 
years,  seven  months  and'  five  days.  She  was  reared  in  the  Lutheran  faith. 
Both  are  buried  in  Brimfield. 

HIRAM  G.  BRIGGS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, this  county.  May  25,  1835,  son  of  Asa  and  Abigail  (Tuttle)  Briggs,  the 
former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  an  early  settler  of  Ravenna, 
where  he  cleared  a  farm,  afterward  settling  in  Palmyra,  where  he  also  cleared 
and  improved  a  farm,  and  in  1845  removed  to  Iowa,  where  he  died  the  follow- 
ing year  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine.  Asa  Briggs  was  twice  married;  by  his  first 
wife,  nee  Miss  Williams,  he  had  four  children:  Lestina,  Sarah,  Emily  and  Ira. 
His  second  wife  was  Abigail  Tuttle,  of  Palmyra,  by  whom  he  had  three  chil- 
dren, Hiram  G.  being  the  only  one  now  living.  Our  subject  returned  to  this 
county  immediately  after  his  father's  death,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  at 
the  shoe-maker's  trade,  which  he  followed  up  to  1859.  He  was  married,  March 
4,  1859,  to  Lucy  A.,  daughter  of  Conrad  and  Mary  C.  (Kline)  Neff,  of  Brim- 
field Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  three  children:  Norris,  C.  Clark, 
and  Mary  G.  Mr.  Briggs  located  his  farm  in  Brimfield  Township  in  1859, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  held  various  minor  township  offices,  and 
served  as   Trustee  two  terms.     He   is  a  F.  &  A.  M.      In  politics  a  Democrat. 

REUBEN  BROBST,  wool  buyer,  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Lehigh  County, 
Penn.,  January  22,  1824,  son  of  Daniel  and  Mary  (Brobst)  Brobst.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather  was  Michael  Brobst,  of  Lehigh  County,  and  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  John  Brobst,  of  same  county,  a 
prominent  farmer  and  merchant.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Lehigh  County 
until  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  then  went  to  Washington,  Penn.,  where  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years  at  the  tinner's  trade.  In  1847  he  set- 
tled in  Brimfield,  this  county,  and  worked  at  his  trade  in  connection  with  put- 
ting up  eaves  troughs,  for  fifteen  years.  He  then  embarked  in  his  present  bus- 
iness, in  which  he  has  since  been  profitably  engaged.  Mr.  Brobst  was  married, 
in  1848,  to  Orra,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Packard,  an  early  settler  of  Brimfield 
Township,  and  by  this  union  there  are  four  children:  Electa,  wife  of  Henry 
Ewell;  Orpha,  wife  of  Peter  Snyder;  Alice  and  Edward  D.  Mr.  Brobst  is  a 
F.  &  A.  M.     In  politics  a  prominent  Democrat. 

JACOB  BROWN,  retired  farmer,  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Marlboro, 
Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  March  28,  1818,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Catherine  (Niswan- 
ger)  Brown,  who  settled  in  Stark  County  when  it  was  a  wilderness,  and  cleared 
and  improved  the  farm  on  which  they  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  was  reared 
on  his  father's  farm  and  received  a  limited  education.  He  was  married  in 
1841,  to  Lavinia,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Baumbarger,  of  Stark  County, 
by  whom  he  had  six  children,  three  now  living:  Frank,  a  physician  in 
Petoskey,  Mich.;  Amanda,  wife  of  Jacob  Kline,  in  Franklin  Township,  and 
Emma  J.,  wife  of  Homer  Boosinger,  in  Brimfield.  Mr.  Brown  settled  in 
Rootstown  in  1842,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  of   225   acres,  on 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  605 

which  he  resided  up  to  1881,  when  he  removed  to  Brimfield  Center,  and  here 
he  has  erected  an  elegant  residence.  He  is  independent  in  politics;  a  worthy 
citizen. 

SAMUEL  BUELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Berks  County,  Penn., 
June  11,  1809;  son  of  Samuel  and  Barbara  (Godfrey)  Buell,  who  settled  in 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  in  1826,  and  lived  and  died  there.  They  had  eleven 
children,  of  whom  but  two  are  now  living — Elijah  and  Samuel.  Our  subject 
was  married,  November  l-l,  1833,  to  Catherine,  daughter  of  George  and  Cath- 
erine (Ecker)  Freebye,  of  Coventry,  Ohio,  and  the  issue  of  this  union  has 
been  six  children:  Henry  A.,  killed  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion;  Maria 
(deceased);  Geoi-ge;  Annetta  (Mrs.  Eli  Leonard);  Marvin  (deceased);  and  Sam- 
uel, Jr.  The  latter  settled  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Brimtield  Township, 
this  county,  in  1834,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  a  farm.  In  1838  he 
removed  to  Shalersville,  whei'e  he  lived  until  1847,  and  then  returned  and 
located  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Buell  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Kent.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JOSEPH  L.  CARRIER,  farmer  and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  P.  O.  Brimfield, 
was  born  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  November  24,  1839;  son  of  Lucius 
and  Orilla  (Emerson)  Carrier.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Elisha  Carrier, 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in 
1835,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  our  subject,  a  part  of  which  he  cleared  and 
improved.  He  lost  his  mind  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  died  in  August, 
1845,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject was  Joseph  Emerson,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Lucius  Carrier  died  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  and  his  widow 
in  1862,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  Our  subject,  who  is  their  only  child,  was 
married,  June  13,  1861,  to  Mary  M.,  daughter  of  Benjamin  O.  and  Catherine 
(Caris)  Edson,  of  Rootstown,  this  county,  by  which  union  there  are  five  chil- 
dren: Arthur  W.,  Elmer  E.,  Joseph  M.,  Frederick  L.  and  Ethel  I.  Mr.  Car- 
rier has  given  his  children  the  best  educational  advantages.  His  three  eldest 
sons  are  now  teachers,  Arthur  W.  being  Principal  of  the  select  school  in  Brim- 
field and  considered  one  of  the  best  educators  in  the  county.  Mr.  Carrier  has 
held  the  office  of  Town  Clerk  and  other  minor  offices,  and  is  now  serving  his 
sixth  consecutive  term  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity;  in  polities  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JACOB  CARSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Dauphin  County, 
Penn.,  November  26,  1817;  son  of  John  and  Catherine  (Vance)  Carson,  who 
settled  in  what  is  now  Berlin,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1831,  where  they  cleared 
and  improved  a  farm.  They  were  owners  of  several  other  large  farms  in  that 
county,  where  they  lived  and  died.  The  father  of  our  subject,  who  served  in 
the  war  of  1812,  was  of  Scotch  descent,  a  son  of  George  Carson  and  a  cousin 
of  the  celebrated  scout,  Kit  Carson.  Our  subject  went  to  Mahoning  County 
when  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  when  twenty-five  years  old  moved  to  the  farm 
in  Berlin  on  which  his  father  had  first  settled,  where  he  remained  for  seven 
years.  In  1849  he  settled  in  Deerfield  Township  and  improved  the  farm  there 
on  which  he  resided  for  sixteen  years.  In  1865  he  removed  to  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, to  the  farm  he  now  owns  and  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  mar- 
ried, November  27,  1843,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Ellen  Kin- 
sey,  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children:  Annetta, 
wife  of  Samuel  Risk;  Mary,  wife  of  Frederick  Edson;  Catherine,  wife  of  W. 
D.  Roth;  Oliver  P.;  Helen  A.,  wife  of  Albert  Shuman;  Cecelia,  wife  of  Marcy 
Russ;  Charles;  and  Josephine,  wife  of  Warren  Meloy.  Mr.  Carson  is  one  of 
the  representative  farmers  of  Brimfield  Township.  He  has  served  the  town- 
ship as  Trustee  two  terms.     In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  Democrat. 


606  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

CONSTANT  CHAPMAN  (deceased)  was  born  in  Westbrook,  Conn.,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1761;  a  son  of  Deacon  Jedediah  Chapman,  Jr.,  and  a  descendant  of 
Robert  Chapman  (of  the  seventh  generation)  who  was  a  son  of  Robert  Chap- 
man, Sr.,  born  in  1616  and  who  came  from  Hull,  England,  to  Boston,  Mass., 
in  1635,  settling  in  Saybrook,  Conn.,  in  November  of  the  same  year,  and  died 
October  10,  1687.  Our  subject,  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  chose  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  sailor,  and  followed  the  seas  up  to  the  time  he  settled  in  Brimfield, 
in  1821,  and  for  many  years  was  a  ship  Captain;  during  Ihe  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  while  in  the  marine  service,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  French 
Government  and  his  ship  and  cargo  confiscated.  He  Avas  taken  to  the  Island 
of  Guadaloupe  and  kept  a  prisoner  over  a  year,  when  he  was  exchanged.  The 
American  Government  afterward  made  the  French  pay  for  the  loss  of  his  ves- 
sel and  cargo.  He  was  married,  January  27,  1785,  to  Jemima,  daughter  of 
Silas  Kelsey,  of  Killingworth,  Conn.,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children:  Lydia 
K.  (deceased);  Thurot  F.  (deceased);  John  K.  (deceased);  Anna  F.  (deceased); 
Chloe  P.,  wife  of  Henry  Smith;  Mary  C.  (deceased);  Joseph  G.  (deceased); 
Jemima  T.,  wife  of  Gardner  Wing,  and  Henry  C.  (deceased).  Mr.  Chapman 
was  the  first  Postmaster  of  Brimfield,  and  died  here  in  1847,  aged  eighty-six 
years. 

CONSTANT  H.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  February 
24,  1825,  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Joseph  G.  and  Elizabeth 
(Boszor)  Chapman,  who  had  a  family  of  five  children:  Constant  H.,  Mary 
(wife  of  Stephen  Webster),  Leory  M.,  Thurot  K.,  Electa  E.  (wife  of  George 
W.  Bow).  Joseph  G.  Chapman  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  settled  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1820,  clearing  and  improving  the  farm 
now  owned  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Stephen  Webster,  where  he  lived  and  died. 
Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather  was  Constant  Chapman,  a  native  of  West- 
brook,  Conn.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1821;  his 
maternal  grandfather,  Henry  Boszor,  a  native  of  Maryland,  settled  in  Brim- 
field Township  in  1816.  Our  subject  has  always  lived  in  Brimfield,  with  the 
exception  of  two  years  that  he  resided  in  Illinois.  He  has  been  twice  married. 
By  his  first  wife,  Permelia,  daughter  of  Lybia  and  Julia  (Minard)  Under- 
wood, of  this  township,  he  had  one  child — Morris  S.  On  June  28,  1863,  he 
married  his  present  wife,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  (McCloughan) 
Warner,  of  Suffield,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  two  children — Nellie  and 
Edd.  Mr.  Chapman  has  owned  several  farms  in  Brimfield  Township,  and  has 
made  many  improvements  on  them.  He  served  the  township  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  fifteen  years;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

MORRIS  S.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  April  14,  1850, 
in  Brimfield,  this  county;  son  of  Constant  H.  and  Permelia  (Underwood) 
Chapman.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Joseph  G.  Chapman,  settled  in  Brim- 
field in  1820,  and  was  a  son  of  Constant  Chapman,  a  native  of  Westbrook, 
Conn.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  in  1821.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Lydia 
Underwood,  a  son  of  Alpheus  Underwood,  settled  in  Brimfield  in  1817.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  Brimfield  Township  and  educated  in  its  common  and 
select  schools,  and  took  a  course  in  the  Commercial  Department  of  Mt.  Union 
College.  He  was  married  October  4,  1871,  to  Yiola  A.,  daughter  of  Russell 
R.,  a  native  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  Mary  A.  (Wolcott)  Ross,  of  Kent,  this 
county,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  J.  P.  Ionia.,  born  December  1,  1875,  and 
Aimee  R. ,  born  November  16,  1883.  Mr.  Chapman  has  always  been  engaged 
in  farming,  and  prior  to  1875  also  taught  school  seven  consecutive  winters. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  K.  of  P.;  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  April,   1883;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  607 

JAMES  F.  DAVIDSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Buffalo  Val- 
ley, Union  Co.,  Penn.,  February  19,  1809;  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Fores- 
ter) Davidson,  who  settled  in  Spriugfield,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1816,  where 
they  remained  four  years,  settling  in  tlie  spring  of  1820  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  on  Lot  52,  now  owned  by  J.  W.  Sherman,  where  they  built 
a  log-house  and  barn  and  cleared  about  thirty  acres.  They  lived  there  eleven 
years,  when  they  moved  to  the  farm  now  owned  by  Joseph  Fitch,  and  there 
lived  and  died.  They  had  nine  children:  Jane  H.,  Dorcas  F.,  Betsey  C, 
James  F.,  Hetty  M.,  John  F.,  Mary  M.,  William  F.  and  Harriet  T.,  all  now 
deceased  but  James  F.  Our  subject  located  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides 
in  1859,  and  that  portion  of  Lot  58  now  included  in  his  farm  he  cleared  and 
improved  himself.  He  is  one  of  the  representative  farmers  and  citizens  of 
Brimfield  Township.     In  politics  he  is  a  Kepublican. 

JOHN  EVITTS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Penn., 
January  24,  1827;  son  of  Daniel  and  ,Sarah  (Stone)  Evitts,  who  were  the  par- 
ents of  six  children:  Margaret,  wife  of  Perry  Merton;  Mary,  wife  of  Samuel 
Cotton  (deceased);  Magdalena,  wife  of  Martin  Brazor  (deceased);  John, 
Joseph  (deceased)  and  David.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Evitts  located  in  Spring- 
field Township  (now  in  Summit  County),  in  1832,  clearing  and  improving  a 
farm  on  which  they  lived  until  1842,  when  they  settled  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  William  Gettes,  which  they 
cleared  and  improved,  and  where  they  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  remained 
with  his  parents  until  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  for  the  succeeding  four 
years  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand.  He  was  married  February  21, 
1850,  to  Catherine,  daughter  of  Joseph  ^Villiard,  who  settled  on  the  farm  now 
occupied  by  our  subject  in  1826.  To  this  union  were  born  three  children: 
Electa  C,  wife  of  Thomas  Lighton;  Ida  C,  wife  of  Frank  W.  Koon 
(deceased);  and  Flora  A.  (deceased).  There  are  three  grandchildren:  Clyde 
E.  Lighton,  Evitts  G.  P.  Koon  and  Frank  W.  Koon,  Jr.  Mr.  Evitts  has 
served  his  township  one  term  as  Trustee.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

A^RON  FERREY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Belchertown,  Mass., 
July  6,  1808,  a  son  of  Aaron  and  Elizabeth  (Gilbert)  Ferrey,  who  settled  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1831.  His  father  located  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Harley  Judson,  most  of  which  he  improved,  and  here  he  resided  up 
to  1850,  when  he  removed  to  what  is  now  Kent  and  there  lived  until  his  death. 
Bj  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  Gilbert,  of  Belchertown,  Mass.,  Aaron  Ferrey, 
Sr. ,  had  eleven  children:  Eliza  (deceased),  Aaron,  Moses  (deceased),  Mary 
(deceased),  George  (deceased),  John  (deceased),  Ann  (wife  of  George  Williams, 
in  Wisconsin),  William,  Charles  (in  Indiana),  Emeline  (deceased)  and  Frank. 
His  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Mary  McPherson,  nee  Dickinson,  by  whom  he  had 
two  children;  Eliza,  wife  of  Henry  Swan,  and  Byron.  Aaron  Ferrey.  Sr., 
died  in  1860,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  Our  subject  was  reared  in 
Amherst,  Mass.,  until  ten  years  of  age,  when  his  parents  removed  to  Virginia, 
there  they  remained  five  years  and  then  returned  to  Amherst,  and  here  his  father 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  brick,  our  subject  assisting  him  until  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  when  he  embarked  in  the  same  business  for  himself,  which 
he  continued  for  several  years  in  different  sections  of  New  England.  On  May 
9,  1837,  he  was  married  to  Judith,  daughter  of  George  and  Judith  (Hastings) 
Nutting,  of  Amherst,  Mass.,  by  whom  he  has  had  eight  children:  George  W., 
Charles  E.  (deceased),  Mary  E.  (deceased),  Frank  H.,  Julia  A.,  Fred  A.,  Will 
D.  and  John  H.  In  1842  Mr.  Ferrey  came  to  Portage  County  and  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  brick  in  Franklin,  furnishing  the  material  for  the  large 
building  now  known  as  Kent  Worsted  Mills.     In  1846  he  removed  to  Franklin 


608  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Mills  (now  Kent),  where  he  resided  for  twenty  years,  doing  an  extensive  busi- 
ness, and  in  1866  he  located  in  Brimfield,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides, 
and  in  connection  with  farming,  carried  on  a  brick-yard  up  to  1880,  when  his 
sons  took  charge  of  that  department.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ferrey  and  daughters  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

REUBEN  HART,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Goshen,  Litchfield 
Co.,  Conn.,  May  2,  1803,  son  of  Reuben  and  Ruth  (Ives)  Hart  and  grandson 
of  Nathaniel  Hart,  of  Wallingford,  Conn.,  a  carpenter  and  cabinet-maker  by 
trade.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Goshen,  Conn.,  and 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade  of  his  father,  which  occupation  he  followed  many 
years  after  he  came  to  Brimfield  Township.  He  settled  here  in  1826  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  his  son  Charles,  where  he  resided  up  to  1864,  when  he 
purchased  the  farm  adjoining,  and  here  he  has  lived  ever  since.  Mr.  Hart 
was  married  July  2,  1829,  to  Nancy  A.,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Mary 
(Hotchkiss)  Law,  formerly  of  Woodbridge,  Conn.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1818,  and  to  this  union  have  been  born  four  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Charles  and  Lois  (Mrs.  Edwin  J.  Glass). 
Charles  married  Eleanor  Stillwell,  of  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  Octo- 
ber 27,  1863,  and  had  four  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  M. 
Gertrude,  Harry  S,  and  Jennie  L.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hart  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  has  filled  several  offices  in  the  gift  of  his 
township,  and  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  one  term.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican. 

HENRY  KING,  farmer  and  iron  manufacture!',  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  June,  1883,  son  of  Robert  and  Rhoda 
(Bishop)  King,  who  had  a  family  of  three  children:  Henry,  Charles  and 
Helen  A.,  wife  of  Henry  Heyd.  His  paternal  grandfather,  William  King,  a 
native  of  Hampden  County,  Mass.,  settled  in  Ravenna,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  in 
1811.  He  was  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Charlestown  Township, 
which  he  had  purchased  of  the  Western  Reserve  Land  Company,  and  lived 
there  a  year  or  more,  disposing  of  the  same  in  parcels.  He  returned  to 
Ravenna  in  1814,  and  engaged  in  hotel  business  up  to  1839,  and  was  one  of  the 
best  known  landlords  in  this  part  of  the  State  at  that  time.  He  died  in  1843, 
aged  about  sixty-five  years.  He  had  four  children:  Robert,  deceased;  John 
B.,  deceased;  Eli  P.,  deceased,  and  Mary,  wife  of  Dr.  A.  Woodworth,  now  of 
St.  Louis.  Robert,  his  eldest  son,  resided  in  Ravenna  nearly  all  his  life.  He 
was  a  prominent  farmer  and  business  man,  and  was  at  one  time  engaged  in  bank- 
ing, dealing  also  in  live  stock  on  an  extensive  scale.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  Deacon  Bishop,  of  Blandford,  Mass.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Ravenna 
from  five  years  of  age,  and  there  received  a  liberal  education  for  his  day, 
being  principally  educated  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  a  Yale  graduate  and  relative  of 
John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina.  In  1850  he  was  engaged  in  the  Civil 
Engineer  Corps  of  the  C.  &  P.  R.  R.,  with  whom  he  remained  one  year,  and 
then  was  employed  in  the  locomotive  works  at  Cleveland  for  four  years.  He 
was  married  February  11,  1856,  to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah 
(Antrim)  Sharp,  of  Salem,  Ohio.  In  1855  Mr.  King  went  to  Salem,  Ohio,  and 
embarked  in  the  foundry  and  machine  business  there  for  fifteen  years,  and 
during  that  time,  in  connection  with  Pittsburgh  parties,  was  also  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  pig  iron  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  and  in  Arm- 
strong County,  Penn.,  in  which  he  is  still  interested.  He  was  a  resident  of 
Pittsburgh  for  ten  years,  and  in  the  fall  of  1883  located  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  In  politics  Mr.  King  is 
a  Republican. 


OWa-i^      o^-^-'v^^ 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  611 

ALMON  LANPHARE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  September  25, 
1821,  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Abner  H.  and  Sophia  (Moul- 
ton)  Lanphare,  who  had  eight  children:  an  infant  son  (deceased),  Almon, 
Eunice  (deceased),  Eliza  A.,  Nathan  (deceased),  infant  twins  (deceased)  and 
Martha  C.  Abner  H.  Lanphare  was  a  native  of  Woodstock,  Vt.,  came  to 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  October,  1816,  and  the  following  winter 
taught  the  first  public  school  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county.  He  after- 
ward bought  200  acres  of  land  in  Brimfield  Township  (a  part  of  which  is  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  our  subject),  clearing  and  improving  a  farm  on  which 
he  lived,  and  died  October  4,  1879,  in  his  eighty-fourth  year.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  Jeremiah  Moulton,  settled  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  in  1817.  Almon  Lanphare  was  reared  in  Brimfield  Township, 
where  he  has  always  resided.  He  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being 
Caroline,  a  daughter  of  Peletiah  and  Hannah  Bard,  of  Brimfield,  and  by  her 
he  had  two  children:  Charles,  who  served  through  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion 
and  died  of  consumption  six  months  after  his  discharge,  and  Henry  A., 
deceased.  His  present  wife  is  Flora  A.,  daughter  of  Col.  Bissell  and  Arteme- 
sia  Austin,  of  Randolph  Township,  this  county.  By  this  union  there  are  two 
children.  Jennie  and  Stella.  Mr.  Lanphare  and  wife  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  has  held  various  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
township;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

AARON  P.  MALLORY,  farmer  and  carpenter,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  March  14,  1821,  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Johanna  (Harris)  Mallory,  natives  of  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  who  settled 
here  in  1817  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  our  subject,  and  which  they  cleared  and 
improved.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  children:  Margarett  Ann,  deceased; 
Aaron  P.;  Benjamin,  deceased,  and  B.  O.  Plymton,  deceased.  Benjamin 
Mallory  died  October  18,  1859,  aged  seventy-one  years,  and  his  wife  October 
18,  1848.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  the  old  homestead,  where  he  has  always 
resided,  and  was  married  December  24,  1848,  to  Fidelia  E.,  daughter  of  James 
and  Betsey  (Avery)  Blake,  formerly  of  Cornwall,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  and  who 
settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1826,  locating  half  a  mile  east  of 
Brimfield  Center,  where  they  cleared  and  improved  a  farm,  on  which  they  resided 
until  Mr.  Blake's  death;  he  died  March  7,  1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  His  widow  died  in  1881,  aged  eighty  years.  They  reared  a  family  of 
six  children:  Orville,  a  clergyman  of  the  Free- Will  Baptist  Church,  who 
was  a  Representative  in  the  Ohio  Legislature  for  four  years  (now  deceased), 
Fidelia  E,  Buel  A.,  Sherman  M.  (deceased),  Judson  A.  and  Charlotte  (wife  of 
John  I.  Hastings).  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mallory  are  the  parents  of  four  children: 
Frank  N.,  deceased;  Emma  J.,  wife  of  A.  T.  Nighman;  Nettie,  wife  of  Cyrus 
Osborn,  and  Benjamin.  Our  subject  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  since  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican. 

JAMES  MOULTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  May  30,  1825,  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Augustus  and  Sarah  (Osborn)  Moulton, 
who  were  the  parents  of  three  children:  Louisa  A.  wife  of  Silas  Shannon  (have 
four  children  living:  Maria,  Warren,  Charlie  and  Josie,  latter  wife  of  Richard 
Bunker),  Warren  (now  deceased)  and  James.  Augustus  Moulton  settled  on  a 
quarter  section  of  land  (a  part  of  which  is  now  owned  by  our  subject  and  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Silas  Shannon,)  in  1822,  where  he  cleared  a  farm  from  what  was 
an  unbroken  wilderness  and  lived  there  until  his  death.  He  died  in  1863,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five  years.  Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather  was  Jeremiah 
Moulton,  a  native  of  Munson,  Mass.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  in  1817,  clearing 

32 


612  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

and  improving  a  farm  where  he  lived  the  balance  of  his  life.  He  was  a  promi- 
nent man  in  his  day,  and  served  the  county  as  Associate  Judge  for  seven  years. 
He  reared  a  family  of  ten  children:  George  (deceased),  Augustus  (deceased), 
Anson  (deceased),  William  J.,  Sullivan,  Lucy  (wife  of  John  Abels),  Nancy 
(deceased),  Sophia  (deceased),  Betsey  (wife  of  Chauncey  Tupper)  and  Emily 
(deceased).  The  maternal  grandfather  of  oxir  subject  was  Peter  Osborn,  of 
Connecticut,  and  whose  sons,  Peter  and  Joseph,  settled  in  Brimlield  in  1821, 
where  they  lived  for  many  years.  James  Moulton,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  reared  on  the  home  farm  where  he  has  always  resided,  with  the  exception 
of  seven  years,  during  which  he  lived  in  Suffield,  this  county.  He  married, 
March  11,  1843,  Betsey,  daughter  of  Russell  and  Betsey  (Jones)  Meacham,  of 
Suffield  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  had  the  following  children: 
Martha  E.,  wife  of  John  Sylvester;  Sarah  A.,  wife  of  George  Maloy  (have  one 
child — Clarence  A.);  Minnie  A.,  wife  of  E.  Ladenslayer  (have  one  daughter — 
Nellie);  Cora,  wife  of  Calvin  Miller  (have  two  children:  James  I.  and  Clara 
A.);  William  M. ;  Emma  W. ;  Bertha  A.,  and  Hannah  R.  (deceased).  Mr. 
Moulton  has  served  his  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  one  term.  In  politics 
he  has  always  been  a  stanch  Democrat. 

JOHN  Q.  MOULTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield.  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  November  14,  1846;  son  of  Elbridge  G.  and  Almira  J. 
(Dunning)  Moulton.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Harrison  Moulton,  settled  in 
1817  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  our  subject,  which  he  cleared  and  im- 
proved. He  had  six  children:  Wyles,  William  (deceased),  Elbridge  G. 
(deceased),  Susan  (deceased),  Maria  (Mrs.  Albert  Underwood),  Sophia  (Mrs. 
Albert  Dawley).  Elbridge  G.  had  three  children — A.  Jeannette  (Mrs.  J.  W. 
Sherman),  Lucy  M.  (deceased),  and  John  Q.  Our  subject  has  always  resided 
on  the  old  homestead.  He  was  married,  January  4,  1871,  to  Eliza  A.,  daugh- 
ter of  Elias  and  Mary  A.  Heckman,  of  Brimlield  Township,  this  county,  by 
whom  he  has  one  child,  Nina  E.  Mr.  Moulton  is  a  representative  farmer  and 
citizen  of  Brimfield  Township.      In  politics  he  is  a -Republican. 

JOSEPH  P.  PARKER,  butter  and  cheese  manufacturer,  Brimfield,  was 
born  in  Windsor,  Ashtabula  Co.,  Ohio,  June  30,  1818;  son  of  Daniel  and 
Sarah  (Bartlett)  Parker,  natives  of  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  who  settled  in  Ash- 
tabula County,  in  1813,  where  Mr.  Parker  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  on 
which  he  resided  up  to  1832.  He  afterward  lived  in  different  parts  of  the 
State,  and  died  in  Ashtabula  County,  in  1852,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years.  Our  subject  came  to  Shalersville,  this  county,  in  1837,  and  here  for 
three  years  worked  by  the  month;  the  three  years  following  this  he  rented  a 
farm  in  the  same  township,  and  then  purchased  a  small  farm  in  Shalersville 
Township,  where  he  lived  until  1849,  and  then  removed  to  Michigan.  In 
1851  he  engaged  in  farming  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county,  where  he 
remained  up  to  1876,  then  located  in  Brimfield  Township,  and  embarked  in 
his  present  business  of  manufacturing  butter  and  cheese.  He  has  been  twice 
married;  on  first  occasion,  September  9,  1842,  to  Harriet,  daughter  of  Newton 
and  Molly  (Hotchkiss)  Morris,  early  settlers  of  Shalersville  Township,  this 
county.  By  this  union  there  were  two  children:  Alice,  wife  of  William 
Beasley,  and  Ellen,  wife  of  Joseph  Quinn.  On  January  1,  1859,  Mr.  Parker 
married  Annis,  daughter  of  James  and  Lucy  (Barber)  Rose,  of  Kent,  who  bore 
him  six  children:  Frank,  Hattie,  Addie  (deceased),  Willie,  Lettieand  Eleanor 
(deceased).     Mr.  Parker  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

EDWARD  PARSONS  (deceased),  who  was  a  pioneer  of  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  March  14,  1797,  son  of 
Moses  and  Esther  (Kingsley)   Parsons,    also  natives  of  Massachusetts.     The 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  613 

Parsons  family  is  a  very  old  one  and  the  name  appears  often  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  old  Bay  State.     They  were  originally  of  English  extraction.     The 
subject  of  this  sketch  lived  in  his  native  village  until   a   man  grown,  in  the 
meantime  learning  the  ti'ade  of  his  father,  that  of  a  carpenter  and  joiner.     At 
this  place,  when  about  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Miss  Clementina  Janes,  then  teaching  school  at  Northampton,  a  daughter  of 
Peleg  Cheney  and   Martha  (Coy)   Janes,    of   Brimfield,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass., 
where   Mr.  Janes  was   a  large   mill    owner.     The    Janeses    were   of  English 
extraction,  and  the  Coys  of  Irish  origin,  though  both  families  for  generations 
previous  were   natives  of  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut.      This  acquaintance 
resulted  in  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Parsons  with  Miss  Janes  on  January  1,  1828, 
and   two   years    and    a    half  afterward    Mr.    Parsons    with  his  wife  and  son 
Edward  A.,  born  in  Northampton,  Hampshire  County,  Mass.,  January  25,  1829, 
moved  to  Ohio,  and  first  settled  at  Brecksville,  Cuyahoga  County,  for  one  year; 
thence  went  to  Cleveland,  remaining  sis  months,  and  finally,  in  the  fall  of 
1831,  took  up  their  residence  in  the  township  of  Brimfield,  Portage  County, 
Here  Mr.  Parsons  worked  at  his  trade  at  odd  intervals,  but  never  to  anv  extent 
making  farming   his  main   occupation,  at  which   he  was  very  successful,  for 
although  buying  only  fifty  acres  at  the  start,  he  afterward  became  the  owner 
of  200  or  more  acres  near  the  village  of  Brimfield.      He  was  one  of  the  most 
substantial  and  highly  respected  citizens  of  the  township.     In  1868  he  retired 
from  active  farming,  and  moved  to  Kent,  where  he  resided  until  his  death 
April  6,  1874.      He  was  from  early  manhood  a  devoted  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  (as  was  his  wife),  himself  and  a  Mr.  Cogswell  being  the  founders 
of  the  first  church  organization   of  this  denomination  in  his  native  village  of 
Northampton,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass.,  where  he  was  Junior  Warden.     At  Kent 
he  took  the  same    interest,  and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the   Episcopal 
Church  in  the  village,  and  for  the  erection   of  this  house  of  worship  he  con- 
tributed liberally  of  his  means  and  served  as  Church  "Warden  for  many  vears. 
In  politics  he  was   originally  a  Whig,  and  in   sentiment  a  believer  in  liberty 
and  the  equal  rights  of  man,  and  on  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party, 
he  always  acted  and  voted  with  that  party.     On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion,  two  of  his  sons  volunteered  and  served  in   the  Union  Army: 
Timothy  G.,  for  four  years,  most  of  the  time   in  the  Quartermaster's   Depart- 
ment; and    William  C,  for  ten    months    as  an  artilleryman.     Mr.   and  Mrs. 
Parsons  reared  a  family  of  six  children:  Edward  A.,  born  January  25,  1829; 
Timothy  G.,  born  September  17,  1832;  Harriet  J.,  born  June  24,  1835,  died 
October  2,  1876;  Martha  Kingsly,  born  April  1,  1838;  William  Cheney,  born 
February  19,  1841;  Clementina,  born  September  30,  1843.     All  the  children 
were  born  in  Brimfield,  Ohio,  except  Edward  A.,  who  was  born  at  Northampton, 
Mass.     Mrs.  Parsons  is  now  eighty-two  years  of   age,  and  is   an  exceedingly 
amiable  and  worthy  lady,  well  preserved  for  her  years,  I'etaining   all  her  fac- 
ulties.    She  resides  with  her  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Clementina  Barber,  wife  of 
Charles  H.  Barber,  the  present  Postmaster  of  Kent. 

JOSEPH  RUSS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield, was  born  in  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  February,  5,  1832;  son  of  Beverly  Y.  and  Bertia  (Emerson)  Russ,  natives 
of  Vermont.  His  father  came  to  Ohio  in  1829,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  on  whichhe  settled;in  1831, cleared  and  improved 
and  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  The  farm  is  still  the  propertv  of  his 
descendants.  He  had  five  children:  Joseph,  Seraph  (deceased).  Van  (deceased), 
Viola  (deceased)  and  Emma  (Mrs.  S.  Samuel  Buell,  Jr.).  Our  subject  has  been 
a  resident  of  Briu.field  Township,  this  county,  most  of  his  life,and  has  lived  on 
his  present  farm  upward  of  twenty -seven  years;  he  was  married  February  23, 


614  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

1854,  to  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Gideon  and  Elizabeth  Marlett,  of  Elkhart,  Ind., 
by  whom  he  has  had  five  children:  Marcy  H.,  Delos  P.  (deceased),  Marion 
(deceased),  Ernest  L. .  and  Herbert  L.  Mr.  Russ  has  held  several  township  offices 
in  Brimtield.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

EDWARD  A.  RUSSELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Perrys- 
burg,  Cattaraugus  Co.,  K  Y.,  July  21,  1818;  son  of  Edward  and  Love  (Spen- 
cer) Russell,  theformer  of  whom,  a  native  of  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  died  at 
our  subject's  residence  in  December,  1883,  aged  ninety-two  years;  the  latter, 
a  native  of  Rupert,  Bennington  Co.,  Vt.,  died  on  the  old  homestead  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1845.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was 
Capt.  William  Russell,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Russell,  a  native  of  Branford,  Conn., 
whose  ancestors  settled  there  in  1660.  He  was  the  first  Treasurer  of  Wash- 
ington County,  N.  Y.,  and  held  the  office  for  fifty  consecutive  years.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Phineas  Spencer,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a 
farmer  by  occupation.  The  parents  of  our  subject  settled  in  Brimtield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1829,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  William  Kruger,  which 
they  cleared  and  improved.  They  had  eleven  children:  Phineas  S.,  Martha  L. 
(deceased),  Edward  A.,  Mary  L.  (deceased),  William,  John  (deceased),  Frank 
F.,  Delia  M.  (deceased),  Eliza  J.  (Mrs.  E.  Osgood),  Nancy  S.  and  an  infant 
(deceased).  Our  subject  was  married,  June  2,  1846,  to  Ann,  daughter  of  John 
and  Julia  A.  (Harris)  Furry,  formerly  of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. ,  who  settled  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1817,  and  to  this  union  were  born  five 
children:  Homer  B.,  Albert  E.,  W^arren  A.,  Merritt  E.  and  Myra  J.  (twins). 
Mrs.  Russell  died  November  24,  1884.  Our  subject  has  always  resided  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  followed  his  trade,  that  of  a  wagon- 
maker,  for  eight  years  engaged  in  farming,  and  has  resided  on  his  present 
farm  since  1855.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

OLIVER  SAWYER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Jaffrey,  Cheshire  Co., 
N.  H.,  April  21,  1804;  son  of  Uriah  and  Sally  (Spafford)  Sawyer,  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1817,  locat- 
ing on  Lot  20,  part  of  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  our  subject, 
where  they  lived  and  died.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was 
William  Sawyer  of  Berlin,  Mass.,  who  had  seven  children:  Amos,  Oliver,  Asa, 
Uriah,  Nabby,  Polly  and  Hannah,  all  now  deceased.  He  (Grandfather  Sawyer) 
and  two  brothers  settled  about  1740,  on  an  elevated  piece  of  land  in  Berlin, 
Mass.,  which  has  always  gone  by  the  name  of  "Sawyer's  Hill."  These  three 
brothers  lived  and  died  there,  and  raised  large  families.  Oliver  Sawyer  visited 
the  spot  in  1857,  and  found  the  local  school  was  attended  by  about  sixty 
scholars,  over  forty  of  whom  were  named  Sawyer.  Our  subject's  maternal 
grandfather  was  Job  Spaflford,  also  of  Berlin,  Mass.  Uriah  Sawyer  had  ten 
children,  of  whom  eight  grew  to  maturity:  Oliver,  Henry  (deceased).  Lock- 
hart  (deceased),  Uriah  (deceased),  William  B.  (deceased),  Benjamin  F. 
(deceased),  Sally  (Mrs.  John  Walker)  and  Hannah.  Our  subject  has  always 
lived  within  half  a  mile  of  the  old  homestead,  having  when  twenty-three  years 
of  age  purchased  the  farm  three- fourths  of  a  mile  south  of  his  present  residence, 
where  he  lived  for  over  forty  years.  He  has  been  twice  married,  on  first  occasion 
November  29,  1827,  to  Sophia,  daughter  of  Asa  and  Eunice  Sawyei",  by  whom  he 
had  four  children;  Luke  (deceased),  George  L.  (deceased),  George  L.  (second) 
and  Jane  A.  (deceased).  Augiast  16,  1862,  he  married  his  second  wife,  Martha 
L.  (Russell)  Furry.  Mr.  Sawyer  came  back  to  the  old  homestead  in  1862,  where 
he  has  since  resided  with  his  only  surviving  child,  George  L.,  who  is  married 
to  Mary  J.,  daughter  of  Henry  C.  Chapman  and  grand-daughter  of  Constance 


BRIMFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  615 

Chapman,  who  settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  this  county,  in  1821,  and  who  was 
a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  To  George  L.  Sawyer  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
five  children:  Elam  (deceased),  Elmer,  Sumner,  Dora  and  Sophia.  Our  subject 
is  the  oldest   living  pioneer  of  the  township;    in  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

HENRY  D.  SAWYER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  July  4,  1838,  son  of  Asa  and  Caroline  A.  (Lincoln)  Sawyer. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Asa  Sawyer,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  who 
settled  here  in  1818  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  A.  J.  Shuman, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death  in  1845.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  Dr. 
Luke  A.  Lincoln,  the  first  resident  physician  of  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  having  settled  in  1820.  Asa  Sawyer,  the  father  of  our  subject,  settled 
on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  his  widow,  which  he  cleared  and  improved  and 
on  which  he  lived  until  his  death.  He  died  November  4,  1881,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years.  Our  subject,  with  his  mother,  resides  on  the  old  home- 
stead, where  he  was  born  and  reared  and  has  always  followed  farming  as  an 
occupation.  He  served  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  in  August, 
1861,  in  Company  L,,  Second  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  was  honorably  discharged  in 
1865,  having  participated  in  all  the  engagements  in  which  his  regiment  took 
part,  except  the  last  battle  of  Richmond.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. ;  in 
politics  a  Democrat. 

VICTOR  P.  SAWYER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  September  12,  1848,  son  of  Uriah  and  Caroline  (Pike) 
Sawyer.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Uriah  Sawyer,  a  native  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  settled  in  this  township  in  1817.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Jeremy 
Pike,  also  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  settled  here  in  1820.  Uriah,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  when  he  started  in  life  for  himself,  settled  on  Lot  20,  Brimfield 
Township,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  the  farm  now  owned  by  George 
Tritt,  and  there  resided  up  to  1860,  when  he  removed  to  the  farm  now  owned 
by  our  subject,  where  he  lived  until  his  death.  He  died  November  2,  1881, 
aged  seventy-one  years.  His  children  were  Adelaide  R.  (deceased),  and 
Victor  P.  Our  subject  was  married  September  27,  1870,  to  Eunice  S.,  daugh- 
ter of  William  R.  and  Lucy  (Sawyer)  Kelso,  of  Brimfield  Township,  by  whom 
he  has  two  children:  Lucy  C.  and  Addie  C.  Mr.  Sawyer  is  a  member  of  the 
Universalist  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  W.  SHERMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  October  29,  1834,  son  of  Capt.  Harris  and  Sallie 
(Morgan)  Sherman,  who  settled  here  in  1831,  locating  on  Lot  52,  which  they 
cleared  and  improved  and  where  they  lived  and  died.  His  paternal  grandfather 
was  Thomas  Sherman,  son  of  Thomas  Sherman,  he  a  son  of  Dr.  John  Sherman, 
the  latter  a  son  of  Rev.  James  Sherman,  descendants  of  Dr.  John  Sherman,  a 
native  of  England  who  settled  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  in  1634.  Our  subject 
was  married  Sei:)tember  7,  1862,  to  A.  Jenette,  daughter  of  Elbridge  and 
Almira  J.  (Dunning)  Moulton,  and  grand-daughter  of  Harrison  Moulton,  who 
settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1817,  and  to  this  union  have 
been  born  two  children:  Florence  A.  and  Howard  C.  (deceased).  Our  subject 
was  reared  on  the  homestead  which  he  now  owns,  and  where  he  remained  until 
1881,  when  he  moved  to  the  place  he  now  occupies.  He  and  his  wife  are 
attendants  of  the  Universalist  Church.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.;  in  politics  he  is 
a  Republican. 

ABRAM  J.  SHUMAN,  farmer,  P.  O  Kent,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  was  born 
in  Clarence,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  December  31,  1814,  son  of  Henry  and  Hannah 
(Johnson)  Shuman,  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  respectively,  who 
settled  in  Stdwe  Township  (now  in  Summit  County,  Ohio),  in  1834,  where  they 


CIG  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

cleared  a  farm  aud  lived  until  their  death.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children:  Abram  J.,  Catherine  (deceased),  Nancy  (Mrs.  James  C.  Kelso),  Eras- 
tas,  William,  Mary  (deceased),  Henry  (deceased),  and  Eiias  (deceased).  Our 
subject  settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  this  county,  in  183G,  and  was  married 
November  29,  ]840,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Asa  and  Eunice  (Bruce)  Sawyer, 
who  settled  here  in  1818.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  ten  children:  Alvina 
(deceased),  Albert,  Alvina  (Mrs.  Peter  Carline),  Loretta  (Mrs.  J.  Otis  Nighman), 
Amelia  (Mrs.  Frank  Maloy),  Asa,  Mary,  Dora  (Mrs.  Adam  Cline),  an  infant 
daughter  (deceased)  and  Heni'y.  Mr.  Shuman  has  lived  on  the  old  Sawyer 
homestead  since  his  marriage,  and  has  held  several  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
township.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

BAKNET  STJLWELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born 
in  Bergen  County,  N.  J.,  in  1802,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Mary  (Earl)  Stilwell. 
He  was  left  an  orphan  in  his  infancy,  and  lived  with  his  relatives  in  New  Jer- 
sey until  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  western  Pennsylvania  and 
worked  as  a  farm  hand  by  the  month  for  two  years.  He  subsequently  leased 
farms  in  that  vicinity  until  1827,  when  he  came  to  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  and  settled  on  the  farm  (at  that  time  an  unbroken  wilderness)  where 
he  still  resides,  and  all  of  which  he  has  cleared  and  improved.  He  was  mar- 
ried, April  25,  1824,  to  Jane,  daughter  of  David  and  Jane  (Jackson)  Hall,  of 
Armstrong  County,  Penn.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  ten  children:  Mary, 
wife  of  Norris  Miller;  David;  Ezekiel  ;  Eliza  (deceased);  Smith  (deceased); 
Warren  (deceased);  Philena,  wife  of  Cornelius  Weston;  Elenor,  wife  of  Charles 
Hart;  Byron  and  Alice  (latter  deceased).  Mr.  Stilwell  is  a  worthy  citizen  and 
one  of  the  few  pioneers  still  living  in  Brimfield  Township.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Kepublican. 

LAMBERT  TWITCHELL,  farmer  and  clergyman,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born 
in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  August  12,  1827,  son  of  Arba  and  Sally 
(Barber)  Tvvitchell,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Litchfield,  Conn.,  respect- 
ively. The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Jonas  Twitchell,  who 
came  to  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1817;  he  had  but  two  children — 
John  and  Arba.  Arba  Twitchell  came  here  in  1816,  and  was  hired  by  Henry 
Thorndike  to  make  a  clearing  on  the  old  Boszor  Hill,  a  half  mile  north  of  the 
Center,  and  to  him  belongs  the  honor  of  having  made  the  first  improvement  in 
the  township.  Not  long  afterward  he  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  our  subject,  which  he  cleared  and  improved  and  lived  on  until  his 
death.  He  had  one  child — Lambert.  Our  subject  has  always  I'esided  on  the 
old  homestead  where  he  was  born  and  reared.  He  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  the  Kent  Academy  and  Oberlin  College,  and  was  married  in 
November,  1851,  to  Julia  M.,  daughter  of  Sedley  and  Maria  (Barber)  Sill,  of 
Dansville,  N.  Y.,  by  whom  he  had  three  children:  Russell  W.,  Male,  and 
Josephine  (deceased).  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Twitchell  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  of  v?hich  he  was  ordained  a  minister  some  twelve  years  ago.  He  served 
as  pastor  of  the  Kent  Baptist  Church  for  six  years,  and  organized  the  present 
church  of  that  place.  Through  his  labors  and  exertions  the  church  was  built 
and  now  has  a  thriving  congregation.  In  politics  Mr.  Twitchell  is  a  Prohibi- 
tionist. 

ALPHEUS  H.  UNDERWOOD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 22,  1827,  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Lybia  and  Julia 
(Minard)  Underwood.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Alpheus  Underwood,  a 
native  of  Munson,  Mass.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1817, 
locating  on  the  farm  now  known  as  the  Needham  Farm,  which  he  cleared  and 
improved,  and  on  which  he  lived  and  died.       His   family  consisted  of  seven 


CHARLESTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  617 

children:  Marcia,  Alvira,  Pamilla,  Lybia,  Freeman,  Albert  and  Eiam,  all  now 
deceased.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Champlin  Minard, 
who  settled  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  in  1817.  Lybia  Underwood, 
after  he  became  of  age,  settled  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  his  widow,  which 
he  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  was  thrice 
married.  By  his  first  wife,  Julia  Minard,  he  had  eight  children:  Mary  A. 
(deceased),  Juliet  (deceased),  William  P.,  Alpheus  H.,  Pamilla  (deceased), 
Elam,  Bruce  and  Walbridge  (deceased).  His  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Ruth  E. 
Baldwin,  nee  Minard.  By  Mai'ia  Edson,  bis  third  wife,  he  had  one  daughter 
— Pamilla,  wife  of  Charles  Maloy.  Lybia  Underwood,  who  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Brimfield,  serving  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many  years,  died  in 
1877.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  the  old  homestead,  and,  after 
he  became  of  age,  he,  in  company  with  his  brothers,  worked  his  father's  farm 
for  several  years.  He  was  married,  May  16,  1854,  to  Perces  C,  daughter  of 
Rufus  and  Martha  (Caris)  Huntley,  of  Brimfield,  by  whom  he  has  had  two 
children:  Harmon  E.  (deceased)  and  Vernon  E.  Mr.  Underwood  has  resided 
on  his  present  farm  since  1858.  He  has  filled  various  offices  in  the  gift  of  his 
township,  and  is  now  serving  his  third  term  as  Township  Trustee.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Democrat. 


CHARLESTOWN    TOWNSHIP. 

LUTHER  L.  BROWN,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  (Millman)  Brown,  who 
settled  in  Nelson  in  1806,  was  born  August  7,  1804,  and  came  to  Charlestown 
in  1830,  settling  one-half  mile  south  of  the  Center  on  the  King  farm; 
moved  to  the  Center  in  1840.  Among  the  residents  here  when  he  came  were 
Leverett  Norton,  H.  P.  Curtis,  John  Bill  and  William  Aull.  Mr.  Brown  built 
his  house  here  in  1840.  He  was  married,  October  25,  1829,  to  Minerva  E. 
Hall,  daughter  of  Joel  and  Elizabeth  Hall,  who  settled  here  in  1815,  coming 
from  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Brown  was  elected  first  Probate  Judge  and  served  two 
terms.  Under  the  old  State  law  he  was  Associate  Judge  of  the  county.  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  fourteen  years,  and  filled  all  the  town  offices.  Of  his  children, 
Julian  married  John  Holden,  February  25,  1855;  Sophia  M.  E.  married 
Spencer  B.  Morris,  April  29,  1860,  and  Arthur  L.  died  in  infancy.  Judge 
Brown  was  teacher  for  some  time  of  the  Center  School. 

THE  COE  FAMILY.  Capt.  David  L.  Coe  came  to  Charlestown  Town- 
ship, and  settled  one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  of  the  Center.  His  sons  were  Ran- 
som, Lyman,  Adna  and  Heman.  Claudius  L.  Coe  came  several  years  later, 
and  Sophia,  Sally,  Phoebe,  daughters  of  the  Captain,  also  came  at  that  time. 
Mrs.  Sarah  (Pratt)  Coe  came  from  Massachusetts  with  her  husband.  Ransom 
Coe  was  married,  October  1,  1825,  to  Rebecca  M.  Austin,  daughter  of  Nathan- 
iel Austin,  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  who  are  the  oldest  settlers  now  living  in  the 
town.  The  family  of  Coes  came  with  the  Hinckley  colony,  and  its  members 
were  among  the  very  first  settlers.  Heman  and  Rev.  Lyman  died  many  years 
ago;  Adna  and  Claudius  settled  just  north  of  the  David  Coe  homestead,  and 
their  representatives  reside  here  still.  The  house  erected  by  Capt.  Coe  is  the 
home  of  his  son  Ransom.  John  A.  Wadsworth,  who  died  May  1,  1884,  son  of 
Zenophon  Wadsworth,  of  Windham,  was  married  March  1, 1849,  to  Miss  Char- 
lotte, eldest  daughter  of  Ransom  Coe.  Mrs.  Wadsworth  still  resides  at 
Ravenna. 


618  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

CHARLES  CURTIS,  Sr.,  came  to  Charlestown  Township  with  the  Hinck- 
ley colony  accompanied  by  his  brothers,  Linus  and  Joel.  The  children  of 
Charles  Curtis,  Sr.,  were  Chauncey,  Charles  L.,  Henry,  Lewis,  Denis  (who  died 
about  1813),  Polly,  Lucretia,  Harriet,  Maria  and  Lucy.  Polly  married  Lev- 
erett  Norton,  still  living  in  Connecticut,  where  her  husband  died.  Lucretia 
married  Horatio  Austin,  and  after  his  death  was  married  to  Mr.  Hart.  She  died 
some  years  ago.  Harriet  married  Charles  Austin;  both  are  dead.  Chauncey  was 
married  to  Clarissa  Loomis,  subsequently  to  Mrs.  Barnes,  and  lastly  to  Mrs. 
Soule.  Charles  L.  married  Aurelia  Loomis,  in  February,  1825.  Charles  Curtis 
came  in  1811,  and  died  in  1813  from  disease  caught  at  Cleveland  while  serv- 
ing as  sutler.  The  old  homestead  is  opposite  the  Coe  homestead,  but  occupied 
by  the  Worden  family  now,  since  the  death  of  Chauncey  Curtis,  eight  years 
ago. 

CHARLES  L.  CURTIS,  son  of  Charles,  the  pioneer  settler,  was  born 
July  31,  1801,  and  married  in  February,  1825,  Aurelia  Loomis,  daughter  of 
Asa  Loomis,  Sr.,  who  was  born  April  17,  1798.  He  died  March  21,  1848. 
Mrs.  Curtis  died  August  25,  1873.  Their  children  are  Caroline  A.,  born 
April  17,  1834;  Charles  L.,  born  February  13,  1836;  Emerson  G.,  born  Novem- 
ber 2,  1838,  and  Austin  P.,  born  April  11, 1841.  Austin  P.  Curtis  married  Amelia 
H.  Bostwick  October  3,  1870.  His  children  are  Lewis  P.Curtis,  born  Decem- 
ber 30,  1871;  Ray  and  Zada.  (Ray  P.  Curtis  died  September  10,  1876).  He 
has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  about  twenty  years.  He  resides  on  the  old 
Curtis  lands  on  Lot  29. 

WILLIAM  FOX,  Jr.,  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Myers)  Fox,  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  was  born  August  16,  1829,  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  where  his  parents  had  settled  in  1811.  In  1833  the  family  moved  to 
this  county,  making  a  settlement  in  Charlestown  Township,  opposite  Alpheus 
Baldwin's  claim,  and  resided  in  the  neighborhood  until  the  death  of  William 
Fox,  Sr.,  March  15,  1853,  and  of  Mrs.  Fox,  Sr.,  November  28,  1877.  Mr.  Fox 
moved  to  Ravenna  in  1850,  and  to  Hiram  Township  in  1860,  where  he  pur- 
chased the  Mason  homestead  farm.  This  he  conducted  nineteen  years,  sold  to 
Mr.  Rice  in  1879,  and  moved  to  his  present  home  in  Augerburg  in  1879, 
where  he  purchased  the  Farnham  homestead  and  residence.  Mr.  Fox  was 
married  April  29,  1854,  to  Miss  Nancy  HcHenry.  He  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty- fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  through  the 
term.      He  holds  the  offices  of  Infirmary  Director  and  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

JOSEPH  LOOMIS,  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  came  to  Charlestown  Township 
shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  Hinckley  colony  in  1811,  and  resided  in  the 
town  until  his  death  in  1827.  Ralzimon  Loomis  arrived  here  shortly  after  the 
Hinckley  colony.  He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Loomis  above-mentioned.  His 
wife  was  Nancy  Colt,  of  Connecticut.  Willard  (died  after  coming  here),  Clarissa 
(married  Chauncey  Curtis),  and  Sophia  were  also  children  of  Joseph  Loomis. 
Asa  Loomis,  a  nephew  of  Joseph  Loomis,  came  in  1822  from  Connecticut, 
and  in  1823  settled  just  west  of  the  present  Lewis  Loomis  farm.  His  children, 
who  came  with  him,  were  Eliza.who  married  Andrew  Haymaker;  Lewis,  who  mar- 
ried Charity  Hough,  of  Atwater,  April  3.  1833;  Beulah,  who  died  about  twen- 
ty-five years  ago;  Martha,  who  married  Mr.  Richards,  of  Garrettsville;  Mary, 
who  married  R.  Hinman,  of  Edinburg  Township;  Harriet,  who  married  Henry 
Woodruff,  of  Trumbull  County,  and  Abigail,  who  married  Denison  Bostwick, 
of  Edinburg  Township.  Of  the  children  born  here  Cornelius  was  married  to 
Milly  IMoore,  daughter  of  Zebina  Moore,  of  Franklin,  October  21,  1850. 
Uriah  B.  Loomis,  now  residing  on  the  homestead,  was  married  to  Elizabeth 
Boly,  daughter  of  David  Boly,  of  Rootstown;  Addison  Loomis,  now  of  Clair- 
mont,  Iowa,  and  Addison  (first)  Loomis,  who   died  in  youth. 


J,    Mr(^^^^^-^j 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  621 

LEWIS  LOOMIS,  son  of  Asa  Loomis,  was  born  in  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.,  in  1809,  came  with  his  parents  to  Charlestown  Township  in  1822,  and 
was  married  to  Miss  Charity  Hough,  of  Atwater,  April  3,  1833.  In  1834  he 
purchased  his  present  farm  on  Lot  35,  from  Sheldon  Farnham.  His  children 
are  Martin,  married  to  Amorett,  daughter  of  Chester  Howard,  of  Aurora; 
Cornelia,  married  to  Henry  Gilmore;  Amna,  married  to  John  Whitney,  of 
Freedom  Township. 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 


M.  BOSWORTH,  miller  and  farmer,  P.  O.  North  Benton,  Mahoning 
Co.,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in  1846;  son  of  Thomp- 
son and  Annie  (Curtis)  Bosworth,  a  pioneer  family  of  Trumbull  County, 
where  the  former  died  in  1849.  They  were  parents  of  three  children,  two  of 
whom  are  now  living — Mark  and  Thompson.  The  widow  and  her  family  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  where  our  subject 
received  his  primary  education  and  grew  to  manhood.  He  was  married  in 
1871  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  Hartzell,  of  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, this  county.  By  this  union  there  are  the  following  children  now  living: 
John,  Delmer  and  Charles  Eosco,  the  latter  born  January  8,  1885.  Mr.  Bos- 
worth became  associated  with  D.  Lazarus  in  the  milling  business  in  1876, 
which  partnership  still  continues.  He  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party.     A  member  of  the  Presbyterian   Church  of  Benton. 

H.  E.  DAY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Maho- 
ning River,  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  November  23,  1804.  His 
grandfather,  Lewis  Day,  with  Mr.  Ely  and  Daniel  Diver,  came  to  this  county 
in  1799,  subsequently  returned  to  the  East,  but  came  back  here  in  1800, 
bringing  their  families,  and  were  the  first  to  settle  in  Deerfield  Township. 
The  Day's  settlement  was  east  of  the  Center,  and  there  two  generations  have 
lived  and  passed  away.  Munn  and  Lucy  (Ely)  Day,  the  parents  of  our  sub- 
ject, were  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  respectively,  and  were 
parents  of  eight  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried, first  in  1830,  to  Miss  Minerva  Scranton,  of  Atwater,  who  died  in  1838, 
leaving  three  children:  Dudley  M.,  born  on  the  homestead  in  1831,  and  who 
married  Miss  Mary  Smith,  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1856  (have  three 
children);  Edgar  M.,  and  Lucy  H,  wife  of  A.  M.  Crosser.  Mr.  Day  was  mar- 
ried on  the  second  occasion  to  Miss  Martha  Wakefield,  of  New  York  State, 
who  bore  him  four  children:  Ewing  W.,  who  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Sixty-fifth 
Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantiy.  and  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Stone 
River;  Louisa,  wife  of  Charles  Newton;  Laura  E.,  wife  of  F.  Hart- 
zall;  and  Heman  L.  Mr.  Day  was  engaged  in  the  tannery  erected  in 
Deerfield  by  Jesse  Grant,  father  of  Gen.  Grant,  with  whom  he  had  pleasant 
business  associations.  Our  subject  is  Trustee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  of  which  he  has  been  a  consistent  member  for  many  years. 

SAMUEL  DIVER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  on  the  homestead 
fai-m  at  Deerfield  Center,  January  16,  1817;  son  of  John  and  Christena  (Hart- 
zall)  Diver,  whose  history  appeal's  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Our  subject  was 
married  in  this  county  in  1840,  to  Miss  Miriam,  daughter  of  Peter  Mason,  a 
pioneer  of  this  county,  and  of  which  she  is  a  native.     The  children  born  to 


622  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

this  union,  who  are  all  living,  are  as  follows:  Mary  P.,  wife  of  Charles  Shaef- 
fer;  Kosella,  wife  of  Oliver  Mowen;  Alvira,  wife  of  A.  McGowan;  and 
Almira,  wife  of  I.  Hartzell.  Mr.  Diver  has  a  farm  of  110  acres  on  which  he 
settled  in  1840,  and  which  he  has  brought  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
He  may  be  said  to  be  a  model  farmer,  and  a  true  type  of  pioneer  stock.  The 
family  is  noted  for  its  industry,  all  the  members  having  borne  a  part  in  clear- 
ing the  lands  and  beautifying  their  homes.  JNIr.  Diver  is  a  member  of  the 
Disciples  Church.   In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  Republican  principles. 

JOSEPH  DIVER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
oldest  pioneer  families  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  was  born 
in  1823.  His  grandfather,  Daniel  Diver,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  who  along 
with  Lewis  Day  and  Mr.  Ely  traded  for  a  large  tract  of  land,  divided  it  into 
lots,  put  the  tickets  into  a  hat  and  made  a  drawing  of  same,  Daniel  Diver 
securing  the  center.  Here  the  family  made  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness  in 
1801,  and  around  their  cabin  home  sprang  up  a  prosperous  village.  John 
Diver,  of  Blandford,  Mass.,  father  of  our  subject,  resided  with  his  father  and 
assisted  him  to  clear  the  land.  About  1834  he  erected  the  "Diver  House" 
and  conducted  the  hotel  nearly  to  the  close  of  his  life.  He  carried  the  mail  on 
horseback  between  Cleveland  and  Pittsburgh,  having  to  pass  through  eighteen 
miles  of  wilderness.  On  one  occasion  he  found  a  man  left  by  a  brook  to  die, 
took  him  home,  and  by  careful  attention  saved  his  life.  He  was  married  on 
first  occasion  to  Miss  Laura  Ely,  who  bore  him  three  children,  of  whom  Osman 
only  survives.  His  second  marriage  was  with  Christena  Hartzell,  by  whom  he 
had  nine  children,  of  whom  are  now  living  Samuel;  Polly,  wife  of  William 
Spires;  Joseph;  and  Christena,  wife  of  N.  Gillis.  He  lived  to  attain  the  age 
of  eighty-four  years,  and  when  he  died  left  each  of  his  children  a  small  farm 
with  which  to  begin  life.  Our  subject  was  married  in  1847,  to  Miss  Lucinda 
Wilcox,  a  native  of  Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  Eight  children  born  to 
this  union  are  all  living:  Edwin,  Ella,  Gertrude,  John,  Wallace,  Julia,  Minaie 
and  Eugene.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  proprietor  of  the  "  Diver  House,"  but 
subsequently  leased  it  and  devoted  himself  to  farming.  He  has  been  very 
successful  and  his  acres  have  accumulated  until  now  he  is  one  of  the  promi- 
nent farmers  and  landholders  in  the  township. 

WILLIAM  DUSTMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Berlin, 
Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  February  6,  1836;  son  of  Daniel  and  Catherine  (Good- 
man) Dustman,  natives  of  Mahoning  County,  where  they  still  reside,  and  par- 
ents of  the  following  children  now  living:  Jacob,  William,  Hannah  (wife  of 
Hugh  Swai-tz),  John,  Abraham,  Mary  Ann  (wife  of  C.  Harman),  Isaac,  Louisa 
(wife  of  E.  Harman).  The  maternal  grandfather,  John  Goodman,  and  paternal 
grandfather,  Jacob  Dustman,  were  among  the  early  founders  of  Berlin  Town- 
ship, Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  married  at  Berlin,  in  1860,  to 
Miss  Sarah  A. ,  daughter  of  Henry  Goodman,  by  whom  he  has  two  children — 
Milton  H.  and  Minnie  V.  In  1864  Mr.  Dustman  settled  on  his  farm  of  eighty 
acres  in  this  township,  also  retaining  the  ownership  of  his  farm  of  ninety 
acres  in  Mahoning  County.  He  has  served  in  several  ofl&cial  positions  in 
Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  He  advocates  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party;  is  a  citizen  highly  esteemed.  A  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 

MASON  GIBBS,  retired,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Worcester  County, 
Mass.,  in  1801;  son  of  Dolphin  and  Asineth  (Fay)  Gibbs.  The  family 
removed  to  Cheshire  County,  N.  H.,  where  the  parents  died.  Our  subject  was 
married,  October  31,  1835,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  Charles  Reed,  who  died 
June  19,  1880,  the  mother  of  two  children,  and  of  whom  the  only  survivor  is 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  623 

Julia,  who  is  living  at  hotiie  and  caring  for  her  aged  father.  Mr.  Gibbs 
came  West  in  18"2S,  and  located  at  Strongsville,  Cuyahoga  Co. ,  Ohio;  from 
there  he  moved  to  Deerlield,  this  county,  in  1881,  and  entered  into  mercantile 
trade  in  same  year.  This  he  carried  on  successfully  until  ISTI,  and  was  also 
largely  interested  in  stock-growing.  At  the  close  of  his  mercantile  career  his 
store  was  converted  into  a  dwelling,  one  of  the  neatest  and  most  ci-mmodious 
in  the  township.  Mr.  Gibbs  retired  from  all  active  pursuits  in  1883.  He  is 
Trustee  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  with  which  he  has  been  long 
identified. 

IRA  GILBERT,  farmer,  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Palmyra  Township,  this 
oounty,  in  1831,  son  of  James  and  Charlotte  (Cox)  Gilbert,  and  a  direct 
descendant  of  Sir  John  Gilbert,  of  England,  who  obtained  the  first  land  grant 
in  Connecticut  from  the  Crown.  The  parents  of  our  subject  settled  in  Pal- 
myra Township,  this  county,  in  1811,  where  they  lived  to  the  close  of  their 
lives.  Their  children  are  Everett,  Ira  and  Lucinda,  wife  of  David  Daniel. 
Our  subject  was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  in  1855,  in  Paris  Township, 
this  county,  to  Miss  Harriet,  daughter  of  John  Colwell,  of  this  county,  and 
who  died  in  1879.  She  was  the  mother  of  six  children,  four  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Frank,  John,  Frederick  and  Mary.  Mr.  Gilbert  married,  on  second 
occasion,  in  January,  1882,  Mrs.  Cynthia  Green,  daughter  of  George  and 
Polly  (Ward)  Carris,  of  Rootstown,  Ohio,  and  who  were  among  its  earliest 
pioneers.  "Mother"  Ward's  pond  was  named  after  one  of  Mrs.  Gilbert's  ances- 
tors. Mr.  Gilbert  has  been  a  resident  of  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  for 
forty  five  years.  His  present  farm,  comprising  155  acres,  was  first  settled  by 
Alva,  son  of  Judge  Day,  and  was  among  the  first  cleared  in  the  township. 
Our  subject  is  a  stanch  suj^porter  of  Democratic  principles,  and  one  of  the 
most  active  and  respected  citizens  of  Deerfield  Township. 

HENRY  HARTZELL  was  born  in  Northampton  County,  Penn.,  October  5, 
1801.  His  father,  John  Hartzell,  with  his  family,  moved  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Deerfield  in  1805,  and  after  living  for  some  time  in  a  log-house  he  burned 
brick  and  built  the  first  brick  house  in  the  township.  Of  the  ten  children  of 
the  family  at  this  date,  March  26,  1885,  there  are  only  two  living,  Henry  and 
Polly,  now  wife  of  Rev.  John  Shafifer.  Henry  Hartzell  remained  at  home 
until  twenty. three  years  of  age.  He  then  married  Miss  Annie  Sheets,  who 
died,  leaving  three  children.  They  are  still  living,  being  named  Simon,  Mary 
and  John.  His  second  wife  was  Miss  Jane  Smart,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
Three  sons,  Eli,  James  and  George,  and  two  daughters,  Annie  and  Lucy,  sur- 
vive her.  His  third  wife  was  Catherine  B.  Sullivan,  to  whom  he  was  man'ied 
October  19,  1848.  To  them  no  children  have  been  born.  Their  married  life 
is  yet  unbroken  by  death.  Mr.  Hartzell  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides,  in  the  southern  part  of  Deerfield,  in  1857,  on  which  years  ago  he 
erected  a  large  and  commodious  brick  residence,  and  when  eighty-one  years 
old — 1882 — planned  and  superintended  the  building  of  a  very  large  and  con- 
venient barn.  For  twelve  years  he  has  suffered  severely  from  varicose  ulcers 
upon  his  limbs,  but  in  body  and  mind  he  is  still  strong  and  vigorous.  In  the 
days  of  slavery  he  was  a  bold,  outspoken  anti-slavery  man,  bearing  the  brand 
of  an  "  Abolitionist."  Since  then  he  has  been  a  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  on  temperance  he  is  a  radical  Prohibitionist.  W^ithout  the  advan- 
tages of  education,  by  untiring  industry  he  has  been  a  successful  business 
man,  and  in  his  ripe  old  age,  with  bright  Christian  trust,  he  is  patiently  wait- 
ing for  the  end. 

MRS.  MARGARET  HARTZELL,  Deerfield,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Milton 
Township,   Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,   in   I8l6;  daughter  of   James  Parshall  and 


624  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Margaret  Baight,  a  pioneer  family  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  Our  subject 
was  united  in  marriage,  in  1841,  with  John  Hartzell,  a  native  of  Lancaster 
County,  Penn.,  who  at  fourteen  years  of  age  came  with  his  father  to  this 
county.  Here  he  grew  up,  and  by  industry  and  perseverance  accumulated 
sufficient  means  to  purchase  the  land  where  he  established  a  home  which 
stands  as  a  monument  to  his  memory.  He  died  September  1,  1873,  aged 
eighty  years,  eleven  months  and  twenty- five  days,  leaving  a  widow  and  two 
children — Anna  and  Mary,  the  latter  the  wife  of  Mark  Bosworth — to  mourn 
his  loss.  Mrs.  Margaret  Hartzell  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
North  Benton,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio. 

FRANK  HARTZELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  was  born  in  Deertield 
Township,  this  county,  September  14,  1838,  a  son  of  George  Hartzell,  who 
was  born  in  Deertield  Township,  May  12,  1811,  and  who,  with  his  father, 
William  Hartzell,  and  his  grandfather,  George  Hartzell,  settled  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  Deertield  Township  in  1807.  The  family  came  from  Bucks  County, 
Penn.  George  Hartzell,  father  of  our  subject,  was  married  to  Miss  Emily, 
daughter  of  Peter  Mason,  and  who  was  born  in  Deertield  Township,  in  1813. 
To  this  union  were  born  Sebra  W. ,  Frank  and  Lewis  D.  George  Hartzell 
died  April  5,  1881,  and  his  widow  now  resides  near  her  son.  Our  subject  was 
married,  July  8,  1875,  to  Miss  Laura  E.,  daughter  of  Heman  E.  Day,  and  a 
native  of  Deertield  Township,  this  county.  Three  children  have  been  born  to 
this  union,  all  now  living:  M.Cecelia,  H.  Augustus  and  G.  Nelson.  Mr.  Hartzell 
possesses  a  farm  of  133  acres.  He  is  a  man  of  enterprise  and  highly  esteemed 
by  all  who  know  him. 

JOHN  H.  HOFFMAN,  Deertield,  was  born  in  Northampton  County,  Penn., 
April  4,  18'.^3,  son  of  John  and  Maria  (Siegfried)  Hoffman,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Their  living  children  are  John  H.,  James  J.,  Henry  E.,  Michael 
S.  and  Amanda.  The  father  died  in  1879,  aged  eighty-three  years;  the 
mother  is  now  in  her  eightieth  year.  Our  subject  learned  the  tinsmith's  trade 
and  settled  at  Reading,  Penn.,  where  he  was  married  in  1847,  to  Miss  Rosan- 
nah  Baker,  a  native  of  Reading,  Berks  Co.,  Penn.,  and  to  this  union  were 
born  three  children,  now  living:  Mary  A.,  wife  of  J.  N.  Gibbons,  Wintield 
S.,  who  is  engaged  in  the  tin  and  stove  trade  at  Alliance,  and  Josephine,  wife 
of  Edwin  J.  Day.  Mr.  Hoffman  settled  in  Deertield,  this  county,  in  1858, 
and  in  18G2  as  a  substitute  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Union  Army,  in  Company 
F,  Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Arkansas  Post,  Grand  Gulf,  Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hill, 
Black  River  Bridge  and  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  from  which  point  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  and  returned  to  his  home  in  Deertield,  Portage  Co. ,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Hoffman  has  served  as  Constable  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  Deertield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  and  for  eighteen  years  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He 
frequently  attends  the  German  Reformed  Church  in  his  native  State.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  cast  his  tirst  ballot  in  the  old  Whig 
party,  for  Henry  Clay. 

H.  D.  HUTSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  was  born  in  Paris  Township,  this 
county,  August  4,  1827,  son  of  Lazarus  and  Minerva  (Laughlin)  Hutson.  the 
former  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Juniata  River,  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  a 
native  of  Deertield  Township,  this  county,  and  a  daughter  of  James  Laughlin, 
who  erected  the  tirst  grist-mill  on  the  Mahoning  River,  and  died  in  Deertield 
Township  in  1852,  aged  eighty  years.  The  children  born  to  this  union  now 
living  are  Hiram,  Homer,  Henry  and  H.  D.  In  1852  our  subject  began  his 
career  in  life  as  a  pilot  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  between  Pitts- 
bui-gh  and  New  Orleans.     At  the  breakins  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  entered  the 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  625 

service  as  pilot  of  the  Mississippi  squadron,  assigned  to  the  brig   "Restless  " 
subsequently  was  put  in   charge  of  the  repair   boat   "Swallow,"  and  was  so 
engaged  at  No.  10,  Fort  Pillow,  Memphis  and  Vicksburg,  where  he  was  taken 
sick  and  confined  in  hospital  for  three  months,  during  which  time  his  vessel 
was  destroyed  by  the  Rebels.     On  his  recovery  he  took  his  position  on  the 
"  W.  H.  Brown"  dispatch  boat,  and  had  charge  as  pilot  of  the  "Benton"  on 
her  memorable  trip  on  the  Yazoo  River,  and  participated  in  the  battle  at  Fort 
Donelson.     His   service  terminated   with  the  close  of   the   war.      He  subse- 
quently purchased  a  share  in  a  steamer  which  he  commanded  seven  years  sue 
cessfully,  and  disposed  of  it  in  1875,  then  came  to  this  countv,  settlino-  on  his 
present  farm  of  150  acres.     He  is  the  founder  of  and  interest'ed  in  the^Hutson 
Coal  Company.   Mr.  Hutson  was  married,  in  1862,  to  Miss  Charlotte  C  Vaughn 
a  native  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  child— Charles 
W.  H.— who  died  in  1876.     Our  subject  has  served  the  township  as  Trustee 
He  18  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

JOHN  W.  JONES,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  a  successful  and  progressive  farmer 
was  born  m  North  Wales,  in  1818.  His  parents,  William  and  Ann  Jones' 
immigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1831  and  settled  in  Pittsburgh  where 
the  father  died;  they  had  a  large  family,  eight  of  whom  came  to  this  country. 
Our  subject  had  no  educational  advantages  and  early  learned  to  labor.  He 
worked  at  the  big  hammer  in  the  mills  at  Pittsburgh,  and  by  close  economy 
and  perseverance  was  enabled  to  save  something  from  his  hard  earned  wages 
He  was  married  in  that  city,  May  2,  3839,  to  Miss  Mary  GriflBth,  a  native  of 
Maryland  and  of  Welsh  descent.  Mr.  Jones  came  to  Deeriield  Township,  this 
county,  m  1853,  and  located  on  his  present  farm  (of  which  he  is  now  the 
owner)  comprising  tifty  acres  of  good  productive  land.  He  has  erected  a  fine 
commodious  residence,  and  made  all  the  improvements  necessary  to  a  first-class 
farm.  Our  subject  gave  his  services  to  the  Union  Army  in  1862,  enlisting  in 
the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty -fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  After  a  sei-vice 
of  over  ten  months  he  was  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  sickness  occa- 
sioned by  exposure.     Politically  he  supports  the  Republican  ticket. 

JOHN  LAZARUS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Northampton 
County,  Penn.,  June  22, 1804;  son  of  Frederick  and  Christena  Hartzell,  natives 
of  that  county.  This  family  pioneered  its  way  west,  in  1807,  traveling  through 
the  wilderness  to  Ellsworth,  from  whence  a  road  had  to  be  cut,  and  they 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  Deerfield  Township.  Their  living  chil- 
dren are  Joseph,  John,  George,  Annie,  Mary  and  Betsey.  Our  subject  was 
married  in  Trumbull  County,i  Ohio,  in  1829,  to  Miss  Isabella  Moore,  who 
died  m  1855,  the  mother  of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living-  Sarah 
wife  of  F.  Kirkbright,  and  Mary,  wife  of  Joshua  Hartzell.  Mr.  Lazarus  owns 
a  farm  of  160  acres  on  which  he  settled  after  marriage.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Benton.  In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican 
party.  ^ 

DANIEL  LAZARUS,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Lazarus  &  Bosworth,  mil- 
lers, P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1839 
^^^?^^^°^'^^'  ^  ^^*'^'®  °^  Pennsylvania,  and  Jane  (Craig)  Lazarus,  a  native 
o±  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  of  which  place  the  latter' s  parents  were  among 
the  earliest  pioneers.  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1865,  to  Miss  Drusilla 
daughter  of  Thompson  Bosworth.  They  are  the  parents  of  the  following 
children  now  living:  Effie  and  Mary.  Mr.  Lazarus  is  the  senior  partner  of 
the  above  firm,  which  operates  a  mill  erected  by  him  in  1872,  on  the  site  of  a 
structure  built  in  1822,  by  Peter  Lazarus,  and  adjoins  a  saw-mill  erected  in 
J«lb,  the  first  built  m  Deerfield  Town.ship.     The  present  mill  is  provided  with 


626  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

two  run  of  buhrs,  and  has  a  capacity  of  sixty  bushela  of  wheat  and  200  of 
feed  per  diem.  Our  subject  is  an  officer  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Benton,  and  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  citizen  and  neighbor. 

H.  S.  LOOMIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  December  12,  1834;  son  of  Harlow  and  Maria  (Ward)  Loomis,  the 
former  born  in  Wallingford,  Conn.,  in  1798,  the  latter  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, in  1808,  a  daughter  of  Josiah  Ward.  These  families  were  among  the 
earliest  pioneers  to  settle  in  Randolph,  Josiah  Ward  coming  in  1803.  The 
parents  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  combating  the  privations  and  hardships  of  pio- 
neer life  to  see  as  the  re.sults  of  their  labor  the  fields  to  bloom  and  ripen  with 
abundance.  Of  their  children  five  are  living:  Alfred,  a  resident  of  Washing- 
ton Territory;  Celinda,  wife  of  William  Brocket;  H.  S. ;  Sardis  and  Albert  H. 
Stephen  J.,  the  fifth  child  in  the  family,  enlisted  during  the  late  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was 
killed  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
and  was  married,  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in  1860,  to  Miss  Malinda 
Wise,  a  native  of  Greentown,  Ohio.  Four  children  were  born  to  this  union 
all  now  living:  Alva  A.,  Stephen  W.,  Rose  B.  and  Humbert  H.  Mr.  Loomis 
has  always  been  industrious,  and  very  successful,  and  as  the  results  of  his 
many  years  of  labor  has  a  fine  farm  of  242  acres  in  Deerfield  Township, 
which  he  is  continually  improving.  The  family  are  highly  respected  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

A.  MARSH,  proprietor  of  flax-mill,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  England, 
in  1827;  son  of  Emanuel  and  Anna  Marsh.  He  immigrated  to  the  United  States 
in  1849  and  located  at  Waterford,  N.  Y.,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade.  Four 
years  later  he  removed  to  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  was  employed  at  various 
places  until  his  coming  to  Deerfield,  this  county,  in  1864.  He  operated  a  mill 
in  Deerfield  Township  (since  destroyed),  and  in  1876  came  into  possession  of 
his  present  mill,  originally  built  by  Peter  Lazarus  in  about  1840.  It  has  now 
a  capacity  of  turning  out  3,000  pounds  of  flax  per  day,  which  is  marketed  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Indiana.  Mr.  Marsh  has  made  his  investment  successful.  He 
was  married,  in  Waterford,  N.  Y.,  in  1850,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Wright,  a  native 
of  England,  by  whom  he  has  the  following  children:  Alice;  Giles  H.,  married 
to  Rhoda  Mahuran;  Flora  L.,  wife  of  P.  Case;  Emma;  Rose;  Mattie;  Minnie 
and  Frank.  Politically  Mr.  Marsh  supports  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.     His  family  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

BENJAMIN  D.  MISNER,  carpenter,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  is  a  native  of  Indi- 
ana County,  Penn.,  where  he  was  born  in  1819;  son  of  Benjamin  and  Eve 
(Ditch)  Misner,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1822  and  were 
among  the  early  pioneers  of  Mahoning  County,  where  the  father  died  in  1854 
They  reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  as  follows:  John,  Samuel,  David,  Jacob, 
George,  Benjamin  D. ,  Joseph,  Elizabeth,  Catherine  and  Eve.  Our  subject 
was  married,  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio-,  in  1861,  to  Miss  Caroline  A.  Hart- 
zell,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  has  borne  him  one  daughter — Mary  H. , 
wife  of  William  Wilson.  Mr.  Misner  came  to  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,, 
in  1862.  He  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  an  occupation  he  followed  through  life 
with  considerable  success,  and  as  the  fruits  of  his  industry  has  secured  the 
needed  comforts  for  his  old  age. 

ISAAC  MOTT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  one  of  the  oldest  native  residents,  was 
born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  May  10,  1812.  His  grandfather, 
Ezekiel  Mott,  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  was  among  the  pilgrims  of 
1807  to  Deerfield  Township,  where  he  cleared  a  farm  and  lived  to  the  close  of 
his  life.     Elijah  Mott  (father  of  our  subject)  was  born  during  the  Revolutionary 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  627 

war,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Annie  Rose,  who  bore  him  ten  children,  of 
whom  only  Sylvester  and  Isaac  survive.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried, in  Deertield  Township,  this  county,  April  17,  1884,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Jobes,  born  June  25,  1810.  Their  living  children  are  Cornelius,  married  to 
Miss  Carsou  (have  one  child — Ada);  Cornelia,  married  to  Samuel  Mell  (their 
children  are  Isaac,  Frank  and  Minnie).  In  1844  Mr.  Mott  settled  on  his 
present  farm  consisting  of  150  acres,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  Politically  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican. 

T.  R.  MOWEN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  May  14,  1824;  son  of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth  Mowen  (whose  record 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume).  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1844,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  B.,  daughter  of  Ephraim  B.  Hubbard  (deceased),  a  pioneer  of  Deer- 
field  Township,  this  county.  To  this  union  there  was  boi-n  one  son — -Walter 
E.,  married  to  Miss  Alice,  daughter  of  Stephen  Randall,  by  whom  he  has  one 
son — Don  T.  Mr.  Mowen  came  to  this  county  in  1844,  settling  in  Deertield 
Township.  In  1858  he  purchased  his  present  estate,  com  prising  seventy 
acres,  and  his  farm  is  well  improved  and  ably  managed  by  himself  and  son. 
Mr.  Mowen  is  a  Deacon  in  the  Disciples  Church. 

OLIVER  P.  MOWEN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  was  born  at  Fredericks- 
burg, Ohio,  April  25,  1843;  son  of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth  (Rudicill)  Mowen, 
the  former  born  September  11,  1792,  at  Hagerstown,  Md.,  on  the  tield  where 
the  battle  of  Antietam  was  subsequently  fought,  and  died  at  Fredericksburg 
April  8,  1845.  The  latter  is  a  native  of  Springtield,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio, 
where  she  was  born  April  21,  1797,  of  German  descent.  She  is  now  in  the 
eighty-eighth  year  of  her  age.  She  is  the  mother  of  ten  children.  Our  sub- 
ject enlisted  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred 
and  Fourth  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  participated  in  the  efforts 
made  to  repulse  John  Morgan  when  he  ventured  on  his  raid  through  Ohio,  and 
was  discharged  on  account  of  sickness  December  9,  1862.  He  was  married,  in 
1869,  to  Miss  Rosella,  daughter  of  Samuel  Diver  and  a  native  of  Deertield 
Township,  and  by  this  union  there  is  one  child  living — Mabel.  Their  eldest 
child,  Sammy,  born  October  15,  1872,  died  after  a  brief  illness  July  8,  1874. 
In  1870  Mr,  Mowen  settled  on  his  present  farm  of  sixty  acres,  which  he  has 
greatly  improved  and  converted  into  one  of  the  neatest  homes  in  Deertield 
Township.  It  may  be  observed  that  it  is  the  same  farm  settled  on  by  Mrs. 
Mowen' s  grandfather,  Peter  Mason,  an  early  pioneer  of  Deertield  Township. 
Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  congregation  of  the  Disciples  Church;  he]  has 
served  as  Township  Assessor  for  two  years. 

HENRY  W.  MUERMAN,  tanner  and  currier,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  is  a  native 
of  Westphalia,  Prussia,  where  he  was  born  in  1838;  a  son  of  Charles  H.  and 
Sophia  S.  (Thierman)  Muerman,  both  deceased.  Of  their  children  four  came 
to  America,  of  whom  three  are  now  living:  Christian  A.,  in  1851,  President  of 
the  Board  of  Equalization,  also  engaged  in  the  insurance  business  at  Cleve- 
land; Harman,  in  1855,  proprietor  of  the  Burnet  Hotel,  Lima,  Stark  Co., 
Ohio;  and  Henry  W.  In  1853  our  subject  came  to  America  and  direct  to 
Deerfield,  this  county,  where  his  brothers.  Christian  and  Morris,  were  operat- 
ing a  tannery,  formerly  the  property  of  Dr.  Curtis.  It  was  built  about  1815,  by 
Jesse  Grant,  father  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant.  Our  subject  subsequently  leased  the 
tannery  of  his  brothers,  succeeding  them  in  the  business  in  which  he  has  since 
been  very  successful.  He  was  married  in  this  township  in  1862.  to  Miss  Jen- 
nie R.  Schaeffer,  a  native  of  Smithtown,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  and  has  three 
children  living  and  one  deceased.     Those  now  living  are  John  C,  Paul  M. 


628  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

and  Helen  E.  Charles  is  deceased.  Mr.  Mnerman  has  a  farm  of  forty-six 
acres,  which  he  conducts  in  addition  to  his  other  business.  He  is  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Christian  Church,  of  which  he  is  Deacon,  chorister  and  organ- 
ist.    He  is  well  and  favorably  known. 

CHARLES  PARHAM,  farmer,  P.  O.  Yale,  was  born  in  Dorsetshire,  En- 
gland, in  1817;  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Babcock)  Parham,  both  now 
deceased.  Our  subject  immigrated  to  this  country  in  1835,  and  located  in  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.,  where  he  learned  the  painter's  trade.  After  remaining  there  two 
years,  he  removed  to  Warren,  Trumbull  Co. ,  Ohio,  working  at  his  trade  there 
until  his  settlement  in  Deerlield  Township,  this  county,  in  1842.  At  this  time 
he  had,  by  careful  management,  saved  enough  to  purchase  twenty-five  acres  of 
land;  a  second  purchase  of  nine  acres  followed,  and  at  this  time  he  is  the 
possessor  of  a  farm  of  155  acres,  secured  by  his  own  industry  and  frugality. 
He  was  married  in  Warren,  Ohio,  June  2,  1840,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Davis,  who 
has  borne  him  six  children — Henry,  who  served  three  months  in  the  Union 
Army  during  the  late  Rebellion;  Albion,  who  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  killed  before  Atlanta,  Ga.,  during 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion;  Martha,  wife  of  N.  Dodge;  Sabina,  Hiram  and 
Frederick  C.  Mrs.  Parham  died  June  17,  1859,  and  on  August  4,  1861,  our 
subject  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Meads,  a  native  of  Brighton,  England,  by 
whom  he  has  one  son.,  John  M.,  married  to  Miss  Eliza  Kibler,  and  residing 
on  the  homestead.  Mr.  Parham  is  a  Trustee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  know  him. 

ANTHONY  REED,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  in  October,  1811,  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Middlesworth)  Reed;  for 
mer  born  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  the  latter  in  West  Virginia.  (Their  his- 
tory appears  in  another  portion  of  this  volume.)  The  family  settled  in  the 
southern  portion  of  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1812,  where  the  par- 
ents lived  to  the  close  of  their  lives.  Our  subject's  advantages  for  receiving 
an  education  were  very  limited,  and  his  father  realizing  this  fact,  erected  a 
log-schoolhouse,  in  which  he  taught  his  own  and  the  neighbors'  children  in 
his  spare  moments.  Anthony  resided  on  the  old  homestead  until  thirty  years 
of  age.  He  was  married  in  1842  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Lazarus,  a  native  of  Deer- 
field Township,  this  county.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  children 
— Amelia,  wife  of  William  R.  Shilliday  (have  four  children,  Maggie,  Arad, 
Mattie  and  Mary),  and  Mary,  widow  of  George  Ganze  (by  whom  she  had  two 
children,  Joel  and  Mabel),  and  who  is  residing  on  the  old  homestead  with  her 
children,  a  comfort  to  her  father  in  his  declining  years.  Mr.  Reed,  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  purchased  sixty-six  acres  of  land,  to  which  he  subse- 
quently added  until  he  is  now  owner  of  429  acres.  He  inherited  but  a  small 
amount  of  money,  and  his  accumulations  are  the  result  of  his  own  energy  and 
industry.     He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Chur.ch. 

JAMES  REED,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Brooke  County,  W. 
Va.,  in  1809,  a  grandson  of  Anthony  Middlesworth,  a  Hollander  by  birth, 
and  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Middlesworth)  Reed,  the  former  born  in  the 
State  of  Delaware  August  23, 1778;  the  latter  a  native  of  West  Virginia.  They 
had  a  family  of  twelve  children,  of  whom  eight  are  still  living.  The  family 
were  among  the  pioneers  of  this  county  of  1812,  and  settled  two  and  a  half 
miles  south  of  the  center  of  Deerfield  Township.  William  Reed  here  cleared 
eighty  or  ninety  acres  of  land  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  attaining 
the  ripe  age 'of  eighty-five  years.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  the  farm, 
receiving  the  limited  education  obtainable  in  that  early  day.  Being  reared  in 
the  wilderness  he  early  learned  to  swing  the  ax  and  to  toil  with  his  hands.    At 


^^^^^^ 


C^'-^-K^ 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  631 

the  age  of  twenty-OBe  he  began  the  struggle  of  life  for  himself,  and  by  per- 
severance, industry  and  frugality  he  accumulated  a  fine  estate,  comprising  over 
290  acres  of  land.  He  was  mai*ried  September  14,  1852,  to  Miss  Rebecca  A. 
McMillen.     The  family  are  connected  with  the  Presbvterian  Church. 

LINUS  REED,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerlield,  was  born  March  30,  1815,  in 
Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Middlesworth) 
Reed,  whose  history  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Our  subject  attended 
the  school  taught  by  his  father,  and  held  in  the  log-schoolhouse  erected  by  the 
latter,  and  resided  on  the  old  home  farm  until  his  marriage  in  1838,  in  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  with  Sarah  B.,  daughter  of  David  Swaine,  and  a  native  of  New 
Jersey.  To  this  union  were  born  two  children,  Mary  A.  (deceased)  and 
Ardelia.  Our  subject  is  a  self-made  man;  commencing  with  but  $50,  he  has 
accumulated  a  comfortable  competency.  He  taught  school  for  tifteeu  terms  at 
$12  per  month,  and  from  his  savings  made  his  first  purchase  of  land  at  $9  per 
acre;  for  his  next  purchase  he  paid  $30,  and  the  residence  which  he  is  now 
building  to  replace  one  destroyed  by  fire  will  cost  $1,800.  When  he  first  set- 
led  on  his  present  farm  it  was  covered  with  woods,  which  had  to  be  cut  away 
to  make  room  for  his  log-cabin.  His  first  purchase  was  twenty-six  acres,  to 
which  he  added  seventy-two,  and  he  has  also  bought  lands  elsewhere  which  he 
disposed  of  advantageously.  Mr.  Reed  is  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  Deer- 
field  Township.     He  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

MARK  B.  REGAL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  November  5,  1840, 
in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  John  and  Lucinda  (Laughlin) 
Regal,  who  are  among  the  oldest  living  pioneers  of  Deerfield  Township.  They 
were  parents  of  ten  children  and  have  sixteen  grand-children.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  brought  up  on  the  home  farm  and,  after  securing  an  educa- 
tion, for  several  years  worked  during  summer  and  taught  in  the  winter  seasons. 
He  was  married  in  1877,  to  Anna,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  Hartzell, 
and  widow  of  Miller  McGowan  (by  whom  she  had  five  children,  all  now  living: 
Lelia,  wife  of  James  Watson,  Margaret,  Alsora,  John  and  Gertrude).  The 
home  farm  consists  of  ]66  acres,  and  is  one  of  the  best  cultivated  and  improved 
in  the  township.      Mr.  and  Mrs.  Regal   are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

WILLIAM  M.  SHEFELTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in 
Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in  1831,  son  of  John  and  Jane  (French)  Shefelton, 
natives  of  Washington  County,  Penn.  His  grandfather,  John  Shefelton,  one 
of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  that  county,  along  with  his  son  crossed  the  moun- 
tains on  horseback  in  August,  1804,  securing  160  acres  of  land  in  Newton 
Township,  where  they  erected  a  shanty,  after  which  the  former  returned  East 
and  brought  back  his  family,  the  son  remaining  in  the  cabin  through  the  win- 
ter and  living  on  the  results  of  his  hunting  expeditions.  John  and  Jane  Shef- 
elton, our  subject's  parents,  reared  a  family  of  eight  children,  seven  of  whom 
are  now  living:  George  J.,  Eliza,  Melissa,  Joseph  R.,  Alexander  F.,  Cynthia 
and  William  M.  Our  subject  enlisted  at  Newton  Falls  during  the  late  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  December  7,  1861,  in  Company  D,  Sixth  Regiment,  Ohio  Vol- 
unteer Cavalry,  and  participated  in  the  following  engagements:  Woodstock, 
Va.;  Mount  Jackson,  Va. ;  Harrisonburg;  Cross  Keys,  Va.  (these  four 
engagements  were  in  Jvine,  1862);  Luray,  Va.  (July  28,  1862);  Cedar  Moun- 
tain; second  Bull  Run,  Va. ;  Fredericksburg;  Kelly's  Ford,  Va. ;  Chancellors- 
ville;  Brandy  Station;  Middleburg,  Va. ;  South  Mountain,  Md.;  Hagerstown, 
Md. ;  Boonsboro;  Jones'  Cross  Roads,  Md. ;  Culpeper  Court  House,  Va., 
and  was  injured  by  his  horse  falling  on  him  while  charging  a  Rebel  battery  at 
Auburn  Mills,  Va. ,  October  14,  1863.  He  re-enlisted  in  the  veteran  service 
December  24,  1863,  and  was  in  the  following  engagements:     Malvern  Hill, 

33 


632  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Va.,  July  28,  1864;  Weldon  Kailroacl,  Va.,  August  21,  1864;  Boydstowu 
Plank  Road,  Va.,  October  27,  1864;  Hatcher's  Run,  Va.,  December  20,  1864; 
Hatcher's  Run,  Va.,  February  6,  1865;  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  Va.,  April  6. 
1865;  Appomattox  Court  House,  April  9,  1865,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the 
sti-uggle,  losing  his  health  from  injuries  and  exposures.  Mr.  Shefelton  pur- 
chased his  present  farm  of  159  acres  in  1866,  and  was  married  in  1867  to 
Miss  Deborah  Hartzell,  by  whom  he  has  had  four  children,  two  now  living 
— Hartzell  J.  and  Charles  R.,  now  (1885)  respectively  fifteen  and  seven  years 
of  age. 

J.  L.  SLxiCK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  was  born  in  Paris  Township,  Stark 
Co.,  Ohio,  in  1830;  son  of  Henry  and  Catherine  (Gardner)  Slack,  natives  of 
Bradford  County  and  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  respectively.  They  were  the  parents 
of  the  following  children:  John  G.,  Jesse  L.,  Andrew  J.  and  Louis  B.  The 
Slacks  were  among  the  earliest  pioneers  of  Stark  County,  the  father  of  our 
subject  being  but  two  years  of  age  when  he  left  Virginia  with  his  father.  Our 
subject  remained  on  the  homestead  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  went  to  New  Franklin,  Ohio,  and  served  a  thx^ee  years'  apprenticeship  to 
the  carpenter's  trade.  In  1860  he  purchased  a  small  farm  in  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, and  completed  a  partially  built  grist  and  saw-mill  on  the  Mahoning  River 
near  his  place.  These  industries  he  has  successfully  conducted  in  connection 
with  his  farm,  which  now  comprises  112  acres.  He  was  married  in  Deerfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1854,  to  Miss  Mary  M.,  daughter  of  Ephraim  B. 
Hubbard,  of  Deerfield  Township,  and  has  two  children  living:  Laura,  wife  of 
S.  F.  Henseman,  and  Helen  B.  Mr.  Slack  for  many  years  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Disciples  Cburch.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  though  originally 
identified  with  the  Whig  party. 

ISAAC  W.  SMITH,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this 
county,  July  11,  1832;  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret  (Wilson)  Smith,  the  latter 
a  native  of  Wilmington,  Del.;  the  former  a  native  of  Beaver  County,  Penn,,  was 
a  grandson  of  Isaac  Wilson,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  started  Joseph,  subject's 
father,  in  mercantile  trade  in  Deerfield,  which  he  "followed  to  the  close  of 
his  life.  He  also  engaged  in  milling,  and  was  one  of  the  enterprising  spirits 
of  the  early  times.  He  reared  a  family  of  four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
now  liviuo-:  Sarah  A.,  wife  of  John  Day;  Isaac  W.,  and  Susan,  wife  of  Friend 
Whittlesey.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married,  December  25,  1855,  to 
Miss  Cornelia  A  Betts,  a  native  of  Conaecticut.  To  this  union  three  children 
were  born,  all  of  whom  are  now  living:  Charles,  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Card 
(have  one  sou — Eddie);  Joseph  M.,  a  resident  of  Huron,  Dak.;  and  Jessie  M. 
Mr.  Smith  has  spent  the  most  of  his  life  in  Deerfield  Township.  In  April, 
1880,  he  obtained  a  contra,ct  with  the  Government  for  carrying  the  mails  from 
the  C,  Y.  &  P.  R.  R.  to  Deerfield,  which  duties  he  has  faithfully  performed 
and  has  never  missed  a  mail.  He  has  been  mostly  engaged  in  stock  dealing, 
and  has  crossed  the  Allegheny  Mountains  fourteen  times  with  stock.  He  was 
a  traveling  salesman  for  the  Champion  Machine  Company,  of  Springfield, 
Ohio,  for  five  years.  At  present  he  carries  on  the  only  livery  in  Deerfield,  and 
also  attends  to  his  mail  contract.  His  services  on  the  road  in  the  latter  capa- 
city have  made  for  him  many  friends,  and  by  the  children  he  is  well  and  favor- 
ably known  as  "Uncle  Ike."  Mr.  Smith  has  served  as  Constable  of  Deerfield 
Township. 

CHARLES  M.  SMITH,  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this 
county,  September  22,  1855;  son  of  Isaac  W.  and  Cornelia  A.  (Betts)  Smith. 
He  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  lived  on  the  homestead  until  his  marriage,  July 
10,  1879,  with  Miss  Lizzie,  daughter  of  Silas  and  Margaret  Card.     To  this 


DEER  FIELD  TOAVNSHIP.  6B3 

union  has  been  born  one  child — Edward  C.  In  1881  our  subject  became  asso- 
ciated, as  a  salesman,  in  the  house  of  John  G.  Preston,  with  whom  he  is  con- 
nected at  the  present  time.  He  has  won  hosts  of  friends  from  his  boyhood 
up,  bein;^  possessed  of  those  qualities  which  endear  him  to  all  who  know  him. 

ISAAC  ^y.  SMITH,  proprietor  of  the  Bartlett  House,  P.  O.  Deerlield,  was 
born  in  Smith  Township,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  May  1,  1850,  son  of  William 
and  Jane  (Trotter)  Smith.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  early  learned  to 
labor.  After  securing  an  education  he  accepted  a  position  as  salesman  at 
Kavenna,  Ohio,  with  his  brothers,  with  whom  he  remained  some  years.  Sub- 
sequently he  came  to  Deerlield,  aad  filled  a  similar  position  in  the  mercantile 
house  of  Wilson  &  Diver,  where  he  remained  until  his  purchase  of  the  Bart- 
lett House  in  1882.  Under  the  able  management  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  this 
hotel  has  gained  an  extended  reputation  throughout  the  State,  and  is  highly 
commended  by  the  traveling  public  for  its  clean  and  well-ventilated  rooms,  the 
abundance  of  the  table,  and  the  care  bestowed  upon  the  guests  by  the  host  and 
hostess,  who  strive  to  make  all  feel  at  home.  Our  subject  was  married,  Jwvm 
24,  1877,  to  Miss  Ella  L. ,  daughter  of  Joseph  Diver,  and  a  native  of  Deer- 
field. 

WILLIAM  P.  SPIERS,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in 
Steeple  Clayton,  Buckinghamshire,  England,  in  1820,  son  of  John  and 
Rebecca  Spiers,  whose  history  appears  in  this  volume.  He  has  been  a  resident 
of  Deerfield  Township  since  the  family  made  their  settlement  in  1833.  Mr. 
Spiers  served  an  apprenticeship  at  carriage-making,  and  worked  over  forty 
years  at  the  business,  but  subsequently  abandoned  his  trade  and  is  now  living 
a  retii'ed  life,  occupying  a  pleasant  residence  with  seventeen  acres  of  land. 
He  was  married  in  1846,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Diver,  a  native  of 
Deerfield.  To  this  union  two  children  were  born,  both  now  living:  Ethelbert 
B. ,  and  Emma,  married  to  Edward  Lazarus  (they  have  three  children:  Nellie 
A.,  Bertha  and  Lottie).  Mr.  Spiers  is  one  of  our  oldest  and  most  respected 
pioneers,  and  is  well  and  favorably  known. 

JOHN  SPIRES,  farmer  and  manufacturer,  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Buck- 
inghamshire, England,  December  13,  1800,  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann  (Perkins) 
Spires,  who  reared  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  John  and  James  being  the 
only  survivors.  The  parents  came  to  this  county  in  1833,  and  settled  in  Deer- 
field Township,  but  the  father  only  lived  about  thirty  days  after  his  arrival. 
The  mother  died  in  August,  1852.  Our  subject  came  to  America  in  1832,  stayed 
one  year  in  New  York,  and  then  followed  his  parents  to  Deerfield  Township, 
this  county,  where  he  began  the  struggle  of  life  empty-handed  But  he  was 
sagacious,  frugal,  ambitious,  full  of  energy,  and  blessed  with  a  rugged  consti- 
tution. He  was  married,  in  1820,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Parker,  a  native  of  Buck- 
inghamshire, England,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children,  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing: William  P.,  James,  Ann  P.  Eddy  (in  Racine,  Wis.),  Hannah,  Richard, 
Thomas  J.  and  John  A.  Mrs.  Spires  died  in  1881.  Our  subject  in  1837  was 
enabled  to  purchase  thirty-five  acres  of  land.  He  now  owns  about  100  acres 
in  Deerfield  Township  and  900  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county.  The  pot- 
tery at  Atwater,  Ohio,  carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  John  Spires  &  Sons, 
was  purchased  of  the  administrators  of  the  late  W.  F.  Burns  in  1880.  His 
first  enterprise  was  to  supply  a  pottery  at  Limaville,  Stark  County,  with  clay, 
in  the  year  1849.  In  the  same  year  he  built  a  saw-mill  on  Yellow  Creek  in 
Deerfield,  which  was  used  twenty-one  years.  It  was  then  moved  to  its  present 
site  in  Atwater,  where  it  is  now  run  by  the  firm.  Mr.  Spires,  thouo-h  well 
advanced  in  age,  enjoys  the  best  of  health.  During  his  residence  here  he  has 
cleared  500  acres  of  land,  most  of  which  is  under  cultivation. 


634  BIOGRAPFnCx\L  SKETCHES: 

FREDERICK  D.  TIBBALS,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  homestead  farm  in 
Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  November  24,  1S25,  son  of  Alfred  M.,  born 
in  Granville,  Mass..  August  14,  1797,  and  Martha  (Swim)  Tibbals,  born  in 
Burlington,  N.  J.,  November  26,  1800.  They  were  married  January  20,  1820, 
and  were  the  parents  of  four  sons,  all  now  living:  John  L.,  Frederick  D.,  Cui'- 
tis  and  Newell  D.  Alfred  M.  Tibbals  was  killed  by  a  falling  tree  February 
26,  1858.  His  widow,  though  now  advanced  in  years,  is  strong  and  vigorous 
in  mind  and  body.  The  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Moses  and  Ruth 
(Spelman)  Tibbals,  the  former  born  August  6,  1767,  the  latter  March  24, 
1773.  They  were  married  April  18,  1790,  and  in  1804  they  came  to  Deerfield 
Township,  this  county,  from  (irranville,  Mass.,  bringing  with  them  a  team  of 
oxen  and  a  favorite  cow.  They  settled  on  land  still  occupied  by  their  poster- 
ity, cleared  a  space  in  the  wilderness,  and  erected  a  rude  hut,  in  which  they 
lived  until  the  brick  house  was  built  in  1816,  and  which  is  in  use  at  this  time. 
Moses  Tibbals  secured  several  hundred  acres  of  land  from  Granger  &  Phelps, 
but  subsequently  disposed  of  all  but  160  acres.  The  parents  on  both  sides  are 
deceased  and  buried  in  Deerfield.  The  Tibbals  are  of  English  descent,  the 
first  of  this  name  settling  in  Massachusetts.  Our  subject  was  married,  Novem- 
ber 15,  1858,  to  Miss  Celia  A.,  daughter  of  Peter  Mason,  a  native  of  Deerfield, 
who  died  June  4,  1881,  aged  fifty-one  years.  Mr.  Tibbals  is  mostly  engaged 
in  stock  dealing. 

WILCOX  FAMILY.  It  is  impossible  to  trace  the  genealogy  of  the  Wil- 
cox family  to  a  veiy  remote  period,  not  farther  than  1745,  at  which  time  Abel 
Wilcox,  a  resident  of  Connecticut,  moved  from  Hebron,  that  State,  to  Sanders- 
field,  Mass.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Susannah  Hall.  To  them  were  born 
six  children:  Abel,  Abijah,  Jerusha,  Hetty,  Susannah  and  William.  Abel, 
Jr.,  was  united  in  marriage  with  Lois  Chamberlain,  of  East  Windsor,  Conn. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  three  children:  Amos,  Abel  and  Jerusha.  When 
quite  advanced  in  life  he  with  his  family  removed  to  Erie  County,  Penn., 
where  he  remained  until  his  death.  Abijah,  the  second  son,  was  drowned. 
William,  the  youngest  son  of  Abel  and  Susannah  Wilcox,  was  born  in  San- 
dersfield,  Mass.,  August  7,  1777.  February  23,  1803,  he  married  Lucinda 
Gibbs,  of  East  Windsor,  by  whom  he  was  the  father  of  seven  girls  and  five 
boys.  Austatia,  born  July  27,  1805,  died  April  27,  1806.  George,  a  bright 
and  promising  youth,  born  March  22,  1811,  died  July  29,  1821,  aged  ten  years. 
The  remaining  children  lived  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  all  settled  in  Ohio 
and  became  heads  of  families.  In  1816  William  Wilcox  sold  his  farm  to  a 
man  named  Granger,  who  had  previously  been  to  Ohio  and  "taken  up"  several 
hundred  acres  of  land  lying  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State,  near  where 
the  city  of  Akron  now  stands.  William  Wilcox,  highly  pleased  with  Gran- 
ger's description  of  this  land  and  of  the  surroundings,  bought  it  before  see- 
ing the  property.  They  packed  their  goods,  not  for  passage  by  railroad,  but 
for  passage  by  wagon  behind  ox  teams,  and  started  for  their  Western  home. 
The  teams  consisted  of  three  yoke  of  oxen,  besides  one  horse;  these  drew  two 
heavily  laden  wagons.  Among  the  things  in  them  were  200  pounds  of  wool, 
which  Mrs.  Wilcox  carded,  spun,  and  in  two  summers  had  woven  into  cloth. 
After  due  preparation,  she  made  it  into  garments  for  family  use.  The  journey 
through  the  wilderness — for  it  was  forest — was  long  and  tedious.  At  one  time 
they  were  delayed  a  week  by  the  illness  of  one  of  the  children,  and  an  acci- 
dent to  Mr.  Wilcox,  whereby  he  hurt  his  knee,  also  detained  them.  Forty-one 
days  from  the  time  they  left  Massachusetts  they  arrived  at  their  destination. 
They  were  sadly  disappointed  when  they  saw  the  land,  for  it  was  not  what  it 
had  been  represented.     Granger  at  that  time  had  a  brother  living  in  Deerfield, 


DEERFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  635 

Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  and  there  was  an  exchange  made  between  him  and  Mr. 
Wilcox,  but  not  without  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  Wilcox,  and  early  in  the 
spring  of  1818  they  left  for  Deerfield,  their  future  home.  This  property,  sit- 
uated in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township  on  the  Mahoning  River,  they  were 
well  satisfied  with,  and  Mr.  Wilcox  said,  "I  have  blundered  on  a  good  farm." 
Mr.  Wilcox's  health  failed,  and  Juno  22,  1828,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one,  his 
spirit  returned  to  God  who  gave  it.  His  remains  rest  in  the  cemetery  in 
Deerfield.  Mrs.  Wilcox  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-eight  years, 
dying  September  16,  1862.  A  noble  Christian  woman.  She  sleeps  by  the  side 
of  her  companion.  Seneca,  son  of  Lucinda  and  William  WMlcox,  born  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1804,  was  married  to  Samantha  Wilson,  of  Palmyra,  June  22,  1830 
(to  them  were  born  seven  children:  Desire,  Emeline,  Caroline,  Lucinda,  John, 
Cornelia  and  Melissa).  He  died  November  23,  1863.  Julia,  born  February 
17,  1807,  widow  of  Riley  Halleck  (she  was  married  November  15,  1827,  and 
became  the  mother  of  eleven  children:  Gibbs,  Louisa,  William,  Lucy  Ann, 
Marion,  Joel,  Betsey,  Erwin,  Harriet,  Elijah  and  Benjamin).  Emily  was 
born  April  18,  1809,  widow  of  Jesse  Rogers,  married  March  25,  1832  (seven 
children  were  the  result  of  this  union:  Eliza,  Edwin,  Linus,  Maria,  Henry, 
Harriet  and  Alice.)  Harriet,  born  December  17, 1814,  widow  of  Caleb  Steele, 
married  June  26,  1836  (at  present  she  resides  in  Alliance);  William  L.,  born 
April  16,  1817,  died  August  5,  1851,  was  married  to  Clarissa  Sheets,  of  Ber- 
lin (they  had  two  children,  daughters);  Newell  D.,  born  May  15,  1819,  mar- 
ried December  16,  1841,  to  Amelia  Hall,  of  Palmyra  (two  sons,  Wallace  and 
Curtis,  were  the  fruits  of  this  marriage),  died  March  1,  1881;  Mary  M. ,  born 
August  22,  1821  (married,  November  12,  1845,  to  Linus  Sheets,  of  Berlin, 
Ohio  (the  result  of  this  union  was  seven  children:  Maria,  Newell,  Clara, 
Emma,  Warren,  Eddie  and  Ellen),  she  died  January  20,  1878;  Lucinda,  born 
February  8,  1824,  married  Joseph  Diver,  of  Deerfield,  November  26,  1846  (of 
their  children,  eight  are  living:  Edwin,  Ella,  Gertie,  John,  Wallace,  Julia, 
Minnie  and  Eugene),  died  March  4,  1877;  Clarissa,  born  December  27,  1825, 
was  married  March  8,  1849,  to  Elias  Mowen,  of  Deerfield  (their  children  are: 
Alma,  Marsha.  Ursula,  Judson  and  Wealthy).  Alexander  H.  Wilcox,  born  in 
Sandersfield,  Mass.,  November  27,  1812,  acquired  what  education  he  could  in 
the  log-schoolhouse.  Bereft  of  a  father's  care  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  turned 
his  energies  to  the  trades  of  carpenter  and  joiner.  Now,  at  the  age  cf  seven- 
ty-two years,  be  displays  his  genius  by  inventing  a  patent  fence,  which  is  prov- 
ing a  success.  Mr.  Wilcox  has  built  bridges  over  the  Mahoning  River,  and  has 
erected  many  dwellings  (the  first  house  he  built  was  one  done  without  recom- 
pense for  his  widowed  mother).  Of  the  incidents  of  note  that  have  trans- 
pired during  his  life  was  the  capture  of  two  horse  thieves;  one  he  captured  at 
Georgetown,  the  other  at  Deerfield.  He  returned  both  horses  in  the  possession 
of  the  thieves  to  their  owners,  and  received  a  reward  of  $50  for  the  last  one 
taken.  He  Avas  married  in  1837  to  Betsey,  daughter  of  John  Diver,  w^ho  died 
August  6,  1850,  leaving  six  children:  Julia  A.,  born  February  17,  1838  (she 
was  married  November  24,  1858,  to  William  B.  Wilson,  of  Palmyra;  died 
April  5,  1872);  Harriet  L. ,  born  September  6,  1839,  widow  of  Henry  Carver, 
married  August  4,  1867;  George  A.,  born  October  2, 1841,  married,  October  3, 
1866,  to  Calista  E.  Kibler,  of  Palmyra;  Joseph,  born  July  20,  1843,  a  young 
man  with  bright  prospects,  died  at  his  home  May  16,  1865,  in  his  twenty- 
second  year;  William  B.,  born  May  20,  1845,  married  Adelia  Haines,  of  Deer- 
field, March  4,  1879;  Susan  C,  born  January  11,  1847,  died  September  5, 
1850;  Charles  E.,  born  August  5,  1849,  married  to  Ida  Packer  September  28, 
1872.     Mr.  Wilcox  was  married,  on  second  occasion,  in  1851,  to  Adaline  Bar- 


630  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

rack,  of  Maryland,  by  whom  be  lias  had  three  children:  Sarah,  born  November 
20,  1851,  died  November  3,  1861;  Cornelius,  born  June  7,  1853;  James  B., 
born  March  20,  1856,  married  July  2,  1882,  to  Susanna  Shively,  of  Deerfield. 
Mr.  Wilcox  is  among  the  few  living  pioneers  of  this  tovpnship.  In  politics  he 
is  a  stanch  Democrat.  He  attended  Cleveland's  inauguration  and  visited  Mt. 
Vernon.  Casting  his  first  ballot  for  Jackson,  he  has  never  lost  but  one  Pres- 
idential vote,  and  that  was  for  Horace  Greely.  Although  the  hand  of  time 
has  touched  his  hair  with  bilver  threads,  Mr.  Wilcox  has  lost  none  of  the  fire 
of  ambition,  or  the  vigor  of  his  earlier  manhood;  his  health  is  good,  his  frame 
elastic,  and  his  capacity  for  endurance  seemingly  as  great  as  ever.  He  is  a 
highly  esteemed  and  much  respected  citizen  of  Deerfield. 

JOHN  S,  WILSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  in  1817,  son  of  Isaac  and  Sarah  (Givens)  Wilson,  natives  of 
Delaware  and  parents  of  the  following  children:  John  S. ,  Isaac,  Elizabeth, 
George  and  Joseph.  Isaac  Wilson,  a  paper-maker  by  trade,  was  appointed 
Superintendent  of  a  mill  on  Little  Beaver  Creek,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  by 
Cramer  &  Spear,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn  Accepting  this  position  he  located 
there  in  1814.  He  subsequently  established  a  small  stock  of  goods  in  a  room, 
and  his  wife  attended  to  the  sale  of  same  while  he  ran  the  mill.  He  was 
afterward  admitted  a  partner  in  the  concern  and  carried  on  the  milling  busi- 
ness until  1824,  when  he  bought  a  farm  of  175  acres  near  Franklin,  Stark 
Courvty.  Misfortunes  came  upon  him  soon  after;  his  barn  was  struck  by 
lightning  and  burned,  and  his  son  was  caught  beneath  a  falling  tree  and  lost 
his  limb.  Returning  to  commercial  pursuits  he  opened  a  tavern,  which  he  con- 
ducted some  years.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Salem,  established  himself  in 
business  there,  and  remained  the  balance  of  his  life.  He  died  August  1,  1846, 
aged  sixty-one  years.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  twelve  stores  under  his 
control  in  different  portions  of  the  State.  His  widow  lived  to  be  eighty-three 
years  of  age.  Our  subject  was  married  in  Mahoning  County  in  1841,  to  Miss 
Sarah  Everett,  of  New  York,  by  whom  he  has  had  twelve  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Mary,  wife  of  S.  Caldwell;  Martha,  wife  of  I.  Diver; 
Frank,  married  to  Bertha  Benedict;  Hartzell  S.,  married  to  Sarah  Hahn;  Anna 
M. ;  Morgan  C.  and  Joseph.  Mr.  Wilson  came  to  Deerfield  Township  in  1846, 
and  for  some  years  engaged  in  mercantile  business.  Prior  to  coming  here  he 
carried  on  a  grist  and  saw-mill  in  Berlin  Township,  Mahoning  County. 
He  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  eastern  part  of  this  township,  comprising  over 
300  acres,  and  still  owns  159  acres  of  same.  In  the  spring  of  1881  he  occupied 
his  present  estate,  comprising  twenty-two  acres  of  well- improved  land. 
Although  advanced  in  years  our  subject  is  strong  mentally  and  physically.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

ISAAC  WILSON,  merchant,  Deerfield,  was  born  in  Liverpool,  Columbiana 
Co.,  Ohio,  in  1821,  son  of  Isaac  and  Sarah  (Givens)  W'ilson.  He  came  to 
Deerfield  in  1840,  and  took  charge  of  the  business  which  he  has  since  contin- 
uously and  successfully  carried  on.  He  has  a  stock  worth  about  $10,000,  and 
enjoys  a  large  and  lucrative  trade.  He  was  married  in  1844  to  Miss  Juliette, 
daughter  of  J.  W\  Farnham,  of  Deerfield.  Though  they  have  no  children  of 
their  own  the  death  of  Mr.  Wilson's  younger  sister  gave  them  an  adopted  son 
— William  H.  Wilson,  who  married  Miss  Nellie  Misner,  of  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, this  county.  Our  subject  is  a  man  of  pronounced  business  ability,  unas- 
suming in  his  every-day  life,  and  possessing  those  genial  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart  that  have  won  for  him  hosts  of  friends  during  his  long  career  in 
business.  Mr.  Wilson  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust,  and  served  as  Post- 
master of  Deerfield  for  upward  of  twenty-five  years. 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  637 

JOHN  1).  WOODWARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Deertield,  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Penn.,  in  1830,  son  of  Amos  and  Mary  (Mallaby)  Woodward,  natives 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  settled  in  Milton  Township,  Trumbull  County,  in  1848, 
thence  removed  to  Palmyra,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  Woodward  died  in 
1856.  His  widow  resides  on  the  homestead,  the  mother  of  eight  children: 
Mary,  wife  of  M.  Sutton;  John,  married  to  Lucinda  Wilcox  (have  two  chil- 
dren: Alice  A.  and  Blanche);  William,  married  to  Cornelia  AVilcox  (have  six 
children:  Rowland,  Cora,  Mary  E.,  MaudE.,  Joseph  and  Gertie);  Elizabeth, 
widow  of  William  Earnest  (have  three  children:  Reuben,  Oliver  and  William); 
Albert,  married  to  Julia  Westover  (their  children  are  Ransom  and  Jane);  Eliza 
J.,  wife  of  Evan  Jones;  Amos,  married  to  Martha  Jenkins  (have  two  children : 
Wallace  and  Lemuel);  Richard,  married  to  Sarah  Wilson  (have  two  children: 
Conas  E.  and  Archibald).  Of  these  John  and  William  settled  on  the  present 
estate  of  300  acres  in  Deerfield  Township  in  1864.  Politically  they  are 
Republicans.   They  rank  among  the  enterprising  farmers  of  the  county. 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP. 


A.  T.  BACON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  this  county  January 
28,  1816;  son  of  William  and  Polly  Bacon,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Ver- 
mont respectively,  and  who  came  to  this  county  about  1800,  where  they  lived 
and  died,  the  father  in  1850,  the  mother  in  1864.  Our  subject  was  married 
August  31,  1843,  to  Cordelia  C.  Darling,  born  in  New  York  in  1826,  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Margaret  Darling  (both  deceased).  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bacon  have 
had  three  children:  William  T.,  Wyllys  D.,  and  Mary  V.,  wife  of  D.  P.  Shil- 
iady.  Mr.  Bacon,  who  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  has  followed  agricultural 
pursuits  all  his  life,  owns  195  acres  of  improved  land  in  this  county.  He  has 
filled  the  office  of  Township  Trustee  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  constituents.  The  Bacon  family  is  an  old  and  well  respected  one 
in  this  county,  where  the  members  have  passed  many  years. 

GEORGE  W.  BARCLAY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  May  28,  1810;  son  of  Francis  and  Elizabeth  Barclay,  natives,  re- 
spectively, of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  who  were  married  in  Pennsylvania, 
removing  to  Ohio  in  about  1800,  where  they  settled  in  Trumbull  County  and 
remained  until  their  death.  George  W^  Barclay  was  first  married  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  April  11,  1831,  to  Hannah  Dawson,  a  native  of  that  county,  where 
she  was  born  in  1811,  daughter  of  William  and  Margaret  Dawson,  and  our  sub- 
ject and  wife  then  came  to  this  county  in  1832.  Five  children  were  born  to 
this  union:  Elizabeth  J.,  wife  of  Markus  Allen,  W^illiam,  Francis,  John  R., 
and  George  D.  After  her  death,  which  occurred  June  14,  1847,  Mr.  Barclay, 
September  7,  1849,  married  Maria  Greenleaf,  who  is  still  living,  born  in 
Augusta,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  August  27,  1820;  daughter  of  Tilley  and  Maria 
Greenleaf,  and  by  her  he  had  one  child,  Harriet  E.,  wife  of  Thomas  Owen. 
Our  subject  has  a  farm  of  113  acres  in  this  county.  He  has  served  as  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  Trustee  and  Assessc>r  of  this  township. 

ANSEL  A.  BETTS  (deceased)  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county, 
November  5,  1809,  son  of  Hezekiah  and  Hulda  H.  Betts  (both  deceased).  Our 
subject  married  on  first  occasion,  September  15,  1830,  Sophia  Case,  born  March 
13,  1812,  in    Rootstown;    died  May  21,  1870.     He  then  married,  September 


638  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

22,  1870,  Minerva  F.  Wilcox,  born  in  South  Norwalk,  Conn.,  March  2,  1844, 
daughter  of  Stephen  and  Cornelia  Wilcox,  former  of  whom  died  December  12, 
1880,  the  latter  October  16, 1857.  Mr.  Betts  was  the  father  of  one  child  by  his  first 
wife — Almon,  born  July  4,  1832,  died  August  15,  1832;  and  by  his  last  wife 
two  children:  Charles  A.,  born  June  29,  1871,  and  Almira,  born  April  9,  1878. 
Our  subject  was  first  engaged  in  farming,  and  afterward  dealt  in  real  estate. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  June  23,  1884,  he  owned  the  home  farm. 

LEWIS  E.  BOOTH,  retired  farmer,  Edinburg,  was  born  in  New  Milford, 
Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.  May  26,  1814;  son  of  Eli  and  Elizabeth  (Cowel)  Booth, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  the  former  born  November  23,  1788,  the  latter  April  2, 
1782,  and  who  were  married  in  Connecticut,  and  immigrated  to  Trumbull  County, 
Ohio,  in  1817,  thence  moved  to  this  county  in  1820,  and  here  remained  until 
their  death.  The  father  died  April  9,  1867;  the  mother  Septembers,  1872. 
Our  subject  was  married  March  26,  1837,  to  Lucy  L.  Booth,  born  in  New  Mil- 
ford,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  September  22,  1819,  daughter  of  Mead  and  Deborah 
(Ruggles)  Booth,  natives  of  Connecticut,  where  they  were  married  and  whence 
they  emigrated  to  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  1841;  here  they 
remained  until  their  death,  March  24,  1874,  and  September  30,  1875,  respect- 
ively, at  the  house  of  our  subject  in  this  township.  Their  remains  were  taken 
to  Randolph  Township  and  there  interred.  Our  subject  and  wife  have  had 
four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Augustus  D. ,  born  July  15,  1838,  and 
Melville,  born  January  26,  1847.  The  deceased  are  Wallace  M.,  born  Janu- 
ary 26,  1841,  died  October  9,  1845;  Wilbert  E.,  born  July  12,  1844,  died 
October  20,  3845.  Mr.  Booth  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  lived  in  Edin- 
burg Township,  this  county,  sixty-one  years.  He  and  his  wife  have  been  con- 
sistent members  of  the  ISIethodist  Episcopal  Church  for  over  forty  years.  He 
has  filled  all  the  offices  of  trust  in  the  church  of  Edinburg,  and  is  held  in  high 
esteem  by  his  many  friends,  "  and  they  are  legion."  He  says  he  does  not 
expect  to  reach  that  point  when  all  men  will  speak  well  of  him,  for  upon  such 
a  ' '  woe  be  unto  you"  is  pronounced  from  the  Sacred  W^rit. 

AUGUSTUS  D.  BOOTH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edinburg 
Township,  this  county,  July  10,  1838,  son  of  Louis  E.  and  Lucy  L.  Booth, 
sketches  of  whom  appear  in  this  volume.  Our  subject  was  married  May  13, 
1859,  to  Elizabeth  Hallock,  born  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  June  11,  1839, 
daughter  of  William  R.  and  Julia  Hallock,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Connecticut  in  1806,  and  the  latter  in  Massachusetts  in  1807.  They  removed 
to  this  county  about  1817  and  remained  until  Mr.  Hallock's  death  in  1864. 
His  widow  now  resides  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Booth  have  had  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Clara  A.  (wife  of 
Merwin  D.  White),  William  E.  and  Charles  A.  The  deceased  are  Eddie  and 
W^allace  L  Our  subject  owns  fifty-three  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and 
his  family  reside.  Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  this  township. 

GEORGE  BRIGDEN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edinburg 
Township,  this  county,  October  30,  1827,  son  of  Thomas  and  Amelia  Brigden, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1804,  the  latter  in  Connect- 
icut, and  who  settled  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county,  at  a  very  early  day, 
and  where  the  mother  died  August  2,  1878,  and  the  father  still  resides.  Our 
subject  was  married  March  28,  1849,  to  Nancy  A.  Carr,  born  in  Pennsylvania 
June  27,  1829,  daughter  of  Rev.  Thomas  and  Orpha  S.  Carr,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  settled  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county,  about  1834,  and  hero 
passed  the  I'emainder  of  their  days,  Mr.  Carr  dying  in  1857,  his  widow  August 
31,  1883.      Our  subject  and  wife  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  but  one  now 


>;&/!.     cfy^/a/r/^ 


^  ,•♦ 


Mrs. Mary  Clapp. 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  643 

living — Ida  A.,  wife  of  W.  D.  Turner,  born  June  25,  1851.  Thomas  H.  and 
Hattie  are  deceased.  Mr.  Brigden  is  a  farmer  and  owns  a  nice  farm  where  he 
and  his  family  reside.  He  has  tilled  the  offices  of  Assessor  and  Trustee  of  his 
township  with  credit  to  himself.  He  has  never  missed  an  election,  township, 
State  or  Presidential.  Mrs.  Brigden  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church. 

SAMUEL  CALHOUN,  patentee,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  September  23,  1823;  son  of  Andrew  and  Elizabeth  Calhoun, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Trumbull  County  in  a  very  early  day 
and  there  remained  until  their  death,  in  1833  and  1877  respectively.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married,  October  3,  1814,  to  Martha  J.  Lynn,  born  in  .Pennsylvania 
in  1826,  daughter  of  John  Lynn  (deceased),  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Calhoun  have  had 
five  children:  Mary  E.  (wife  of  C.  G.  Fisher),  James  Gr. ,  Emily  J.  (wife  of 
J.  W.  Wilson),  Florence  E.  (wife  of  Col.  Vaughn),  and  Viola  A.  (wife  of 
Will  Hilliar).  Our  subject  was  a  stock-dealer  for  some  years,  but  for  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  has  been  engaged  in  inventing,  and  has  made  improve- 
ments on  gates  and  fencing. 

JOHN  CALVIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  June  15,  1820,  on  the 
farm  where  he  and  his  family  now  reside  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county, 
son  of  Robert  and  Margaret  Calvin,  the  former  born  February  9,  1780,  in 
Virginia,  latter  June  9,  1800,  in  Pennsylvania.  They  were  married  in  this 
county  and  in  1814  settled  upon  the  farm  where  they  lived  and  died,  the  father 
May  31,  1870,  the  mother  January  24,  1872.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children.  Our  subject  was  married  April  25,  1848,  to  Margaret  Fisher,  born 
in  this  county  April  10,  1822,  daughter  of  George  and  Esther  Fisher,  natives 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  this  county  with  their  parents,  remaining  until 
their  death  in  1869  and  1866,  respectively.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Calvin  are  the  parents 
of  ten  children:  Joshua,  Uranie,  George,  Maryett,  Rhodie,  Robert,  Esther, 
Sarah,  Harriet  and  Ellen.  He  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  has  also  been 
engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  413  acres  of  land  on  which  he  and  his  family 
now  reside,  all  of  which,  with  the  balance  of  his  estate  (except  $1,000  inher- 
ited), he  has  acquired  by  his  own  exertions. 

THOMAS  P.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edinburg 
Township,  this  county,  February  5,  1837,  son  of  James  and  Mary  E. 
(Inghram)  Chapman,  the  former  born  in  England  January  15,  1800,  came  to 
America  in  1829,  the  latter  born  in  Chester  County,  Penn.,  January  6,  1811. 
They  were  married  March  10,  1831,  and  during  the  same  year  they  came  to 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  and  in  1834  to  Edinburg,  this  county,  where  they 
remained  until  their  death.  The  father  died  April  8,  1872,  the  mother  Novem 
ber  9,  1879.  Our  subject  was  married  November  26,  1863,  to  Mary  M.  Knight, 
born  in  Ellsworth,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  August  2,  1844,  daughter  of  James 
and  Susan  Knight,  the  former  born  in  Chester  County,  Penn.,  May  20,  1812, 
the  latter  in  Ellsworth,  Mahoning  County,  June  18,  1818.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Knight  first  settled  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  and  thence  removed  to  Ashta- 
bula County,  where  they  remained  some  time;  then  returned  to  Mahoning 
County  and  from  there  moved  to  Newton  Falls,  Trumbull  County,  in  1856, 
where  they  lived  for  several  years,  when  they  finally  settled  in  this  county  in 
April,  1865,  and  here  died,  August  28,  1884,  and  May  25,  1883,  respectively. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  have  been  born  two  children:  James  W.,  born  June 
27,  1865,  and  Lina  M,  born  September  '6,  1867.  Mr.  Chapman  has  been  a 
farmer  all  his  life,  and  owns  forty-eight  acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.     He  has  been  for  eighteen  years  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

JOSEPH  E.  CHAPMAN,  blacksmith,  Edinburg,  born  in  Edinburg  Town- 


644  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

ship,  this  county,  June  17,  1839;  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Chapman;  the 
former  born  in  England  in  1800,  and  died  April  8,  1871;  the  latter  born  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1811,  and  died  November  9,  1880.  They  were  married  in 
Pennsylvania  and  moved  to  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  thence  to  this  county  in 
1837,  and  remained  here  until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  thrice  married, 
first  to  Susanna  Grate,  November  26,  1863  (she  was  born  in  this  county  in 
1845,  and  died  April  3,  1864).  His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1865,  was  Carrie  Patterson  (born  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1847,  died  October  29,  1875),  and  his  present  wife,  whom  he  mar- 
ried April  25,  1876,  was  Nettie  Heller,  born  in  Fostoria,  Ohio,  September  24, 
1848.  Mr.  Chapman  is  the  father  of  two  children — Mary  A.  and  Embi*a  C. — 
and  resides  at  Edinburg,  where  he  owns  thirty  two  acres  of  land,  on  which  he 
and  his  family  reside. 

WILLIAM  A.  CLARK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edinburg 
Township,  this  county,  August  26,  1830;  son  of  Russell  and  Marilla  Clark, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  this  county,  the  former  about  1814,  and 
the  latter  about  1815,  where  they  were  married  in  1829,  then  settled  in  Edin- 
burg Township,  and  here  remained  until  his  death  in  1874.  His  widow  is  now 
residing  with  her  son.  Our  subject  was  married,  January  24,  1856,  to  Orrel 
Payne,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  June  17,  1834,  daughter  of 
Joyce  and  Louisa  Payne.  They  were  natives  of  Connecticut,  came  to  this 
county,  and  here  remained  until  his  death,  October  13,  1840.  His  widow  is 
still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  have  had  four  children:  Lelia  A.  (wife  of 
Grover  Calhoun),  Mary  G.  (wife  of  Charles  Byers),  Charles  C.  and  Emma 
L.  Our  subject,  who  was  reared  on  a  farm,  now  owns  110  acres  of  improved 
land  in  Edinburg  Township,  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

WILLIAM  L.  COE  (deceased)  was  born  in  Granville,  Mass.,  February  28 
1809;  son  of  Samuel  and  Lucy  Coe,  the  former  a  native  of  IMassachusetts,  the 
latter  of  Connecticut,  and  who  emigrated  to  this  county  during  the  summer  of 
1809, ,  settling  first  in  Rootstown,  afterward  in  Edinburg,  where  they  both 
died,  August  26,  1852,  and  October  20,  1870,  respectively.  Our  subject  was 
married  on  the  first  occasion,  January  24,  1833,  to  Nancy  Bostwick,  born  in 
New  Milford,  Conn.,  December  24,  1814,  and  died  March  15,  1854,  the 
mother  of  three  children:  Leroy  B.,  Henry  B.  and  Elbert  H.  She  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Coe  was  again  married  April  6,  1855, 
to  Adeline  F.  Brush,  born  in  Atwater,  Ohio,  November  6,  1819,  and  the 
widow  of  John  C.  Brush,  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1814,  and  died  January 
15,  1854.  Mr.  Coe,  who  had  been  engaged  in  farming,  died  April  1,  1883. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  as  is  also  his  widow. 

DAVID  COPE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Carroll  County,  Ohio, 
June  9,  1837;  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Cope,  the  former  a  native  of  Germany 
and  the  latter  of  Carroll  County,  Ohio.  They  were  married  in  Carroll  Coun- 
ty, Ohio,  and  remained  there  until  1840,  at  which  time  they  moved  to  this 
county  and  here  resided  until  the  father's  death,  January  7,  1882.  The  mother 
is  still  living.  Our  subject  was  married  August  30,  1860,  to  Tamer  L.  Hut- 
son,  born  in  Paris  Township,  this  county,  August  22,  1843,  daughter  of  Isaac 
and  Elcy  Hutson.  The  former  died  in  1878,  the  latter  is  still  living.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cope  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Leola  I.,  wife  of  Alfred  O.  Beardsley,  and  Walter  J. ;  the  deceased  are  lona 
E.  and  Sarah  A.  Mr.  Cope,  who  was  reared  on  a  farm,  owns  fifty  acres  where 
he  and  his  family  reside.  Mrs.  Cope  is  a  member  of  the  United  Brethren 
Church. 

JOHN  COSTLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Ireland  December 
18,  1827;  son  of  Robert  and  Jane  Costley.     They  immigi'ated  to  America  and 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  645 

resided  tirst  in  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  a  few  years,  wheuce  they  moved  to  Edin- 
burg  Township,  this  county,  in  1830,  where  they  settled  and  remained  until 
the  death  of  the  mother  in  November,  1853.  Robert  Costley  is  now  nearly 
eighty-one  years  of  age.  Our  subject  was  married,  June  7,  1855,  to  Julia  A. 
Booth,  born  on  the  farm  where  she  and  her  husband  now  reside  January  1, 
1828,  daughter  of  Eli  and  Elizabeth  Booth  (^both  now  deceased).  They  were 
natives  of  the  East.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Costley  have  had  three  children :  Carrie 
L.,  Mary  E.  and  Minnie  B.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
owns  ninety-six  acres  of  first-class  land  where  he  and  his  family  have  resided 
nearly  thirty  years.     Mrs.  Costley  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

B.  H.  CO  WELL  was  born  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  September  15,  lS37; 
son  of  William  and  Ann  Cowell,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Youugstown, 
Ohio,  respectively.  They  first  lived  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  about  six 
years,  then  removed  to  this  county,  remaining  some  time,  thence  went  to 
Trumbull  Coanty  for  four  years,  and  finally  returned  to  this  county,  where 
they  died  March  14,  1878,  and  July  5,  1870,  respectively.  Our  subject  was 
married  on  the  tirst  occasion  July  4,  1858,  to  Lyda  A.  Steffy,  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania November  27,  1836,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  A.  Steffy,  both 
now  residing  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  and  to  this  union  were  born  two 
children:  Homer  and  Samuel.  Mrs.  Cowell  died  February  2,  1864;  she  was 
a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church.  Our  subject  then  married,  July  17, 1864, 
Ann  Thomas,  born  in  Wales,  January  14, 1840,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Rachel 
Thomas,  who  died  in  Portage  County,  Ohio.  By  this  union  were  born  seven 
children:  Arthur,  Hattie  I,  Willie  T.,  Ida  M.,  Ira  M.,  Anna  E.  and  Mary  E. 
Mr.  Cowell,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  157  acres  of  good  land. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

DEXTER  D.  DAVIS,  merchant,  Edinburg,  was  born  September  23,  1844, 
in  Edinbarg,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  in  the  house  where  he  and  his  family  reside 
at  present,  son  of  William  D.  and  Rhoda  Davis,  the  former  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  latter  of  Massachusetts,  born  April  26,  1801,  and  May  9,  1803, 
respectively.  They  married  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  they  remained 
for  several  years,  and  then  moved  to  Edinburg  Township,  this  county,  where 
they  spent  their  remaining  days.  The  father  died  August  17,  1878,  and  the 
mother  resides  with  our  subject.  Dexter  D.  Davis  was  married  October  1,1873, 
to  Frank  E.  Turner,  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  December  6,  1847, 
daughter  of  William  and  Ann  Turner,  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia February  8,  1811,  married  the  first  time  to  Eliza  Runner,  and  after  her 
death  to  Ann  Tolerton,  who  was  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  April  13, 
1814.  They  tirst  located  in  Columbiana  County  and  then  removed  to  this 
county,  where  they  remained  until  his  death,  August  19,  1879;  his  widow  still 
survives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  have  had  three  children:  W.  Raymond,  born 
June '6,  1877;  Charles  D.,  born  November  29,J88],  and  Mary,  born  May  31, 
1883.  Our  subject  engaged  in  farming  seven  years,  then  was  in  miscellaneous 
businesses  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  for  several  years.  Returning 
to  Edinburg  he  farmed  for  several  years  more,  and  in  1881  went  into  mercan- 
tile business  and  has  so  continued  ever  since.  He  owns  tifty  acres  of  land 
where  he  and  his  family  reside,  and  has  met  with  fair  success  through  life. 

JULirS  H.  DAY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  May  2,  1813,  son  of  Munn  and  Lucy  Day,  from_  Granville, 
Mass.,  the  former  born  September  9,  1783,  the  latter  March  16,  1/87.  They 
were  married  January  2,  1804,  and  settled  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county, 
remaining  until  their  death,  the  father  dying  February  26,  1863,  the  mother 
Septembei-  12,  1868.      Our  subject   was  married   the  first  time  February  25, 


64(3  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

1836,  to  Nancy  Brisbine,  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  March  27,  1814, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Nancy  Brisbine,  both  deceased.  Mrs.  Day  died  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1868.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Our 
subject  was  married  the  second  time  July  14,  1869,  to  Sarah  R.  Bump,  born 
in  Mantua,  Ohio,  February  2,  1823,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Patience  Bump, 
natives  of  New  England,  and  who  came  to  this  county  about  1822,  where 
they  remained  until  their  death.  The  father  died  January  8,  1864;  the  mother 
June  26,  1875.  Mr.  Day  is  the  father  of  three  children:  Harrison  L. ;  Lucy 
A.,  wife  of  Elmore  Hoskin,  and  Frances  L.,wife  of  Homer  Judd.  Our  sub- 
ject is  a  wagon-maker  by  trade  but  has  been  engaged  in  farming  for  about 
thirty  years  and  owns  ninety-eight  acres  of  land.  He  filled  the  office  of  Treas- 
urer of  the  township  ten  years.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

FRANKLIN  ELDREDGE  (deceased)  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  March 
27,  1841,  son  of  Hezekiah  and  Eunice  Eldredge,  deceased.  Our  subject  came 
to  Edinburg,  this  county,  when  quite  young,  and  remained  the  greater  part  of 
his  life.  He  was  married,  July  4,  1865,  to  Susan  Carr,  bornon  the  farm  where 
she  and  her  family  reside,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Orpha  Cai'r,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  settled  in  Edinburg,  this  county,  about  1834,  and  remained 
until  their  death,  former  dying  in  1857,  latter  August  31,  1883.  To  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eldredge  were  born  four  children:  Lewellyn  O.,  born  March  13,  1867; 
Albert  C,  born  June  13,  1868;  Emmet  F.,  born  June  22,  1870,  and  Mary  F., 
born  January  7,  1872.  Our  subject,  who  had  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  died 
May  24,  1872.  He  was  a  F.  &  A.  M.  He  enlisted  in  Company  G,  Seventh 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  serving  for  nearly  three  years  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion.  After  leaving  the  army  he  served  for  two  years  as  an  engineer. 
His  widow  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

SAMUEL  ELLIOTT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edinburg 
Township,  this  county,  May  7,  1832;  son  of  Mulfred  B.  and  Betsey  E.  Elliott, 
the  former  born  in  New  York  State  April  23,  1801,  the  latter  in  Pennsylvania 
March  11,  1801.  They  were  married  in  Charlestown,  this  county,  in  1826, 
and  settled  in  Edinburg  Township,  where  they  remained  until  their  death. 
The  mother  died  January  28,  1870,  the  father  June  17,  1877,  at  Angola,  Ind. 
His  remains,  however,  were  returned  to  this  county  by  his  son  and  interred  in 
the  family  cemetery  (beside  those  of  his  deceased  wife)  on  the  old  home  farm. 
Our  subject  was  married,  first  time,  February  16,  1856,  to  Elsie  Hutson,  born 
in  this  county  in  1839,  and  died  December  17,  1867,  daughter  of  Isaac  and 
Elsie  Hutson,  the  latter  now  living.  By  this  union  there  were  two  children: 
Samuel  S.  and  Laura  E.,  wife  of  Henry  Luke.  Mr.  Elliott  was  again  mar- 
ried, November  8,  1868,  on  this  occasion  to  Myra  P.  Bryan,  born  in  Ashland 
County,  Ohio,  December  10,  1832,  daughter  of  Shadrach  and  Persis  Bryan, 
the  former  born  September  14,  1804,  the  latter  born  November  20,  1809,  died 
Januaiy  15,  1877.  Our  subject  is  a  stone-cutter  by  trade,  an  occupation  he 
followed  for  a  few  years  when  he  became  foreman,  and  thus  continued  for 
about  thirteen  years,  since  which  time  his  son  has  taken  his  place,  and  he  has 
settled  on  his  farm  consisting  of  320  acres  of  tine  land.  Mr.  Elliott  is  a  F. 
&  A.  M.     Mrs.  Elliott  is  an  adherent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

JOSEPH  H.  FEATHERBY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Edin- 
burg Township,  this  county,  June  14,  1839,  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Feath- 
erby,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  both  born  in  1798.  They  moved  first  to  Colum- 
biana County,  Ohio,  thence  to  this  county,  and  here  remained  until  their 
death.  She  died  in  1847,  and  Joseph  Featherby  then  married  Sabre  Wilks, 
sister  to  his  first  wife.     He  died  in  1874,  and  his  widow  in  1883.    Our  subject 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  647 

married,  April  25,  1866,  Laura  Chapman,  born  in  Edinburg  Township,  this 
county,  June  13,  1843,  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  E.  Chapman,  both 
deceased,  and  to  this  union  have  been  born  four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
now  living:  Nettie,  Edith  and  Grace.  The  deceased  was  an  infant.  Our  sub- 
ject, who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  seventy-six  acres  of  land.  He 
has  filled  the  ofifice  of  Trustee  of  his  township.  Mrs.  Featherby  died  July  26, 
1876. 

JEREMIAH  FIFER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  June  10,  1830,  son  of  John  and  Polly  Fifer,  natives  of  Virginia 
and  Ohio  respectively,  and  who  were  married  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio, 
August  15,  1829,  where  they  remained  until  1849,  when  they  moved  to  and 
resided  in  this  county,  where  the  father  died  August  15,  1877.  Our  subject 
was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion,  November  25,  1852,  to  Anna  Wilks,  born 
in  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1834,  daughter  of  John  and  Anna  Wilks,  the 
former  now  living,  and  the  latter  deceased.  Mrs.  Fifer  died  in  1860,  and  our 
subject  then  married  Eliza  Baight,  June  20,  1861.  She  was  born  in  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  July  4,  1838,  daughter  of  David  and  Mary  Baight,  latter  of 
whom  died  September  1,  1879.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  six  children, 
three  now  living:  Cynthia  L.,  wife  of  Michael  Adolph;  Cyrus  J.  W.,  and 
Addison.  The  deceased  are  Angeline  A.;  Margaret,  born  October  28,  1863, 
died  March  24,  1866,  and  an  infant.  Our  subject,  who  is  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, owns  eighty  acres  of  improved  land,  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

ELIHU  FISH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Albany  County,  N, 
Y. ,  September  30,  1822,  son  of  Silas  and  Susana  Fish,  the  former  born  in 
Rhode  Island,  October  5,  1751,  the  latter  in  Massachusetts  in  1792.  They 
were  married  in  New  York,  whence  they  removed  to  this  county  in  1834,  and 
here  remained  until  their  death,  March  8,  1842,  and  December  13,  1874,  respect- 
ively. Our  subject  married.  May  11,  1845,  Eliza  J.  Kennedy,  born  in  Hub- 
bard Township,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  February  12,  1829,  daughter  of  David 
and  Martha  Kennedy,  who  were  married  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  and 
whence  they  removed  to  this  county,  where  they  remained  several  years,  then 
moved  to  Pennsylvania,  where  they  both  died,  former  in  1860,  latter  in  1854. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fish  have  been  born  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing: Celia  A.,  wife  of  T.  F.  Hughes,  of  California,  and  Charles  O.,  married 
to  Hortense  J.  Goss.  The  deceased  are  Franklin  and  an  infant.  Mr.  Fish 
settled  on  his  present  farm  consisting  of  105  acres  in  1834,  and  has  remained 
here  ever  since.  He  has  filled  the  offices  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  !and  Trustee 
of  this  township. 

SAMUEL  M.  FOLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
Penn.,  December  4,  1830,  son  of  John  and  Matilda  Foley,  former  born  in 
Wurtemberg,  Germany,  immigrating  to  Philadelphia  when  ten  years  of  age, 
latter  born  in  Delaware.  They  were  married  in  Philadelphia  and  there  lived 
for  a  great  many  years.  In  1833  they  moved  to  Edinburg  Township,  this 
county,  and  remained  until  their  death,  the  father  dying  July  31,  1869,  the 
mother  in  April,  1870.  April  15,  1850,  Samuel  M.  Foley,  then  twenty  years 
of  age,  left  Edinburg  for  California,  and  returned  March  24,  1855,  and  April 
15,  1856,  he  went  to  Iowa  by  land  with  a  wagon  and  span  of  four-year-old 
colts,  returning  following  December  to  Edinburg,  this  county,  where  he 
has  remained  ever  since.  Our  subject  was  married,  April  18,  1861,  to  Naomi 
Haines,  born  in  Ohio  March  27,  1838,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth 
Haines,  both  of  whom  died  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  and  to  this  union  have 
been  born  five  children:  Thomas  R.,  Ellen  G.,  Mary  J.,  Hattie  E.  and  Ida  M. 
Thomas  R.  went  to  Tower  City,  Dak.,  March  27,  1882,  and  died  at  Fargo, 


648  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Dak.,  February  7,  1885.  Our  subject,  who  has  engaged  in  farming  most  of 
his  life,  owns  ninety-three  acres  of  good  farm  land,  where  he  and  his  family 
reside. 

ANDREW  J.  FEAZIER,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in  Trum- 
bull County,  Ohio,  April  11,  1836;  son  of  Lewis  and  Catharine  Frazier, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  the  former  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1799,  and  the 
latter  in  Cumberland  County  in  1801.  They  were  married  in  Philadelphia, 
thence  moved  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  After  a  brief  residence  there  they 
returned  to  Mercer  County,  Penn. ,  and  there  remained  until  their  death,  in 
1845  and  1847,  respectively.  Ojir  subject  was  married.  May  12,  1864,  to 
Catharine  Wisell,  born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  January  4,  1834,  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Susan  Wisell,  also  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  but  who  came  to 
Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in  1833  and  remained  there  until  their  death;  the 
mother  died  in  1844,  the  father  in  1866.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frazier  have  been 
born  five  children:  Hattie  J.,  born  August  5,  1865;  Carrie  T.,  born  September 
25,  1866;  Charles  J.,  born  December  7,  1868;  Harry  P.,  born  October  1,  1870, 
and  Riley  H. ,  born  February  27,  1873.  Our  subject  owns  153  acres  of  im- 
proved land  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  was  in  the  late  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  serving  his  country  nearly  three  years,  and  left  a  record  as  a 
faithful  soldier.  Mrs.  Frazier  and  daughters  are  members  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church. 

MILES  O.  GANO,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Paris  Township, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  August  13,  1838,  son  of  Daniel  and  Adaline  Gano,  natives 
of  Ohio,  who  married  in  this  county,  first  settling  in  Paris  Township,  where 
they  lived  until  the  death  of  the  latter,  after  which  Daniel  Gano  was  married 
to  Lorain  Streeter,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  then  resided  in  Paris  Township  until 
his  death  in  1865;  his  widow  is  residing  with  her  children.  Our  subject  was 
married,  August  12,  1862,  to  Emily  Bliss,  born  in  Windham  Township,  this 
county,  in  1829,  daughter  of  Worcester  and  Harriet  Bliss,  both  now  deceased. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gano  have  been  born  three  children:  Clayton  B. ,  Abbie  L. 
and  Julia  M.  Our  subject  is  a  f  armei-,  and  owns  100  acres  of  good  land  where 
he  and  his  family  reside.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  in 
1862,  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  discharged  on  account  of  disability  in  1863.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  Church. 

JOHN  R.  GIDDINGS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Paris  Town- 
ship, this  county,  August  14,  1847,  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Giddings, 
former  born  in  Wales,  in  1798,  latter  in  England,  in  1802.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  this  county  in  1845,  and  settled  in  Paris  Township,  where  they 
remained  until  the  death  of  Mrs.  Giddings,  June  10,  1877.  Thomas  Gid- 
dings still  resides  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried, October  2,  1872,  to  Julia  E.  Gano,  born  in  Paris  Township,  this  county, 
January  23,  1853,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  (who  died  July  10,  1864)  and  Lorain 
Gano.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Giddings  are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Burton  D. 
and  Lyle  C.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  is  now  engaged  in 
farming.  He  owns  109  acres  of  good  land.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  is  one  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  township  in  which  he  lives.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

ALFRED  R.  GOSS,  merchant,  Edinburg,  born  in  Fall  River,  Mass., 
August  30,  1834,  son  of  Daniel  and  Margaret  Goss,  the  former  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire,  the  latter  of  Scotland.  They  were  married  at  Fall  River, 
Mass.,  and  moved  to  Catskill,  N.  Y.,  in  1837,  thence  to  Cincinnati  in  1845, 
where  they  remained  for  eleven    years,  then    moved  to  Edinburg,  where  the 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  649 

mother  died  in  1877;  the  father  died  in  Philadelphia,  in  1873.  Our  subject 
was  married,  October  17,  1860,  to  Martha  C.  Carr,  born  in  Edinburg,  Ohio, 
November  26,  1837,  daughter  of  Rev.  Thomas  and  Orpha  Carr,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  settled  in  Edinburg  about  1834,  and  remained  until  their 
death.  The  former  died  in  1857,  the  latter  August  31,  1883.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Goss  have  been  born  four  children:  Thomas  C. ,  born  April  22,  1862; 
Charles  A.,  born  December  10,  1863;  Maggie  F.,  born  September  9,  1866, 
and  Hatie,  born  November  21,  1871.  Our  subject  is  a  hatter  by  trade,  and 
has  also  been  engaged  in  farming,  but  has  been  for  twenty-two  years  mer- 
chandising in  Edinburg,  Ohio,  under  the  firm  name  of  Goss  Bros.  Mrs. 
Goss  is  a   member    of  the    Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

JACOB  GRENAMYER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  November  18,  1835,  son  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Grenamyer, 
both  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  They  were  married  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  where  they  first  settled;  thence  they  moved  to  Trumbull  County,  and  there 
remained  until  their  death,  she  dying  in  1868,  and  he  June  16,  1877.  Our 
subject  was  married,  May  1,  1858,  to  Maria  A.  Kump,  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  March  13,  1838,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary  Kump,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  immigrated  to  Trumbull  Comity,  Ohio,  and  are  both  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grenamyer  have  had  two  children:  Mary  A.,  born  August  7, 
1860,  and  Edward  O.,  born  March  24,  1862.  Mrs.  Grenamyer  died  January 
14,  1883.  She  was  a  loving  wife  and  kind  mother;  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  of  which  the  rest  of  the  family  are  also  members. 
Ml".  Grenamyer,  who  is  a  farmer,  owns  nice  property  in  Edinburg  Township. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  for  over  twenty- five  years.  The 
family  moved  to  Edinburg  in  March,  1880. 

JOSEPH  S.  GUNDER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Mahoning 
County,  Ohio,  May  23,  1843,  son  of  John  and  Susan  Gunder,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  moved  to  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  and  afterward  to  Mahoning 
County,  where  they  remained  until  the  death  of  the  mother  in  1859.  The  father 
then  made  his  home  with  his  children  and  died  in  Lancaster  County,  Neb.,  in 
1878.  Our  subject  was  married,  April  19,  1866,  to  Maria  N.  Hutson,  born  in 
Edinburg  Township,  this  county,  December  10,  1847,  daughter  of  Calvin  and 
Olive  Hutson.  whose  sketch  appears  in  this  history.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gunder  are 
the  parents  of  three  children:  Josie  E.,  born  October  21,  1867;  Frank  E., 
born  February  12,  1870,  and  Roy  N.,  born  September  18,  1883.  Our  subject 
owns  a  nice  property,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  enlisted  during 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  Company  H,  Twenty-sixth  Regiment  Indiana 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  three  years.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

HEZEKIAH  HAWN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  March  14,  1827,  son  of  Isaac  and  Catharine  Hawn,  natives  of 
Maryland,  who  x-emoved  to  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  about  1812,  where  they 
remained  until  their  death,  in  1864  and  1866  respectively.  Hezekiah  Hawn 
came  to  Edinburg,  this  county,  about  1839,  and  was  married,  September  3, 
1856,  to  Rebecca  Brigden,  born  on  the  farm  where  our  subject  now  resides 
October  12,  1829,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Amelia  Brigden,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, who  came  to  Edinburg,  this  county,  January  1,  1827,  remaining  until 
the  mother's  death,  August  2,  1878.  The  father  resides  on  the  old  home  farm 
with  his  son-in-law.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawn  have  had  three  children:  Clara  E., 
(wife  of  C.  A.  Meyers),  Wilfred  H.  and  Jennie  A.  Our  subject  is  a  car- 
riage-maker by  trade,  now  engaged  in  farming,  and  owns  ninety- eight  acres  of 
land.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  and  Treasurer  of  his  township.  Mrs. 
Hawn  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 


650  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

STEPHEN  HUBBARD,  minister,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in 
Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  February  15,  1800;  son  of  Ephraim  and  Mary  Hub- 
bard, natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  State  respectively.  They  were 
married  in  New  York,  where  their  children  were  born,  and  from  whence  they 
moved  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  about  1803,  settling  in  Deerfield  Township, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  married  the  Urst 
time,  June  20,  1819,  to  Diantha  Mills,  born  in  Nelson,  this  county,  October 
14,  1801,  died  September  18,  1844.  Our  subject  subsequently  married 
Maria  Crail,  born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  October  10,  1820.  Mr.  Hubbard 
and  first  wife  were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  six  now  living:  Sophronia, 
Vestie,  Harriet,  Wesley,  Sidney  and  Orilla.  The  deceased  are  Prosser,  Cyn- 
thia and  Adelia.  Our  subject  was  engaged  in  the  ministry  for  a  great  many 
years,  but  is  now  retired.  He  owns  forty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  and  his 
family  reside.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  which  his  deceased  wife  also  belonged. 

CALVIN  HUTSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Paris  Township, 
Portage  County,  Ohio,  June  25,  1822;  son  of  Kichard  R.  and  Nancy  A.  Hutson, 
natives  of  Ohio,  who  were  married  in  Portage  County,  and  first  settled  in 
Paris  Township,  remaining  there  till  3829,  at  which  time  they  moved  toEdin- 
burg  Township  and  here  died,  the  former  November  17,  1851,  and  the  latter 
March  24,  1875.  Our  subject  was  married  September  4,  1845,  to  Olive  L. 
Churchill,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  Portage  County,  February  8,  1824, 
daughter  of  Stephen  M.  and  Maria  Churchill,  natives  of  Connecticut,  born 
December  4,  1796,  and  August  8,  1803,  respectively.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Churchill 
moved  from  Connecticut  to  Randolph  Township,  Portage  County,  and  there 
remained  until  his  death  in  1879.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hutson  are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Nancy  M.,  wife  of  Joseph  S.  Gunder, 
and  Calvin  M.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  112 
acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  his  wife  of  the  Disciples  Church.  He 
has  filled  the  offices  of  Assessor  and  Trustee  of  his  township. 

EDWARD  JONES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Wales,  May  7, 
1840;  son  of  Watkin  and  Catharine  Jones,  natives  of  that  country,  born  in 
1799  and  1797  respectively,  and  who  emigrated  to  this  county  in  1841,  where 
they  remained  until  their  death.  Mrs.  Jones  died  in  1849,  and  Watkin  Jones 
then  married  Mary  Jones,  who  is  still  living.  He  died  in  1874.  Our  subject 
was  married,  February  1,  1863,  to  Mary  Thomas,  born  in  Wales  October  10, 
1838,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Rachel  Thomas,  both  now  deceased.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jones  have  had  born  to  them  five  children:  Watkin  T.,  Daniel  L.,  Sarah 
A.,  Catharine  E.  and  Albert  E.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his 
life,  owns  173  acres  of  improved  land.  Mrs.  Jones  is  a  member  of  the  Dis- 
ciples Church. 

HENRY  A.  MARSH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  born  in  Vermont,  June  8, 
1824;  son  of  Henry  R.  and  Harriet  (Stow)  Marsh,  both  natives  of  the  East, 
former  born  in  Vermont  in  1798,  latter  in  Massachusetts  in  1796.  They  were 
married  in  Vermont  in  1822,  and  there  resided  until  the  father's  death  in  1827. 
His  widow,  accompanied  by  her  family,  came  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  soon 
after,  thence  to  this  county,  where  she  was  married  to  Robei't  Earl.  He  dying 
in  1855,  the  widow  next  married  Peter  Bissel,  who  died  September,  1872,  his 
widow  surviving  him  until  February  13,  1882,  when  she  died.  Our  subject 
was  married,  the  first  time,  September  24,  1846,  to  Eliza  M.  Hillman,  and 
after  her  death,  he  married  October  4,  1849,  Thalia  E.  Strong,  who  was  born 
on  the  farm  where  our  subject  now  resides,  April  3,  1825,  daughter  of  Ethel 


& 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  653 

and  Elizabeth  (Bosworth)  Strong,  both  born  in  the  year  1801,  the  former  in 
Connecticut,  the  latter  in  Massachusetts.  Thej  came  to  this  county  in  about 
1820,  where  the  mother  died  in  1860,  and  after  her  death  Mr.  Strong  married 
Mary  Hale,  but  dying  in  1865  left  her  a  widow.  Our  subject  and  wife  are  the 
parents  of  one  child,  Stellie  E.,  wife  of  William  Kilpatrick.  They  have  an 
adopted  daughter — Edith  A.  Carlton.  Our  subject  is  an  artist  by  profession, 
but  for  the  past  twenty  years  has  engaged  iu  farming  and  owns  thirty  acres 
upon  which  he  and  liis  family  reside.  He  has  served  as  Township  Clerk  for 
eight  years.     He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

EDWIN  C.  MYERS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  April  21,  1834;  son  of  William  and  Alice  Myers,  natives  of 
Chester  County,  Penn.  They  lived  some  time  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio, 
and  from  there  moved  to  Edinburg,  this  county,  in  December,  1834,  and  here 
remained  until  their  death.  William  Myers  died  in  1859  and  Alice  Myers  in 
1857.  Our  subject  was  married,  May  21,  1857,  to  Anna  M.  Stretch,  born  in 
Salem,  Ohio,  November  25,  1840,  daughter  of  Abiner  and  Ann  Stretch,  who 
are  both  now  deceased.  To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  five  children: 
Willis  E.,  born  July  8,  1863;  Emmet  E.,  born  August  11,  1867;  Friend  E., 
born  Juue  27,  1870;  TelulaE.,  born  March  2,  1874,  and  Clyde  P.,  born  August 
7,  1877.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  now  owns 
forty  acres  of  good  land,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  Mr.  Myers  took 
part  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  as  a  member  of  Company  F,  Forty-second 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  commanded  by  Col.  James  A.  Garheld,  enlisting  in 
the  fall  of  1861  and  remaining  in  the  service  a  little  over  one  year.  He  was 
discharged  at  Ashland,  Boyd  Co.,  Ky.,  for  disability,  and  gave  his  discharge 
paper  to  Maj.  H.  H.  Willard,  who  lost  it.  Mr.  Myers  then  obtained  a  second 
one  at  Cumberland  Gap,  and  when  he  returned  to  his  regiment  he  was  ordered 
to  Columbus  for  examination,  and  there  received  his  final  discharge.  Mrs. 
Myers  died  of  consumption  January  15,  1880.  She  was  a  consistent  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

ABRAHAM  S.  PLUMMER,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born 
in  Barree  Township,  Huntingdon  Co.,  Penn.,  May  21,  1812;  son  of  John  and 
Sarah  Pluramer,  natives  of  Maryland  (the  former  was  born  January  11,  1785, 
the  latter  September  15,  1775),  and  who  were  married  in  Pennsylvania  August 
15,  1809,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1832,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death,  the  father  dying  August  16,  1856,  the  mother  August  20,  1860.  Our 
subject  was  married,  May  14,  1839,  to  Amy  Coy,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  April 
29,  1819,  daughter  of  James  and  Nancy  Coy,  who  were  natives  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, where  they  remained  until  their  death,  he  dying  April  27,  1876,  and  his 
wife  August  9,  1868.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Plummer  had  six  children,  four  now  liv- 
ing: Sarah  C,  wife  of  Martin  V,  Dole;  John  W.  C. ;  Lewis  J.  and  Eugene  W. 
Franklin  M.  and  Benson  are  deceased.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
has  all  his  life  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  He  owns  155  acres  of  improved 
land  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  Mrs.  Plummer  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Our  subject  and  wife  are  among  the  oldest  set- 
tlers of  the  township,  in  which  they  have  lived  a  gi'eat  many  years. 

WILIiIAM  RANSAW  (deceased)  was  born  in  1802  in  Germany;  son  of 
Fred  Ransaw.  He  emigrated  to  America,  settling  in  this  county,  in  1840,  and 
was  married  in  Ravenna  Township  the  same  year,  to  Elizabeth  Schriver,  also 
a  native  of  Germany,  where  she  was  born  in  1822,  and  from  where  she  emi- 
grated to  America  the  same  year  her  husband  arrived.  To  this  union  were 
born  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living:  William  H.,  Lewis,  Fan- 
nie,   Fred  and  Henry  C.     The  deceased  are  George  and  Mary.     Our  subject 


654  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

was  a  tanner  by  trade,  but  after  arriving  in  this  county  engaged  in  farming, 
which  occupation  he  followed  until  his  death,  in  February,  1866.  He  at  that 
time  owned  fifty-two  acres  of  good  land  on  which  his  widow  now  resides.  He 
was  universally  respected,  an  honest,  upright  citizen,  true  to  his  obligations 
and  a  man  who  contributed  largely  to  the  development  of  this  county. 

SMITH  SANFORD,  farmer  and  Postmaster,  Edinburg,  was  born  in  Litch- 
field County,  Conn.,  January  12,  1830;  son  of  Nathan  and  Aner  Sanford, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  removed  to  Medina  County,  Ohio,  in  1831,  and 
there  remained  until  Mrs.  Sanford's  death  in  1835.  Nathan  Sanford  then 
married,  in  1836,  Lorenda  Campbell,  of  New  York  State,  and  moved  to  this 
county,  first  settling  in  Rootstown,  afterward  in  Edinburg  Township,  where 
this  wife  died  in  1855.  Nathan  Sanford  then  married,  for  his  third  wife,  Julia 
Hayden,  of  Connecticut,  who  died  in  1865.  He  died  in  1868.  On  November 
27,  1855,  our  subject  married  Louisa  L.  Davis,  born  in  Edinburg,  Ohio, 
February  19,  1832,  daughter  of  William  D.  and  Rhoda  Davis,  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  April  26,  1801,  latter  in  Massachusetts,  May  9, 
1803.  They  first  settled  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and  from  there  moved  to 
Edinburg,  this  county,  here  remaining  until  his  death,  August  17,  1878;  his 
widow  resides  with  her  son.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  Sanford  have  been  born 
two  children:  Frank  E.,  born  October  10,  1858,  and  Rolla  M.,  born  October  22, 
1869.  Our  subject,  who^is  a  farmer,  owns  155  acres  of  land  in  Edinburg 
Township.  He  filled  the  office  of  County  Commissioner  six  years,  also  Justice 
of  the  Peace  and  Trustee  of  his  township.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

HENRY  SHEWELL  (deceased)  was  born  in  Deertield  Township,  this 
county,  July  17,  1801;  son  of  Rev.  Henry  and  Mercy  Shewell,  natives  of  New 
Jersey,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1802  and  here  remained  until  their  death. 
Our  subject  was  married,  March  18,  1832,  to  Irena  Chapman,  born  in  Roots- 
town  Township,  this  county,  July  5,  1811,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Mary 
Chapman,  natives  of  the  East,  who  located  in  this  county,  former  in  about 
1804-05,  latter  in  1806,  and  who  were  married  during  the  latter  year,  settling 
in  Rootstown,  where  they  remained  until  Mr.  Chapman's  death.  To  our  sub- 
ject and  wife  was  born  September  18,  1839,  one  child — Eliza  M.,  now  the 
widow  of  Willis  E.  Bottsford  and  the  mother  of  two  children:  Edward  H.  and 
Harry  S.  Our  subject  died  at  Baxter  Springs,  Kan.,  October  12,  1867,  leav- 
ing his  wife  and  one  child,  who  thereupon  returned  to  Ohio. 

ALBERT  G.  SHEWELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county,  August  22,  1831,  son  of  William  and  Lydia 
(Baldwin)  Shewell,  former  born  in  Waynesburg,  Greene  Co.,  Penn.,  February 
5,  1799,  and  the  latter  born  in  Connecticut  October  17,  1799,  both  of  English 
descent.  They  were  married  December  14,  1820,  in  Portage  County,  where 
they  remained  until  their  death.  The  father  died  in  Rootstown,  this  county, 
April  13,  1880;  the  mother  died  in  Rootstown,  September  4,  1871.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  January  21,  1851,  to  Mary  E.  Chapman,  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  January  6,  1832,  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  E.  Chapman, 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shewell  have  had  four  children:  Idazella  J.,  wife 
of  James  W.  Dundon;  Franchette  D. ,  who  was  married  to  Ida  Gilbert;  Judd 
B. ,  married  to  Estella  Stephenson,  and  Ulysses  G.  Mr.  Shewell,  who  has  been 
a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  170  acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 
He  has  filled  several  offices  of  trust  in  his  township. 

HENRY  H.  SPIERS,  physician,  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Atwater  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  4,  1849,  son  of- William  and  Elizabeth  A.  Spiers, 
natives  of  England,  who  married  in  the  old  country,    removing  to  Atwater 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  65^ 

Township,  this  county,  about  1837,  where  they  remained  until  his  death  iiL 
18S0;  his  widow  resides  on  the  old  homestead.  Our  subject  was  married  Octo- 
ber 5,  1879,  to  Alia  N.  Hinman,  born  in  Edinburg,  this  county.  May  2,  1856, 
daughter  of  Robinson  L.  and  Mary  Hinman,  who  live  in  Edinburg,  thie 
county.  The  Doctor  and  wife  are  the  parents  of  one  child — Frank  H.  S.,  born 
October  2,  1881.  Our  subject  finished  his  medical  course  in  the  Ohio  MedicaJ' 
College  at  Ci-ncinnati  in  1877,  and  since  that  time  has  been  practicing  his  pro- 
fession in  Edinburg,  this  county,  where  he  is  meeting  with  good  success. 
He  has  tilled  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  his  township  for  the  last  five  years. 

EMANUEL  STEEL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
January  9,  1812,  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Steel,  who  moved  to  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  thence  to  this  county,  where  they  remained  all  their  lives.  The 
father  died  in  1828,  and  the  mother  in  1846.  Our  subject  was  married  April 
5,  1845,  to  Elizabeth  Simpson,  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  May  15., 
1826,  daughter  of  James  and  Margaret  Simpson,  both  now  deceased,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  the  latter  of  the  East,  and  who  came  .te 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  here  remaining  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Steel  have  six  children:  Clarissa,  wife  of  James  Lewis;  Juliet,  wife  of  Henry 
Heighton;  Mary,  wife  of  William  Kibbler;  Leora,  wife  of  Wallace  David: 
Caleb,  married  to  Emma  McQuinn.  and  William  A.  Our  subject  has  been  g 
farmer  all  his  life,  and  owns  122  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  hie 
family  reside.     He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Chtirch. 

HUGH  STEWART,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Ireland  it 
1822,  son  of  John  and  Jane  Stewart,  who  died  in  the  old  country.  He  was 
married  March  23,  1854,  to  Sarah  Bingham,  born  in  Ireland  December  27^ 
1828,  daughter  of  James  and  Jane  Bingham,  also  deceased,  and  the  week  after 
their  marriage  they  set  sail  for  America,  arriving  April  1,  1859,  in  this  county., 
where  they  have  resided  ever  since.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  have  bad  fiveehil- 
dren:  William  J.,  born  July  31.  1855;  James  B.,  born  March  25,  1857;  Alex- 
ander T. ,  born  November  27,  1859;  Robert  H.,  born  September  1,  1861,  and 
Samuel  A.,  born  December  26,  1865.  Mr.  Stewart  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but 
has  engaged  in  farming  for  several  years,  and  owns  203  acres  of  land.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

GEORGE  STUMP.  Jr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Miltoa, 
Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  July  30,  1844,  son  of  George  and  Eliza  Stump,  bott 
natives  of  Ohio,  and  who  first  settled  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  where  Mr«. 
Stump  died  in  1846.  After  her  death  our  subject's  father  married  Sallie 
Rumel,  and  they  moved  to  this  county  in  1854,  remaining  here  until  herdeatb 
in  1874.  Mr.  Stump  then  married  (for  third  time),  November  17,  1877,  Mrs, 
E.  P.  Musser.  They  are  both  living  and  reside  in  Edinburg.  Our  subject 
was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  August  4,  1869,  to  Anna  Owens,  born  in 
Wales,  January  6,  1846,  daughter  of  David  and  Ann  Owens,  natives  of  W^alea. 
She  died  August  31,  1878.  To  this  union  were  born  three  children:  Albert 
G.,  Lyda  M.  and  Viola  E.  Mr.  Stiimp  then  married,  September  18,  1879, 
Hannah  D.  Hutson,  widow  of  Eli  Hutson,  who  was  born  January  15,  1829., 
and  died  February  26,  1874.  She  was  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio, 
October  30,  1835,  daughter  of  Edward  and  Mary  Fitz  Randolph,  and  is  tbe 
mother  of  one  child — Ori  B.  Hutson—  by  her  first  marriage.  Edward  Fitz 
Randolph,  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Fitz  Randolph,  and  father  of  Mra, 
Stump,  was  born  August  10,  1788,  near  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.;  his  wife,  Mary- 
Bailey,  daughter  of  Eli  and  Ruth  Bailey,  was  born  June  3,  1794,  in  Greene 
County,  Penn.  They  were  married,  October  15,  1812,  by  her  brother,  Joab 
Bailey,  in  Greene  County,  Penn.     Edward  Fitz  Randolph  died  at  East  West- 


656  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

ville,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio.  March  19,  1872.  Mary  (Bailey)  Fitz  Randolph  died 
at  same  place  February  11,  1879.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming 
all  his  life.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted,  September  1,  1862, 
in  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  mustered  out  May  25,  1865,  at  Louisville,  Ivy.  He  participated  in  seven- 
teen battles,  the  principal  of  which  were  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Kene- 
saw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta  and  Nashville.  Himself  and  wife 
are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

R.  D.  TROWBRIDGE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Palmyra. 
Ohio,  May  31,  1831,  son  of  Carlos  D.  and  Mary  Trowbridge,  the  former  born  in 
Connecticut,  December  25,  1804,  and  died  July  24:,  1833;  the  latter  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  August  27,  1800,  died  October  11,  1873.  They  were  married  in 
this  county,  February  26,  1823,  and  here  settled  and  remained  during  their 
lives.  Our  subject  was  married,  December  19,  1852,  to  Louisa  L.  Gilbert, 
born  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  August  24,  1832,  daughter  of  George  S.  and 
Electa  M.  Gilbert,  natives  of  Palmyra,  Ohio,  and  Hartford,  Conn.,  respect- 
ively, the  former  born  November  18,  1807,  and  the  latter  in  1810.  They  were 
married  in  this  county,  where  they  settled  and  remained  until  their  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trowbridge  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  four  of  whom  are 
now  living:  S.  Addison,  Mary  E.,  Olive  E.  and  Alta  M.  The  deceased  are 
Frank  D.  and  an  infant.  Our  subject  is  owner  of  240  acres  of  land  where  he 
and  his  family  reside.  He  has  also  been  engaged  in  the  sale  of  agricultural 
implements. 

WILLIAM  I.  TUFFING,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  London, 
England,  August  11,  1839,  son  of  Isaac  J.  and  Mary  A.  Tutfing,  natives  of 
that  country,  where  the  former  was  born  in  1798  and  the  latter  in  1803.  They 
immigrated  to  America  and  settled  in  this  county  in  1854,  and  have  remained 
here  ever  since.  Our  subject  was  married,  November  30,  1865,  to  Lizzie 
Forsyth,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  June  9,  1835,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Han- 
nah Forsyth,  natives  of  Scotland  and  of  England  respectively,  and  who  came  to 
this  county  in  1835,  and  here  remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tuffing 
have  had  two  children:  Arthur  E.  and  Olive  M.  Our  subject,  who  has  been 
a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  ninety  acres  of  good  farming  land.  He  has  filled 
the  office  of  Assessor  of  his  township.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

LAFAYETTE  TUTTLE,  aa  early  pioneer  of  the  town  of  Edinburg, 
was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1797,  the  third  son  of  John  Tuttle  by  first 
wife.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  Palmyra,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  when 
but  seven  years  old.  He  was  married  in  after  years  to  Rebecca  White, 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  settled  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Edinburg.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  being  raised  in  Ohio  when  it  was  a  dense 
forest,  commenced  life  with  an  iron  will  to  overcome  all  the  obstacles 
which  an  early  pioneer  had  to  endure.  The  first  district  school  in  that 
quarter  of  the  town  was  taught  by  a  Miss  Emla  Wilcok,  of  Deerfield,  in 
the  year  1826,  the  school  being  held  in  a  small  blacksmith  shop  owned  by 
Lafayette  Tuttle.  He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- two  years,  being  then  the  owner 
of  a  large  farm  of  about  300  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  had  erected  a  saw- 
mill and  grist-mill  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  known  as  Silver  Creek.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lafayette  Tuttle  were  both  members  of  the  Methodist  Church.  They 
reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  six  boys  and  three  girls,  most  of  whom  have 
gone  West  to  partake  of  joys  and  sorrows  of  pioneer  life.  Hiram  Tuttle  is 
now  the  only  one  of  the  family  residing  in  Edinburg  Township,  born  Novem 
ber  3,  1832.     He  was  married  September  22,  1854,  to  N.  Margaret  McCombs, 


EDINBURG  TOWNSHIP.  657 

born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1835,  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy  McCombs,  who 
settled  in  this  county  in  a  very  early  day  and  remained  until  the  father's  death. 
His  widow  resides  with  her  son-in-law.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tattle  have  two  children: 
Ellen  A.,  wife  of  Nathan  I.  Thompson,  and  Arthur  H.  Mr.  Tuttle  is  a  car- 
penter and  joiner  by  trade,  but  has  engaged  in  farming  for  several  years  and 
owns  eighty  acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

JOHN  TUTTLE,  of  Palmyra,  Portage  County,  the  father  of  Lafayette 
Tuttle,  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  1762,  and  lived  in  Sunderland,  Mass., 
where  a  family  of  four  sons  and  four  daughters  were  born,  all  of  whom  lived 
to  an  advanced  age,  except  the  eldest  boy,  John,  who  met  his  death  through 
inhaling  well-damp  while  digging  a  well.  Our  subject  served  ns  a  soldier 
under  Gen.  Randolph  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  In  the  year  1804,  when 
he  moved  to  Palmyra,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  with  his  family,  he  settled  about  one 
mile  south  of  the  township  center.  After  this  his  wife  died,  and  by  a  second 
marriage  he  had  a  family  of  live  boys  and  two  girls.  He  died  October  19, 
1829,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

WILLIAM  J.  WILLSEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  Fulton, 
Schoharie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  October  3,  1823;  son  of  Henry  T.  and  Orpha  Willsey, 
natives  of  New  York,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1840,  thence  removing  to  Ash- 
tabula County  in  1853,  whei-e  they  remained  until  the  father's  death,  January  6, 
1854.  The  mother  subsequently  married  William  Johnson  and  died  March  28, 
1884,  at  the  residence  of  her  son,  A.  V.  Willsey,  Atwater,  this  county.  Our 
subject  was  married  October  6,  1853,  to  Samantha  L.  Clover,  born  in  Deerfield 
Township,  this  county,  July  3,  1833,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Hannah  Clover, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  moved  to  this  county  in  1827  and  here  remained 
until  their  death.  Mr.  Clover  died  in  1872,  and  his  widow  in  1877.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Willsey  are  the  parents  of  one  child — Cecelia  L.  A.,  born  September  30, 
1854,  wife  of  Dix  Gilbert.  Our  subject  has  been  a  teacher  and  farmer;  owns 
122^  acres  of  land;  is  a  Justice  of  tlae  Peace  and  has  filled  most  of  the  town- 
ship offices.     Mrs.  Willsey  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

HENRY  T.  WILLSON.  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinburgh,  was  born  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  November  22,  1820;  son  of  David  and  Rebecca  Willson,  former  a 
native  of  Coxsackie,  N.  Y.,  born  in  1790,  latter  a  native  of  New  York.  They 
were  married  in  New  York  and  came  to  this  county  in  1833,  settling  and 
remaining  here  until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  married  the  first  time,  in 
1842,  to  Martha  Hancock,  born  in  Michigan  in  1826,  died  in  1865.  After  her 
death  Mr.  Willson  married,  August  20,  1867,  Mary  Bartly,  born  in  1832  in 
Edinburg,  this  county.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Ellen,  Omar  O.,  John  T.,  George  E.  and  Alice.  Mr. 
Willson  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  of  late  years  has  been  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. He  owns  eighty-one  acres  of  nice  land  in  Edinburg  Township*  where  he 
and  his  family  reside. 

E.  C.  YOUNG,  farmer,  P.  O.  Edinbui-gh,  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Berk- 
shire Co.,  Mass.,  May  19,  1809;  son  of  John  and  Clarissa  Young,  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  who  remained  there  until  their  death.  Our  subject  came  to 
this  county  November  30,  1831,  and  afterward  returned  to  Massachusetts, 
where  he  was  married  April  26,  1836,  to  Maria  H.  Goodrich,  born  in  that 
State  January,  1813,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Affable  Goodrich,  who  died  in 
New  York  State.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Young  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  three 
of  whom  are  now  living:  Clarissa  R. ,  Edgar  J.  and  Sarah  M.  The  deceased 
are  Mary  E.  and  Martha.     Mrs.  Young  died  August  1,  1846.     After  her  death 


658  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

our  subject  married,  September  13,  1853,  Betsey  M.  Goodrich,  a  sister  of  his 
first  wife,  bora  in  Massachusetts  September  29,  1829.  To  this  union  have 
been  born  two  children:  George  E.  and  Aflfa.  Mr.  Young,  who  has  always  been 
a  farmer,  owns  sixty-live  acres  of  laud  where  iie  and  his  family  reside. 


FRANKLIN    TOWNSHIP. 


FRED  L.  ALLEN,  druggist,  Kent.  This  gentleman,  who  is  propri- 
etor of  a  well-conducted  establishment  for  the  sale  of  medicines  and  the 
sompounding  of  prescriptions,  has  been  engaged  in  this  special  branch  in 
Kent  since  1872,  and  has  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  citizens  by  his 
uniform  courtesy  and  strict  attention  to  their  wants.  He  has  a  carefully 
selected  stock  of  pure  and  fresh  drugs  and  proprietary  medicines  of  standard 
reputation,  and  an  excellent  assortment  of  toilet  perquisites  and  perfumery, 
besides  carrying  a  large  stock  of  paints,  oils,  dye-stuffs,  etc.  His  attractive 
store  is  situated  in  the  Carver  Block,  in  the  business  center  of  the  town,  and 
laas  a  depth  of  sixty-live  feet  with  a  width  of  twenty-four.  The  compounding 
®f  physicians'  prescriptions  and  family  recipes  is  a  feature  in  which  Mr.  Allen 
takes  special  aim  to  excel,  and  the  stock  is  bought  only  from  reliable  houses. 
Mr.  Allen  was  born  in  Akron,  Ohio,  July  10,  1848,  a  son  of  Asa  S.  and  Electa 
(Arms)  Allen.  His  father  is  a  native  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass.,  and  is  now 
a  practicing  physician  in  Berea,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  Berea 
schools.  During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  served  two  years  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  receiving  an 
honorable  discharge  at  the  expiration  of  service.  In  1866  he  located  in  Kent, 
©bio,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  in  the  drug  business,  wlien 
he  became  a  partner  in  the  business  with  Dr.  J.  W.  Shively,  with  whom  he 
was  connected  for  two  years.  He  then  embarked  in  the  trade  for  himself  and 
has  been  verv  successful.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  is  a  F.  & 
A.  M. 

ADAM  BAES,  retail  liquor  dealer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Port  Washington, 
Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio,  June  8,  1857.  He  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
town,  and  worked  at  the  baker's  trade  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age  in 
New  Philadelphia.  He  served  in  liquor  stores  of  that  place  and  Kent  (where 
he  came  in  1873)  up  to  1882,  in  which  year  he  embarked  in  the  liquor  business 
©n  his  own  account,  and  has  had  a  successful  trade.  He  was  married,  August 
17,  1879,  to  Catherine,  daughter  of  George  and  Catherine  Ginther,  of  Stow, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  had  one  child — Minnie.  Mr.  Baes  is  a  thor- 
ough business  man.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

NELSON  L.  BARBER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  June  3,  1825,  son  of  Lyman  and  Julia  (Landon)  Barber, 
natives  of  Goshen,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.  Lyman  Barber  first  came  to  Ohio 
about  1819  and  located  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  then  a  part  of  this  county.  He 
■was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  worked  there  for  a  Mr.  Griswold,  building  oil 
mills,  remaining  about  a  year.  In  1820  he  returned  to  Connecticut  and  mar- 
ried, and  with  an  ox  team  and  horse  ahead,  made  the  journey  back  to  Ohio, 
settling  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  on  the  place  now  known  as  the 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  659 

Cogswell  farm,  where  he  lived  two  years.  He  then  sold  out,  bought  in  the 
northeast  part  of  the  township  and  there  lived  until  within  a  few  years  of  his 
death.  He  worked  at  his  trade  in  early  days  and  had  his  clearing  done,  pay- 
ing for  the  same  in  carpenter  work.  He  had  four  children:  Emily  (deceased), 
Myron,  Nelson  L.,  and  an  infant  daughter  (deceased).  Lyman  Barber  was  a 
worthy  citizen,  and  by  his  industry  and  perseverance  accumulated  a  large 
property.  He  died  in  1864  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county, 
and  is  still  the  owner  of  the  old  family  homestead.  His  early  education  was 
received  in  the  district  school  and  when  twenty  years  of  age  he  attended  a 
select  school  in  Kent  (taught  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bates)  one  term,  after  which  he 
passed  an  examination  and  taught  school  three  months  the  following  winter  in 
Brimfield  at  $12  per  month,  and,  as  was  customary  in  those  days,  "  boarded 
round."  He  then  attended  school  another  term  in  Kent,  under  the  instruction 
of  Frank  B.  Pond  (author  of  the  Ohio  Pond  Bill),  and  the  winter  following 
taught  school  in  the  Hart  District  at  $14  per  month.  He  afterward  attended 
the  Twinsburg  Academy  under  the  instruction  of  Deacon  Bissell  one  term. 
He  has  taught  school  in  all  fourteen  terms,  but  during  the  most  of  his  life  he 
has  followed  his  present  occupation,  that  of  farming.  On  March  15,  1851, 
Mr.  Barber  closed  his  school  and  returned  home,  cut  timber  for  a  house  16x22 
and  hauled  the  timber  to  building  site,  raised  his  house  and  finished  it  off 
ready  to  be  occupied.  On  April  21,  same  year,  he  was  married,  and  on  day 
following  (Friday),  he  moved,  and  the  next  Monday  he  commenced  plowing 
for  his  spring  crops.  Our  subject  did  all  the  work  with  his  own  hands,  except 
a  half  day's  help  from  his  neighbors  at  "  raising."  The  partner  of  his  choice 
was  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (Matiers)  Berkheimer,  of  Franklin, 
this  county,  whose  father  was  one  of  the  company  who  started  the  first  glass 
works  in  Franklin  Mills.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  four  children:  Emmet 
N.,  John  L.  (deceased),  George  M.  and  Jessie.  Mr.  Barber  was  a  resident  of 
Brimfield  Township  up  to  1869,  when  he  removed  to  the  farm  in  Franklin 
Township  where  he  now  resides.  His  wife  died  in  September,  1881,  at  the 
age  of  forty-eight.  Mr.  Barber  is  now  serving  his  fourth  term  as  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  In  politics  he  was  formerly  a  Democrat,  but  since  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Rebellion  has  been  one  of  the  stanch  supporters  of  the  Republican 
party. 

CHARLES  H.  BARBER,  Postmaster,  Kent,  was  born  in  East  Windsor, 
Conn.,  August  9,  1839,  son  of  Henry  and  Emily  T.  (Osborn)  Barber,  and  was 
reared  in  his  native  town,  where  he  received  a  common  school  education.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  August,  1862,  in 
Company  G,  Twenty-fifth  Connecticut  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  in  the 
battle  of  Irish  Bend,  La.,  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson,  June  14, 
1868,  when  he  lost  his  left  arm,  and  was  honorably  discharged  August  26, 
1863.  He  then  returned  home,  where  he  remained  until  January,  1865,  when 
he  located  in  Kent  and  engaged  with  Day,  Williams  &  Co.  as  traveling  sales- 
man, for  whom  he  acted  thirteen  and  one-half  years.  In  1879  he  was  engaged 
as  time-keeper  in  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  shops,  which 
position  he  held  up  to  November,  1883.  In  October,  1883,  he  was  appointed 
Postmaster  of  Kent  by  President  Arthur,  taking  possession  of  the  office 
November  11.  He  was  married  in  July,  1867,  to  Clementina,  daughter  of 
Edward  and  Clementine  (Janes)  Parsons,  of  Brimfield  Township,  this  county, 
by  whom  he  has  had  six  children :  William  H.,  Edward  P., Charles  N.  (deceased), 
Clementina  J.,  Frank  W.  and  Arthur  O.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barber  are  members 


660  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

of  the  Congregational  Church.     He  is  an  active  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.     In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

GEORGE  BARNETT,  miller,  Kent,  was  born  in  the  County  of  Sussex, 
England,  July  7,  1821;  son  of  John  and  Susan  (Roberts)  Barnett.  He  was 
reared  and  educated  and  learned  the  miller's  trade  in  his  native  county,  where  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  and  a  half  years,  after  which  he  worked  as 
a  journeyman  in  Epsom,  Barnstead,  Banbury  and  Elhialsham.  In  1851  he 
came  to  America,  locating  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  where  he  worked  in  Van  Tine's 
mill  for  nearly  a  year.  He  then  settled  in  Kent  and  worked  in  the  Kent 
Flouring  Mills  up  to  1865,  when  he  rented  the  mills,  and  with  the  exception 
of  three  years,  has  been  proprietor  up  to  the  present  time.  This  mill  was 
built  by  Marvin  Kent,  and  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  substantial  in  the  State, 
having  four  run  of  stone  with  a  capacity  of  1,500  barrels  of  flour  per  week. 
Mr.  Barnett  was  married,  February  25,  1866,  to  Lucina,  daughter  of  Jona- 
than Thorngate,  of  Stowe  Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has 
two  children:  Fanny  and  Clara  Belle.  He  has  served  two  terms  as  member  of 
the  Council  of  Kent;  is  one  of  the  directors  of  the  co-operative  store;  in  pol- 
itics a  Democrat. 

WILLIAM  BASSETT,  Jr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Ravenna 
Township,  this  county.  May  22,  1829;  son  of  AVilliam  and  Eloisa  (Welton) 
Bassett,  natives  of  Oxford,  New  Haven  Co.,  Conn. ,  former  born  September  18, 
1794,  latter  August  4,  1798.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1817  and  located  in 
Rootstown  Township  where  they  lived  about  eight  months,  then  moved  to 
Franklin  Township  and  settled  on  the  place  known  as  the  Pritchard  farm. 
They  afterward  exchanged  the  farm  for  the  property  now  occupied  by  the 
mother  of  our  subject,  which  was  then  considered  the  poorest  portion  of  the 
township.  The  farm  comprises  263  acres  of  land,  200  of  which  are  under 
cultivation.  William  Bassett,  Sr.,  was  a  veteran  of  the  war  of  1812,  Captain 
of  the  militia  in  Franklin  Township  in  early  times,  and  generally  known  as 
Capt.  Bassett.  After  his  settlement  in  Franklin  Township  he  taught  a  night 
school  for  two  months,  said  to  be  the  first  school  in  the  township.  He  had 
four  children:  William,  Jr.,  Harriet  (deceased),  Edward  W.,  in  Ravenna,  and 
Horace  P.,  in  Warren.  He  was  a  thorough -going,  pushing  business  man  and 
at  the  time  of  the  building  of  the  Ohio  Canal  he  contracted  to  furnish  the 
stone  for  the  locks.  He  died  October  21,  1878,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four;  his 
widow,  aged  eighty-six,  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead.  Our  subject  was 
reared  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  where  he  received  a  common  school 
education  and  has  always  followed  farming  as  an  occupation.  He  was  mar- 
ried. May  9,  1854,  to  Esther  A.,  daughter  of  Deacon  Barber  Clark,  of  Frank- 
lin Township,  this  county,  who  died  May  8,  1879,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight 
years.  Mr.  Bassett  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  with  which  he 
has  been  identified  since  1859.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  in  politics  a  Repub- 
lican. 

JOSEPH  BETHEL,  dealer  in  stoves,  tinware,  etc.,  Kent,  was  born  in 
England,  February  23,  1827;  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  (Paylin)  Bethel,  who 
immigrated  to  America  in  1828  and  located  in  the  State  of  New  York  but  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Summit  County,  Ohio,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They 
had  seven  children:  Joseph;  Ann  (Mrs.  Alexander  Ritchie);  Mary  (Mrs.  Perry 
Prentiss);  Cummings;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Nighman);  Julia  (Mrs.  Call),' and  Fred- 
erick. The  subject  of  this  sketch  located  in  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent)  in 
1850,  and  embarked  in  the  stove  and  house-furnishing  business  witli  L.  C. 
Dodge  &  Co.,  of  Ravenna.     This  partnership  continued  up  to  1857,  when  they 


1^  ^^  '^"■'' 


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FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  663 

retired,  Mr.  Bethel  succeeding  to  the  business,  in  which  he  has  continued  up 
to  the  present  time.  He  was  married,  May  22,  1850,  to  Clara  Mills,  of  Cuya- 
hoga Falls,  by  whom  he  has  three  children  living:  Louie  P.,  Carrie  (Mrs. 
Preston  Spaulding)  and  Harry.  Mr.  Bethel  is  one  of  the  live  business  men 
of  Kent,  and  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  Council  two  terms  with  credit  to 
himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

BUEL  BLAKE  (deceased)  was  born  in  Cornwall,  Conn.,  in  September, 
1810;  son  of  James  and  Dorcas  (Buel)  Blake.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
his  native  town,  where  he  received  a  common  school  education,  and  was  mar- 
ried, in  May,  1841,  to  Sally  E.,  daughter  of  William  and  Polly  (Lewis)  Tut- 
tle,  of  Milton,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.  By  this  union  there  were  four  children: 
Lewis  J.,  Cicero,  Julia  C.  and  William.  Mr.  Blake  came  to  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  in  1857,  and  located  in  Franklin  Township,  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  here  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  was  caused  by  his  falling  from 
his  barn,  June  25,  1867.  He  was  one  of  the  representative  farmers  and  citi- 
zens of  Franklin.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  never  held  nor  sought 
office. 

CHRISTIAN  BOETTLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Greene  Town- 
ship, Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  March  14.  1836;  son  of  Frederick  and  Margaretta 
(Zimmerman)  Boettler,  natives  of  Germany,  who  settled  in  Greene  Township, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio.,  in  1834,  and  who  were  the  parents  of  nine  children:  Jacob; 
Mary  A.,  wife  of  F.  Krumroy;  Margretta,  wife  of  George  Humbert;  Diana, 
wife  of  Adam  Fulmer;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Peter  C.  Frisch;  Catherine,  wife  of 
Adam  Kroehley;  Frederick;  Christian  and  Daniel.  Frederick  Boettler  died  in 
1849,  his  widow  in  May,  1883.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  town- 
ship, where  he  resided  until  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  when  he  located 
in  Greene  Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  for  four  years,  after  that  in  Brim- 
field,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  and  there  lived  eight  years.  He  then  resided  in  Can- 
ton, Ohio,  one  year,  and  returned  to  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  where 
he  resided  until  1870,  when  he  located  in  Franklin  Township,  and  has  here 
resided  ever  since.  Mr.  Boettler  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming  and  is 
owner  of  the  well-known  Arvin  Olin  farm,  but  resides  in  one  of  the  finest  sub- 
urban residences  of  Kent.  He  was  married,  December  14,  1860,  to  Ann  M., 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Catherine  (Essick)  Pontius,  of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  by 
whom  he  has  one  child — Chai'ley  A.  Boettler.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boettler  are 
members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

PHILIP  BOOSINGER,  of  Kent,  was  born  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio, 
November  21,  1814,  son  of  John  and  Barbara  (Willyard)  Boosinger.  His 
father  was  born  in  eastern  Virginia,  March  17,  1785,  son  of  Conrad  Boosinger, 
a  native  of  Germany,  who  settled  in  Ravenna  Township,  Portage  Co., 
Ohio,  in  1800,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  a  farm.  In  1809  he  removed 
to  Tallmadge,  Summit  County,  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  had 
twelve  children,  four  sons  and  eight  daughters.  John  Boosinger  was  married 
in  1813,  and  settled  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  where  he  resided  three 
years.  In  June,  1816,  he  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  one  and  a  half  miles 
west  of  Brimfield  Center,  the  first  permanent  settler  in  the  township,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  He  had  eight 
children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was 
reared  in  Brimfield  Township,  receiving  a  limited  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  is  a  wheelwright,  carriage  and  wagon-maker  by  trade.  On  reach- 
ing maturity  he  worked  for  four  years  as  a  journeyman  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Wayne  County,  Ohio.  In  1843  he  returned  to  Brimfield,  embarked  in  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  there  married  in  October  of  the  same  year  Miss  Mary  A. , 


664  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

daughter  of  Conrad  Neflf.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  tive  children,  two  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Ellis  A.  and  Rhoda  A.  (Mrs.  Joseph  Whitehead.)  Mr. 
Boosinger  worked  at  his  trade  in  Brimtield  until  1862,  when  he  removed  to 
Kent  and  embarked  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business,  in  which  he  was  engaged 
about  seven  years.  In  politics  he  was  formerly  a  Democrat,  but  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Rebellion  joined  the  Republican  party,  with  which  he  has  since 
acted. 

GEORGE  BRADLEY,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Lee,  Berk- 
shire Co.,  Mass.,  February  20,  1815,  son  of  Stephen  and  Lybia  (Cook) 
Bradley.  He  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  town,  and  came  to  Hud- 
son, Ohio,  in  1834,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm,  by  the  month,  for  one  year. 
In  1835  ho  settled  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Streetsboro  Township,  clearing 
and  improving  a  farm  on  which  he  resided  up  to  1877,  when  he  removed  to 
Kent,  where  he  now  resides.  He  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being 
Paulina,  daughter  of  Rufus  and  Sally  (Hall)  Peck,  who  settled  in  Streetsboro, 
this  county,  in  1836,  and  the  issue  of  this  union  was  seven  children:  Charles; 
Emily,  wife  of  George  Nyman;  Clara,  wife  of  Samuel  Foster;  Paulina 
(deceased);  Susan,  wife  of  James  Olin;  Clarinda,  wife  of  E.  V.  Chamberlain; 
William  (deceased).  Mr.  Bradley  was  married,  January  20,  1878,  to  his 
present  wife,  Almira,  widow  of  Biiell  Whitney,  and  daughter  of  Joseph  B. 
and  Ruth  (Olin)  Stratton,  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  in  1837.  During 
his  residence  in  Streetsboro  Township,  our  subject  served  as  Township  Trustee 
two  terms.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat.  Mrs.  Bradley  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

WARREN  BURT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Southampton,  Mass., 
August  6,  1806,  son  of  Martin  and  Philomela  (Robinson)  Burt,  who  settled  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1821,  locating  in  the  vicinity  of  Brady's 
Lake,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They  had  six  children:  Warren,  Martin, 
Horace  (deceased),  Dorcas  C.  (Mrs.  Rodney  Wing),  Philomela  (Mrs.  Ormsby) 
and  Electa  (Mrs.  Samuel  Wales.)  Our  subject  received  a  limited  common 
school  education,  and  in  1828  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Alonzo  John- 
son, where  he  lived  until  1863,  when  he  removed  to  his  present  place.  He 
was  married,  November  30,  1829,  to  Lydia,  daughter  of  Selah  and  Pruanna 
(Phillips)  Shirtliff,  who  came  from  Hampden  County,  Mass.,  to  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1819.  By  this  union  there  are  two  children:  Louisa  A. 
(Mrs.  T.  M.  Sawyer),  of  Akron,  and  Selah  W.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burt  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Disciples  Church,  with  which  they  have  been  identified  upward  of 
sixty  years.     In  politics  Mr.  Burt  is  a  Republican. 

SELAH  W.  BURT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township,  this 
county,  June  15, 1835;  son  of  Warren  and  Lydia  (Shurtliflf)  Burt.  His  paternal 
grandparents,  Martin  and  Philamela  (Robinson)  Burt,  formerly  of  Hampshire 
County,  Mass.,  settled  in  Franklin  Township  in  1821,  and  his  maternal  grand- 
parents, Selah  and  Pruanna  (Phillips)  Shurtliff,  formerly  of  Hampden,  Mass., 
settled  in  Franklin  Township  in  1819.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Franklin 
Township,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  Hiram  College.  He  has 
been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Sarah  Stowe,  of  Franklin  Township,  this 
county.  May  24,  1863,  he  married  his  present  wife,  Susan,  daughter  of  Joseph 
B.  and  Ruth  (Olin)  Stratton,  of  Franklin.  The  issue  of  this  union  is  one  child 
— Cora  M.  Mr.  Biirt  is  now  serving  his  eleventh  term  as  Trustee  of  Franklin 
Township.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  in  politics  a  Republican. 

CHRISTIAN  C.  CACKLER,  farmer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  August  17,  1836,  son  of  Christian  and  Theresa  (Nighman) 
Cackler,  who  settled   here  in  1816.      His  father   was  born  June   27,  1791,  in 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  665 

"Washington  County,  Penn.,  seventli  child  and  second  son  of  Christian  and 
Julia  Ann  Cackler,  and  came  to  Hudson,  Ohio,  with  his  parents  in  1804,  and  in 
1807  was  bound  out  until  he  was  twenty-one,  to  help  provide  for  the  family. 
The  war  of  1812  breaking  out  about  the  time  he  finished  his  servitude,  he 
volunteered,  serving  two  years,  and  was  in  Perry's  victorious  engagement  Sep- 
tember 10,  1813.  He  was  married  August  10,  1814,  to  Theresa  Nighman,  a 
native  of  York  County,  Penn.,  born  November  23,  1791,  daughter  of  Adam 
and  Betsey  Nighman,  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  about 
1809.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  twelve  children:  George,  Almon  (deceased), 
Polly,  Elizabeth  (deceased),  Harriet  (deceased),  Edward  and  Edwin  (twins,  the 
former  deceased),  Caroline  (deceased),  Jacob,  Julian,  Delanah  and  Christian 
C.  Christian  Cackler  settled  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  our  subject  Jan- 
uary 1,  1816.  He  ran  in  debt  for  fifty  acres  of  land  at  $3.50  per  acre,  and 
did  not  get  his  deed  for  seventeen  years.  He  began  to  clear  his  land  by  cut- 
ting out  the  small  timber  which,  together  with  the  old  logs,  he  burned,  after 
which  he  girdled  the  standing  timber,  and  split  his  rails.  Having  no  teams, 
he  carried  them  on  his  back  to  the  line  of  his  fences.  Having  cleared  and 
fenced  his  farm,  he  hired  a  man  to  do  his  plowing,  planted  his  corn,  and 
worked  it  entirely  with  a  hoe.  He  died  July  5,  1878;  his  wife,  April  23, 
1869.  Christian  C.  Cackler,  our  subject,  resides  on  the  old  family  homestead, 
where  he  was  born  and  reared.  He  was  married  August  10,  1862,  to  Lizzie 
Bentley,  born  in  New  York  City,  January  29,  1843,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  (Lindsey)  Bentley,  the  father  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  the  mother 
of  London,  England,  and  who  have  been  residents  of  Kent,  this  county,  since 
1857.  To  this  union  were  born  four  children  (two  deceased),  two  now  living: 
John  and  Lula.  Mr.  Cackler  is  one  of  the  representative  citizens  and  farmers 
of  Franklin  Township.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

W.  L  CARIS,  dentist,  Kent,  was  born  in  Eootstown  Township,  this 
county,  September  4,  1852,  son  of  Samuel  and  Rachel  (Ward)  Caris,  natives 
of  Eootstown.  His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Caris,  a  native  of  Cumberland 
County,  Penn.,  and  who,  with  his  brother  Frederick,  settled  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  in  1802,  was  a  wheelwright  by  trade,  though  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  He  cleared  and  improved 
two  farms  in  Rootstown  Township.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812, 
serving  as  First  Lieutenant  of  his  company,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  Hull's 
surrender,  but  escaped  the  same  day.  He  was  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace  of 
Rootstown,  which  office  he  held  about  fifteen  years.  He  had  eight  children: 
George,  deceased;  Frederick;  Michael;  Susan,  Mrs.  'Wilson  Fallon;  Samuel; 
Lycurgus  V. ;  Mary  (Mrs.  James  Likens),  and  Henry.  The  maternal  grand- 
father, Mr.  Ward,  was  also  an  early  settler  of  Rootstown  Township,  where  he 
lived  and  died.  Samuel  Caris,  father  of  our  subject,  was  reared  in  Rootstown 
Township,  where  he  always  resided,  engaged  in  farming.  He  had  two  chil- 
dren: Belle  E.,  Mrs.  I.  L.  Herriflf,  and  William  1.  Our  subject  was  reared  in 
Rootstown  Township,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  When  twenty 
years  of  age  he  located  in  Kent,  where  he  studied  dentistry  two  years  with  G. 
A.  Case.  In  1873  he  went  to  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  where  he  practiced  his 
profession  for  one  year,  but  in  the  fall  of  1874  returned  to  Kent  and  opened 
an  office,  where  he  has  been  in  active  practice  to  the  present  time.  In  1874 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Ohio  State  Dental  Association,  and  is  still  an  act- 
ive member.  He  was  married,  March  25,  1876,  to  Roxy  S.,  daughter  of  Luther 
H.  and  Tama  (Ingersoll)  Parmelee,  of  Kent,  Ohio.  Dr.  Caris  is  a  member  of 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  K.  of  P.,  of  Kent,  of  the  Akron  Encampment,  and  Temple 
No.  5,  of  Akron,  Ohio.     He  was  elected  Clerk  of  Franklin  Township  and  the 


666  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

corporation  of  Kent,  in  1878,  which  position  he  filled  for  six  consecutive 
years.  He  was  appointed  Mayor  of  Kent,  Ohio,  November  6,  1883,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1884  was  re-elected.     In  politics  he  is  independent. 

F.  F.  CARLILE,  tinner  and  plumber,  Kent,  was  born  at  Newton  Falls, 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  January  31,  1854,  son  of  Freeman  and  Caroline  (DeFor- 
est)  Carlile.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Henry  Carlile,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  settled  at  Newton  Falls  in  1832.  His  maternal  grandfather  was 
Curtis  DeForest,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Franklin  Mills  (now 
Kent),  this  county,  in  1851,  where  he  carried  on  farming  until  1877,  when  he 
retired,  and  now  lives  in  Kent  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  Our  subject  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Newton  Falls,  served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years 
at  the  tinner's  trade  in  that  place,  and  in  1875  embarked  in  business  for  him- 
self in  Kent.  In  1881  he  engaged  in  business  with  Myron  A.  Thorp,  which 
continued  nine  months.  In  April,  1882,  he  became  associated  with  C.  R. 
Reed,  under  firm  name  of  Carlile  &  Reed,  and  in  1878  plumbing,  steam  and 
gas-fitting  were  added  to  the  business.  Mr.  Carlile  was  married,  March  12, 
1873,  to  Abbie  E.  Selby  of  Newton  Falls,  by  whom  he  has  six  children:  Dar- 
win D.,  Willie  R.,  Lewis  K. ,  Nathaniel  W..  Artie  and  Freddie.  Mr.  Carlile 
is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  R.  A.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

WILLIAM  R.  CARVER,  P.  O.  Chicago,  111.,  was  born  in  Brandon,  Vt., 
October  15,  1830;  son  of  Jonathan  P.  and  Betsey  K.  (Knowlton)  Carver,  who 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  six  now  living:  Emma  E.,  wife  of  Harry 
Cooley;  William  R.;  Charles  P.;  Henry  C. ;  Ann  E.,  wife  of  Thomas E.  Metlin; 
Mary  P.,  wife  of  C.  T.  Williams.  They  settled  in  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent) 
in  1843,  where  Mr.  Carver  kept  the  Franklin  (now  Continental)  Hotel  for  about 
eighteen  months,  when  he  retired  from  business  and  resided  in  Kent  until  his 
death.  May  31,  1871,  in  his  seventy-ninth  year.  His  widow  has  reached  the 
ripe  age  of  seventy-nine  and  now  resides  in  Kent.  The  paternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject  was'Rufus  Carver,  a  native  of  Deerfield,  Vt.,  a  shoe-maker  by 
trade  and  a  son  of  the  famous  traveler,  Capt.  Jonathan  Carver,  who  in  1766- 
68  explored  the  vast  country  along  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  received  in 
recognition  of  his  influence  and  services  a  grant  of  territory  from  the  Indians, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

' '  To  Jonathan  Carver, 

"  A  chief  under  the  most  mighty  and  potent  George  the  Third,  King  of  the 
English  and  other  nations,  the  fame  of  whose  courageous  warriors  has  reached 
our  ears,  and  has  been  more  fully  told  to  us  by  our  good  brother  Jonathan 
aforesaid,  whom  we  rejoice  to  see  come  among  us,  and  bring  us  good  news 
from  his  country. 

"  We,  chiefs  of  the  Naudowissies,  who  have  hereto  set  our  seals,  do  by  these 
presents,  for  ourselves  and  heirs  forever,  in  return  for  the  many  presents  and 
other  good  services  done  by  the  said  Jonathan  to  ourselves  and  allies,  give, 
grant,  and  convey  to  him  the  said  Jonathan,  and  to  his  heirs  and  assigns  for 
ever,  the  whole  of  a  certain  tract  or  territory  of  land,  bounded  as  follows,  viz. 
From  the  Fall  of  St.  Anthony,  running  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi 
nearly  southeast,  as  far  as  the  south  end  of  Lake  Pepin,  where  the  Chipeway 
River  joins  the  Mississippi,  and  from  thence  eastward  five  days  travel,  account- 
ing twenty  English  miles  per  day,  and  from  thence  north  six  days  travel,  at 
twenty  English  miles  per  day,  and  from  thence  again  to  the  Fall  of  St. 
Anthony,  on  a  direct  straight  line.  We  do  for  ourselves,  heirs,  and  assigns 
for  ever,  give  unto  the  said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever,  all  the  said 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP. 


667 


lands,  with  all  the  trees,  rocks,  and  rivers  therein;  reserving  for  ourselves  and 
heirs  the  sole  liberty  of  hunting  and  fishing  on  land  not  planted  and  improved 
by  the  said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and  assigns.  To  which  we  have  affixed  our 
respective  seals,  at  the  Great  Cave,  May  the  first,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-seven. 


Hawnopawjatin, 


Otohtongoomlisheaw, 


his  mark. 


his  mark. 


"  The  foregoing,with  the  signets  from  two  Indian  chiefs  of  the  Naudowissie 
tribes  near  the  Fall  of  St.  Anthony,  on  the  River  Mississippi,  to  Capt.  Jonathan 
Carver,  dated  at  the  Great  Cave  on  May  first,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixty- seven,  is  a  true  copy  of  an  original  deed,  compared  according  to  the 
testimonies  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Peters  and  Dr.  John  Coakley  Lettsom,  M. 
D.,  as  stated  in  a  petition  to  Congress  by  Samuel  Harrison,  on  behalf  of  the 
heirs  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Carver,  praying  for  a  recognition  of  the  same  as  on 
file  in  the  Senate  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
Examined  this  23d  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  six,  at  the 
capitol  in  the  city  of  Washington. 

' '  Attest,  Samuel  A.  Otis, 
Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

'  *  Signed  in  presence  of  Samuel  Eliot,  Junr, 

"  The  above  is  certified  under  the  seal  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  James 
Madison." 

This  original  deed  on  parchment  has  been  carefully  treasured  in  the  fam- 
ily as  an  "heirloom,"  but  was  unfortunately  destroyed  in  the  "great  fire," 
Chicago,  October,  1871. 

The  "Great  Cave,"  in  which  the  treaty  with  Capt.  Carver  was  held  and  the 
deed  executed,  is  located  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Paul,  and  is  well 
known  as  "  Carver's  Cave,"  and  is  visited  by  thousands  of  tourists  annually. 
One  of  the  most  thrifty  counties  and  towns  of  Minnesota  also  bears  the  name  of 
the  great  traveler.  His  maternal  grandfather,  William  Knowlton,  a  native  of 
Beverly,  Mass.,  settled  in  Franklin  about  1835.  Our  subject  was  thirteen  years 
of  age  when  his  parents  came  to  this  township.  He  was  educated  in  the  high 
schools  of  Kent  and  started  in  life  as  a  clerk  at  Ravenna,  in  the  store  of  Cyrus 
Prentiss,  in  1847,  with  whom  he  remained  six  years.  He  afterward  located  at 
Cleveland,  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul,  and  has  been  engaged  in  various  branches 
of  business  in  different  sections  of  the  country.  In  1872  he  purchased  the 
Continental  Hotel  in  Kent,  a  building  five  stories  high  with  five  stores  attached, 
on  which  he  has  expended  several  thousand  dollars  in  repaii'ing  and  improve- 
ments.    He  is  also  owner  of  other  valuable  property  in  Kent.     Mr.  Carver  is  a 


668  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

gentleman  of  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  always  interested  in  anything  that 
tends  toward  the  improvement  and  public  welfai-e  of  Kent. 

SELAH  CLAPP,  a  pioneer  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  was  born  June  7, 
1775,  in  the  town  of  South  Hampton,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass..  and  was  a  son  of 
Selah  Clapp,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Sir  Roger  Clapp,  who  came  from  England, 
his  native  countx'v,  to  America  in  1630,  and  settled  in  the  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts. June  28,  1820,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  being  then  married,  started 
from  his  native  town  with  his  wife  and  family  of  six  children  for  Ohio. 
Their  means  of  conveyance  was  by  horse  team,  which  he  drove  the  entire  dis- 
tance, arriving  at  Franklin  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  August  8,  1820.  In 
this  township  on  Lot  23  he  bought  a  farm  of  163  acres,  and  moved  with  his 
family  into  a  log  house  then  standing  on  the  land,  16x18  feet  in  size,  which 
stood  about  100  rods  southwest  of  his  son's,  S.  S.  Clapp's,  present  residence. 
About  the  same  time  he  purchased  250  acres  of  land  in  Avon  Township,  Lorain 
Co.,  Ohio.  Ml*.  Clapp  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth,  and  soon  began  taking  an 
active  and  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  community  where  he  had  estab- 
lished his  new  home.  He  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  served  his  township  in 
various  public  capacities,  being  Trustee  for  several  terms.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  a  liberal  supporter  of  the  religious  and  edu- 
cational interests  of  the  township.  He  was  married  in  Montgomery  Town- 
ship, Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  March  1,  1804,  to  Diana  Sheldon,  who  bore 
him  eight  children,  all  in  Massachusetts  except  the  youngest,  as  follows: 
Silas  W.,  born  December  24,  1804;  Susan,  born  October  13,  1807,  now 
deceased;  Spencer,  born  December  21,  1809;  Selah  S.,  born  January  9,  1812; 
Samuel,  born  November  1,  1814,  now  deceased;  Achsah,  born  March  16,  1817, 
now  deceased;  Diana,  born  January  5,  1820;  Delana,  born  November  13,  1822, 
now  deceased.  The  father  of  this  family  died  June  4,  1810,  and  the  mother 
August  29,  1850.      Their  remains  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  Kent. 

SELAH  S.  CLAPP,  son  of  Selah  and  Diana  (Sheldon)  Clapp,  was  born 
in  Montgomery  Township,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  January  9,  1812,  and  was 
brought  by  his  parents  to  Franklin  Township  in  1820.  He  was  reared  to  the 
life  of  a  farmer,  in  the  meantime  receiving  a  limited  education  in  the  schools 
of  his  day.  At  his  father's  death  he  purchased  the  old  homestead,  eighty 
acres  of  which  he  still  owns  and  occupies,  thus  making  him  a  continuous  resi- 
dent on  this  farm  for  sixty- five  years.  He  was  married  at  Ravenna,  Ohio, 
March  10,  1835,  to  Mary  Brown,  who  was  born  in  his  native  town,  and  a 
daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Fanny  (Phillips)  Brown.  Her  parents  having  died 
in  Massachusetts,  she  came  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  with  her  uncle.  Benja- 
min Phillips,  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township  in  1832.  To  the  imion  of 
our  subject  and  his  wife  were  boi'n  four  children:  Fanny  Eliza,  born  July  7, 
1836,  and  died  January  1,  1855;  Mary  Adelia,  born  November  17,  1837;  Will- 
iam Henry,  born  February  16,  1842,  married  Mary  Richardson,  and  now 
resides  in  Franklin  Township;  Lucy  Florilla,  born  September  2,  1845.  Mary 
A.  and  Lucy  F.  both  reside  at  the  homestead  with  their  father.  The  wife  of 
Mr.  Clapp  died  January  27,  1875,  aged  fifty-eight  years,  and  lies  buried  in 
Standing  Rock  Cemetery  at  Kent.  Mr.  Clapp  is  one  of  Franklin  Township's 
oldest  as  well  as  one  of  its  most  substantial  citizens.  He  is  at  present  the 
owner  of  238  acres  of  valuable  land,  besides  other  property.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  although  not  an  office  seeker  has  been  elected  to  and  has 
served  his  township  in  various  local  offices,  and  once  as  Trustee.  For  the  past 
forty- four  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  the 
first  four  years  serving  as  Deacon  and  for  the  past  forty  years  as  Overseer,  and 
Church  Trustee  thirty  years.       Mrs.  Clapp  was  also  a  member  of  this  church 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  669 

for  many  years.  At  the  erection  of  the  stone  church  building  in  Kent  for  this 
denomination,  Mx'.  Clapp  contributed  $1,000.  He  also  assisted  in  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Kent. 

CHARLES  K.  CLAPP,  Cashier  Kent  National  Bank,  Kent,  was  born  in 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  January  15,  1838,  son  of  Charles  and  Harriet  (Kent)  Clapp. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Turin,  N.  Y.,  a  son  of  Ezra  Clapp,  born  January 
2,  1807,  and  settled  in  Ravenna,  this  county,  in  an  early  day.  There  he 
embarked  in  mercantile  trade,  which^  he  followed  for  several  years,  after 
which  he  located  in  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  this  county,  and  engaged  in 
the  same  business,  and  later  still  in  Akron,  Ohio.  He  is  now  a  resident  of 
Warren  County,  Ohio.  He  was  married  in  Ravenna,  Ohio,  September  1,  1831, 
to  Harriet,  daughter  of  Zenas  and  Pamelia  (Lewis)  Kent,  by  whom  he  had  six 
children:  Harriet  L.  (deceased),  Charles  H.  (deceased),  Charles  K.,  Ella  M. 
(Mrs.  John  C.  Southwick),  in  New  York  City;  George  A.,  in  New  York  City, 
and  Edward  L.,  in  San  Francisco.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in 
his  native  county,  where  he  attended  the  common  schools,  thence  went  to  the 
Leicester  Academy,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  two  years,  which  comprised  his 
educational  advantages.  Leaving  there  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to  New 
York  City,  and  for  twelve  years  was  employed  in  the  wholesale  grocery  house 
of  Kent  &  Co.  (the  last  four  years  a  partner  in  the  house),  after  which  he 
removed  to  Minneapolis,  JNlinn.,  where  he  resided  twelve  years,  being  engaged 
six  years  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods,  and  the  balance  of  the  time  in 
the  agricultui'al  implement  business.  In  the  fall  of  1877  he  returned  to  Kent, 
and  in  January,  1878,  accepted  the  position  of  Cashier  of  the  Kent  National 
Bank,  which  he  has  satisfactorily  filled  to  the  present.  He  was  married, 
November  26,  1872,  to  Mary  E.  Wood,  of  Mankato,  Minn.,  by  whom  he  has 
four  children:  Charles  W.,  Frank  S.,  Leon  K.  and  Harold  M. 

ALBERT  D.  CLARK,  real  estate,  insurance  and  Notary  Public,  Kent,  was 
born  in  Kent,  April  21,  1842,  son  of  John  F.  and  Eliza  (Dunning)  Clark.  His 
paternal  grandparents  were  George  W.  and  Martha  (Laird)  Clark,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  located  in  Stark  County  at  an  early  day,  where  the  father 
of  our  subject  was  born  January  13,  1814.  George  W.  was  Associate  Judge 
of  Stark  and  Portage  Counties  at  an  early  day,  also  one  of  the  first  surveyors 
in  this  part  of  Ohio,  and  laid  out  the  stage  road  between  Cleveland  and  Pitts- 
burgh. His  children  were  William  L.,  the  first  Sheriff  of  Summit  County; 
Robert;  James  H. ;  George  W.,  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  a  professor  at  Allegheny  College,  Meadville,  for  twenty  years; 
John  F. ;  Jane;  Juliette;  Martha.  John  F. ,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
educated  in  the  academies  of  Tallmadge  and  Randolph,  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen went  to  Hudson  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years  at  the  carpen- 
ter's trade,  which  occupation  he  has  followed  all  his  life.  He  married  in  1839 
Eliza  Dunning,  formerly  of  New  Milford,  Conn.,  by  whom  he  had  five  chil- 
dren: George  F.,  Albert  D.,  Amelia  (Mrs.  Lorenzo  Fessenden),  Almira  (Mrs, 
Anson  Pritchard,  deceased),  and  Hattie  (Mrs.  Charles  Coyle).  He  located  in 
Kent  in  1838,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  The  maternal  grandfather  of 
our  subject  was  Ambrosia  Dunning,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Ravenna  Town- 
ship. Our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  Kent.  He  enlisted  April  24, 
1861,  in  Company  F,  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  serving  three 
months  as  Corporal  was  honorably  discharged.  He  re-enlisted  August  13, 
1861,  and  served  as  Sergeant  in  Company  A,  First  Regiment  Ohio  Light 
Artillery,  and  was  Acting  Orderly  over  two  years,  and  commanded  the  Second 
Section  of  artilleries  over  a  year.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Stone  River, 
Chickamauga    (he  was  recommended  for  promotion  for  bravery  on   the  battle- 


670  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

field  of  Chickamauga  by  Maj.  Wilbur  F.  Goodspeed),  and  was  in  many  other 
engagements,  and  honorably  discharged  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  September  12, 

1864,  paying  a  flying  visit  to  friends  in  Ohio.  He  then  went  into  the 
Quartermaster's  Department,  at  Johnsonville,  Tenn.,  serving  eighteen  months 
as  Assistant  Superintendent  of  laborers  of  that  place,  also  in  the  vicinity  of 
Nashville.  When  Johnsonville,  Tenn.,  was  evacuated  by  the  Union  forces  he 
went  to  Nashville,  thence  to  Franklin  and  Duck  Eiver;  returning  to  Nashville 
took  passage  on  the  transport  "New  York"  for  Eastport,  Miss.  On  the  steamer's 
arrival  at  her  destination  he  accepted  and  filled  the  position  of  Chief  Receiving 
Clerk  under  Lieut.  Samuel  W.  Treat,  commanding  river  and  railroad  trans- 
portation. On  resigning  this  position  he  returned  to  Ohio.  He  then  went 
West  and  engaged  in  railroading,  visiting  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  West. 
In  1S69  he  returned  to  Kent,  and  accepted  a  position  as  foreman  in  the  brass 
foundry  of  the  A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.,  which  he  held  until  1883,  when  he  embarked 
in  his  present  business.  He  was  married  August  18,  1870,  to  Sarah  J.,  daugh- 
ter of  Harvey  C.  and  Flora  B.  Newberry,  of  Kent.  The  issue  of  this  union 
was  four  childi'en:  Lenah,  Scottie  O.,  Lewis  C.  and  EzzieL.,  of  whom  two  are 
now  living:  Lewis  C.  and  Ezzie  L.  Mr.  Clark  is  a  member  of  the  K.  of  H. ,  and 
has  filled  all  the  chairs  of  that  order.  He  now  holds  the  ofiice,  to  which  he 
was  appointed  by  S.  S.  Bloom,  Grand  Dictator,  K.  of  H. ,  of  Ohio,  of  District 
Deputy  Grand  Dictator  in  and  for  the  Twenty-fifth  District  of  Ohio,  compris- 
ing the  following  counties,  to-wit:  Ashtabula,  Geauga,  Portage,  Lake  and 
Trumbull.  He  is  C.  C.  Commander  of  the  K.  of  P. ,  and  a  member  of  the  G. 
A.  R.  He  has  served  the  village  of  Kent  as  Councilman  two  terms.  In 
1877  he  was  the  Greenback  candidate  for  Representative  of  Portage  County, 
and  ran  ahead  of  his  ticket.  He  was  also  candidate  for  Mayor  of  Kent  in  the 
Republican  caucus  in  the  spring  of  1884.     In  politics  he  is  independent. 

JAMES  CRANE,  hotel  proprietor,  Kent,  was  born  in  Warren,  Trumbull 
Co.,  Ohio,  August  6,  1830;  son  of  Ira  R.  and  Lucy  B.  (Rawdon)  Crane, 
natives  of  Connecticut.  His  father  settled  in  Warren  in  1824,  where  he 
embarked  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade,  which  he  carried  on  there  for  twenty 
years.  He  then  located  in  West  Farraington,  and  continued  in  the  same  busi- 
ness until  his  death.  He  died  September  17,  1884,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 
Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  town  and  in  West  Farmington,  and  was 
educated  in  the  schools  of  the  latter  place,  and  clerked  for  his  father  for  many 
years.  In  1852  he  embarked  in  the  dry  goods  trade  in  West  Farmington,  in 
which  he  engaged  up  to  1857,  when  he  removed  to  Illinois,  where  he  resided 
three  years.  In  April,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  three  months'  service,  in  the 
late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  being  the  first  man  to  enlist  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio, 
He  was  Orderly  Sergeant  of  Company  E,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  served  his  time.  He  re-enlisted  March  12,  1862,  and  was  appointed  Cap- 
tain of  Battery  E,  Fifth  New  York  Artillery.  He  participated  in  both  battles 
of  Winchester,  Va.,  Fishers  Hill,  Va.,  at  the  evacuation  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  where  he  was  captured  October  19,  1864,  and 
taken  to  Libby,  and  from  there  to  Danville  Prison.   He  was  paroled  March  12, 

1865,  and  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  service  the  same  date  at  Anna- 
polis, Md.  He  then  returned  to  West  Farmington  and  re-entered  the  dry  goods 
business,  in  which  he  was  engaged  up  to  1879,  when  he  located  in  Kent,  and 
with  his  brother-in-law,  F.  K.  Lewis,  Esq.,  rented  the  "Continental  Hotel," 
the  principal  hotel  of  the  place,  which,  under  the  excellent  management  of 
Crane  &  Lewis,  has  become  widely  known  throughout  the  State.  Mr.  Crane 
married  Amelia  E.,  daughter  of  Leonard  and  Mary  (Smith)  Lewis,  of  West 
Farmington,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Minnie  and  Jay.     Capt.  Crane  is 


4r 


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u 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  678 

one  of  the  live,  enterprising  citizens  of  Kent.     He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  membei' 
of  the  K.  of  P.  and  G.  A.  R.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

JOHN  CROSS,  foreman  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  wood- 
machine  shops,  Kent,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Ely,  Cambridgeshire,  England 
May  1,  1835,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Norman)  Cross.  He  was  reared  and 
educated  in  his  native  place,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  brick  mason,  serv- 
ing an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years.  He  landed  in  New  York  City  April  1, 
1860,  where  he  remained  until  the  breaking  oat  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
when  he  enlisted, May  1,1861,  in  Company  E,  Sixty-seventh  New  York  Infantry, 
serving  until  January  1,  1863,  at  which  date  he  was  discharged  at  Lincoln 
Hospital,  Washington,  D.  C,  by  reason  of  being  appointed  Hospital  Steward 
in  the  United  States  Army.  He  re- enlisted  January  23,  1863,  for  five  years, 
and  served  as  Hospital  Steward  up  to  August  22,  1865,  when  he  was  honor- 
ably discharged.  He  was  married,  December  17,  1856,  to  Sarah  B. ,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  A.  (Watkinson)  Pearson,  of  Ely,  England,  by  whom  he 
had  two  children:  Alexander  and  Sarah.  Mr.  Cross  located  in  Kent,  this 
county,  in  October,  1865,  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great 
Western,  now  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Raih'oad  Company,  with  whom 
he  has  been  engaged  to  the  present  time,  and  since  1871  he  has  held  his  pres- 
ent position  as  foreman  of  the  wood-machinery  shops  of  the  company.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Universalist  Church.  Mr.  Cross  was  elected  to 
the  Council  of  Kent  in  the  spring  of  1883.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  G.  A.  R.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

GEORGE  W.  DEAN,  nurseryman,  Kent,  was  born  in  Wayne  Township, 
Ashtabula  Co.,  Ohio,  August  20,  1820,  son  of  Horatio  G.  and  Rebecca  (Forbes) 
Dean,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  the  former  coming  to  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio, 
about  1816,  the  latterin  1806.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Abia- 
ther  Dean,  of  Massachusetts,  and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  Nathan  Forbes, 
who  settled  in  Wayne  Township,  Ashtabula  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1806.  Our  subject 
was  reared  in  his  native  township,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools  and 
the  academy  at  Farmington,  Ohio.  His  father  being  a  shoe-maker,  our  sub- 
ject engaged  in  that  trade  in  his  native  town  and  in  Auburn,  Ohio,  until 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  In  the  winter  of  1855  he  embarked,  in  Troy,  Geauga 
Co.,  Ohio,  in  the  nursery  business,  which  he  carried  on  there  for  eight  years. 
In  1864  he  removed  to  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  where  he  has  been 
engaged  to  the  present  time  keeping  a  general  nursery  stock,  and  up  to  1874 
he  carried  a  florists'  stock.  Besides  horticulture  Mr.  Dean  has  of  late  inter- 
ested himself  in  several  branches  of  natural  science,  and  has  collections  in 
Archaeology,  Paleontology,  Mineralogy  and  Conchology,  and  his  collection  in 
connection  with  the  last-named  science  numbers  1,350  distinct  species  of 
marine,  fresh  water  and  land  shells,  carefully  selected  and  systematically  classi- 
fied and  arranged.  Mr.  Dean  was  married  September  1,  1852,  to  Maria, 
daughter  of  Col.  Drayton  Jones,  of  Wayne  Township,  formerly  of  Connecti- 
cut, "and  has  one  daughter — Lillian.  Mr.  Dean  is  an  active  member  of  the 
County  Horticultural  Society,  of  which  he  was  Vice-President  for  several 
years.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

GEORGE  DEWEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Chester,  Mass., Sep- 
tember 10,  1801,  son  of  Stephen  and  Persus  (Morgan)  Dewey,  who  settled  in 
this  county  in  1824,  locating  m  Franklin  Township  on  land  now  owned  by  our 
subject  and  Samuel' Beckwith,  and  where  Stephen  Dewey  died  in  1831.  He 
had  nine  children:  Morgan,  Edwin,  Electa,  Almena,  Julia,  Editha,  George, 
Roland  and  Alonzo,  all  now  deceased  except  George  and  Roland.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  has  lived  on  the  farm  whei*e  he  now  resides  sixty  years,  and 

35 


674  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

made  all  the  improvements  himself.  He  was  married,  April  7,  1830,  to  Mary, 
daughter  of  Chauncey  Mosley,  of  Westfield,  Mass.  By  this  union  there  were 
nine  children,  four  now  living:  Margaret  (Mrs.  Dr.  I.  S.  King,  of  Montcalm 
County,  Mich.),  George,  Jr.,  Mary  and  Hattie  (Mrs.  Orlando  Stewart,  of 
Montcalm  County,  Mich.).  The  deceased  are  Jane,  Clinton.  Elizabeth,  Lucy 
and  Sarah.  Of  these  Clinton  died  in  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  during  the 
late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  leaving  one  child — Estelle  (Mrs.  Ralph  Dibble,  who 
has  one  child — Mary).  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Portage  County  Pion- 
eer Society,  and  has  held  various  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  township.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican. 

FRED  L.  DUNNING,  painter,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  May  23,  1833,  son  of  Samuel  L.  and  Susan  H.  (Bostwick)  Dun- 
nino-.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Squire  Dunning,  formerly  of  New 
Eno-land,  who  settled  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  about  1824,  where 
he  lived  and  died.  He  had  four  children:  Almon  S. ,  Samuel  L.  (deceased), 
Almira  (Mrs.  E.  Moulton)  and  Eliza  (deceased).  The  maternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject  was  Ashbel  Bostwick,  also  from  New  England,  who  came  to 
Ravenna  Township  about  1827,  where  he  is  said  to  have  built  the  first  frame 
house.  Samuel  L.  Dunning,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  married  December 
25,  1830,  and  the  same  year  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county.  He 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  though  interested  in  farming,  and  always  owned  a 
farm  until  a  short  time  before  his  death.  In  1842  he  located  in  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent),  this  county,  and  manufactured  plows,  being  chiefly  engaged 
in  that  business  for  many  years.  He  died  January  31,  1858,  in  his  fiftieth 
year,  and  his  widow  September  30,  1880,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  They  had 
six  children,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  only  one  now  living. 
He  received  a  limited  ediication  in  the  common  schools,  and  when  fourteen 
years  of  age  entered  his  father's  foundry,  where  he  worked  until  1862.  He 
served  three  years  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  August  2,  1862, 
in  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  mustered  into 
the  service'  as  Corporal,  but  was  promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant,  then  First 
Lieutenant,  and  finally  Captain.  He  was  at  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
twenty-two  days,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Burnside,  and  surrounded  by 
Lono-street's  army,  in  the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  in 
all  the  engagements  ia  which  his  regiment  participated.  For  a  time  his  reg- 
iment was  mounted  and  detailed  as  the  advance  scouts  of  Burnside's  army, 
with  orders  to  never  lose  sight  of  the  Rebels,  and  were  sometimes  twenty  miles 
ahead  of  the  army.  He  was  with  Sherman  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  then  under  Gen. 
Thomas  till  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  honorably  discharged  at  Camp 
Harker,  Tenn.,  August  12,  1865,  when  he  returned  to  Kent,  since  which  time 
he  has  followed  painting  as  an  occupation  in  the  car  shops  of  that  city.  His 
first  wife  was  Ann  M.  Fessenden,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  had  two  children:  Ella 
M.  (Mrs.  Arthur  Olin),  and  Cora  (deceased).  His  second  wife  was  Clara  Fow- 
ler, and  his  present  wife  is  Ellen,  daughter  of  Hiram  and  Clarissa  (Meacham) 
Spencer,  of  Suffield.  this  county.  In  politics  Capt.  Dunning  is  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican.    He  is  an  active  member  of  the  K.  of  H.  and  the  G.  A.  R. 

JOHN  G.  EVANS,  merchant  tailor,  Kent,  was  born  in  Cardiganshire,  South 
Wales,  December  25,  1845;  son  of  John  and  Eleanor  (Evans)  Evans.  He  was 
reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land,  where  he  served  an  apprenticeship  of 
three  years  to  the  tailor's  trade.  In  1866  he  came  to  America  and  located  in 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  where  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  tailor  for  seven  years. 
From  there  he  went  to  Butler,  Penn.,  as  cutter  with  D.  L.  Byerer,  which 
position  he  held  five  years.     He  then  embarked  in  the  merchant  tailoring  busi- 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  675 

ness  for  himself,  in  company  with  Daniel  Davis,  doing  business  there  for  two 
years,  when  they  removed  to  Akron,  Ohio,  and  remained  six  months,  divided 
their  stock,  and  in  September,  1880,  our  subject  located  in  Kent.  He  was  mar- 
ried September  13,  1868,  to  Annie  Mortimer,  of  Pittsburgh,  by  whom  he  has 
three  children  living:  Kebecca,  John  G. .  Jr.,  and  Dennison  M.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Evans  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Our  subject  is  a 
member  of  the  K.  of  P.  and  the  I.  O.  O.  F.;  he  is  ^  F.  &  A.  M.;  in  politics,  a 
Republican. 

JOHN  A.  FELT,  machinist  and  manufacture}-  of  the  Acme  Paint  Burner, 
Kent,  was  born  in  Peterboro,  Hillsborough  Co.,  N.  H.,  May  *8,  1837,  son 
of  Stephen  and  Mary  K.  (Ames)  Felt.  He  was  reared  and  learned  his  trade 
in  Peterboro.  In  1855  he  came  to  Ohio,  locating  in  Norwalk,  and  work- 
ing in  the  Lake  Shore  Railroad  Shops  for  eleven  years;  then  he  moved  to  Fair- 
field, Huron  County,  where  he  remained  one  year,  and  in  18(37  located  in  Kent, 
where  he  has  been  employed  as  a  machinist  in  the  railroad  shops  to  the  present 
time.  On  October  3,  1882,  he  received  a  patent  on  the  Acme  Paint  Earner, 
designed  to  remove  old  paint  from  I'ailroad  cars,  vehicles,  furniture,  etc.,  and 
has  since  been  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  the  same.  Mr.  Felt  was  mar- 
ried, August  1,  1860,  to  Emma  A..  Willey,  of  Norwalk,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has 
two  children:  Cora  A.  and  Elmer  J.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  I.  O.  O. 
F.     In  politics  a  Republican. 

BYRON  FERREY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
this  county,  September  7,  1846;  son  of  Aaron  and  Mary  (Dickinson)  Ferrey, 
natives  of  Massachusetts.  Aaron  Ferrey  was  twice  married,  and  by  his  first 
wife,  Elizabeth  (Goodrich)  Ferrey,  he  had  eleven  children,  and  by  his  second 
marriage  (with  Mary  Dickinson)  he  had  two  children — Eliza,  wife  of  Henry 
A.  Swan,  and  Byron.  He  settled  in  Franklin  Township,' this  county,  about 
1832,  locating  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Harley  Judson,  where  he  lived 
about  twenty  years,  when  he  removed  to  Kent  and  resided  there  until  his  death. 
He  died  in  1860,  at  the  age  of  seventy- eight.  Our  subject  has  always  lived  in 
his  native  township,  where  he  was  reared  and  educated.  He  was  married, 
September  5.  1870,  to  Hannah,  daughter  of  Harley  and  Chloe  (Loomis)  Jud- 
son, oE  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  three  children:  Min- 
nie, Charlie  J.  and  Georgia  M.  Mr.  Ferrey  is  a  representative  farmer  of 
Franklin  Township;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

FREDERICK  FOOTE,  grocer.  Kent,  was  born  in  Wood  County,  Ohio, 
November  14,  1835;  son  of  Epaphroditus  and  Charlotte  M.  (Smith)  Foote, 
former  of  whom  settled  in  Wood  County  in  1827,  and  there  lived  until  his 
death.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  and  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  He  farmed  in  his  native  county  up  to  1863,  after  which  he 
served  as  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  till  1872,  when  he  located  in  Kent  and 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  with  E.  A.  Parsons.  November  1,  1873,  he 
became  manager  of  the  Kent  co-operative  store,  but  in  January,  1882,  he 
embarked  in  the  grocery  business  with  C.  I*".  Sawyer.  October  1,  1883,  Rob- 
ert Reed  became  associated  with  him  under  the  firm  name  of  Foote  &  Reed, 
one  of  the  leading  grocery  firms  of  Kent.  Mr.  Foote  married,  September  2, 
1872,  Alice,  daughter  of  Freeman  and  Mercy  A.  (Lincoln)  Underwood,  of 
Brimfield,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children:  Ernest  N.  (deceased),  Mary  L. 
and  Carl  F.  He  is  a  member  of  the  R.  A.  and  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  has  been 
Treasurer  of  the  Township  Corporation  and  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

GEORGE  A.  FURRY,  grocer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  December   16,   1838,  son   of  William   and   Martha  L.   (Russell) 


676  BIOGRAPHICAli  SKETCHES: 

Furry.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  John  Furry,  a  native  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  N.  Y. ,  who  settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  this  county,  in  1816, 
where  he  lived  and  died,  and  whose  wife  was  Julia  A.  Harris,  a  native  of 
Philadelphia,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children:  Joseph  (deceased),  William 
(deceased),  Mooney  (deceased),  Ann  (Mrs.  Edward  Russell),  Henry  T., 
Lucy  J.  (deceased),  Mary  J.  (Mrs.  George  Ogle),  and  an  infant  son 
(deceased).  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Edward  Russell, 
an  early  settler  of  Brimfie Id  Township,  this  county.  The  children  of  AVilliam 
Furry  were  George  A.,  Helen  E.  (Mrs.  David  Tucker,  of  Kent),  Lucy  (Mrs. 
Theodore  Campbell,  of  Kent),  and  Wallace  W.,  of  Cleveland.  Our  subject, 
after  he  became  of  age,  farmed  until  April,  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G,  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Cross 
Lane,  Winchester,  Antietam,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Cedar  Mountain, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Ringgold,  Resaca,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  and  many  other 
engagements,  and  was  honorably  discharged  June  9, 1864.  In  that  year  he  went 
to  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  attended  the  Eastman  Business  College  for 
six  months,  thence  went  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  served  as  Clerk  in  the 
distributing  department  in  the  postoffice  in  that  city;  then  returned  to  this 
county  and  served  as  Clerk  in  Streetsboro.  In  1873  he  embarked  in  the 
grocery  business  in  Kent,  with  George  L.  Stauffer,  Esq.,  in  which  he  has  since 
been  successully  engaged.  He  was  married,  May  19,  1876,  to  Lucy,  daughter 
of  James  and  Maria  (Hopkins)  Woodai'd,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  one  child 
— Mattie  M.  Mr.  Furry  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  G.  A.  R., 
and  R.  A.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

WILLIAM  R.  GARDNER,  baker,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  December  30,  1819;  son  of  John  V.  and  Sarah  A.  (Spear)  Gard- 
ner, natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  settled  in  Brimtield  Township  in  1817, 
where  they  lived  until  February,  1838,  when  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Gardner  died. 
John  V.  Gardner  then,  in  1839,  removed  to  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  where 
he  embarked  in  mercantile  business,  in  which  he  was  engaged  for  several  years. 
He  died  April  7,  1878,  in  his  ninety-first  year.  He  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  of  Brimfield  for  fifteen  years,  also  in  Franklin  about  the  same  length  of 
time.  He  was  married  first  to  Sax'ah  A.  Spear,  by  whom  he  had  nine  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood:  John  V.  R. ,  Eliza 
and  Julia  Ann  E.  (deceased),  William  R. ,  Reuben  F.  (deceased),  Reuben  F., 
Abigail"  L.  (Mrs.  John  Morris),  Caroline  A.  (Mrs.  O.  C.  Holden),  Sarah  F. 
(Mrs.  Nourse).  Then,  in  March,  1839,  J.  V.  Gardner  was  married  to  Marga- 
ret Beatty,  nee  Haymaker,  by  whom  he  had  three  children:  George  D.,  Mary 
(Mrs.  George  Stauffer)  and  Estella  (Mrs.  Mark  Chase).  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  reared  in  Brimfield  Township,  and  in  1839  came  to  Kent  with  his 
parents  and  entered  his  father's  store.  He  was  with  D.  P.  Rhodes,  of  Cleve- 
land, for  several  years,  and  embarked  in  his  present  business  in  1876.  He 
was  married,  in  1851,  to  Sarah  E.  De  Moss,  of  Coshocton,  Ohio,  by  whom  he 
has  two  children:  John  Y.  and  Lewis  D.  Mr.  Gardner  is  one  of  the  substan- 
tial business  men  of  Kent.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

CHARLES  A.  GARRISON,  veterinary  surgeon,  Kent,  was  born  in  Stowe 
Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  August  18,  1842;  son  of  James  and  Hannah 
(Walker)  Garrison,  who  settled  in  Stowe  Township  about  1828-30,  where  they 
cleared  and  improved  a  couple  of  farms.  They  had  six  children:  William, 
who  died  in  the  service  of  the  Union,  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion; 
Charles  A.;  Alice,  wife  of  William  Grubb;  Fannie,  wife  of  Henry  Minnich; 
Maxwell;  and  Edward  (deceased).  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject 
was  Joseph  Garrison,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  an  early  settler  of  Deer- 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  677 

field  Township,  this  county.  His  maternal  grandfather,  William  Walker,  a 
native  of  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Stowe  Township.  Our  sub- 
ject was  reared  in  his  native  township,  and  educated  in  the  Kent  High  School, 
and  at  Twinsburg  Institute.  In  1875  he  went  to  Seville,  Ohio,  and  studied 
veterinary  surgery  with  Dr.  Miller,  of  that  place,  with  whom  he  remained 
three  years,  and  in  1878  entered  the  Ontario  Veterinary  College,  Toronto, 
Canada,  where  he  took  a  two-years'  course  of  instruction.  In  1880  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Kent,  where  he  has  done  a  successful 
business  to  the  present  time.  He  was  married  August  18,  1864,  to  Mattie, 
daughter  of  William  and  Margaret  Reese,  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county, 
by  whom  he  has  three  children  living:  Frank,  Max  and  Minnie.  Mr.  Garrison 
and  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

SENECA  GREEN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Hampshire  County, 
Mass.,  October  3,  1808;  son  of  Clark  and  Submit  (Hastings)  Green,  natives  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  until  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
then  served  an  apprenticeship  of  six  years  at  the  shoe-makers'  trade,  afterward 
working  in  North  Lee,  Mass.,  as  a  journeyman  one  year;  then  embarked  in 
business  for  himself  in  South  Lee,  where  he  was  engaged  up  to  1836.  In  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  Ohio,  and  in  February,  1837,  bought  the 
farm  where  he  now  resides.  There  was  a  plank  cabin  and  a  small  barn  on  the 
place  when  he  pui'chased  it.  In  1842  he  erected  a  good  barn,  and  in  1844 
built  his  present  residence.  Mr.  Green  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife 
being  Sarah  Spellman,  of  Monterey,  Mass.,  to  whom  he  was  married  October 
3,  1832.  She  died  May  6,  1834.  February  29,  1836,  Mr.  Green  next  mar- 
ried Mary  A.  Holt,  of  Austerlitz,  N.  Y.,  and  the  issue  of  this  union  was  six 
children:  Sarah  (Mrs.  H.  L.  Russell);  Stephen;  Spellman;  Ann  (Mrs.  G.  H. 
Taylor),  in  Lansing,  Mich.;  Mary  (Mrs.  A.  A.  Ross)  in  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio., 
and  George  B.,  residing  at  home,  who  was  married  October  21,  1874,  to  Clara, 
daughter  of  James  D.  and  Mary  R.  (Olin)  Haymaker,  of  Franklin,  and  by 
her  he  has  two  children — Mabel  A.  and  James  S.  Our  subject  lost  bis  second 
wife  June  6,  1876,  in  her  sixty-fifth  year.  Mr.  Green  is  one  of  the  represent- 
ative farmers  of  Franklin  Township.  In  politics  he  was  formerly  a  Whig, 
but  has  been  a  stanch  Republican  since  the  organization  of  the  party. 

WILLIAM  GRIDLEY,  carpenter  and  machinist,  Kent,  was  born  in  Hamp- 
den County,  Mass.,  August  12,  1807;  son  of  Oliver  and  Mary  (Bradley)  Grid- 
ley.  His  educational  advantages  were  limited,  as  he  was  bound  out  on  a  farm 
in  New  Haven  County,  Conn.,  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  When 
nineteen  years  of  age  he  ran  away,  and  arriving  in  Hampden  County,  Mass., 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  of  two  years  at  the  millwright  trade;  worked  in 
the  cotton-mills  at  Chicopee  Falls,  Mass.,  fourteen  months  as  a  journeyman 
mechanic,  after  which  he  engaged  as  a  master  mechanic  in  the  mill  of  A.  Dens- 
low,  at  Windsor,  Conn.,  where  he  remained  about  three  years.  He  made,  but 
did  not  invent,  the  first  machine  that  made  cotton  batting  out  of  waste;  then 
went  to  work  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  Railroad  as  a  mechanic  and  inspector  of 
lumber,  and  in  August,  1844,  he  came  to  Ohio,  locating  in  1845  in  Kent, 
where  he  has  worked  at  his  trade  of  millwright,  carpenter,  etc.,  up  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Gridley  was  married  in  December,  1832,  to  Clara,  daugh- 
ter of  Calvin  and  Lydia  (Grinnell)  Bedortha,  of  Hampden  County,  Mass..  by 
whom  he  has  had  five  children:  Talbot,  William  (killed  at  the  battle  of  Get 
tysburg,  in  July,  1863),  Benjamin  (killed  at  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain), 
Laura  (Mrs.  O.  S.  Nichols)  and  Clara  (deceased).  Our  subject's  first  wife 
dying  March,  1853,  he  next  married  Mary  Chatman,  daughter  of  John  and 
Martha  Twitchell,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  Lilian  (Mrs.  Dr.  R.  F.  Hamb- 


678  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

lin).  His  son  Talbot  served  iu  the  late  war  in  the  Seventh  Regt.  O.  V.  I., 
and  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder  at  the  battle  of  Winchester;  his  son  Will- 
iam was  a  member  of  the  Eighth  Regt.  O.  V.  I.,  and  Benjamin  was  a  member 
of  the  Seventh  O.  V.  I.  Mr.  Gridley  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church; 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

SAMUEL  B.  HALL,  merchant,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  July  29,  1881;  son  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Breck)  Hall,  natives 
of  Vermont.  His  father  was  a  son  of  Benjamin  Hall,  who  settled  in  Brim- 
iield  Township,  this  county,  in  1818,  and  taught  the  first  district  school  in  the 
township;  his  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Breck,  of  Hartland,  Vt.  They 
had  four  children:  Porter  B.,  Caroline  (deceased),  Samuel  B.  (first,  deceased), 
and  Samuel  B.  (second).  Henry  Hall  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  after  his 
settlement  in  Brimfield  Township  was  principally  engaged  in  farming.  In  1850 
the  family  removed  to  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  where  Mrs.  Hall  died  in  1852. 
Mr.  Hall  then  married  for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Sophia  Kilborn,  of  Hudson, 
whither  he  afterward  removed,  and  there  resided  until  his  death  in  187G;  he  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  in 
which  he  was  a  Deacon  for  many  years.  Samuel  B.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  Kent  Academy.  Owing  to  ill  health, 
in  1853,  he  went  to  California,  remaining  there  three  years,  when  he  returned 
to  Kent  and  engaged  in  farming  for  several  years.  After  that  he  embarked. in 
mercantile  trade;  then  was  in  the  drug  business  for  a  time,  and  in  1876 
engaged  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade,  in  which  he  has  continued  to  the  present 
time.  Mr.  Hall  has  been  twice  married,  first  in  September,  1858,  to  Sarah,  daugh- 
ter of  Guy  and  Sarah  Doolittle,  of  Brimfield.  this  county.  The  issue  of  this 
union  was  one  child — Cora  (Mrs.  Charles  Reed).  Mr.  Hall  was  married  to  his 
present  wife,  Jane  Barton,  of  Kent.  Ohio,  in  September,  1866,  and  by  her 
has  three  children:  Henry,  Porter  and  Herbert.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  Church.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican;  an  active 
F.  &  A.  M. 

JAMES  P.  HALL,  shop  clerk,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad 
Shops,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  September  12, 
1832,  son  of  William  and  Maria  (Law)  Hall.  His  paternal  grandj)arents  were 
Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Brown)  Hall,  of  Windsor,  Vt.,  who  settled  in  Brimfield 
Township  in  1819,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They  had  six  children:  Henry 
(deceased),  Betsey  (deceased),  Charles  (deceased),  Mary  A.  (deceased),  William, 
Susan  S.  (Mrs.  Henry  Sawyer).  By  his  second  wife  Mr.  Hall  had  one  child — 
Sarah  (Mrs.  Sylvester  Wolcott).  The  father  of  our  subject  lived  on  the  old 
homestead  till  1867,  when  he  removed  to  Kent,  where  he  still  resides.  He  was 
twice  married,  first  to  Maria,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Mary  Law,  of  Brim- 
field, by  whom  he  had  four  children:  James  P.,  Durand  C,  Mary  E.,  Lucy  M. 
(Mrs.  I.  P.  Griswold);  and  second  to  Berthia  Palmer,  of  Brimfield,  by  whom 
he  had  thi-ee  children:  Newton  H.,  Helen  M.  (Mrs.  Henry  Wilcox)  and  Anna 
(Mrs.  B.  F.  Shewart).  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Brimfield  Township,  engaged 
in  farming  until  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  then  removed  to  Kent  and  embarked 
in  the  grocery  trade,  in  which  he  was  occupied  two  years.  Since  then,  with 
the  exception  of  four  years,  he  has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great 
Western  and  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  Companies  to  the 
present  time.  He  was  married  September  27,  1854,  to  Myra  T. ,  daughter  of 
Harmon  and  Harriet  (Bishop)  Bradley,  of  Brimfield,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children:  Will  H.,  Charles  E.,  Fred  P.  and  Georgie  D.  (deceased).  Mr.  Hall 
and  wife  are  members  of  the  Consregfational  Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  K.  of  H. ;  has  held  the  office  of  Township  and  Corpor- 
ation Clerk  one  term.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Rej^ublican. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  679 

NEWTON  H.  HALL,  lumberman,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  August  4,  1842,  son  of  William  and  Bethiah  (Palmer) 
Hall.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Benjamin  Hall,  a  native  of  Vermont,  settled 
in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1819,  and  his  maternal  grandfather, 
John  Palmer,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  his  native  township  and  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools.  He  was  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  August  4, 1862,  in 
Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  participated 
in  the  Tennessee  campaign,  under  Burnside;  the  Atlanta  campaign,  under 
Sherman,  and  the  Nashville  campaign,  under  Thomas;  was  in  all  the  engage- 
ments of  his  regiment,  and  at  Franklin,  Tenn.,  November  30.  1864,  he  cap- 
tured a  flag  from  Gen.  P.  Clayburn's  division  of  the  Rebel  Army,  for  which  act 
he  received  a  medal  from  Congress  in  January,  1865.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged in  June,  1865,  when  he  returned  to  Brimfield  Township  and  engaged 
in  farming  there  up  to  1881,  and  then  removed  to  Kent,  Ohio.  The  same  year 
he  embarked  in  business  at  Boardman,  Ohio,  where  he  is  still  interested  in  a 
planing-mill  and  lumber  trade.  He  was  married  April  15,  1874,  to  Stella, 
daughter  of  James  and  Maria  (Hopkins)  Woodard,  of  Kent,  this  county,  by 
whom  he  has  two  children:  Anna  and  Helen.  Mr.  Hall  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JAMES  D.  HAYMAKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  September  2, 
1809,  a  short  distance  from  the  spot  where  Brady  made  his  famous  leap  across 
the  Cuyahoga  River,  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Frederick  and 
Rachel  (Davis)  Haymaker.  His  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Allegheny  County, 
Penn. ,  came  from  that  State  to  Ohio  in  1806,  and  located  at  Franklin  Mills 
February  18,  that  year,  in  that  part  of  Kent  now  known  as  the  Upper  Village. 
He  was  thrice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Eleanor  Robinson,  by  whom  he  had 
seven  children,  all  now  deceased.  His  second  wife  was  Rachel  Davis,  who  died 
in  this  county,  by  whom  he  had  one  child — James  D.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  By  his  third  wife,  Polly  Swan,  he  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  six 
are  now  living,  none  residing  in  this  county.  Mr.  Haymaker  was  a  resident 
of  Franklin  off  and  on  up  to  1836,  when  he  removed  to  Trumbull  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  died  in  1852.  His  remains  and  those  of  his  third  wife  are 
interred  in  Warren,  Ohio.  He  was  Private  Secretaiy  to  Aaron  Burr,  while  on 
the  expedition  for  which  he  was  tried  for  treason  in  1807.  Jacob  Haymaker, 
the  father  of  Frederick  and  grandfather  of  our  subject,  settled  at  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent)  in  J  805,  and  built  the  first  grist  mill  ever  operated  in  the 
township;  it  was  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  "  Kent's  Mill."  He  was  a  car- 
penter and  millwright  by  trade;  he  died  at  Kent,  as  did  also  his  wife.  Our 
subject  received  only  a  limited  education,  and  never  saw  a  schoolhouse  until 
ten  years  of  age.  In  his  youth  he  became  thoroughly  acquainted  in  his  father's 
factory  with  the  woolen  manufacturing  business.  This  factory  was  located 
at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent).  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  engaged  for  two 
years  in  the  manufacture  of  wooden  pails  in  the  same  town;  the  next  two 
years  he  had  charge  of  a  hotel  at  Fairport,  on  Lake  Erie;  then  returning  to 
Franklin  he  engaged  in  farming,  to  which  occupation  he  has  ever  since  devoted 
his  time.  November  29,  1835,  he  was  married  to  Mary  R.  Olin,  who  was  born 
February  22,  1820,  in  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  and  a  daughter  of  Arvin  Olin, 
who  came  to  Ohio  in  1834  and  settled  in  Franklin,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  By  this  union  were  born  the  following  children:  Frank- 
lin, born  December  16,  1836,  and  died  April  30,  1851;  Oscar  F.,  born  May 
21,  1838;  Rachel  D.,  born  May  18,  1840;  Ann  Maria,  born  May  17,  1842; 
Arvin  O.,  born  April  5,   1844;  Mary  R.,  born  April  15,  1846,  died  July  27, 


680  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

1866;  James  A.,  born  June  21,  1848;  Clara  L. ,  born  August  30,  1850;  Almira 
E.,  born  January  27,  1854;  Martha  A.,  born  May  20,  1856;  Cora  E.,  born 
May  5,  1858,  died  February  2,  1859;  William  J.,  born  February  2,  1860,  and 
Abbie  M.,  born  November  27,  1863.  J,  D.  Haymaker  has  always  been  an 
ardent  Eepublican  and  during  the  darkest  days  of  the  civil  war  was  firm  in 
his  support  of  the  administration  in  aid  of  the  Union  cause,  contributing  lib- 
erally of  his  means,  and  invariably  exerting  his  influence  to  the  end  that  the 
Union  should  be  preserved.  One  of  his  sons,  James  A.,  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Ninety-third  Eegiment,  Company  I,  and  served  in  the  Union 
Army  during  the  civil  war.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haymaker  are  admirable  types  of 
the  pioneers  who  first  settled  in  Portage  County,  and  possess  in  a  large  degree 
those  traits  which  have  become  traditionary  among  us  as  ascribed  to  the  pio- 
neers, the  sterling  qualities,  good,  strong,  well  balanced  minds,  athletic  and 
healthy  physique,  unimpeachable  integrity  and  a  desire  to  do  unto  others  as 
they  would  be  done  by — qualities,  too,  which  they  have  transmitted  to  their 
large  family  of  children,  in  an  eminent  degree.  During  their  long  lives  they 
have  cheerftilly  given  to  the  needy  and  in  support  of  the  religious  and  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  community.  They  are  now  living  in  the  midst  of  their 
friends,  possessed  of  an  ample  competence  to  make  their  coming  years  com- 
fortable, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  content  which  comes  from  reflecting  on 
a  life  well  and  worthily  spent.  Mr.  Haymaker  has  served  his  township  in 
various  official  capacities.  He  was  Trustee  for  several  years,  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  several  terms  and  a  School  Director  many  times. 

OSCAK  F.  HAYMAKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  May  21,  1838;  son  of  James  D.  and  Mary  R.  (Olin) 
Haymaker.  He  was  reared  in  his  native  township  and  educated  in  its  common 
and  select  schools.  He  remained  on  the  old  homestead  with  his  father  until 
twenty-four  years  of  age  when,  in  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  S.  H. 
Green,  he  bought  a  farm  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  which  was  car- 
ried on  for  four  years  and  then  sold.  Our  subject  then  worked  his  father's 
farm  for  three  years  and  in  1879  purchased  of  D.  P.  Hopkins  his  present  farm, 
where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  was  married,  May  21,  1862,  to  Mary  S., 
daughter  of  Dr.  J.  M.  and  Mary  (Ferris)  Burlingame,  of  Newbury,  Geauga 
Co.,  Ohio.  By  this  union  he  has  three  children:  Ida  A.,  wife  of  F.  A.  Mer- 
rill, Cora  M.  and  Lillie  E.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haymaker  are  members  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Church  of  Kent.  Our  subject  is  serving  his  fourth  term  as  School 
Examiner  of  Portage  County.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  in  politics  a  Repub- 
lican. 

ARTIN  O.  HAYMAKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  April  5,  1844;  son  of  James  D.  and  INIary  R.  (Olin) 
Haymaker.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Frederick  Haymaker,  settled  in  Frank- 
lin in  1806.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Arvin  Olin,  settled  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1834.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Franklin  Township  and 
educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  in  connection  with  his  farming  interests, 
has  taught  school  for  twenty  consecutive  winters.  He  has  been  twice  married, 
on  first  occasion,  April  5,  1866,  to  Hattie  E.,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jean- 
nette  (Graham)  Norton,  of  Brimfield  Township,  this  county.  By  this  union 
there  were  two  children:  Charles  A.  and  Hattie  E.  May  26,  1870,  Mr.  Hay- 
maker married  his  present  wife,  Hattie,  daughter  of  William  and  Catherine 
(Burger)  Powell,  of  Homeworth,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio.  The  issue  of  this 
union  has  been  three  children:  Homer  A.,  Debbie  J.  and  Frank  P.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Haymaker  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  in  politics 
he  is  a  Republican. 


^^5^^^^^^^^,^^ 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  683 

JOSEPH  HEIGHTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Hargrave,  North- 
amptonshire, England,  February  4,  1827;  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Goodes) 
Heighten,  who,  in  1832,  settled  in  Edinburg,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  where  they 
cleared  and  improved  the  farm  on  which  they  lived  and  died.  Their  children 
were  William  (deceased),  Thomas,  Sarah  (deceased),  Elizabeth  (deceased),  Ann 
(deceased),  John,  Joseph,  Hannah  (deceased)  and  an  infant  (deceased). 
Thomas  Heighton,  Sr.,  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  the  first  one  to  follow 
this  bussiness  as  an  occupation  in  that  part  of  the  county  where  he  settled. 
He  was  a  man  of  peculiar  ideas,  a  thorough  American  in  feeling,  a  lover  of 
the  Republican  form  of  government  (which  was  his  main  reason  for  coming  to 
America)  and  was  one  of  tbe  first  men  in  Portage  County  to  advocate  the  anti- 
slavery  doctrine.  He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  honored  by  all  who  knew  him.  Our  subject 
was  reared  in  Edinburg,  this  county,  and  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  He  was  married  July  19,  1848,  to  Olive  Cornelia,  daughter  of 
Ariel  Lewis  and  Minerva  (Colton)  Ca.se,  of  Rootstown,  and  born  April  8,  1829, 
in  Rootstown.  She  had  the  advantages  of  a  common  school  education  and 
taught  school  at  one  time.  Her  father  was  born  July  31,  1804,  in  Coventry, 
Tolland  Co.,  Conn.  Her  mother  was  born  May  20,  1805,  in  Tolland,  Tolland 
Co.,  Conn.  Her  paternal  grandfather,  Ariel  Case,  a  native  of  Tolland  County, 
Conn.,  and  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812,  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  this 
county,  in  1809.  Her  maternal  grandfather,  Stephen  Colton,  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, settled  in  Rootstown,  Ohio,  in  1805.  Mr.  Heighton  and  wife  have  four 
children:  Marius  H. ;  Ann,  wife  of  N.  E.  Olin;  Parker  H.  and  Lloyd  B.  After 
coming  of  age,  Mr.  Heighton,  with  his  brother,  John,  purchased  the  old  home- 
stead, where  he  resided  until  the  fall  of  1862  and  in  the  spring  of  1863  he 
located  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  son  Marius,  where  he  remained  till  1879,  when  he  moved  to  his 
present  property  east  of  Kent.  He  has  always  been  a  temperate  man, 
never  having  used  tobacco,  spirits,  tea  or  coffee.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Pio- 
neer Association;  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  Franklin  Township;  in 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

MARIUS  HEIGHTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Edinburg  Town- 
ship, this  county,  June  14,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Olive  C.  (Case) 
Heighton  (see  sketch  of  Joseph  Heighton).  Our  subject  was  reared  on  the 
farm  and  as  an  occupation  has  always  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
came  to  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  with  his  parents  in  1863  and  has 
since  resided  here.  He  was  united  in  marriage  January  1,  1879,  with  Ida, 
daughter  of  John  H.  and  Rebecca  (Bergin)  Hubbard,  of  Kent,  this  county,  by 
whom  he  has  one  child — Marius  Hubert.  In  politics  Mr.  Heighton  is  a 
Republican. 

IRA  L.  HERRIFF,  furniture  dealer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Rootstown, 
November  19,  1846,  son  of  Samuel  and  Lydia  (Hartlerhode)  Herriff.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  John  Herriff,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Rootstown.  His  maternal  grandmother  was  Elizabeth 
Hartlerhode,  who  with  seven  children — Lawrence,  John,  Samuel,  Christian, 
Kate,  Mary  and  Ludia — settled  in  Rootstown  in  an  early  day.  She  afterward 
married  Samuel  Hartle,  of  Rootstown.  Samuel  Herriff,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, is  a  farmer  and  resident  of  Rootstown.  His  children  were  six  in  num- 
ber: Ira  L.,  Ezra,  Everett,  Cecelia  (deceased),  Emma  (deceased)  and  John 
(deceased).  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  and 
educated  in  the  common  schools,  When  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  located 
in  Kent  and  embarked  in  th-e  manufacture  of  brick,  in  which  he  was  engaged 


684  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

for  seven  years.  In  1881  he  entered  the  furniture  business  with  L.  C. 
Reed,  which  partnership  is  existing  at  present.  He  was  married  December  1, 
1869,  to  Belle  E. ,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Rachel  (Ward)  Caris,  of  Roots- 
town,  by  whom  he  has  one  child — Amy  I.  Mr,  Herriff  enlisted  in  1865  in 
Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Eiglity- fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  honorably  discharged  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  is  an  active  member  of 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  G.  A.  R.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

GEORGE  HILDERHOF,  retail  liquor  dealer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Baden, 
Germany,  April  23,  1839,  son  of  George  and  Mary  (Hardle)  Hilderhof,  who 
came  to  America  in  1854  and  located  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county, 
where  they  lived  until  1860,  then  removed  to  Ravenna.  George  Hilderhof, 
Sr.,  was  a  gardener,  an  occupation  he  followed  until  his  death.  They  had 
seven  children:  Margaret,  deceased;  Lena;  Henry  (first),  deceased;  George; 
Henry  (second);  Susan,  and  Katy,  deceased.  Our  subject  when  fifteen  years 
of  age  learned  the  tanner's  trade,  which  he  followed  up  to  1874,  when  he 
embarked  in  the  liquor  business  in  Ravenna,  and  in  1879  located  in  Kent, 
where  he  has  been  similarly  engaged  up  to  the  present  time.  He  was  married 
June  3,  1862,  to  Mary  Dawson,  of  Ravenna,  by  whom  he  has  eight  children: 
George,  Henry,  Nelly,  Walter,  Mary,  Alexander  B. ,  Augusta  and  Minnie.  Mr. 
Hilderhof  is  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed  Church ;  is  a  member  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat. 

ALONZO  JOHNSON,  farmer  and  butcher,  Kent,  was  born  in  Shalersville 
Township,  this  county,  May  25,  1835,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Annis  (Stoddard) 
Johnson,  natives  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  respectively,  the  latter  born 
April  8, 1811.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Sylvester  Johnson,  was  a  farmer  of  Rut- 
land, Vt.,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  Stoddard,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire, 
settled  in  Freedom  Township  in  1834,  afterward  removed  to  Iowa  and  died  there. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  settled  in  Stowe  Tov/nship  in  1834,  and  in  1835 
located  in  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  where  they  purchased  an  eighty- 
acre  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land  which  they  cleared  and  improved,  and 
where  they  lived  until  the  death  of  the  father  m  1850,  in  his  forty-second  year. 
They  had  seven  children:  Alonzo,  Lucinda  (deceased),  Emeline  (Mrs.  Will- 
ard  Seward),  Sylvester,  Leander,  Silas  (died  in  the  army  during  the  late  war) 
and  Eben.  The  mother  next  married  Rufus  Newton,  of  Franklin  Township, 
this  county,  in  1857.  He  died  in  1862  and  she  moved  to  Daviess  County, 
Mo.,  in  1869,  and  subsequently  married  William  Hughes,  who  died  in  1879, 
and  his  widow  returned  to  Ohio  in  1880,  and  is  now  residing  in  Kent.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  and  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools.  He  resided  in  Shalersville  Township  until  1863,  when 
he  removed  to  Kent,  Ohio,  and  embarked  in  the  grocery  business,  in  which  he 
was  engaged  two  years.  He  then  built  the  hotel  known  as  the  "  Collins  House," 
which  he  conducted  for  three  years,  and  during  that  time  opened  a  meat 
market,  which  he  carried  on  from  1866  to  March  30,  1885,  when  he  retired 
from  that  business.  He  is  also  engaged  in  farming,  now  owning  three  farms 
in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  company  with  his  two  eldest  sons,  liv- 
ing on  the  farm  formerly  occupied  by  Warren  Burt.  Mr.  Johnson  was  mar- 
ried in  November,  1855,  to  Mary  J.,  daughter  of  William  and  Lavina  Cook,  of 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  had  twelve  children,  nine  now 
living:  Willard,  Perry,  Emma  (Mrs.  Henry  Barker),  Albert,  Ora,  Nella, 
Clayton,  Cora  and  Selah.  Mr.  Johnson  is  a  representative  citizen  of  the 
township.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democi'at. 

HARLEY  JUDSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Mantua  Township, 
this  county,  February  28,  1815;  son  of  Samuel  and  Lucy  (Moss)  Judson.     His 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  685 

father,  with  two  brothers,  Gersham  and  Enoch,  came  to  Mantua  from  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  about  1800,  and  here  cleared  and  improved  a  farm.  In  a  few 
years  Gersham  and  Enoch  sold  out  and  went  West,  while  Samuel  remained. 
The  latter  was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being  a  Miss  Atwater,  sister  of 
Judge  Atwater,  early  settlers  of  Mantua  Township,  by  whom  he  had  five  chil- 
dren: Alma  (Mrs.  Enos  Ford),  Alvin  (deceased),  EJly  (deceased),  Elijah 
(deceased)  and  Cyrus  (deceased).  His  second  wife  was  Lucy  Moss,  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  by  whom  he  had  four  children:  Harley,  Sally  (Mrs.  T.  Yaughn), 
Lucy  (Mrs.  James  McElroy)  and  Mary  (deceased).  Samuel  Judson  resided  in 
Mantua  Township  until  1821,  then  removed  to  Hiram  Township,  where  he 
lived  until  his  death.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in  Mantua  and 
Hiram  Townships,  his  education  being  received  in  the  district  schools.  After 
he  became  of  age  he  worked  on  a  farm  by  the  month  for  two  years,  then  on 
his  father's  farm  for  seven  years,  after  which  he  purchased  a  farm  of  sixty 
acres,  which  he  kept  only  one  year.  In  1848  he  purchased  the  farm  in  Frank- 
lin Township  where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Judson's  first  wife  was  Chloe, 
daughter  of  Horace  Loomis,  of  Charlestown  Township,  by  whom  he  had  three 
children:    Julia  (Mrs.  Darwin  Furry),  Hannah  (Mrs.  Byron  Ferry)  and  Henry 

D.  His  present  wife  is  Almira,  daughter  of  Noah  and  Hannah  (Shaw) 
Lemoin,  of  Stowe,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:     Samuel 

E.  and  Barton  H.  Mr.  Judson  is  a  representative  farmer  of  Franklin  Town- 
ship.    In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

ZENAS  KENT  was  born  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  July  12,  1786.  He  came 
of  good  old  Puritan  stock,  a  nobility  of  descent  which  rests  its  claim  upon  a 
robust  manhood  and  hardy  virtue.  His  father  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by 
trade,  and  carried  a  musket  in  the  war  for  American  independence. 

When  Zen  as  Kent  was  a  boy,  even  New  England  had  made  but  a  begin- 
ning iu  the  development  of  the  common  school  system,  and  though  he  made 
the  best  of  his  opportunities — exhausting  the  facilities  of  the  country  school 
of  that  time  and  place— his  early  advantages  were  very  limited,  as  compared 
to  the  common-school  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  youth  of  to-day.  Mr.  Kent 
has  left  at  least  one  monument  of  the  methodical  perseverance  with  which  he 
addressed  himself  to  every  task.  A  copy  of  Adam's  Arithmetic,  published  in 
1802,  which  Mr.  Kent  used  at  school,  is  now  in  possession  of  his  son  Marvin. 
It  is  a  well-thumbed  book,  now  yellow  with  age,  and  a  plodding  student  has 
left  his  impress  on  every  page;  indeed,  he  has  left  considerable  additions  to 
the  original  text.  The  publisher  had  had  the  forethought  to  bind  numerous 
blank  pages  with  his  letter- press,  to  stand  the  pupil  instead  of  the  slate,  and 
to  remain  a  record  of  his  industry.  On  these  leaves  young  Kent  carefully 
worked  out  and  proved  every  example  in  the  book.  Here  was  a  combination 
of  excellent  traits — application,  method,  thoroughness — in  which  the  boy  well 
foreshadowed  the  man.  He  entered  his  work  on  the  leaves  of  the  book  of  his 
life,  and  he  left  not  a  blank  page  in  it  all.  In  selecting  a  pursuit  in  life 
Zenas  Kent  chose  the  trade  of  his  father  and  to  make  himself  master  of  it. 

By  the  time  he  reached  his  twenty-fifth  year  young  Zenas  Kent  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Pamelia  Lewis,  a  native  of  Farmington,  Conn.,  a  young  woman 
of  most  excellent  traits,  and  withal  a  fitting  helpmeet  for  him.  Her  father, 
like  the  elder  Kent,  was  a  veteran  of  1776,  and  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by 
vocation.  The  two  young  people  joined  their  honest  hands  and  humble  for- 
tunes for  the  battle  with  the  world.  In  1812  Zenas  accompanied  his  father's 
family  to  the  far  West.  The  family  loeatpd  in  Mantua,  Ohio,  where  the  elder 
Kent  died  at  an  advanced  age.  Zenas  had  left  his  young  wife  in  (Connecticut 
while  he  went  prospecting  in  the  Western  wilds,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  chosen 


686  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

a  place  for  his  home  he  returned  for  his  wife.  Together  they  set  out  for  the 
tedious  journey  to  the  West,  and  arriving  in  Ohio,  settled  in  Hudson,  then  a 
township  of  Portage  County.  This  was  a  fortunate  selection  for  Mr.  Kent. 
Here  he  met  Capt.  Heman  Oviatt,  to  whose  friendship  it  was  his  pleasure  to 
acknowledge  himself  indebted  for  many  kind  offices.  Here  he  built  a  tannery 
for  Oweti  Brown,  father  of  John  Brown,  of  Ossawatomie  fame.  Mr.  Kent 
taught  school  in  the  winter  while  he  remained  in  Hudson.  His  friend,  Capt. 
Oviatt,  impressed  by  Mr.  Kent's  upright  walk  and  industrious  habits,  was  dis- 
posed to  do  him  a  good  turn,  and  help  him  to  start  fairly  in  the  world.  Con- 
ferences led  to  conclusions,  and  in  the  summer  of  1815  the  firm  of  Oviatt  & 
Kent  was  formed,  to  conduct  a  typical  pioneer  store,  in  Ravenna.  Thither 
Mr.  Kent  went  to  erect  a  building  before  the  firm  would  begin  business.  The 
site  chosen  was  that  upon  which  the  Second  National  Bank  now  stands.  With 
his  saw  and  plane  and  hammer  Mr.  Kent  helped  to  put  up  the  wooden  build- 
ing which  was  to  serve  for  store  and  dwelling.  This  building  was  subsequently 
moved  to  the  south  side  of  Main  Street,  in  Little's  Block.  After  the  firm  of 
Oviatt  &  Kent  had  been  in  successful  operation  for  several  years  Mr.  Kent  was 
able  to  refund  the  money  advanced  by  Mr.  Oviatt,  and  the  firm  dissolved,  leav- 
ing the  junior  partner  in  sole  control  of  the  business. 

In  1826,  while  managing  his  growing  business,  Mr.  Kent  entered  into  a 
contract  to  erect  the  court  house,  which  still  stands  in  Ravenna,  one  of  the 
most  substantial  buildings  of  its  kind  in  the  State.  In  its  early  days  it  was 
looked  upon  as  a  wonder  in  architectural  art.  From  1831  to  1850  Mr.  Kent 
was  senior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Kent  &  Brewster,  which  did  a  profitable 
trade  in  Hudson.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Kent  was  accumulating  a  store  of  the 
world's  goods,  and  making  investments  where  there  was  fair  prospect  of  good 
returns.  In  1832  he  joined  David  Ladd  in  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land, 
embracing  between  500  and  600  acres,  in  the  township  of  Franklin,  now  the 
village  of  Kent.  This  tract  embraced  the  water-power  of  the  Cuyahoga  River 
at  that  place.  The  connection  of  Mx*.  Ladd  with  this  property  was  short,  Mr. 
Kent  soon  becoming  sole  proprietor.  In  the  year  of  the  purchase  he  erected 
Kent's  Floiiring  Mill,  the  product  of  which  has  been  held  in  high  repute  for 
more  than  the  third  of  a  century.  The  mill  produced  the  first  flour  shipped 
from  northern  Ohio  to  Cleveland,  going  by  way  of  the  Ohio  Canal. 

Having  dissolved  business  connections  with  Mr.  Ladd,  Mr.  Kent  made 
arrangements  with  John  Brown  to  carry  on  the  tanning  business  in  an  estab- 
lishment already  under  way.  In  1836  he  sold  his  large  tract  to  the  Franklin 
Land  Company,  which  afterward  became  the  Franklin  Silk  Company.  In 
1849  the  Franklin  Bank,  of  Portage  County,  was  established,  and  Mr.  Kent 
was  chosen  its  President.  This  important  post  he  held  until  1864,  when  the 
Franklin  Bank  gave  place  to  the  Kent  National  Bank,  of  which  he  was  also 
made  President,  holding  the  position  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  1850  he  began  the  erection  of  a  cotton  factory  and  a  private  residence 
in  Franklin,  where  his  interests  had  centered.  Thither  he  removed,  on  the 
completion  of  his  dwelling-house,  in  1851.  In  the  spring  of  1853  he  was 
elected  Treasurer  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad  Company,  tilling 
the  position  efficiently  for  one  year.  In  April,  1860,  he  moved  into  an  elegant 
mansion  which  he  had  built  on  Euclid  Avenue,  Cleveland.  While  on  a  visit 
to  Kent  on  the  21st  of  October,  1864,  death  took  from  him  the  partner  of  his 
early  toils  and  of  his  years  of  ease.  Thus  bereft,  he  longed  for  quiet  and 
repose,  and  in  the  following  month  he  returned  to  Franklin  (the  name  of 
which  had  been  changed  to  Kent)  to  pass  the  remainder  of   his  days. 

Mr.  Kent's  business  career  was  that  of  an  industrious  plodder,  who  gained 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  687 

success  by  deserving  it.  He  was  possessed  of  a  great  fund  of  solid  common 
sense,  to  which  it  had  pleased  God  to  add  an  indomitable  will,  native  business 
tact,  energy  that  never  flagged,  and,  above  all,  an  unyielding  integrity,  which 
gained  him  the  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  had  relations.  He  was  a  cau- 
tious, methodical  business  man,  not  given  to  speculation,  watchful  of  little 
things,  and  thrifty.  An  instance  will  show  how  dearly  he  held  his  integrity 
and  the  good  opinion  of  his  fellows.  While  President  of  the  banking  depart- 
ment of  the  Franklin  Silk  Company  he  required  to  be  placed  in  his  hands  the 
means  to  redeem  the  company's  issues,  remarking  that  he  would  put  his  name 
upon  no  paper  without  the  power  to  protect  it  from  dishonor.  The  arrange- 
ment was  effected.  Notwithstanding  the  disastrous  termination  of  the  silk 
company,  thanks  to  Mr.  Kent's  honor  and  forethought,  its  paper  was  all 
redeemed  at  face  value. 

His  life-record  was  made  up  of  deeds  that  reflect  luster  on  his  memory, 
and  mark  him  as  one  of  the  pioneer  noblemen  of  the  West.  In  personal 
appearance  Zenas  Kent  was  tall  of  stature,  erect  and  graceful  of  carriage,  dig- 
nified of  mien.  Little  given  to  society,  he  was,  nevertheless,  affable  and 
agreeable  in  all  of  his  relations.  Though  fair  and  equitable  dealing  made 
him  popular  as  a  tradesman,  his  retiring  nature  forbade  many  intimate  friend- 
ships. While  malice  did  not  enter  into  his  heart,  the  very  firmness  of  his 
character  made  him  quick  to  resent  an  abuse  of  his  confidence.  Beneath  a 
dignified  exterior,  bordering  at  times  upon  austerity,  he  wore  a  warm  and  sym- 
pathetic heart.  He  held  a  kind  act  in  tender  remembrance,  and  the  few 
friendships  he  formed  remained  unbroken  to  the  end  of  his  days.  His  tastes 
were  simple  and  his  habits  the  most  correct.  He  never  used  tobacco  or  stimu- 
lants of  any  kind,  and  for  thirty  years  did  not  have  an  hour's  sickness. 

Mr.  Kent  was  blessed  with  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  nine  of  whom 
survive  him.  These  he  lived  to  see  arrive  at  maturity,  all  occupying  positions 
of  prominence  and  influence  in  their  respective  homes.  The  surviving  chil- 
dren are  Mrs.  Harriet  Clapp,  of  New  York  City;  Henry  A.,  Edward  and 
George  L.,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  Marvin,  Charles  H.  and  Mrs.  Amelia  L. 
Shively,  of  Kent,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Frances  E.  W^ells,  of  Brownsville,  Penn.,  and 
Mrs.  Emily  K.,  wife  of  R.  B.  Dennis,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Of  the  four 
children  deceased,  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Poag  died  in  Brooklyn  July  4,  1864;  three — 
Louisa,  Amelia  and  an  unnamed  infant — lie  in  Ravenna  Cemetery.  Zenas 
Kent  died  suddenly,  at  his  residence  in  Kent,  October  4,  1865,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  interred  in  Woodland  Cemetery, 
Cleveland's  beautiful  city  of  the  dead.  In  a  lovely  spot,  removed  from  the 
hurly-burly  of  a  busy  world,  under  the  shade  of  the  cypress  and  willow,  by 
the  side  of  the  wife  of  his  bosom,  sleeps  all  that  is  left  to  earth  of  a  man  who 
fought  the  battle  of  life  bravely,  and  left  a  good  name — the  best  of  all  heir- 
looms. 

MARVIN  KENT,  projector  and  ex-President  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great 
Western  Railroad  (now  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  &  Ohio  Railroad),  was  born 
at  Ravenna,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  September  21,  1816.  His  father,  Zenas  Kent, 
was  a  joiner  and  carpenter  by  trade,  who,  when  a  young  man,  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Capt.  Heman  Oviatt.  He  discovered  in  Mr.  Kent  business 
qualifications  of  a  very  high  order,  and  in  1815  he  induced  him  to  engage  in 
mercantile  business  at  Ravenna.  The  executive  and  financial  ability  which 
Mr.  Kent  displayed,  coupled  with  enterprise  and  methodical  management  of 
his  affairs,  soon  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  among  the  repiitable  and  success- 
ful business  men  of  northern  Ohio. 

It  was  in  his  father's  store  that  young  Marvin  Kent  received  his  first  and 


688  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

most  valuable  instruction  in  correct  business  methods  and  habits.  Up  to  the  age 
of  nineteen  his  time  was  divided  between  his  father's  store  and  the  schoolroom 
wherein  he  combined,  in  the  acquirement  of  a  knowledge  of  books,  a  practical 
knowledge  of  business  and  dealings  with  men.  He  received  such  education  as  was 
afforded  at  Tallmadge  Academy,  under  the  instruction  of  E.  T.  Sturtevant,  A.  M., 
Principal,  and  Claridon  Academy,  under  the  instruction  of  Rev.  Sherman  B.  Can- 
tield.  In  his  nineteenth  year  his  father  entrusted  him  with  the  purchase  of  his 
spring  stock  of  goods,  and  for  this  purpose  he  visited  Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
with  special  instructions  to  buy  on  his  own  judgment,  and  to  disregard  the 
advice  tendered  by  others,  relative  to  the  investments  had  in  contemplation. 
His  father  was  pleased  with  his  purchases  and  the  business  sagacity  displayed 
by  his  son.  The  year  following  his  becoming  of  age,  Marvin  became  associ- 
ated with  his  father  in  mercantile  business,  at  Franklin  Mills,  Ohio  (now  Kent), 
but  he  soon  relinquished  this,  by  reason  of  the  precarious  condition  of  his 
health,  and  assumed  the  management  of  a  tannery,  in  a  building  erected  by  his 
father  and  Capt.  John  Brown  (of  Harper's  Ferry  notoriety).  While  thus 
engaged  he  was  married  to  Maria,  daughter  of  the  late  Col.  William  Stewart. 
He  conducted  the  tannery  for  some  time,  with  success,  and  in  1844  returned  to 
mercantile  pursuits,  becoming,  at  the  same  time,  largely  interested  in  the  manu- 
facture of  flour.  In  the  latter  business  he  continued  without  interruption,  for 
about  twenty  years. 

In  1850  in  company  with  others  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  window- 
glass,  at  Franklin  Mills,  and  erected  and  placed  in  successful  operation 
extensive  works.  It  was  during  the  same  year  that  he  entered  upon  the  most 
imporant  enterprise  of  his  life,  and  which  secured  to  him  a  business  reputation 
coextensive  with  the  inauguration  and  completion  of  a  gi'eat  public  transpor- 
tation route  between  the  East  and  the  West.  He  devised,  planned  and  pro- 
jected, in  1850,  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad,  designed  to  connect 
the  Erie  with  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railroad,  thus  forming  a  grand  trunk 
line,  with  uniform  gauge  throughout,  from  New  York  to  St.  Louis.  In  1851 
the  necessary  legislation  was  procured,  but  in  order  to  secure  the  charter  he 
was  obliged  to  subscribe  for  the  full  amount  of  stock  required  by  law  for  the 
organization  of  the  company,  as  well  as  to  indemnify  some  of  the  first  Board  of 
Directors  for  the  payment  of  one  share  subscribed  by  each  to  render  them  eligible 
for  election,  which  fact  furnishes  a  significant  illustration  of  the  want  of  faith  in 
the  success  of  an  undertaking  of  that  magnitude  at  that  time.  The  organization 
of  the  new  company  was  completed,  and  Mr.  Kent  made  its  first  President. 
The  position  he  filled  with  a  success  characteristic  of  his  great  business  tact, 
energy,  and  ability,  until  the  final  completion  of  the  road  in  1864,  save  an 
interval  of  three  years.  On  the  21st  of  June,  of  that  year,  he  had  the  proud 
satisfaction  of  looking  back  over  many  years  of  unremitting  labor  and  anxiety 
at  last  crowned  with  success,  and  also  of  driving  home  the  last  spike  in  the  last 
rail.  In  his  maiden  speech  on  that  occasion,  he  referred  to  the  fact  that  on 
the  fourth  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1853.  he  broke  ground  for  the  new  road,  by 
I'emoving  the  first  shovelful  of  earth  with  his  own  hands.  There  were  none 
then  to  withhold  from  Mr.  Kent  a  most  generous  compliment  for  the  completion 
of  this  road,  which,  uniting  the  Erie  and  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railways, 
formed  a  grand  continental  line  from  New  York  to  St.  Louis.  The  construc- 
tion of  this  road  encountered,  perhaps,  more  obstacles  and  greater  opposition 
than  any  other  in  the  country.  Yet  Mr.  Kent  showed  himself  equal  to  any 
and  every  emergency,  and  with  heroic  faith  and  one  purpose,  he  made  success 
possible  and  victory  a  verity.  The  Portage  County  Democrat,  of  June  3,  1863, 
contained  this  truthful  tribute: 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  689 

"  The  location  of  the  shops  at  Franklin  Mills  is  doubtless  due  to  the  position 
and  influence  of  Marvin  Kent,  Esq. ,  the  President  of  the  road,  who  resides  at  that 
point.  If  any  man  ought  to  be  gratified  and  benefitted  by  the  location  of  the  shops 
it  is  President  Kent.  He  was  not  only  the  early  friend  of  the  road,  but  if  we 
are  correctly  informed,  he  originated  the  idea  of  its  construction.  In  carryino- 
forward  this  great  improvement  to  its  completion,  he  has  toiled  and  sti'uggled 
for  over  twelve  years  amid  doubt  and  discouragement,  amid  jeers  and  sneers  and 
obloquy.  While  others  hesitated,  he  stood  fast;  when  the  faint-hearted  turned 
aside,  he  persevered  with  unfaltering  nerve  and  courage;  when  timid  friends 
forsook,  he  succeeded  in  raising  up  other  friends,  and  in  attracting  capital  to 
this  great  work;  and  thus,  with  a  patience,  a  courage,  an  assiduity,  and 
unswerving  fidelity  to  a  single  aim  that  reaches  the  point  of  real  heroism,  has 
he  held  on  his  way  through  twelve  laborious  years  of  fluctuations,  vicissitudes, 
and  uncertainties,  neglecting  or  abandoning  his  private  business,  pledging  or 
imperiling,  or  at  least  casting  into  the  hazard  of  success,  his  large  private  for- 
tune, for  the  benefit  of  his  cherished  enterprise.  And  yet  he  has  labored  all 
this  time  without  general  appreciation,  the  select  few  more  intimately  associated 
in  official  relations  with  him  only  knowing  and  appreciating  his  trials  and  his 
toils.  But  it  is  time  the  man  to  whom  more  than  to  any  other  the  country  is 
indebted  for  its  great  and  leading  road  should  be  understood  and  appreciated, 
for  every  man  and  every  community  benefited  by  the  construction  of  this  road, 
owes  to  Marvia  Kent  a  debt  of  gratitude.  He  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the 
success  which  the  intelligence,  the  ability,  and  the  fixed  and  resolute  purpose 
which  he  has  brought  to  bear  on  the  enterprise,  have  accomplished.  Who, 
under  these  circumstances,  can  grudge  to  Mr.  Kent  the  location  of  the  exten- 
sive machine-shops  in  the  place  of  his  residence?  Who  more  than  he,  and  what 
community  than  the  one  favored  by  his  residence  among  them  can  be  more 
entitled  to  the  benefit?" 

Upon  the  successful  completion  of  this  road,  Mr.  Kent  substantially  retired 
from  active  business,  to  the  enjoyment  of  private  life.  Upon  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1865,  he  became  his  successor  as  President  of  the  Kent  National 
Bank,  which  position  he  has  held  ever  since.  In  October,  1875,  he  was  elected 
State  Senator  from  the  Twenty-sixth  District  of  Ohio,  and  he  served  his  con- 
stituents with  credit  and  ability.  Mr.  Kent  is  a  gentleman  of  varied  experience 
and  of  varied  business  qualifications — equally  capable  as  an  engineer  or  as 
financial  manager  to  conduct  a  great  public  work.  He  has  remarkable  tenacity 
of  purpose,  and  once  resolved  as  to  the  value  of  an  enterprise,  no  ordinary 
obstacle  can  prevent  him  from  carrying  it  out.  He  is  a  man  of  liberal  views 
and  generous  impulses,  and  has  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  aided  in  advancing 
the  material  welfare  of  those  among  whom  he  lives.  He  has  been  a  generous 
promoter  of  every  business  enterprise  in  the  city  of  Kent,  which  bears  his 
name.  There  are  enduring  monuments  of  his  public  spirit  on  every  hand  in 
the  community  in  which  he  lives,  such  as  public  and  private  edifices,  business 
blocks,  mills  and  factories,  and  about  them  all  there  is  an  evidence  of  per- 
manency and  durability,  of  exactness  in  details,  and  adaptability  to  the  uses 
designed. 

As  an  evidence  that  Mr.  Kent  has  been  disposed  to  serve  himself  last,  he 
has  just  completed  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  palatial  private  residences  m 
northern  Ohio.  Within  and  without  there  are  evidences  of  a  cultured  taste 
in  art  and  adornment,  but  never  at  the  expense  of  utility  and  the  every-day 
uses  of  domestic  life.  Mr.  Kent  has  in  every  respect  been  a  successful  man,  and 
prominent  among  the  secrets  of  that  success  are  untiring  energy,  methodical 
methods  of  work,  and  strict  integrity. 


690  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

CHARLES  H.  KENT,  merchant,  Kent,  was  born  in  Ravenna,  this  county, 
August  12,  1818,  son  of  Zenas  and  Pamelia  (Lewis)  Kent.  He  was  reared  in 
Ravenna  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  received  a  common  school  edu- 
cation, after  which  he  attended  the  Canandaigua  Academy,  at  Canandaigua, 
N.  Y.,  for  two  years.  In  1889  he  embarked  in  mercantile  business  at  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent),  with  Clapp  &  Spellman,  under  firm  name  of  Clapp,  Spell- 
man  &  Kent.  In  1841  the  firm  divided  up  their  stock,  and  our  subject  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business.  In  1845  Mr.  Kent  and  his  brother  Marvin  were  asso- 
ciated in  business  in  Franklin,  at  the  same  time  they  purchased  the  goods  of 
their  father,  Zenas  Kent,  at  Ravenna,  and  continued  the  business  there.  In 
1850  Mr.  Kent,  in  connection  with  two  others,  built  a  factory  for  the  manu- 
facture of  window  glass,  with  which  he  was  identified  for  several  years.  Pre- 
vious to  1860  he  was  connected  in  business  with  Kent,  Wells  &  Co.,  and  Kent, 
Grinnell  &  Co.  In  1860  he  embarked  in  dry  goods  business,  in  which  he 
has  been  engaged  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Kent  was  married,  January  14, 
1841,  to  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Rev.  Stephen  W.  Burrett,  of  Franklin,  by  whom 
he  has:  one  child — Charles  B.  Mr.  Kent  is  the  oldest  established  merchant  in 
Kent,  and  one  of  its  representative  business  men.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican.    He  has  served  as  Mayor  of  Kent  for  four  years. 

WILLIAM  A.  LEE,  proprietor  of  restaurant,  and  dealer  in  wines,  liquors, 
etc.,  Kent,  was  born  in  Ithaca,  N.  Y,,  March  29,  1829;  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Mary  (Davenport)  Lee,  who  settled  in  Peru,  Huron  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1834;  former 
a  wagon  maker  by  trade,  at  which  he  worked  in  Peru  until  his  death.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  Huron  County  from  five  years  of  age.  He  was  married, 
April  6,  1855,  to  Martha,  daughter  of  William  Moore,  of  Plymouth,  Richland 
Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  four  children:  Ida,  wife  of  Henry  Struckrad; 
Flora,  wife  of  J.  Otis  Smith;  Hattie,  and  Bertie,  wife  of  F.  M.  Townsend.  Mr. 
Lee  learned  the  machinist's  trade  in  New  Haven,  where  he  remained  until  1861, 
and  was  then  employed  in  the  railroad  shops  at  Norwalk  until  1865.  He  then 
came  to  Kent,  this  county,  and  worked  in  the  railroad  shops  for  two  years, 
when  he  opened  a  billiard  room,  which  he  conducted  for  one  year,  after  which 
he  moved  to  Warren,  and  engaged  in  the  same  business  for  four  years.  He 
subsequently  returned  to  Kent  and  embarked  in  the  restaurant  and  saloon 
business,  which  he  has  continued  in  to  the  present  time.  On  November  1,  1884, 
he  supplied  a  long-felt  want  by  opening  a  first-class  restaurant  in  the  Carver 
Block,  which  is  conducted  in  the  metropolitan  style.  He  is  a  pushing,  ener- 
getic man,  and  his  experience  in  the  business,  taken  in  connection  with  his 
natural  fitness  for  this  pursuit,  will  no  doubt  prove  his  new  venture  a  success. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

BYRON  A.  LONGCOY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  June  5,  1854,  son  of  David  and  Abby  (Woodard)  Longcoy. 
His  father,  a  native  of  New  York,  born  May  30,  1808,  son  of  Anthony  and 
Ann  (Thompson)  Longcoy,  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  conaty,  in  1830, 
and  worked  in  David  L.  Ladd's  linseed  oil-mills  for  several  years.  He  after- 
ward manufactured  brick,  and  furnished  this  material  for  the  construction  of 
the  Earl  Block,  and  a  large  portion  of  those  used  in  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Carver  Block.  He  was  married,  May  4,  1834,  to  Abby,  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Rebecca  (W^oodin)  Woodard,  early  settlers  of  Ravenna  Township,  this 
county,  and  later  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children:  Anna  (deceased), 
Victoria  (deceased),  Nettie  (wife  of  Samuel  Putnam),  Maretta,  Francis  and 
Frank  (twins),  Miraett,  Ralph  (deceased)  and  Byron  A.  In  1853  David  Long- 
coy located  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  our  subject,  where  he  resided  until 
his  death,  August   5,  1873.     During  the   last  eight  years  of  his  life  he  was 


#,  Af  ^, 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  693 

engaged  in  butchering  and  had  a  market  in  Kent.  Our  subject  was  married, 
April  15,  1875,  to  Dolly  A.,  daughter  of  Dr.  J.  S.  and  Delia  (Rockwell) 
Sweeny,  of  Kent,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Bertha  and 
David.  Mr.  Longcoy  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  Mrs.  Long- 
coy  of  the  Episcopal  denomination.     In  politics  he  is  a  Prohibitionist. 

CORNELIUS  C.  MEACHAM,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  January  29,  1814,  son  of  Seth  and  Sally  (Weston) 
Meacham,  who  settled  in  Tallmadge  (now  Summit  County)  in  1816,  where  they 
lived  for  many  years.  Mrs.  Seth  Meacham  died  in  1872  in  her  eightieth  year, 
and  in  the  spring  of  187-4  Seth  Meacham  removed  to  Franklin  Township,  this 
county,  where  he  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  eighty-fom'.  They  had  ten  chil- 
dren: Fanny  (deceased),  Cornelius  C,  Esther  (deceased),  Cordelia  (deceased), 
Esther  second  (Mrs.  James  McCormick),  Samuel,  Flora  (deceased),  Sally 
(deceased),  Lois  (deceased)  and  Seth.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Tallmadge, 
where  he  lived  until  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  married,  February  1, 
1839,  to  Rebecca  D.,  daughter  of  James  McCormick,  of  Armstrong  County, 
Penn. ,  by  whom  he  had  two  children:  Clara  and  Sarah,  both  deceased.  In 
1841  Mr.  Meacham  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  lived 
seven  years,  then  removed  to  Suffield  Township,  and  resided  there  seven  years. 
In  1855  he  located  in  Franklin  Township,  and  for  the  past  fifteen  yeai's  has 
been  a  resident  of  Kent.      In  polities  Mr.  Meacham  is  a  Republican. 

HIRAM  MERRELL,  retired,  Kent,  was  born  in  what  is  now  Wyoming 
County,  N.  Y.,  May  29,  1818,  son  of  Noah  and  Clara  (Pearsons)  Merrell, 
who  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1837,  renting  a  house  of 
Joseph  Stratton,  on  which  they  lived  two  years,  then  buying  a  farm  of  ten  acres 
in  the  north  part  of  the  township,  where  they  lived  and  died.  Noah  Merrell 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  his  wife  of  Holland.  They  reared  a  family  of  ten 
children:  Althea  (deceased),  Norman,  Oral  (deceased),  Hiram,  Louisa  (Mrs. 
Darius  Davis),  Freedom,  Roxy,-  Noah,  Cass  and  Jane  (deceased).  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  when  twenty  years  of  age  worked  on  a  farm  by  the  month  one 
summer,  and  the  following  year  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  brooms, 
which  business  he  followed  for  eight  years,  acquiring  a  farm  of  eighty  acres, 
now  owned  by  A.  O.  Haymaker,  a  part  of  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and 
where  he  resided  ten  years.  In  1853  he  purchased  a  large  farm  in  Rootstown 
Township,  where  he  resided  one  year,  when  he  returned  to  Franklin,  and  since 
then  he  has  owned  several  farms,  having  speculated  considerably  in  farm  prop- 
erty, and  has  accumulated  a  competency.  Mr.  Merrell  was  married,  February 
24,  1842,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Frederick  Williard,  an  early  settler  of  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  had  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are 
now  living:  Angeline  (Mrs.  Byron  Fessenden),  Wallace,  Earl  and  Frederick, 
Our  subject  moved  to  Kent  in  1868,  where  he  has  since  resided,  one  of  its  rep- 
resentative citizens.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

N.  J.  A.  IVIINICH,  editor  and  proprietor  of  Kent  Saturday  Bulletin,  was 
born  in  Columbia,  Lancaster  Co.,  Penn.,  October  2,  1849;  son  of  Henry  G- 
and  Ann  C.  (Albright)  Minich.  His  father  was  a  stock-dealer  and  son  of 
Jacob  Minich,  a  distiller  of  Landisville,  Penn.,  of  German  descent.  His 
maternal  grandfather  was  Anthony  Albright,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
publisher  of  the  Lancasterian  at  Lancaster,  Penn.,  son  of  John  Albright,  who 
published  the  first  paper  in  the  city  of  Lancaster.  Our  subject  was  reared  in 
Columbia  up  to  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  is  a  graduate  of  the  Columbia 
Classical  Institute.  In  1868  he  entered  the  oflice  of  the  Columbia  Sjyy.  where 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  at  the  case.  In  1872  he  went  to 
Akron,  Ohio,  and  worked  in  the  job  department  of  the  Akron  Daily  Beacon  as 


694  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

a  journeyman,  and  was  for  some  time  connected  with  the  editorial  department 
of  the  same  paper.  In  1874  he  with  others  organized  the  Argus  Printing 
Company,  of  which  he  was  President,  and  founded  the  Akron  Daily  Argus, 
with  which  he  was  connected  up  to  May,  1876,  when  he  i-emoved  to  Kent  and 
purchased  the  Kent  Bulletin,  which  at  the  time  of  his  purchase  had  sus- 
pended publication  for  live  weeks.  At  that  time  it  was  a  six-column  folio,  but 
has  since  been  enlarged  to  a  six-column  quarto.  By  the  management  of  Mr. 
Minich  it  has  been  made  a  grand  success,  and  with  one  exception  has  the 
largest  circulation  in  this  county.  Since  locating  in  Kent,  Mr.  Minich  has 
been  identified  with  nearly  every  enterprise  oE  a  public  nature  that  tended 
toward  the  improvement  of  the  city,  many  of  which  originated  in  the  columns 
of  the  Bulletin.  He  was  married  August  3,  1875,  to  Lottie  E.,  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Emily  (Hodges)  McMasters,.  of  Akron,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  one 
child — Henry  S.  In  politics  Mr.  Minich  is  a  Republican.  His  paper  is  inde- 
pendent in  all  things. 

VALORUS  NEEDHAM,  retired  farmer,  Kent,  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Wales,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  March  29, 1806;  son  of  Alvin  and  Abigail  (Wal- 
bridge)  Needham,  who  were  the  parents  of  five  children:  Alfred,  Erasmus 
(deceased),  Valorus,  Minerva  (deceased)  and  Rebecca  (deceased).  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Needham  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1837;  located  on 
the  farm,  a  part  of  which  they  improved,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  I.  G. 
Wise,  and  there  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  settled  in  Brimfield  in  the  fall 
of  1837.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  at  which  he  worked  up  to  1844,  when 
he  settled  on  the  farm  (now  occupied  by  his  son-in-law,  S.  B.  Cuthbert, )  which 
he  improved  and  lived  on  until  1865,  when  he  moved  to  Kent,  where  he  still 
resides.  He  has  been  twice  married;  on  first  occasion,  in  1843,  to  Mary  L. , 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Chloe  (Chapman)  Smith,  of  Chenango  County,  N.  Y. 
The  issue  of  this  union  was  six  children:  Henry  (deceased),  Hamar  (deceased), 
Minerva  (wife  of  S.  B.  Cuthbert),  Ellen  (deceased),  Ann  (wife  of  L.  M. 
Tracy)  and  Chloe  (deceased).  October  19,  1862,  Mr.  Needham  married  Mrs. 
Lucia  M.  Earle,  daughter  of  Abel  and  Prudence  (Lyon)  Burt,  who  came  from 
Brimfield,  Mass,  to  Brimfield,  this  county,  in  March,  1823.  Mr.  Needham  is 
a  representative  citizen  of  Kent.     Iii  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

HARVEY  C.  NEWBERRY  (deceased)  was  born  in  Rootstown  Township, 
this  county,  January  21,  1812;  sou  of  Chauncey  and  Fanny  (Coe)  Newberry. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  and  his  mother  of  Granville, 
Mass.  They  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  about  1810,  where 
they  lived  until  1823,  when  they  removed  to  Franklin  Township  and  there 
died.  They  had  nine  children:  Harvey  C.  (deceased),  Cynthia  (deceased), 
Frederick  (deceased),  Oliver  H.,  Stoddard  (deceased),  Lura,  Mary,  Oscar  (died 
in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion)  and  George  (deceased).  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  reared  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  until  ten  years  of  age, 
when  his  parents  removed  to  Franklin  Township,  and  here  he  afterward 
resided.  He  was  first  married  November  24,  1838,  to  Sarah  Slaughter, 
of  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  and  had  two  children:  William  and 
Thomas.  April  10,  1846,  Mr.  Newberry  married  Flora  Raver,  also  of  Frank- 
lin Township,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  by  her  he  had  four  children:  Fanny 
(deceased),  Jane  (Mrs.  A.  D.  Clark),  Byron  C.  and  Frederick.  Our  subject 
died  very  suddenly  while  in  conversation  with  some  friends,  in  Kent,  Ohio, 
March  19,  1885.  He  was  elected  to  the  ofSce  of  County  Treasurer  in  1859, 
serving  one  term,  and  was,  previous  to  his  death.  Treasurer  of  the  corporation 
of  Kent.     In  politics  he  was  independent. 

FREDERICK  NIGHMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  York  County, 
Penn.,  September  5,  1809;  son  of  Adam  and  Betsey  Nighman,  who  settled  in 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  69i 

Franklin  Township,  this  county,  about  1806,  locating  on  the  farm  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Kindice,  wlaich  they  cleared  and  improved.  They  had  twelve  children: 
George  (deceased),  Clarissa  (deceased),  Catherine  (deceased).  John  (deceased), 
Margaret  (deceased),  Henry,  Polly  (deceased),  William  (deceased),  Emily, 
Frederick,  Eliza  and  David  (deceased).  Our  subject  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  then  bought  a  farm  of  fifty  acres  in 
Streetsboro,  this  county,  where  he  lived  four  years.  He  then  bought  a  farm 
of  100  acres  in  the  same  township,  which  he  lived  on  till  1863,  then  removed 
to  the  north  part  of  Fi-anklin  Township,  in  1878  locating  on  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides.  He  has  been  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  Parmelia  Van, 
of  Franklin  Township,  he  had  seven  children:  Perry,  George  (deceased), 
Orrin,  Alvin  (deceased).  Almond,  Electa  (Mrs.  Jesse  Nelson)  and  Laura.  Alvin 
died  in  the  service  of  his  country  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Mr. 
Nighman's  present  wife  (nee  Sally  Stewart)  was  born  in  Stowe  Township, 
Portage  (now  Summit)  Co.,  Ohio.  Mr.  Nighman  has  been  a  resident  of  thie 
county  seventy-eight  years,  and  is  one  of  its  representative  citizens.  In  pol- 
itics he  is  a  Democrat,  always  having  voted  the  Democratic  ticket. 

McKENDREE  D.  NORTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Wads- 
worth,  Medina  Co.,  Ohio,  November  6,  1836;  son  of  Joseph  and  Jeannette 
(Graham)  Norton,  who  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  of  whom  four  are 
now  living:  McK.  D.;  Charles  S. ;  Angelina,  wife  of  A.  J.  Powell,  and  MaxweM 
G.  Joseph  Norton,  a  native  of  Milford,  Conn.,  came  to  this  county  in  1834, 
and  located  in  Brimfield  Township,  where  he  worked  at  shoe-making  for 
several  years.  He  afterward  went  to  Edinburg  and  from  there  to  Frank- 
lin, where  he  now  resides.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  in  the  late  war 
of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  in  the  Ninth  Ohio  Independent  Battery.  He 
served  as  a  private,  Corporal  and  Sergeant,  and  participated  in  all  the  engage- 
ments of  the  battery.  January  19,  1862,  they  had  their  first  engagement,  ai 
Fishing  Creek,  Ky.,  and  March  22,  1862,  they  were  under  fire  seven  hours, 
and  threw  200  shells;  August,  1862,  they  were  shut  in  the  Cumberland  Gap 
by  the  enemy  for  one  month,  without  communication  and  short  of  rations. 
The  battery  participated  in  many  engagements,  in  which  they  were  always 
victorious.  Since  the  war  Mr.  Norton  has  been  engaged  in  farming  and  has 
resided  on  his  present  farm  since  187-4.  He  was  married,  August  20,  1868,  te 
Rachel  D.,  daughter  of  James  D.  and  Mary  R.  (Olin)  Haymaker,  of  Franklin, 
by  whom  he  had  one  child— Nettie  (deceased).  Mrs.  Norton  is  a  member  of 
the  Universalist  Church.  Mr.  Norton  is  a  Democrat  in  politics;  a  member  d^. 
the  G.  A.  R. 

PARMELEE  FAMILY.  The  annals  of  this  family  heretofore  published 
trace  their  lineage  back  to  the  year  1447,  to  an  ancient  and  noble  Belgian  fam- 
ily. This  noble  house  flourished  for  several  centuries  in  a  parish  of  the  same 
name  located  three  leagues  south  of  the  city  of  Liege  when  Belgium  wac 
under  the  dominion  of  Spain.  They  were  reformers  in  religious  matters  an^ 
to  escape  persecution  fled  to  Holland  and  afterward  settled  in  England.  In 
this  volume  space  will  only  permit  of  a  record  dating  back  to  one,  John  Par- 
melee,  a  native  of  Guildford,  England,  who  with  his  family  and  twenty-four 
ether  men,  presumably  also  with  families,  set  sail  for  America  in  1639.  HVhile 
on  shipboard,  a  few  days'  sail  from  Boston,  the  company  entered  into  the  fol- 
lowing covenant  or  agreement.  "We,  whose  names  are  hereunder  written, 
intending  by  God's  gracious  permission  to  plant  ourselves  in  New  England, 
and  if  it  may  be  in  the  southern  part  about  Quinnipisack  (or  New  Haven)  we 
do  faithfully  promise  each  to  each  for  ourselves  and  families  and  those  that 
belong  to   us,  that  we  will,  the  Lord  assisting  us,  set  down  and  join  ourselves 


696  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

together  in  one  entire  plantation,  and  be  helpful  each  to  the  other  in  any  com- 
mon work,  according  to  every  man's  ability  and  as  need  shall  require,  and  we 
promise  not  to  desert  or  leave  each  other  on  the  plantation  but  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  rest  of  the  greater  part  of  the  company  who  have  entered  into  this 
engagement,  as  for  our  gathering  together  in  a  church  way,  and  the  choice  of 
officers  and  members  to  be  joined  together  in  that  way  we  do  refer  ourselves 
until  such  time  as  it  please  God  to  settle  us  in  our  plantation,  in  witness 
whereof  we  do  subscribe  our  hands  this  1st  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1639. — Robert 
Rickell,  John  Bishop,  Francis  Bushnell,  William  Crittenden,  William  Leete, 
Thomas  Joans,  John  Jurden,  Wvi.  Stone,  John  Hoadley,  John  Stone,  Will- 
iam Plam,  Richd.  Sutiridge,  John  Housinger,  William  Dudley,  John  Parme- 
lee,  John  Mepham,  Thomas  Norton,  Abraham  Crittenden,  Francis  Chatfield, 
William  Noble,  Thomas  Naish,  Henry  Kingston,  Henry  Doude,  Thomas  Cook, 
Henry  Whitfield.''''  They  were  Presbyterians  and  the  last-named  was  their 
Minister.  This  company  located  at  Guilford,  Conn.  The  generations  of  the 
Parmelee  family  may  be  named  shortly  as  follows:  Luther  H.,  now  a  resident 
of  Kent,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  was  the  son  of  Elisha,  the  son  of  Theodore,  the 
son  of  Abram,  the  son  of  Abraham,  the  son  of  Isaac,  the  son  of  John,  Jr.,  the 
son  of  John  Parmelee,  who  settled  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  in  1639.  John  and 
John,  Jr.,  were  born  in  Guildford,  England;  Isaac  was  born  at  Guilford,  Conn., 
November  21,  1665;  Abraham  was  born  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  May  18,  1692; 
Abram  was  born  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  April  28,  1717,  and  was  a  warm  and 
earnest  patriot  during  the  Revolutionary  war;  Theodore  was  born  April  3, 
1751,  and  served  in  the  same  war  for  about  four  years  as  Captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  horse  on  the  patriot  side,  and  though  he  took  part  in  many  desperate 
engagements  was  never  wounded.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  resolution 
and  courage,  and  once  in  a  hand-to-hand  encounter,  when  completely  sur- 
rounded by  the  enemy,  and  ordered  to  surrender,  he  cut  his  way  through  and 
escaped.  This  same  Theodore  Parmelee,  in  company  with  his  brother-in-law, 
David  Hudson,  Birdseye,  Norton  and  two  others,  bought  the  entire  township 
of  Hudson  in  Summit  County,  Ohio,  in  1797  or  1798.  Elisha  Parmelee  was 
born  at  Goshen,  Conn.,  February  16,  1785.  In  1807  he  made  his  first  trip  to 
Ohio  to  look  after  a  one-half  section  of  land  in  Hudson  To'js^nship,  which  his 
father  had  given  him.  He  soon  afterward  returned  to  Connecticut,  where  he 
was  married,  November  9,  1809,  to  Roxa  Stanley,  a  daughter  of  Deacon  Jesse 
and  Eunice  (Bailey)  Stanley.  The  following  year  he  moved  to Mt.  Morris,  N.  Y. 
At  this  place  his  wife  died,  January  31,  1813,  leaving  two  children:  Myron 
N.,  born  at  Goshen,  Conn.,  September  19,  1810  (since  deceased)  and  Luther 
H.,  born  at  Mt.  Morris,  N.  Y.,  August  31,  1812.  He  was  married  a  second 
time  at  Mt.  Morris,  N.  Y.,  October  20,  1813,  to  Elizabeth  M.  Satterlee,  and  to 
this  union  wei-e  born  Elisha  H.,  July  21,  1814,  died  in  infancy  (August  23, 
1815);  Roxa  S.,  born  May  27,  1816;  Emily  E.,  born  July  26,  1819;  John  F., 
born  June,  1821 ;  Mary  H. ,  born  May  1, 1824.  About  1817  he  moved  to  Warsaw, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  was  a  merchant,  and  in  1824  moved  to  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  and 
kept  a  hotel.  In  1832  he  came  to  Ohio  and  bought  a  farm  in  Hudson  Town- 
ship, Summit  County,  where  he  remained  for  twelve  years,  and  in  1844  went 
to  Louisville,  Ky. ,  but  returned  the  following  year  to  this  county  and  located 
at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  where  he  was  a  successful  merchant  for  many 
years.  He  sold  out  in  1858  and  retired  from  active  business.  He  died  Sep- 
tember 4,  1865,  at  Kinsman,  Trumbull  Co. ,  Ohio,  at  the  home  of  his  son- 
in-law,  Rev.  Thomas  Corlett,  and  was  buried  in  the  Kent  Cemetery.  His 
widow  died  March  25,  1867,  and  was  interred  by  his  side.  Elisha  Parmelee 
was  a   man  of     marked    ability,     thoroughly    enterprising,    and    universally 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  697 

respected.     During  the  war  of  1S12   he  served  as  Paymaster   in  the  United 
States  Army. 

LUTHER  H.  PARIMELEE,  retired  merchant,  Kent,  was  born  in  Mt.  Mor- 
ris, Livingston  Co.,  N.  Y.,  August  31,  1812,  son  of  Elishaand  Roxa  (Stanley) 
Parmelee,  natives  of  Goshen,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.  He  was  educated  in 
Batavia,  N.  Y. ,  and  came  to  Hudson,  Summit  Co. ,  Ohio,  with  his  parents  in 
February,  1832.  He  worked  on  his  father's  farm  two  years  and  taught  school 
winters,  after  which  he  was  employed  three  years  as  clerk  in  a  store  at  Copley, 
Ohio.  In  1838  he  embarked  in  mercantile  trade  in  Copley,  which  he  con- 
tinued there  up  to  1845,  when  he  removed  to  Akron,  Ohio,  and  there  resided 
ten  years.  In  1855  he  came  to  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  this  county,  and 
has  since  been  chiefly  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  a  fine  farm  of  170  acres 
in  Franklin  Township.  Mr.  Parmelee  was  married,  May  14,  1838,  to  Tamma, 
daughter  of  Noah  and  Mary  (Stickles)  Ingersoll,  of  Copley,  Ohio.  By  this 
union  there  were  seven  children:  Helen  E.,  wife  of  George  O.  Rice;  Walter 
M.;  Caroline  G.,  wife  of  A.  L.  Ewell;  Luther  H.,  deceased;  MaryH.,  wife 
of  Henry  A.  Rea;  Frank  H.,  and  Roxa  S.,  wife  of  W.  I.  Caris.  Mr.  Parmelee 
is  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  Kent.  He  has  satisfactorily  discharged 
the  offices  of  Coroner  and  Commissioner  of  Portage  County;  has  been  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  and  has  filled  minor  official  positions  in  Franklin  Towuship. 
He  was  Cashier  of  the  Kent  Savings  and  Loan  Association  from  1874  to  1879. 
In  politics  our  subject  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

EDWARD  A.  PARSONS,  Kent,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  Railway  Speed 
Recorder  Company,  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  January  25,  1829,  son  of 
Edward  and  Clementine  (Janes)  Parsons,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  in  1831,  where  they  lived  until  1868,  when  they  removed  to  Kent, 
and  here  the  father  died,  April  4,  1874,  aged  seventy-seven  years.  The  mother, 
now  eighty-two  years  old,  resides  with  her  son-in-law,  C.  H.  Barber.  (Her 
father's  name  was  Peleg  C.  Janes).  Their  children  were  six  in  number: 
Edward  A.,  Timothy  G.,  Harriet  J.  (deceased),  Martha  K.  (Mrs.  George  W. 
Crouse,  in  Akron),  William  C,  in  Akron,  and  Clementine  (Mrs.  C.  H.  Bar- 
ber). Edward  Parsons  (the  father)  was  a  native  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  son 
of  Moses  Parsons,  and  Clementine,  his  wife,  was  a  native  of  Brimfield,  Mass. 
Our  subject  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  He  farmed  up  to  1863,  when 
he  removed  to  Kent  and  embarked  in  the  lumber  business.  In  1871  he  sold 
his  business  to  his  brother  and  engaged  in  the  produce  and  shipping  interest. 
In  1876  the  Railway  Speed  Recorder  Company  was  formed,  of  which  he  has 
since  been  Secretary  and  Treasurei*.  He  was  married  September  25,  1853,  to 
Mary  J.,  daughter  of  Freeman  and  Mercy  A.  (Lincoln)  Underwood,  formerly 
of  Massachusetts,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township  in  18_18.  They  have  n© 
children,  but  an  adopted  daughter— Effie  S.  P.  (Mrs.  J.  B.  iMiller.)  Mr.  Par- 
sons has  held  several  offices  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county.  He  served  as 
County  Commissioner  from  1874  to  1878,  and  was  the  main  projector  in 
building  the  fine  arch  stone  bridge  over  the  Cuyahoga  River  at  Kent.  In 
politics  Mr.  Parsons  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a  representative  business  man 
and  worthy  citizen. 

TIMOTHY  G.  PARSONS,  lumberman,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimfield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  17,  1832,  son  of  Edward  and  Clementine  (Janes) 
Parsons,  who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township  in  1831  (see  sketch  of  E.  A.  Par- 
sons). Our  subject  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  educated  in  the  commoa 
schools  and  Twinsbury  Academy.  In  January,  1853,  he  went  to  California, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  mining  and  farming  up  to  November,  1859,  when  he 


698  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

letm-ned  to  Brimtield.  He  served  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting 
in  September,  1861,  in  Company  A,  Forty-second  Ohio  Vounteer  Infantry, 
Garfield's  regiment;  served  twenty-six  months,  and  received  an  honorable  dis- 
charge. He  was  then  employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department, 
holding  that  position  till  the  war  closed.  In  September,  1S65,  he  located  in 
E.ent,  and  engaged  in  the  lumber  business  with  his  brother  E.  A.  Parsons  up 
to  1870,  when  he  purchased  his  brother's  interest,  and  carries  on  the  business 
himself.  In  addition  to  this,  he  runs  a  large  planing-mill,  the  only  establish- 
ment of  the  kind  in  the  place.  Mr.  Parsons  was  married,  December  12,  1866, 
to  Eleanor  M. ,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Susan  (Hall)  Sawyer,  of  Brimfield,  by 
whom  he  has  three  children  living:  Edward  S. ,  John  T.  and  Dwight  L.  Mr. 
Parsons  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  In  politics  he  is  a  Kepublican.  He  is  known  in 
Kent  as  an  active,  honest  and  successful  business  man,  one  who  takes  a  lively 
interest  in  all  affairs  promotive  of  the  town's  welfare. 

FREDERICK  E.  ROISTER,  photographer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Wetzlar, 
Ehenish  Prussia,  May  9.  1857,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Shaeffer) 
Poister.  His  father,  after  serving  his  time  in  the  German  Army  in  the  Twen- 
ty-ninth Regiment  Infantry  at  Koblenz,  settled  in  the  city  of  Wetzlar,  where 
he  held  a  position  in  the  Provincial  Court.  On  the  3d  of  June,  1861,  our  sub- 
ject's mother  died  in  that  city,  and  the  following  year  his  father  resigned  his 
position  and  immigrated  to  America,  where  he  arrived  in  December,  1862,  and 
located  in  Gallon,  Ohio,  where  he  still  resides,  and  where  Frederick  E.  was 
reared  and  educated.  In  the  spring  of  1874  our  subject  entei'ed  the  photo- 
graph gallery  of  L.  M.  Reck,  of  that  place,  where  he  served  an  apprenticeship 
®f  live  years.  He  then  went  to  Norwalk,  Ohio,  where  he  acted  as  operator  in 
^be  galleries  of  George  Butt  and  G.W.  Edmundson  for  two  years.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1882,  he  located  in  Kent  and  embarked  m  business  for  himself.  He  is  a 
photographer  and  artist  not  only  in  name,  but  in  education,  one  who  under- 
stands the  art  principles  of  lighting  and  posing  his  subjects,  wherein  lie  the 
true  merits  of  a  photographic  portrait. 

ABRAHAM  PRATT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Eadville,  was  born  in  Marion,  Wayne 
Co.jN.Y,,  June  28,  1823,  son  of  Darius  and  Phebe  (Baker)  Pratt,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  June  25,  1780,  and  the  latter  February  5,  1784.  They  were 
the  parents  of  twelve  children:  Asahel,  Zina,  Harriet,  Lorinda,  Presson,  James, 
Sidney,  Elizabeth,  Phebe,  Darius,  Abraham  and  Mary  (twins).  All  are  now 
deceased  but  Abraham,  who  is  the  only  member  of  the  family  now  living.  In 
1834  Darius  Pratt  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Marius  Heighton,  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  but  in  1842  removed  to  the  farm  where  he 
died  in  1842,  aged  sixty-two  years.  His  widow  died  February  25,  1858,  aged 
seventy-four  years.  Abraham  Pratt,  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was 
a  native  of  New  England,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  James  Baker,  a  native 
of  Marion,  N.  Y.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county, 
from  eleven  years  of  age,  and  assisted  his  father  to  clear  the  farm.  He  was 
married,  June  9,  1837,  to  Marilla,  daughter  of  Arvin  and  Betsey  (Bennett) 
Olin,  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township  in  1834.  By  this  union  there  were 
the  following  children:  Francis  B.  (deceased),  Mary  E.  (wife  of  Perry  Will- 
iard),  James  A.,  Diantha  M.  (deceased  wife  of  Emmet  Barber),  Emma  (wife  of 
Almon  Cackler),  Almira  R.,  Ransom  O.,  Wilson  and  Willis  (twins),  the  latter 
deceased,  and  Charles  M.  (deceased).  Mr.  Pratt  in  1845  went  to  Michigan, 
where  he  lived  one  year,  then  removed  to  Indiana,  where  he  resided  eight 
years,  and  finally  returned  to  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  purchasing  his 
present  farm,  on  which  he  has  since  resided.  He  is  one  of  Franklin  Town- 
ship's repx'esentative  men.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  699 

JAMES  H.  REED,  veterinary  surgeon,  Kent,  was  born  in  Boston,  Summit 
Co.,  Ohio,  August  12,  1815,  son  of  James  and  Catherine  (Stough)  Reed,  natives 
of  New  Joibey  and  Germany  respectively,  and  who  settled  in  Boston  Town- 
ship, Summit  County,  about  1810.  James  Reed,  who  was  a  millwright,  also 
a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade,  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  being  "out" 
two  years,  for  which  he  drew  a  pension  and  land  warrant,  and  on  his  return 
settled  in  Ravenna  Township  in  1816.  He  had  nine  children:  Robert,  James 
H. ,  George,  Peter,  John,  Calvin,  Orrin  (deceased),  Melinda  (Mrs.  Spencer 
Smith),  Irena  (Mrs.  Burt  A.  Smith).  Our  subject  served  an  apprenticeship  at 
cabinet-making  in  Medina  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  returned 
to  Ravenna  and  worked  at  his  trade  one  year.  In  1837  he  located  and  partly 
cleared  the  farm  he  now  owns  in  the  northeast  part  of  Franklin  Township, 
this  county.  He  has  been  a  veterinary  surgeon  upward  of  forty  years.  He  was 
married,  August  13,  1835,  to  Tussey  Scranton,  daughter  of  Joseph  Scranton, 
of  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  has  ten  children,  seven  now 
living:  Lawrence,  Levi,  Lucy  (Mrs.  Luther  Johnson),  Paulina  (Mrs.  Fred 
Myers),  Martha  (Mrs.  C.  A.  Ferguson),  Amelia  (Mrs.  Frank  Brown)  and 
Elber.  Mr.  Reed  located  in  Kent  in  1876,  where  he  has  since  resided,  prin- 
cipally engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  has  held  several  offices 
in  the  township  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

LEVI  REED,  liveryman,  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township,  this 
county,  September  8,  1842;  son  of  James  H.  and  Thirza  (Scranton)  Reed,  who 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  township.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
educated  in  the  common  schools  and  the  Oberlin  Commercial  College.  After 
he  became  of  age  he  worked  on  a  farm  by  thel  month  for  two  years,  and  in 
1864  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty -eighth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  married,  October  3, 
1867,  to  Clarissa  C. ,  daughter  of  Joseph  B.  and  Ruth  (Olin)  Stratton,  who  set- 
tled in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1837,  and  by  this  union  there  were 
live  children:  Willie,  Lorena,  Joseph  A.  (deceased),  Leona  and  Leroy.  After 
his  marriage  Mr.  Reed  engaged  in  farming  for  two  years,  and  in  1869  located 
in  Kent.  For  three  years  he  worked  in  the  railroad  shops,  after  which  he 
engaged  in  the  coal  business,  feed  and  grocexy  store  and  livery  business  with 
his  brothers  Luther  A.  and  L.  G.  In  1882  Mr.  Reed  embarked  in  the  livery 
business  on  his  own  account,  in  which  he  has  been  profitably  engaged  till  the 
present  time.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. ,  and  both  he  and  wife  are 
members  of  the  TJniversalist  Church.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

C.  R.  REED,  of  the  firm  of  Carlile  &  Reed,  tinners  and  plumbers,  P.  O. 
Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  July  20,  1854,  son  of 
William  and  Mary  E.  (Day)  Reed,  whose  family  consisted  of  William,  Charles 
(deceased),  Charles  (second)  R.,  Robert,  Nellie,  John  and  Frank.  William 
Reed,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  New  Lisbon,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio, 
May  31,  1823,  and  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm.  He  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  has  been  his  occupation  ever  since.  His 
parents  were  John  and  Rebecca  (Morgan)  Reed,  who  settled  in  Fraoklin  about 
1828,  and  who  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom  grew  to 
manhood  and  womanhood:  Reuben  (deceased),  Sperry,  William,  Hiram,  Ellen 
(wife  of  M.  Hulbert),  Rebecca  (deceased),  Cassa  (deceased)  and  George.  John 
Reed  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  a  weaver  by  trade,  which  he  followed  for  sev- 
eral years  after  coming  to  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent).  He  then  engaged  in 
agriculture,  clearing  and  improving  a  farm  on  which  he  lived  and  died.  C. 
R.  Reed's  maternal  grandfather,  Jacob  Day,  was  a  stone  mason  by  trade,   and 


700  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county.  Our  subject  was 
reared  in  his  native  township,  and  in  1876  entered  the  employ  of  F.  F.  Car- 
lile,  to  learn  the  business  of  tinner  and  plumber,  and  worked  as  journeyman 
up  to  1882,  when  he  became  associated  with  his  employer  under  the  firm  name 
of  Carlile  &  Reed.  He  was  married.  February  12,  1884,  to  Cora  S.,  daughter  of 
Samuel  B.  and  Sarah  (Doolittle)  Hall,  of  Kent,  Ohio.  Mr.  Reed  is  one  of 
Kent's  enterprising  business  men  and  a  worthy  citizen. 

GEORGE  O.  RICE,  Kent,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Brandon,Vt.,  April  22,1819, 
son  of  Hastings  and  Nancy  A.  (Bates)  Rice,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  and  in  later  years  residents  of  Brandon,  Vt.,  where  they  were 
married  and  lived  until  death,  and  where  our  subject  resided  till  thirty-five 
years  of  age.  In  1850  he  removed  to  Kent,  Ohio,  where  he  still  resides,  and 
for  about  ten  years  he  carried  on  the  harness  trade,  then  for  about  ten  years 
he  was  engaged  in  the  general  produce  business,  and  for  the  last  ten  years  he 
has  been  interested  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business.  Mr.  Rice  has 
been  generally  successful,  and  is  possessed  of  a  competency  of  this  world's 
goods.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss  Joanna 
P.,  daughter  of  John  H.  Lincoln,  of  Pittsford,  Vt.,  and  by  this  union  there 
were  seven  children,  of  whom  none  survive.  Mrs.  Rice  died  at  Kent,  Ohio, 
December  19,  1874,  and  Mr.  Rice  then  married,  June  19,  1877,  Miss  Helen  K 
Parmelee,  daughter  of  Luther  H.  Parmelee,  of  Kent.  As  a  citizen  Mr.  Rice 
is  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  and  has  given  his  influence  and  means 
invariably  and  liberally  to  everything  calculated  to  benefit  the  people  and  town 
in  which  he  resides.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  in  which  he  has  served  as  Deacon  and  Sabbath -school  Superintendent 
for  eighteen  years.  His  politics  have  been  Whig,  Abolition,  Republican,  and 
at  this  time  he  has  a  strong  tendency  toward  Prohibition.  Mr.  Rice  is  now, 
and  has  been  for  the  last  eleven  years,  a  Notary  Public.  He  does  a  large  part 
of  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  in  Kent. 

GEORGE  RISK,  Jr.,  retired,  Kent,  was  born  in  Stowe,  Summit  Co., 
Ohio,  July  19,  1833,  son  of  George  and  Isabella  (McCauley)  Risk,  natives  of 
Ireland,  of  Scotch  descent,  who  settled  in  Stowe  Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio, 
in  1830,  and  there  lived  until  1835,  when  they  removed  to  Brimfield.  where 
Mrs.  Risk  died  October  13,  1866.  They  had  eight  children:  Samuel,  George, 
Jr.,  Sarah  J.  (Mrs.  J.  W.  Sapp),  Eliza '(deceased),  Martha  (Mrs.  R.  S.  Haz- 
lett),  John  W.,  Robert  M.  and  William  (latter  deceased).  Our  subject  was 
reared  on  a  farm.  Owing  to  rheumatism  he  has  never  walked  a  step  since  he  was 
eight  years  old,  but  possessing  indomitable  will,  perseverance  and  industry, 
he  secured  an  education.  For  many  years  he  was  a  huckster,  and  by  economy 
and  frugality  has  gained  a  competency,  and  is  owner  of  a  double  business 
block  opposite  the  depot,  from  which  he  derives  a  good  rent.  He  is  a  gentle- 
man of  pleasing  addi-ess;  politically  a  Republican. 

HON.  DAVID  L.  ROCKWELL  (deceased)  was  born  in  Pierpont,  Ashta- 
bula Co.,  Ohio,  October  22.  1813,  sou  of  Harvey  Rockwell,  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut and  a  pioneer  of  Ashtabula  County.  He  was  reared  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  received  a  liberal  education  for  those  days,  and  was  a  shoe-maker 
by  trade.  He  was  married  in  1836  to  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Ephraim  Pal- 
miter,  of  Pierpont.  The  issue  ©f  this  union  was  four  children:  Dorema  (wif e 
of  Judge  U.  L.  Marvin),  David  L,,  Jr.,  Charles  H.  and  Orlo  S.  In  1839  Mr. 
Rockwell  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  where  he  remained  one 
year,  then  removed  to  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  Ohio,  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  for  sevei'al  years,  and  while  working  on  his  bench  he  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature  from  Portage  County,  1848-49.     He  was  engaged  in  the  hotel 


of^n^ue^  /^^(^ 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  703 

and  mercantile  business  in  Kent  for  many  years  and,  1862-63,  was  re-elected 
to  the  Legislature,  where  he  served  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  constituents.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  our  subject  was  a 
hearty  supporter  of  the  Union  cause;  in  politics  he  was  a  Republican.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.     He  died  February 

29,  1868,  his  widow  in  June,  1875. 

FREDERICK  E.  ROCKWELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Frank- 
lin Township,  this  county.  May  28,  1833,  son  of  Elijah  and  Euphemia 
(Austin)  Rockwell,  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township  in  1826,  locating  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  our  subject.  Elijah  Rockwell  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, born  October  25,  1795,  and  died  March  29,  1837;  his  wife  was  a 
native  of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  born  September  21,  1797,  and  died  January 

30,  1881.  Mr.  Rockwell  cleared  a  part  of  the  old  homestead  and  his  sons  the 
rest.  He  had  four  children:  Mary  H.,  Charles  H.  (in  Iowa),  Edward  J.  (was 
mate  of  steamer  "  Schuyler  "  and  was  drowned  in  the  Mississippi  River,  June 
6,  1867),  and  Frederick  E.  (the  subject  of  this  sketch  who  has  always  resided  on 
the  old  homestead  where  he  was  born  and  reared).  His  sister  lives  with  him. 
In  politics  Mr.  Rockwell  was  formerly  a  Republican,  but  of  late  years  has  been 
independent. 

LUCIUS  E.  RODENBAUGH,  contractor  and  builder,  Kent,  was  born  in 
Springfield,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  June  3,  1844,  son  of  John  and  Laura  A. 
(Purdy)  Rodenbaugh.  His  father  was  born  September,  1809,  in  Westmore- 
land County,  Penn.,  son  of  Peter  and  Betsey  (Hornbecker)  Rodenbaugh,  who 
settled  in  Springfield  Township  in  1816  and  reared  a  family  of  seven  children: 
Polly  (deceased),  Sally  (deceased),  John  (deceased),  William  (deceased),  Isaac, 
Peter  and  Eliza.  John  Rodenbaugh  was  reared  and  educated  in  Springfield, 
Ohio,  and  was  a  farmer  and  auctioneer  by  occupation.  He  was  married 
November  1,  1832,  to  Laura  A.,  daughter  of  Solomon  and  Nancy  (Backus) 
Purdy,  formerly  of  Vermont,  who  settled  in  Springfield,  Ohio,  in  1829.  Her 
father  was  a  manufacturer  of  stone-ware  and  established  the  second  pottery  in 
Springfield.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  was  six  children,  of  whom  five  grew 
to  manhood  and  womanhood:  John  M.,  Henry  C,  Calvin  P.,  Lucius  E.  and 
Emma  R.  (wife  of  J.  C.  Converse).  In  1853  John  Rodenbaugh  located  on  a 
farm  in  Franklin  Township,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  October  24, 
1865,  being  murdered  within  a  half  mile  of  his  home,  for  his  money,  by  two 
men,  one  of  whom  (Jack  Cooper)  was  hung  for  the  crime  and  the  other  (Joel 
Berry)  was  sent  to  State  prison  for  life.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  business 
qualifications;  a  Democrat  in  politics.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  from  nine  years  old,  and  received  a  common  school 
education.  He  was  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  August  8,  1862, 
in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  went 
through  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  was  also  in  the  battles  of  Franklin,  Fort 
Fisher,  Knoxville  and  all  the  engagements  the  regiment  participated  in,  and 
was  wounded  at  the  battles  of  Dallas,  Ga. ,  and  Columbia,  Tenn.  He  was 
honorably  discharged  June  17,  1865,  when  he  returned  to  this  county  and 
located  in  Ravenna  Township,  and  soon  after  entered  the  employ  of  the  Atlan- 
tic &  Great  Western  Railroad,  with  whom  he  was  engaged  for  several  years. 
In  1870  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself  as  a  contractor  and  builder, 
which  he  has  made  a  success,  having  all  the  business  he  can  do.  In  the  spring 
of  1882  he  located  in  Kent,  where  he  still  resides.  He  was  married  September 
29,  1867,  to  Flora  L.,  daughter  of  Ozias  and  Anna  (Knowlton)  Buzzell,  of 
Ravenna.  Mr.  Rodenbaugh  is  a  wide-awake,  thorough  business  man.  In  pol- 
itics he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 


704  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

YALE  RUSSELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Russell,  Mass., March 
10,  1802,  son  of  Richard  and  Sarah  (Yale)  Russell,  natives  of  Connecticut,  of 
English  descent.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  the  farm  until  seventeen  years 
of  age,  after  which  he  worked  at  wagon-making  for  three  years  in  Chatham,  N. 
Y.  He  then  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  twelve  years.  In 
1824  he  came  to  Ohio,  and  settled  at  Franklin  Mills  (now  Kent),  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  ten  years.  The  year  of  his  settlement  he  purchased  the 
farm  where  he  now  resides  and  on  which  he  has  lived  since  1834.  He  was 
married  April  7,  1834,  to  Lucy,  daughter  of  Joshua  and  Rebecca  (Woodin) 
Woodard,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  had  five  children:  Cornelia  (Mrs.  Cornelius 
Latimer),  in  Westtield,  Ohio;  Darwin,  in  Michigan;  Wilson  H. ;  Celestia 
(Mrs.  Lemuel  Reed)  and  Sarah,  deceased.  Mrs.  Russell's  father  served 
through  the  war  of  1812  with  the  rank  of  General.  Darwin,  the  eldest  son  of 
our  subject,  was  in  the  late  war,  a  member  of  tbe  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry;  Wilson  H.,  the  second  son,  resides  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  with  his  parents.  He  was  married  October  6,  1875,  to  Ella, 
daughter  of  J.  T.  King,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Myrtle  and 
Lottie.  Our  subject  comes  of  a  long-lived  race,  his  father  having  lived  to  be 
upward  of  seventy-five  years,  his  mother  to  be  ninety-nine  years  and  ten 
months  old.  Mr.  Russell  is  now  eighty-three,  and  is  hale  and  hearty.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Kent.  In 
politics  he  was  formerly  a  Whig,  but  has  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party  since  its  organization.  He  has  filled  several  offices  in  the 
township  with  credit. 

ISAAC  RUSSELL,  carpenter,  Kent,  was  born  in  Woodbridge,  New  Haven 
Co.,  Conn.,  February  12,  1810,  son  of  Lemuel  and  Elizabeth  (Hotchkiss)  Rus- 
sell. When  he  was  five  years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to  what  is  now 
Knox,  Albany  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  he  resided  u.ntil  seventeen  years  of  age  and 
received  a  limited  education  in  the  common  schools.  In  the  fall  of  1827  he 
came  to  Ohio,  and  located  in  what  is  now  the  village  of  Kent,  where  he  has 
since  resided  and  where  he  learned  the  carpenter  and  joiner's  trade,  an  occu- 
pation he  has  followed  up  to  the  present  time.  He  has  been  twice  married; 
first,  in  June,  1835,  to  Abigail,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Fenton,  of  Manlius,  N. 
Y.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  six  children,  four  of  whom  grew  to  manhood 
and  womanhood:  Martha  (Mrs.  W.  H.  Palmer),  Nelson,  Darwood  C. 
(deceased)  and  Frances  A.  (Mrs.  W.  H.  Cole).  Our  subject's  present  wife 
was  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Clark,  nee  Lake,  to  whom  he  was  married  November  9, 1880. 
Mr.  Russell  has  been  a  resident  of  what  is  now  the  village  of  Kent  for  fifty- 
seven  years,  and  has  filled  several  offices  in  the  township  and  the  village  of 
Kent.  He  has  been  elected  to  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  seven 
consecu.tive  terms,  and  was  previously  elected  to  serve  an  unexpired  term;  was 
also  Mayor  of  Kent  one  term,  and  held  other  minor  offices.  In  politics  Mr. 
Russell  has  been  a  Republican  since  the  organization  of  the  partv. 

FRANCIS  L.  SAWYER,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brimtield  Township,  this 
county,  July  11,  1831,  son  of  Asa  and  Caroline  A.  (Lincoln)  Sawyer.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Berlin,  Mass.,  son  of  Asa  and  Eunice  (Bruce)  Sawyer, 
who  settled  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  in  1818,  where  they  lived  and 
died,  and  who  had  nine  children:  Levi,  now  in  Iowa;  Asa,  deceased;  William, 
deceased;  Alvin,  deceased;  Sophia,  deceased;  Lucy  (Mrs.  W.  R.  Kelso);  Mary, 
deceased;  Sarah  (Mrs.  A.  J.  Shuman),  and  Luke,  deceased.  Asa,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  after  his  marriage  located  on  the  farm  in  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  now  occupied  by  his  widow,  where  he  lived  until  his  death.  He 
had    four   children:     Francis    L. ,  Mary   (deceased),  Ellen  and    Henry.      The 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  705 

maternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Dr.  Luke  and  Maiy  (Thorndike) 
Lincoln,  formerly  of  Massachusetts  and  early  settlers  of  Brimfield  Township, 
this  county,  coming  in  1820.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Brimfield  Township  and 
educated  in  the  common  schools  and  Twinsburg  Academy.  When  twenty-two 
years  of  age  he  located  in  Kent,  serving  as  clerk  in  the  dry  goods  store  of  C. 
H.  Sanborn  &  Co.  for  two  years,  and  in  the  same  capacity  for  other  parties  up 
to  1857,  when  he  went  to  Iowa.  In  1858  he  returned  to  Kent  and  embarked  in 
dry  goods  trade.  In  1860  he  was  elected  Auditor  of  this  county,  serving  one 
term,  after  which  he  engaged  with  the  A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.  Co.  for  three  years; 
also  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  W.  W.  Patton  &  Co.  He  was  then  appointed  Post- 
master of  Kent,  serving  two  years,  when  he  resigned.  He  was  married  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1857,  to  Margaret  C,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  McMeen,  of 
Brimfield  Township,  by  whom  he  has  three  children  living:  Nellie  M.  (Mrs. 
O.  S.  Rockwell),  Willis  F.  and  Carrie. 

AARON  M.  SHERMAN,  physician  and  surgeon,  Kent,  was  born  in  Brim- 
field, Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  March  24,  1826,  fourth  son  of  Capt.  Harris  and 
Sally  (Morgan)  Sherman,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Brimfield,  Mass.,  and 
who  had  a  family  of  the  following  children:  Lewis  M. ;  Caleb,  deceased;  Caroline, 
deceased;  Sarah,  wife  of  William  R.  Mathews,  in  Sully,  Iowa;  Aaron  M. ; 
Thomas,  in  Sully,  Iowa;  Otis  S.,  deceased,  and  John  W.  Capt.  Harris  Sher- 
man came  to  Ohio  in  1831,  an'iving  in  Brimfield  Township,  Portage  County, 
Sunday  the  5th  of  June,  that  year.  He  and  his  wife  are  now  deceased,  hav- 
ing lived  honored  lives  for  more  than  four- score  years.  The  genealogy  of  the 
Sherman  family  dates  back  to  the  early  settlement  of  this  county,  and  were 
honored  names  in  its  history.  Three  brothers  emigrated  from  England  to 
America  in  an  early  day,  one  settled  in  Massachusetts,  one  in  Connecticut,  and 
one  in  Rhode  Island.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  belongs  to  the  Massachusetts 
branch.  His  early  life  was  passed  on  his  father's  farm,  attending  school  six 
months  in  the  year  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  when  a  few  terms  at  a  select 
school  fitted  him  for  teaching  in  a  county  school.  He  taught  four  winters  in 
a  day  school,  and  singing  in  the  evenings.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  at  Garrettsville,  this  county,  with  Dr.  John  A. 
Knowlton.  He  attended  two  full  courses  of  lectures  at  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  W^estern  Reserve  College  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  graduating  in  the 
spring  of  1851.  On  September  26,  same  yeai',  he  was  married  to  Miss  Hen- 
rietta, eldest  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Green)  Tabor,  of  Garrettsville, 
Ohio,  who  died  October  26,  1853.  He  was  again  married  April  26,  1854,  this 
time  to  Harriet,  daughter  of  Watson  I.  and  Mary  (Mcintosh)  Gray,  of  Bed- 
ford, Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  one  son — Harris  G.,  a  prominent  oculist  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  The  Doctor,  after  graduating,  located  in  Garrettsville,  and  fol- 
lowed his  profession  until  the  spring  of  1857,  when  he  moved  to  Kent  and 
embarked  in  the  drug  business,  but  after  four  years  resumed  his  profession, 
and  has  since  had  a  large  and  successful  practice.  During  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  he  was  Assistant  Surgeon  in  Lincoln  General  Hospital  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  In  the  fall  of  1883  Dr.  Sherman  was  elected  to  the  Sixty-sixth 
General  Assembly  from  Portage  County,  of  which  he  is  at  present  a  member. 
Diiring  his  first  winter  he  took  an  active  and  intelligent  part  in  the  general 
legislation,  and  was  among  the  industrious  and  prominent  members  of  that 
body.  The  Doctor  has  always  been  an  active  promoter  of  every  public  enter- 
prise in  his  community.  He  has  frequently  served  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Board,  and  for  several  years  has  been  the  efficient  Secretary  of  the  Pioneers' 
Association  of  Portage  and  Summit  Counties.  In  1881  he  wrote  a  history  of 
Brimfield  Township,  dating  from  its  first  settlement,  which  he  delivered  as  a 


706  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

historical  address  in  that  township,  July  4  of  that  year.  It  was  published  in 
paruphlet  form  and  was  the  only  history  of  that  township  written  up  to  that 
date.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  for  ten  years 
held  the  position  of  Master  of  the  first  lodge  in  Kent.  In  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Republican.     In  religious  belief  a  Universalist. 

GEORGE  L.  STAUFFER,  grocer,  Kent,  was  born  in  Uniontown,  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  October  26,  1839,  son  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Myers)  Stauflfer, 
the  former  a  native  of  Maryland,  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  reared 
on  a  farm  until  twenty  years  of  age,  and  educated  in  the  Greensburg  Academy. 
When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  went  to  New  York  City  and  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Northern  Transportation  Company,  where  he  remained  seven 
years.  He  then  engaged  in  the  grocery  business  in  Jersey  City  for  one  year. 
In  1871  he  located  in  Kent  and  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Lute  Stauffer. 
In  1878  he  embarked  in  the  grocery  trade  in  Kent  with  George  A.  Furry, 
under  firm  name  of  Stauffer  &  Fariy,  which  partnership  has  existed  to  the 
present  time.  Mi*.  Stauffer  whs  married,  December  14,  1865,  to  Eva  E., 
daughter  of  William  J.  and  Lovena  (Beach)  Sanford,  of  Connecticut,  and  who 
came  to  this  county  when  quite  young,  then  moved  to  Marion  County,  residing 
there  a  few  years,  then  returned  to  this  county,  where  they  have  since  lived. 
To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  five  children:  Ida,  George  J.,  William  S., 
Lucy  M.  and  Robert  E.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stauffer  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  R.  A. ; 
has  served  as  Councilman  of  Kent  one  term.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

WILLIAM  STEVENS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  6,  1820;  son  of  Elisha  and  Margaret  (Brown) 
Stevens,  who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  Franklin  Township,  and  who 
located  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Fulmer  farm,  taking  up  160  acres  of 
land  in  the  wilderness  and  making  a  small  improvement.  They  were  parents 
of  eight  children:  Emily,  Marcus,  Harriet,  Caroline,  Mary,  Cynthia,  Lucius 
and  William,  all  deceased  except  William.  Elisha  Stevens,  who  was  a  car- 
penter and  joiner  by  trade,  died  in  1822.  His  widow  subsequently  married 
Eben  Phelps,  of  New  York,  and  lived  and  died  in  Franklin  Township,  this 
county.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits.  He  was  married  February  2,  1840,  to  Rebecca, 
daughter  of  John  Bair,  of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  bad  three  chil- 
dren: Francis  (deceased),  Frank  W.,  and  Fred  H. ,  now  in  Colorado.  Mr. 
Stevens  gave  his  sons  good  educational  advantages,  and  both  are  filling  excel- 
lent positions.  Since  his  marriage  our  subject  has  lived  on  his  present  farm, 
all  of  which  he  himself  cleared  and  improved.  He  is  a  representative  farmer 
and  citizen  of  Franklin  Township.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

THOMAS  C.  STEWART,  farmer,  P.O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  March  1,  1826;  son  of  Jonathan  and  Elizabeth  (Clement) 
Stewart,  former  a  native  of  Allegheny  County,  Penn.,  latter  of  Washington 
County,  Penn.  The  mother  came  to  this  county  in  1811  with  her  eldest 
brother,  Thomas  Clement,  and  located  in  Ravenna  Township.  She  is  now 
(1885)  living,  in  her  eighty-sixth  year,  and  is  hearty.  Jonathan  Stewart  came 
to  the  county  when  a  youog  man,  and  after  his  marriage  in  1819  settled  in 
Franklin  Township  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Nicholas  Knapp.  He  after- 
ward settled  in  Ravenna  Township  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  his  nephew.  Alex 
Clement,  and  lived  thereuntil  his  death  in  1832,  in  his  thirty-third  year.  He  left 
a  family  of  six  children:  Uziah  (deceased);  Alexander  (deceased);  Jonathan,  who 
enlisted  in  the  Eighty-eighth  Indiana  Regiment  from  DeKalb  County,  Ind.,  and 
after  participating  in  several  battles  in  Kentucky,  died  of  exhaustion  at  Lebanon, 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  707 

Ky.,  during  the  late  war;  Thomas  C. ;  Margaret  A.  (Mrs.  F.  D.  Eeese)  and 
"William  (deceased).  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Eavenna  Township,  and 
received  his  education  in  the  common  schools,  the  Grand  Eiver  Institute  at 
Austinburg,  and  high  school  at  Jefferson,  after  which  he  taught  in  the  com- 
mon schools  for  four  winters  following.  He  was  married,  March  14,  1854,  to 
Adeline,  daughter  of  Homer  W.  and  Mary  (Knowlton)  Hart,  pioneers  of  Solon  ^ 
Township,  Cuyahoga  County,  and  later  of  Franklin.  The  issue  of  this  union  is 
six  children,  all  living:  William,  in  Iowa;  Addie  E.;  Homer  J.,  in  Iowa; 
Mary  (Mrs.  E.  W.  Talcott);  Clara  (Mrs.  J.  C.  Yeend),  and  Julia  E.  After  his 
marriage  Mr.  Stewart  settled  in  Streetsboro,  and  lived  there  up  to  1861,  when 
lie  located  in  Franklin  Township,  where  he  now  resides  on  what  was  formerly 
known  as  the  Latimer  farm.  He  has  been  elected  Trustee  of  Franklin  Town- 
ship three  terms  in  succession.  Assessor  one  term,  and  on  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation one  term.     In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican. 

HENEY  W.  STINAFF,  late  foreman  of  bridges,  Second  Division  and 
Franklin  Branch,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Eailroad,  was  born  in  Eaven- 
na August  11,  1823;  son  of  AVilliam  and  Sarah  (Babcock)  Stinaff.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  Sheffield,  Mass.,  and  a  son  of  William  Stinaff,  of  that  place. 
When  a  young  man  he  came  to  Ohio  on  horseback,  and  settled  in  Eavenna  in 
1819.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  which  he  followed  all  his  life  in  Eavenna 
and  Kent.  He  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  and  resides  with  our 
subject.  His  wife  was  a  native  of  Granville,  Conn.,  and  a  daughter  of  Perry 
and  Cynthia  M.  Babcock,  who  settled  in  Eavenna  in  1819.  Her  father  was  a 
blacksmith,  but  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  though  he  still  worked  at  his  trade, 
he  carried  on  a  farm  and  accumulated  a  good  property.  The  children  of  Will- 
iam Stinaff  were  three  in  number:  Cynthia  M.  (deceased),  Henry  W.  and  Syl- 
vanus  P.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in  Eavenna,  where  he 
received  a  common  school  education.  In  1840  he  went  in  his  father's  shop  to 
learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  when  of  age  went  into  business  with  his 
father,  the  partnership  existing  up  to  1862.  He  then  entered  the  employ  of 
the  A.  &  G.  W.  E,  E.  Co.,  having  been  engaged  on  that  line  of  road  to  the 
present  time,  with  the  exception  of  two  years,  when  with  his  father  he  took 
the  contract  for  building  the  Union  School  of  Kent,  one  of  the  finest  build- 
ings in  the  county.     The  following  is  clipped  from  a  local  paper: 

Mr.  H.  W.  Stinaff,  who  for  many  years  held  the  position  of  foreman  of  bridges  and 
buildings  on  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  R.  R.,  retired  from  the  service  of  the  company  November 
29.  Mr.  Stinaff  commenced  work  at  building  bridges  for  the  A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.  April, 
1862,  on  the  First  Division,  making  twenty-two  years  and  eight  mouths.  He  was  absent 
about  two  years  while  building  the  Kent  Union  School  Building.  Then  returning  as  fore- 
man on  the  Third  and  Fourth  Divisions,  afterward  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Division 
and  Franklin  Branch  as  foreman  of  bridges  and  buildings,  which  position  he  held  about 
fifteen  years  up  to  the  time  of  his  retirement.  The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Charles  Lat- 
imer, Chief  Engineer  of  the  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.,  shows  the  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Stinaff  was 
held  by  the  company: 

Engineeking  Dep't  N.  Y.,  P.  &  O.  R.  R.  Co.  [ 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  December  4,  1884.      f 

Mr.  Henry  W,  Stinaff:  Dear  Sir.— I  wish  to  express  my  regret  to  you  that  any 
change  should  have  occurred  in  the  road  management  necessitating  the  change  made 
whereby  you  leave  the  service  of  the  company,  and  to  also  express  my  great  satisfaction 
that  in  all  of  the  eleven  years  past  during  which  you  have  been  foreman  of  bridge  build- 
ing, there  have  been  no  accidents  or  loss  of  property  in  your  jurisdiction  which  could  in 
any  way  be  ascribed  to  your  failure.  Your  work  speaks  for  itself,  and  I  hope  that  you 
will  feel  that  in  retiring  you  take  with  you  a  record  to  which  you  can  point  with  pride. 

Wishing  you  health  and  happiness  in  the  future,  I  am  your  friend, 

Charles  Latimer. 

Mr.  Stinaff  has  been  married  four  times,  his  first  wife  being  Lydia  But- 
ton, of  Kent,  by  whom  he  had   one  child— Charles  H.  (deceased).    His  second 


708  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

wife  was  Maryette  Loomis,  of  Ravenna,  by  whom  he  had  three  children:  Will- 
iam C,  George  and  Perry  (all  deceased);  his  third  wife  was  INtrs.  Emily 
Plum,  of  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  and  his  present  wife  was  Mrs.  Ellen  Whit- 
ney, of  Greenville,  Penn.  In  politics  Mr.  Stinaff  was  formerly  a  Whig,  cast- 
ino-  his  first  vote  for  Henry  Clay.  He  joined  the  Republican  party  at  its 
organization,  and  has  acted  with  it  ever  since. 

J.  B.  STRATTON,  P.  O.  Kent,  a  retired  farmer  and  an  honored  citizen 
of  this  county  for  upward  of  forty  years,  was  born  at  Bennington,  Yt.,  March 

14,  1800.  His  parents,  Joel  and  Rhoda  (Beaman)  Stratton,  were  farmers,  to 
which  occupation  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared.  In  1824  he  deposited 
his  first  vote  for  Henry  Clay  as  President.  He  was  married,  in  his  native 
town,  May  12,  1824,  to  Ruth  Olin,  a  daughter  of  Ezra  Olin,  of  Shaftsbury,  Vt. 
The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stratton  are  as  follows:  Almira,  born  February 

15,  1825;  Mary  M.,  born  August  12, 1826;  Asa,  born  February  24,  1828;  Lucas, 
born  November  8,  1829;  Samuel,  born  August  19,  1831;  Freeman,  born  June 
26,  1833;  Joel,  born  March  28,  1835,  and  accidentally  scalded  to  death,  Janu- 
ary 12,  1838;  Jonathan  N.,  born  May  16,  1837;  Melissa,  born  May  28,  1839; 
Susan,  born  December  30,  1840;  Joseph  B.,  born  October  22,  1842;  Clarissa 
C,  born  July  2,  1849.  Soon  after  marriage  Mr.  Stratton  moved  to  Genesee 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  thence  to  Wyoming  County,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1837  took  up 
his  residence  in  this  county,  buying  a  farm  of  130  acres  about  two  miles  north 
of  the  present  village  of  Kent.  Though  Mr.  Stratton  received  in  his  youth  a 
very  limited  education,  his  success  in  life  speaks  well  for  his  natural  sterling 
qualities  of  mind.  He  added  to  his  first  possessions  in  this  county,  and  at 
one  time  owned  some  400  acres  of  valuable  land  and  other  property.  At  the 
time  (1874)  of  the  celebration  of  the  golden  wedding  of  himself  and  wife, 
eleven  of  their  children  were  living,  all  of  whom  were  married,  ten  of  them 
being  present  on  the  occasion,  and  Mr.  Stratton  presented  each  of  them,  as  a 
memorial  of  the  event,  with  $1,000.  The  eleven  children  are  all  now  living 
and  in  prosperous  circumstances.  In  1884  our  subject's  grandchildren  num- 
bered thirty-two,  and  his  great-grandchildren,  fifteen.  Mrs.  Stratton,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church,  died  April  4,  1877,  and  Mr.  Stratton 
then,  January  15,  1878,  married  Mrs.  Martha  A.  (Williams)  Munsee,  widow 
of  Edward  A.  Munsee,  and  daughter  of  Mark  and  Polly  (Staunton)  Williams, 
of  Hampshire  County,  Mass.  Mr.  Stratton  now  resides  in  the  north  part  of 
the  village  of  Kent,  where^he  owns  eleven  acres  of  land.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Universalist  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

FREEMAN  STRATTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Genesee 
County,  N.  Y.,  June  26,  1833,  son  of  Joseph  B.  and  Ruth  (Olin)  Stratton, 
who  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1837.  Our  subject  was  reared 
here  and  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  has  always  followed  farming 
as  an  occupation.  He  was  married,  May  5,  1857,  to  Emelia,  daughter  of 
Frederick  and  Margaret  (Foster)  Williard,  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county. 
By  this  union  there  are  three  children  living:  Georgianna,  Harry  J.  and  Frank- 
lin S.  Mr.  Stratton  resides  on  the  old  Williard  homestead,  where  he  has  lived 
since  1869.     In  politics  he  is  independent. 

AARON  B.  STUTZMAN,  A.  M. ,  Superintendent  of  the  public  schools  at 
Kent,  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  March  23,  1842,  son  of  Henry  and 
Catharine  (Miller)  Stutzman,  natives  of  Summerset  County,  Penn.,  of  German 
descent.  They  came  to  Ohio  in  1826,  locating  in  Greene  Township,  Wayne 
County,  where  they  lived  and  died.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on 
his  father's  farm,  and  educated  at  the  Smithville  High  School  and  Mount 
Union  College,  whence  he  graduated  in   1870.     He  engaged  in  teaching,  as 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  709 

Principal  of  the  Dalton  High  School,  of  Dalton,  Wayne  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he 
remained  two  years;  from  there  he  removed  to  Doylestown,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  teaching  two  years,  after  which  he  was  for  five  years  Superintendent 
of  the  public  schools  at  Wadsworth,  Medina  Co.,  Ohio,  and  a  member  of  the 
County  Board  of  Examiners.  In  December,  1878,  he  passed  a  rigid  examina- 
tion at  Columbus,  Ohio,  before  the  State  Board  of  Examiners,  who  granted 
him  a  certificate  of  high  qualifications,  which  is  good  for  life  and  in  any  pub- 
lic school  in  the  State.  In  same  year  he  located  in  Kent,  where  he  has  held 
the  position  of  Superintendent  of  public  schools  to  the  present  time.  He 
was  married,  August  15,  1872,  to  Jennie,  daughter  of  Israel  Clippinger,  of 
Dalton,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children:  Edwin  H.  (deceased),  Grace 
E.  and  Willie  G.  During  the  civil  war  Mr.  Stutzman  served  in  the  Union 
Army,  as  private  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-ninth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry.  Mr.  Stutzman  is  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  wedded  to  the  profes- 
sion he  has  chosen.  He  and  his  wife  ai'e  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  an  active 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

HENRY  A.  SWAN,  farmer  and  milkman,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Boston, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  September  28,  1840,  son  of  Levi  L,  and  Louisa  (Metlin) 
Swan,  early  settlers  of  that  locality.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared 
in  his  native  town,  where  he  followed  farming  for  three  years  after  he  became  of 
age,  then  went  to  Bath,  where  he  lived  one  year,  thence  came  to  Streetsboro, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  dairying  for  six  years.  In  1873  he  located 
in  Kent,  and  in  1876  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  keeps  a  dairy 
of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  cows,  and  in  1882  built  his  present  residence,  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  county.  His  barns  and  other  out-buildings  are  first-class,  well 
adapted  to  the  uses  for  which  they  were  built,  and  everything  about  his  prem- 
ises shows  evidence  of  care  and  thrift.  Mr.  Swan  was  married,  March  9,  1865, 
to  Eliza,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Mary  (Dickison)  Ferry,  who  located  in  Frank- 
lin Township,  this  county,  about  1833.  The  issue  of  this  union  is  two  chil- 
dren: Herbert  and  Karl.     In  politics  Mr.  Swan  is  a  Democrat. 

J.  S.  SWEENEY,  physician  and  surgeon,  Kent,  was  born  in  Middlefield, 
Greauga  Co.,  Ohio,  August  14,  1831,  son  of  John  and  Dolly  (Brown)  Sweeney, 
natives  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  and  New  Hampshire  respectively.  John  Sweeney 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Geauga  County, 
Ohio,  locating  in  Painesville  in  1818,  where  he  resided  for  several  years;  then 
removed  to  Middlefield,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  which  occurred  July 
9,  1874,  in  his  eighty-third  year.  He  was  pressed  into  the  British  service  dur- 
ing the  war  of  1812.  In  character  he  was  upright,  honest  and  honorable,  a 
firm  friend  and  true  to  his  convictions.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  and  educated  in  select  schools.  From  1850  to  1854  he  stvidied  medicine 
with  his  brother,  E.  J.  Sweeney,  of  Nelson,  this  county.  He  then  went  to  Park- 
man,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  two  years; 
thence  moved  to  Chardon,  practicing  there  one  year.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Hoffman's  Battalion,  and  served  on 
Johnson's  Island,  Lake  Erie,  guarding  prisoners,  until  he  received  an  honora- 
ble discharge  on  account  of  disability  in  the  fall  of  1862.  He  then  located 
in  Stowe,  Summit  Co. ,  Ohio,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  medicine,  remaining 
there  until  1871,  when  he  moved  to  Kent,  where  he  has  since  been  in  active 
practice.  He  was  married  June,  1854,  to  Delia,  daughter  of  Joseph  W^.  Rock- 
well, of  Rome,  Ashtabula  Co.,  Ohio,  and  by  her  he  has  three  children: 
Dolly  A.  (Mrs.  Byron  Longcoy),  Edward  J.  and  Alice.  Dr.  Sweeney  is  an  active 
member  of  the  K.  of  P.  and  G.  A.  R.,  of  which  latter  he  is  Post  Commander. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


710  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

JOHN  L.  TIBBALS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Deerfield  Township, 
this  county,  January  15,  1821;  son  of  Alfred  M.  and  Martha  H.  (Swem)  Tib- 
bals.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Moses  Tibbals,  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
settled  in  Deerfield  Township  in  1805,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  the  farm 
on  which  he  lived  and  died.  He  had  five  children:  Clarissa  (deceased),  Alfred 
M.  (deceased),  Arbet  L.  (deceased),  Francis  (deceased)  and  Seymour.  His 
maternal  grandfather  was  William  Swem,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  pio- 
neer of  Salem,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared 
from  eight  years  of  age  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  There  he  cleared 
and  improved  two  farms  (one  now  occupied  by  his  son  Frederick)  and  resided 
until  he  was  killed  at  the  age  of  sixty  years  by  a  falling  limb  of  a  tree.  His 
children  were  five  in  number:  John  L.,  Norman  (deceased),  Frederick  and 
Curtis  (farmers  in  Deerfield)  and  Newell,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Akron,  Ohio, 
and  who  has  filled  the  office  of  Judge  of  Common  Pleas.  Our  subject  was 
reared  and  educated  and  served  as  Trustee  for  several  years  in  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, where  he  resided  till  1875,  when  he  removed  to  Franklin  Township  to 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married,  February  19,  1851,  to  Mary 
C,  daughter  of  Frederick  and  Fanny  (Williams)  Dewey,  of  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  Chester,  Mass.,  and  a  son 
of  John  Dewey,  parent  of  three  children:  Mary  C,  Sylvester  F.  (deceased), 
and  Harriet  F.,  wife  of  J.  N.  Stratton.  Frederick  Dewey  came  to  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  in  1818  and  located  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Marius 
Heighten,  and  in  1834  settled  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  our  subject,  most 
of  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and  here  he  died  in  February,  1872,  in  his 
seventy-fifth  year.  Mrs.  Tibbals'  maternal  grandfather,  Dudley  Williams,  also 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1820. 
Our  subject  and  wife  are  the  parents  of  five  children:  Floris  (deceased), 
Charles,  Frank,  John  and  Frederick.     Mr.  Tibbals  is  a  Kepublican  in  politics. 

TURNER  BROS.  (Joshua  and  John  G.),  manufacturers,  Kent,  are 
natives  of  Bradford,  England,  where  they  served  [an  apprenticeship  of  seven 
years  in  the  worsted  mills  of  that  city.  In  1873  they  came  to  America,  and 
located  in  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  where  Joseph  Turner,  their  father,  started  the 
first  worsted  mills,  which  he  conducted  for  five  years.  They  are  now  owned  by 
William  Hall  &  Co.,  and  still  in  operation.  In  1879  the  family  located  in 
Kent,  and  embarked  in  the  manufacture  of  a  superior  quality  of  worsted  dress 
goods.  They  occupy  a  building  five  and  a  half  stories  high,  in  dimensions 
160x45,  and  thoroughly  equipped  with  the  latest  improved  dye-house,  combing, 
drawing  and  spinning  machinery,  with  114  looms  and  2,000  spindles,  employ- 
ing 150  hands.  The  mills  are  run  by  two  large  turbine  water-wheels,  develop- 
ing 120  horse-power.  The  Turner  Bros.,  who  are  the  managers,  are  gentle- 
men of  experience  in  all  the  details  of  their  business,  one  of  the  leading 
industries  of  the  place,  contributing  largely  to  the  substantial  welfare  of  the 
community. 

JOHN  G.  TURNER,  manufacturer,  Kent,  was  born  in  England,  April 
10,  1857;  son  of  Joseph  and  Martha  (Gill)  Turner,  who  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1873,  and  located  in  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  where  his  father,  with  others, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Hall,  Broadhead  &  Turner,  started  the  first  alpaca- 
mills  in  that  city,  and  where  he  was  engaged  in  business  up  to  1878.  In  1879 
Joseph  Turner  located  in  Kent,  this  county,  and  embarked  in  the  manufacture 
of  worsted  goods  in  company  with  his  sons,  Joshua  and  John  G. ,  in  which  he 
continued  until  his  death.  He  died  in  1881  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years. 
The  business  is  still  carried  on  by  his  sons  (see  sketch  of  Turner  Bros.).  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  Yorkshire,  England,  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  was 


'^y-'sx 


§ 


&^c^z^y;^^yy'ij^y^ujt^ 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP.  713 

educated  in  all  the  details  of  his  present  business  in  that  country,  and  in  his 
father's  mill  at  Jamestown,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Turner  is  a  gentleman  of  push  and 
enterprise,  and  his  identity  with  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Kent  has  been 
alike  valuable  to  himself  and  the  public.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  In  politics  a 
Republican. 

JAMES  WARK,  photographer,  Kent,  was  born  in  County  Donegal,  Ire- 
land, January  23,  1847;  son  of  William  and  Catherine  (Long)  Wark.  His 
ancestors,  who  were  of  Scotch  descent,  located  in  Ireland  in  1798.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  .native  county,  and  came  to 
America  in  1866,  locating  at  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he 
remained  five  months.  He  then  went  to  Akron  and  worked  on  a  farm  by  the 
month  until  1869,  when  he  entered  the  photograph  gallery  of  G.  W.  Manly, 
where  he  served  an  apprenticeship  of  two  years.  In  1871  he  removed  to  Kent 
and  opened  a  photograph  gallery,  in  which  he  has  been  profitably  engaged  to 
the  present  time.  He  was  married,  June  8,  1871,  to  Belle,  daughter  of  Jas- 
per and  Fidelia  (Bliss)  Haught,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Will- 
iam J.  and  Bessie  B.  Mr.  ^V^ark  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  also 
an  active  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  R.  A.  He  is  now  serving  his 
third  term  as  Clerk  of  this  township,  and  first  term  as  Clerk  of  Kent  cor- 
poration.    In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

LEWIS  K.  WILLIAMS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  January  15,  1842,  son  of  Austin  and  Adaliue  (Knowlton) 
Williams,  the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  the  latter  of  Vermont.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  Dudley  Williams,  who  came  from  Russell,  Mass.,  to 
Franklin  in  1820,  and  located  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Henry  Lake.  He 
afterward  removed  to  Wisconsin  and  died  there.  He  reared  a  family  of  five 
children:  Calviu  (deceased),  Austin  (deceased),  George,  Fanny  (deceased)  and 
Polly  (Mrs.  Sylvester  Huggins).  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was 
William  Knowlton,  formerly  of  Vermont  and  an  early  settler  of  what  is  now 
Kent.  Austin  Williams,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
always  followed  farming  as  an  occupation.  In  his  early  manhood  his  father 
gave  him  forty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  moved  after  his  marriage  and  to 
which  he  added  by  purchase  until  he  had  accumulated  320  acres,  whei'e  he 
lived  and  died  April  1,  1872,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year.  He  had  four  children: 
Lewis  K.,  William  D.  (deceased),  Scott  T.  and  Charles  A.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch,  a  farmer,  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  and  educated  in  the  common 
and  high  schools  of  Kent.  In  1865  his  father  gave  him  and  his  brother, 
William  D.,  120  acres  of  land,  which  they  worked  together  for  two  years.  He 
then  purchased  William  D.'s  interest  and  conducted  the  farm  himself  up  to 
1883,  in  which  year  he  rented  his  farm  and,  having  purchased  a  residence  in 
Kent,  removed  there,  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married  November  30, 
1869,  to  Abbie,  daughter  of  Deacon  Lyman  and  Lucy  C.  (Stebbins)  Sabi^,  of 
Hampshire  County,  Mass.  In  politics  Mr.  Williams  is  a  Republican.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

WILLIAMS  BROS.,  proprietors  of  the  Peerless  Mills,  Kent.  This  firm  is 
composed  of  Scott  T.  and  Charles  A.  Williams,  the  two  younger  sons  of  the 
late  Austin  Williams,  the  former  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  the  latter  a  stu- 
dent of  the  Western  Reserve  College.  They  began  business  in  1879  in  the 
erection  of  the  Peerless  Mills.  The  present  main  building  was  erected  in 
1880,  and  the  mill  started  in  June,  1881,  fully  equipped  for  the  manufacture 
of  125  barrels  of  fiour  daily  by  the  "new  process,"  as  it  was  then  known. 
At  the  end  of  two  years  the  business  had  outgrown  the  building,  also  the 
capacity  of  the  machinery  for  manufacturing,  at  which  time  (1883)  the  mill 

37 


714  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

was  enlarged  by  adding  a  wing  nearly  as  large  as  the  original  building,  the 
system  of  grinding  changed  to  "full  roller,"  the  daily  capacity  increased 
from  125  to  200  barrels,  and  a  feed  department  added.  The  mill  is  now  96x73 
feet,  five  stories  high,  having  a  floor  surface  of  over  35,000  square  feet, 
and  equipped  iu  the  best  manner  for  flouring  by  the  E.  P.  Allis  system,  con- 
taining sixteen  full  sets  Gray  roller  mills,  three  clearing  machines,  twenty-one 
bolts,  seven  purifiers  and  aspirators,  also  dusters,  centrifugals,  packers,  etc.  It 
is  run  by  a  100-horse-power  engine,  which  is  furnished  with  steam  from  two 
75-horse- power  boilers.  As  the  mills  are  now  run  they  consume  from  250,000 
to  300,000  bushels  of  wheat  annually,  and  also  have  a  capacity  for  grinding 
150.000  bushels  of  corn.  Grain  for  supplying  the  mill  is  largely  bought 
from  farmers  at  home,  and  the  prices  paid  are  equal  to  any  market 'in  the 
State,  making  the  best  of  home  markets  for  the  farm.  The  proprietors  are 
young  men  of  push  and  enterprise,  and  fully  understand  all  the  details  of  the 
milling  business,  which  is  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  Kent. 

SCOTT  T.  WILLIAMS,  miller,  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
this  county,  February  26,  1852;  son  of  Austin  and  Adeline  (Knowlton)  Will- 
iams. His  paternal  grandfather  was  Dudley  Williams,  an  early  settler  of 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  who  afterward  removed  to  Wisconsin  and 
died  there.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  William  Knowlton,  a  native  of 
Cape  Ann,  Mass.,  also  an  early  settler  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county. 
Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  after  he  became  of  age  engaged  in 
ao-ricultux-e  for  six  years.  In  1879,  in  company  with  his  brother  Charles  A.  ^ 
he  erected  the  Peerless  Flouring  Mills,  and  embarked  in  the  milling  business, 
in  which  he  is  engaged  at  the  present  time.  He  was  married,  October  17, 
1877,  to  Hettie,  daughter  of  Elias  and  Triphena  (Blair)  Converse,  of  Mantua 
Township,  by  whom  he  has  one  child — Lewis  B.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

FRANKLIN  WILLIARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin 
Mills  (now  Kent)  November  11,  1822;  son  of  Frederick  and  Margaret  (Foster) 
Williard,  respectively  natives  of  Maryland  and  Beaver  County,  Penn.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Philip  Williard,  a  native  of  Ger- 
many and  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Rootstown,  where  he  lived  and  died. 
Frederick  Williard,  a  carpenter  by  trade,  was  an  early  settler  of  Franklin 
Township,  and  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  farmer,  the  home- 
stead now  being  occupied  by  his  son-in-law,  Freeman  Stratton.  He  had  nine 
children:  Catherine  (deceased),  Sarah  (Mrs.  Hiram  Men-ell),  George,  Frank- 
lin, Frederick  (deceased),  Edwin,  Mary  (deceased),  Samuel,  and  Amelia 
(Mrs.  Freeman  Stratton).  The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  always  followed 
farming.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Mary  Pratt,  of 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  he  had  two  children:  Perry,  and  an 
infant  daughter  (deceased).  By  his  present  wife,  nee  Sai'ah  A.  Hackett,  he 
has  three  children:  Frederick,  Fi-ances  and  Asa.  Mr.  Williard  now  resides  a 
mile  east  of  Kent,  where  he  has  lived  for  eighteen  years.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat. 

SAMUEL  WILLIARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, this  county,  October  22,  1832,  son  of  Frederick  and  Margaret  (Foster) 
Williard,  who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county, 
wherein  our  subject  has  always  lived,  and  he'now  occupies  a  part  of  his  father's 
homestead.  He  was  married  April  10,  1864,  to  Emma,  daughter  of  Matthias 
Clark,  of  Akron,  and  by  her  he  has  had  two  children:  Clifl"ord  (deceased)  and 
Evalena  M.  Mr.  Williard  is  a  representative  farmer  and  citizen  of  Franklin 
Township.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


FRANKLTN  TOWNSHIP.  715 

SIMON  P.  WOLCOTT,  attbrney-at-law,  Kent,  was  born  in  Northfield, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  January  30,  1837,  son  of  Alfred  and  Mary  A.  (Scovill) 
Wolcott.  He  was  born  and  reared  on  his  father's  farm  and  received  his  earlj 
education  in  the  common  schools.  He  prepared  for  college  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  late  President  Garfield,  at  Hiram  Eclectic  Institute,  Hiram, 
Ohio,  and  from  there  attended  "Western  Reserve  College  at  Hudson,  Ohio, 
where  he  graduated  in  1862.  Choosing  the  law  for  his  profession,  he  studied 
one  year  in  the  office  of  H.  B.  Foster,  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  and  one  year  with  N. 
D.  Tibbals,  of  Akron.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Summit  County  in  1864, 
and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  located  in  Kent,  where  he  has  been  in  active 
practice  ever  since.  He  was  married  July  17,  1866,  to  Mary  H. ,  daughter  of 
Anson  A.  and  Sally  P.  (White)  Brewster,  of  Hudson,  and  the  issue  of  this 
union  was  three  children:  Nellie  B.,  Jennie  B.  and  Duncan  B.  Wolcott.  In 
1866  Mr.  W''olcott  was  elected  Mayor  of  Kent,  being  the  second  Mayor  of  the 
town;  also  served  as  City  Solicitor  of  Kent  two  terms:  was  a  member  of  ithe 
School  Board  nine  years,  and  he  is  at  present  member  of  the  Board  of  Exam- 
iners. In  the  fall  of  1881  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  I'epresenting 
Portage,  Summit,  Lake,  Geauga  and  Ashtabula  Counties;  was  re-elected  in 
the  fall  of  1883  and  he  is  now  serving  his  second  term.  In  politics  Mr.  Wol- 
cott has  always  been  a  stanch  Eepublican. 

JAMES  WOODARD  was  born  in  Ravenna,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  July  31, 
1810.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Gen.  Joshua  Woodard,  and  the  first  white 
male  child  born  in  what  is  now  Ravenna  Village.  He  came  to  Franklin  Mills 
(now  Kent),  Ohio,  in  1818,  his  father  soon  after  erecting  a  woolen  mill  and 
continuing  that  business  with  John  Haymaker  for  many  years.  His  early 
advantages  for  an  education  were  very  limited,  but  he  acquired,  by  diligent 
study,  a  good  practical  common  school  education.  He  was  possessf^d  of  an 
active  mind,  and  was  compelled  by  force  of  circumstances  in  that  early  day  ie 
habits  of  industry.  In  1834  he  married  Maria  Hopkins,  daughter  of  Rudi 
Hopkins,  of  Copley,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio.  Soon  after  their  marriage  they  com- 
menced keeping  hotel  at  the  Upper  Village  at  Franklin  Mills,  remaining  there 
for  some  years,  afterward  settling  on  a  farm  now  within  the  corporate  limits 
of  Kent.  They  raised  a  large  family  of  children,  two  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
all  now  living  save  one.  Mr.  Woodard  occupied  many  positions  of  responsibil- 
ity and  trust.  He  served  many  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  was  als® 
Sheriff  of  Portage  County  for  two  terms,  and  it  has  been  often  and  truthfully 
said  that  Portage  County  never  had  a  more  efficient  Sheriff.  He  was  strictly 
honest,  brave  and  courageous,  and  during  his  terms  as  Sheriff  had  occasio-n  to 
arrest  many  counterfeiters  and  rascals  that  then  infested  Portage  County. 
Notably  among  these  was  the  notorious  "Jim"  Brown,  who  was  convicted 
and  sent  to  the  Ohio  Penitentiary.  Mr.  Woodard  in  his  later  years  had 
retired  from  the  more  active  duties  of  life.  He  was  the  efficient  Mayor  of 
Kent  two  terms,  closing  his  last  term  three  months  before  his  death.  Hie 
administration  was  mai'ked  by  his  considerate  attention  to  the  beat  interests  <^ 
Kent,  where  he  had  so  long  lived,  and  it  is  universally  conceded  that  Kent 
has  never  had  so  efficient  a  Mayor.  He  was  a  man  of  most  positive  conviction^, 
sterling  integrity,  and  was  fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  views  on  all  subj-ects. 
He  was  kind  and  charitable  to  the  poor,  and  always  gave  with  an  open  hand. 
He  died  at  his  pleasant  home  in  Kent,  September  2,  1883,  of  neuralgia  of  the 
heart,  after  an  illness  of  only  two  days,  honored  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

CHARLES  R.  WOODARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin 
Township,  this   counly,   April    4,    1854,  son   of   James  and  Maria   (Hopkins.) 


716  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Woodard.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Gen.  Joshua  Woodard,  a  soldier  of 
the  war  of  181  2,  and  an  early  settler  of  this  county.  His  maternal  grandfather 
was  Kudd  Hopkins,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  county,  who  was  identified 
with  the  woolen  manufacturing  interests  in  Franklin  Mills  (  now  Kent),  in  the 
early  times.  .James  Woodard  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  original 
town  plot  of  Ravenna.  He  was  the  father  of  nine  children:  Clara  (Mrs.  John 
Perkins);  Abby,  deceased;  Rebecca  (Mrs.  James  Metlin);  Delia  (Mrs.  E.  W. 
Bassett);  Frank;  Lucy  (Mrs.  George  Furry);  Estella  (Mrs.  N.  Hall);  Mary  (Mrs. 
Richard  Williams),  and  Charles  R.  In  politics  Mr.  Woodard  was  prominently 
identified  in  this  county.  He  served  as  Sheriff  of  the  county  two  terms,  and 
during  his  residence  in  Kent  was  twice  Mayor.  Our  subject  was  reared  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  and  educated  in  the  common  and  high  schools. 
He  was  married  April  4,  1878,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  R.  P.  and  Jane 
Morgan,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Mary  J.  and  George.  In 
politics  Mr.  Woodard  is  a  Democrat. 

FREDERICK  WURSTER,  bottling  works,  Kent,  was  born  in  Wurtem- 
berg,  Germany,  October  2,  1857,  son  of  Philip  and  Christiana  (Gugle)  Wurs- 
ter,  and  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land.  He  came  to  America 
when  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  worked  in  Philadelphia  in  a  brewery  for  nine 
months;  from  there  he  went  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  employed  in  the 
same  business  for  one  year,  and  then  returned  to  Philadelphia.  In  1880  he 
went  to  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  embarked  in  the  brewery  business  for  himself, 
continuing  in  the  same  there  one  year.  In  1883  he  located  in  Kent,  Franklin 
Township,  and  purchased  the  bottling  works  of  Louis  Gehring,  where  he  has 
done  a  successful  business  up  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Wurster  was  married 
October  13,  1878,  to  Louisa,  daughter  of  Herman  and  Mary  (Horning)  Bied- 
erman,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Sophia  and  Ida. 
Mr.  Wurster  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP. 


JOSHUA  ATWOOD,  retired,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  February  29,  1812, 
in  Pittsfield,  Vt.,  son  of  Joshua  a^d  Thankful  (Stone)  Atwood,  the  former  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  the  latter  of  Vermont.  Our  subject,  whose  portrait 
appears  in  this  work,  was  educated  in  the  country  schools,  and  was  a  farmer 
until  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  began  to  learn  the  blacksmith's  trade  with 
a  Mr.  Egleston  in  Pittsfield,  Vt. ,  with  whom  he  continued  for  three  years  and 
then  worked  for  himself  a  few  months  in  Rutland,  same  State,  and  at  Pitts- 
ford  one  year,  after  which  he  engaged  with  Mr.  Egleston  one  year,  and  then  for  a 
time  worked  for  himself.  He  came  to  Ohio  in  1836  and  opened  a  blacksmith 
shop  at  Freedom,  this  county.  In  1844  he  added  a  carriage  manufacturing 
departmeQt,  and  soon  employed  as  many  as  eight  men,  and  supplied  the 
demand  within  a  large  radius.  He  was  very  successful,  and  in  1875  he  retired 
from  active  labors  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  many  years'  hard  and  persistent  toil.  Mr. 
Atwood  was  married  in  1838  to  Aurelia  Bii-ge,  who  died  in  1874,  leaving  no 
children.  He  and  she  were  among  the  first  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Freedom.  Our  subject  has  served  the  township  honorably  as 
Treasurer  and  Tru^stee.  He  is  a  pleasant  gentleman;  in  politics  a  representa- 
tive Republican.       His  brothers-in-law,   Lasell   and  Simeon  Birge,    came  to 


FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP.  717 

Freedom  Township,  this  county,  the  former  in  1832,  bought  400  acres  of  land 
and  erected  many  of  the  buildings  in  Freedom  Center.  SimeOTi  Birge,  who 
was  a  physician,  moved  away  in  1838,  while  Lasell  remained  until  1846  or 
1847.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Plattsburg. 

HENRY  IRVING  BROWN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom  Station,  was  born  in 
Freedom  Township,  this  county,  July  28,  1860,  son  of  Isaac  and  Rebecca 
(French)  Brown,  natives  of  New  York  and  Connecticut  respectively,  whose 
parents  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac 
Brown  were  married  here  in  1837  and  reared  a  family  of  five  children,  three 
now  living:  Ellen  A.,  Ida  D.  and  Henry  I.  The  two  eldest,  Levi  J.  and 
Mary  A.,  are  dead.  The  mother  died  February  8,  1881,  aged  sixty-two  years. 
Our  subject  was  married  October  27,  1881,  to  Allie  Miller,  of  Freedom  Town- 
ship, this  county,  born  June  2,  1861;  parents  of  one  daughter — Mamie  E. 
Brown,  born  September  7,  1883.  Our  subject  follows  general  farming  and 
stock-growing.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

CHARLES  DUDLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  is  a  native  of  Richmond, 
Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  born  December  8,  1814,  son  of  Timothy  and  Anna 
(Osborn)  Dudley,  natives  of  Guilford,  Conn.  They  were  married  in  Berk- 
shire County,  Mass.,  in  1800,  and  in  1835  moved  to  Freedom  Township,  this 
county,  and  in  1837  to  Whiteside  County,  111.,  where  they  died,  aged  seventy- 
seven  and  ninety  years  respectively.  Our  subject  came  to  this  county  in  1837, 
settling  in  Freedom  Township,  where  he  now  resides.  He  has  cleared  many 
aci'es  of  land  and  has  followed  general  agriculture.  He  was  married  June  22, 
1837,  to  Sarah  Leete,  a  native  of  West  Stockbridge,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass., 
born  August  6,  1816,  and  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Dimmis  (Wickhane) 
Leete,  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  who  were  married  in  1800,  and  lived  and 
died  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  four  sons: 
Charles  A.,  attorney  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  Plimmon  H.,  civil  engineer, 
New  York  City;  Marquis  W.,  and  John  F.,  a  farmer  in  Freedom  Township, 
this  county,  all  married.  Our  subject  has  served  in  some  of  the  township 
oflfices.  He  and  his  wife  ai-e  members  of  the  Congregational  Church.  In  pol- 
itics he  is  a  strong  Republican. 

LISBON  FINCH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom  Station,  was  born  in  Otis,  Berk- 
shire Co.,  Mass.,  July  8,  1819;  son  of  Joshua  and  Clarissa  (Clark)  Finch, 
also  natives  of  Otis,  Berkshire  County,  where  they  were  married,  and  reared  a 
family  of  nine  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living.  They  came  to  Free- 
dom Township,  this  county,  June  16,  1825,  where  Joshua  Finch  was  an  old-line 
Whig  "stand-by,"  andi  was  prominently  identified  with  the  Masonic  order  for  six- 
ty-two years.  Here  he  and  his  wife  died.  Our  subject,  who  has  always  made  his 
home  in  this  county,  owns  several  hundred  acres  of  land  here.  (His  sister 
Celestia's  marriage  in  November,  1826,  with  Lester  Hall,  was  the  first  wedding 
in  the  township.)  He  was  married  April  8,  1846,  to  Eunice  Scovill,  born  in 
Licking  County,  Ohio,  July  4,  1821,  daughter  of  David  and  Clarissa  Scovill, 
natives  respectively  of  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania,  and  early  settlers  in 
Johnstown,  Licking  Co.,  Ohio,  coming  June  17,  1817.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finch  have  had  five  children  born  to  them: 
Cordelia,  Howard  J.,  Lydia  R.,  David  S.  and  Lyman  J.,  all  living  except 
Lyman.     Our  subject  is  a  Republican. 

WILLIAM  GARDNER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  in  Berkshire 
County,  Mass.,  October  1,  1805,  son  of  Henry  and  Abigail  (Stedman)  Gardner, 
natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  respectively,  and  who  died  in 
Berkshire   County.     Our  subject  came  to  this  county  in  1829,  and  purchased 


718  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

land  in  Freedom  Township,  where  he  followed  brick-making  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  was  married  in  Freedom  Township  in  1836,  to  Marietta  Matteson, 
of  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  and  a  native  of  Bennington  County,  Vt. , 
born  in  1818,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Lois  (Vaughn)  Matteson,  who  moved 
from  Vermont  to  this  county  in  1833,  and  resided  a  few  years  in  Hiram  Town- 
ship; thence  they  went  to  Illinois,  and  later  to  Kansas,  where  they  died.  To 
our  subject  and  wife  were  born  five  children:  Henry,  Robert,  Marion,  Christo- 
pher C.  and  Franklin,  all  living.     In  politics  Mr.  Gardner  is  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  R.  JAMES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  September  14,  1813, 
in  Hampshire  County,  Mass.:  son  of  Aaron  and  Irena  (Willcutt)  James, 
natives  of  same  county,  and  where  they  were  married;  in  1817  they  moved  to 
Ghariestown  Township,  this  county,  and  settled  upon  land  formerly  purchased 
by  their  forefathei's.  Of  their  family  three  survive:  Joel  "W.,  John  R.  and 
Catherine  W.  Peebles.  Our  subject  remained  upon  and  operated  the  home 
farm  until  about  1855,  and  then  came  to  Freedom  Township,  this  county, 
ivhere  he  now  resides.  He  was  twice  married,  first  on  May  30,  1838.  to  Elsie 
Prentice,  also  of  Charlestown  Township,  this  county,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
daughter  of  Elisha  and  Betsey  (Frisby)  Prentice,  who  settled  in  this  county 
about  1823  and  here  died.  To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  three  children: 
Albert  P.,  Laura  A.  and  Rosa  C.  The  mother  died  September  5,  1847,  aged 
thirty-six  years,  and  our  subject  then  married,  May  1,  1854,  Prudence  D.  Col- 
ton,  of  Freedom  Township,  this  county,  born  in  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  Jan- 
uary 11,  1824,  daughter  of  Jeremiah  and  Lucy  (Lusk)  Colton,  natives  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  respectively,  and  who  were  married  in  Hart- 
lord  County,  Conn.,  May  29,  1814.  In  1825  they  came  to  Freedom  Township, 
tihis  county,  where  they  died,  Mr.  Colton  in  1867,  his  widow  in  1868,  aged 
seventy-five  and  seventy-seven  years  respectively.  Their  family  of  five  are  all 
BOW  deceased  except  the  wife  of  our  subject.  By  this  union  were  born  four 
children:  Mary  E.,  Willis  C,  Lucy  J.  and  Flora  I.  Mrs.  James  is  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JOHN  KILBOURN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  August  13,  1828, 
in  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  son  of  Hiram  and  Mary  (Crocker)  Kilbourn,  natives 
®f  Connecticut,  and  of  English  descent.  They  were  married  in  Hartford 
County,  Conn.,  November  24,  1824,  and  in  1828  came  to  Freedom  Township, 
this  county,  where  they  purchased  land,  built  a  log-cabin  and  saw-mill,  cut  roads, 
cleared  farms,  etc.,  and  reared  a  family  of  which  two  are  now  living:  John 
and  Frank.  The  father  died  September  3,  1866,  the  mother  November  13, 
1879,  aged  sixty-eight  and  eighty-one  years,  respectively.  Our  subject  pur- 
©hased  land  in  Freedom  Township,  in  1850,  and  in  1858  became  owner  of  the 
Siomestead  farm;  he  has  now  210  acres.  Jle  was  married  July  5,  1857,  to  Amy 
ISL  Loomis,  of  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  where  she  was  born  in  1836, 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Arminta  (Harmon)  Loomis,  natives  of  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts,  respectively.  They  married  in  this  county,  and  reared  a  family, 
of  whom  six  are  now  living.  The  parents  are  both  dead.  To  the  union  of 
our  subject  and  first  wife  were  born  three  children:  Rena,  Myrtie  and  Charles 
L.  Mrs.  Kilbourn  died  April  17,  1880.  Our  subject  was  married  again  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1882,  to  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Davis,  of  Freedom  Township,  this  county, 
widow  of  Martin  Davis,  Avho  died  in  1874,  father  of  three  children:  Cora, 
Emma  (deceased)  and  Eugene.      Our  subject  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 

GILES  W.  KNEELAND,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  in  Shalers- 
ville  Township,  this  county,  October  15,  1817,  son  of  George  W.  and  Sally 
(Carlton)  Kneeland,  who  settled  here  in  a  very  early  day,  and  where  they  were 
married  in  1815.     They  were  both  natives  of  Connecticut,  whence  they  moved 


FREEDOM  TOWNSHIP.  719 

with  their  parents,  who  were  among  the  lir^t  settlers  in  the  county.  Our  sub- 
ject is  the  only  survivor  of  a  family  of  four  children,  whose  parents  died  in 
1835  and  1878,  respectively,  faithful  members  of  the  early  pioneer  church. 
He  came  in  1828  into  Freedom  Township,  where  he  now  resides,  and  where  he 
was  married  December  6,  1838,  to  Amy  A.  Barber,  born  in  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  May  24,  1818,  daughter  of  Myron  and  Amy  (Spaulding)  Barber,  natives 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  respectively,  and  who  came  to  Freedom 
Township,  this  county,  in  1824;  they  died,  aged  sixty-seven  and  forty- three 
respectively.  Of  their  family  of  four  only  one — Amy  A. — survives.  Our 
subject  and  wife  are  parents  of  five  children,  all  now  living:  Keziah  S.,  Elbert 
R.,  Charles  J.,  Myron  A.  and  Elva  M.  Mr.  Kneeland  has  served  in  some  of 
the  township  ofl&ces.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church. 

A.  C.  LARKCOM,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  in  Otis  Township, 
Berkshire  Co.,  Mass. ;  son  of  Paul  and  Comfort  (Norton)  Larkcom.  Paul,  who 
had  been  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  three  years,  came  with  his  family  to 
Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1826,  via  Erie  Canal,  the  lake  and  stage,  and  bought 
land  where  our  subject  now  lives.  A.  C.  Larkcom  was  married  in  May,  1826, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Perry,  born  June  27,  1803,  who  bore  him  the  following  childi-en: 
Mary,  married  to  Enoch  Lewis;  Cherilla,  married  to  Ambrose  Hall;  Lyman 
M.,  born  February  5, 1831,  attended  country  schools,  and  was  married  November, 
1863,  to  Miss  Rosalia  Derthick;  and  Perry,  deceased  March  11,  1868.  Our 
subject  has  remained  since  1826  on  his  present  farm,  which  he  reclaimed  from 
the  wilderness.  He  was  appointed  at  various  times  to  the  oflfices  of  Township 
Clerk,  Constable,  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Notary  Public.  He  can  honorably 
boast  of  being  second  cousin  to  Noah  Webster,  the  great  lexicographer;  his 
wife  was  second  cousin  to  the  immortal  Commodore  O.  H.  Perry,  who  gallantly 
sustained  the  unsullied  honor  of  our  flag  on  Lake  Erie.  Mrs.  Larkcom  died 
August  21,  1883.  The  results  of  Mr.  Larkcom's  labor  are  178  acres  of  well- 
improved  land  and  some  bank  stock  at  Garrettsville,  this  county.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  years  he  began  the  manufacture  of  burial  caskets,  and  during 
his  life  he  has  made  and  sold  over  3,000  caskets. 

JOHN  P.  PARKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Bethel,  Windsor 
Co.,  Vt. ,  January  24.  1813;  son  of  Nathan  and  Bethiah  (Peak)  Parker,  for- 
mer a  native  of  Connecticut,  latter  of  Windsor,  where  they  were  married  and 
lived,  dying  at  the  respective  ages  of  eighty-six  and  fifty-three  years.  Our 
subject  Hioved  to  and  settled  in  Freedom  Township,  this  county,  in  1839,  and 
here  cleared  a  farm  and  established  a  home.  He  was  married  March  9,  1845, 
to  Almira  Martin,  of  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  born  in  Vermont  August  24, 
1821,  daughter  of  Reuben  and  Thankful  (Bolton)  Martin,  natives  respectively 
of  Vermont  and  Connecticut,  married  at  Rochester,  Vt.  They  moved  to  Cuy- 
ahoga County,  Ohio,  in  1834,  thence  to  Lorain  County,  and  in  1853  to  Defi- 
ance, where  they  died,  the  father  aged  eighty- three,  the  mother  eighty-one 
years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker  are  the  parents  of  two  sons:  Nathan  and  Elmore 
M. ;  they  have  an  adopted  daughter  named  Zella.  Our  subject  is  a  stanch 
Republican. 

ORLIN  C.  STURDEVANT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  in  Susque- 
hanna County,  Penn.,  September  28,  1818;  son  of  Joel  and  Diana  (Capron) 
Sturdevant,  who  moved  to  what  is  now  Summit  County,  Ohio,  in  1820,  and 
there  remained  about  fourteen  years,  thence  came  to  Freedom  TownshijD,  this 
county,  in  1834,  where  they  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  was  married,  March 
3,  1842,  to  Amanda  Hollenbeck,  of  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  born 
at  Hudson,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  March  14,  1821,  daughter  of  Gad  and  Phoebe 


720  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

(Bishop)  Hollenbeck,  who  accorapanied  their  parents  to  Summit  County  at  a 
very  early  day,  and  where  they  were  married.  Subsequently  they  removed  to 
Charlestown  Township,  thence  to  Shalersville  and  finally  to  Geauga  County, 
Ohio,  where  they  died.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sturdevant  are  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  are  now  living:  Phoebe  A.,  Emma  D  ,  Eugene  A.,  William 
H.,  Lucius  V.  and  Minnie  E.  Our  subject  purchased  the  farm  on  which  he 
now  resides  in  1842.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

HENRY  A.  STURDEVANT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Freedom,  was  born  in  Summit 
County,  Ohio,  September  4,  1825;  son  of  Joel  and  Diana  (Capron)  Sturde- 
vant, natives  of  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  respectively,  and  of  English 
descent.  They  were  married  in  Susquehanna  County,  Penn. ,  in  1817.  and 
there  lived  a  few  years,  then  moved  to  Summit  County,  Ohio,  whei'e  they 
remained  until  1834,  when  they  came  to  this  county,  cleai'ed  up  land  and  fol- 
lowed farming.  Here  they  died  at  the  ages  of  sixty-nine  and  ninety-one, 
respectively.  Our  subject  purchased  land  in  Shalersville  Township,  this  county, 
in  1850,  and  in  1866  came  to  Freedom  Township,  where  he  now  resides.  He 
was  married,  November  17,  1853,  to  Weltha  A.  Tuttle,  of  Shalersville  Town- 
ship, tliis  county,  born  in  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y. ,  February  3,  1831, 
daughter  of  Eli  and  Mary  (Nelson)  Tuttle,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  of 
English  descent.  They  married  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  in  1830,  moved  to 
New  York  State,  and  in  1833  came  to  this  county  and  settled  in  Shalersville 
Township.  They  were  parents  of  seven  children,  all  now  living.  They  died  at 
the  ages  of  sixty-eight  and  sixty-four  years,  respectively.  Mr.  Sturdevant  has 
served  in  some  of  the  township  offices.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

DR.  JAMES  WEBB  (deceased)  was  born  February  26,  1799,  and  died  in 
Freedom,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  November  9,  1852,  in  his  fifty-fourth  year.  His 
early  life  was  spent  in  Corfu,  Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y.  At  the  age  of  twelve  and 
until  he  was  fifteen  he  was  a  great  sufferer  from  a  white  swelling.  Perhaps  no 
course  of  events  at  any  time  transpired  that  had  more  to  do  with  shaping  the 
current  of  his  life  than  this  long  illness.  Being  incapacitated  for  manual  labor, 
his  mind  naturally  was  attracted  to  books  and  the  realm  of  thought,  the  out- 
come of  which  was  the  study  of  medicine.  At  this  early  period,  too,  he  com- 
menced that  life  of  prayer  and  trust  and  patience,  which  ever  after  adorned  a 
most  exemplary  Christian  character,  whose  light  was  always  pure  and  steady, 
and  to  be  trusted.  In  early  manhood  he  commenced  the  study  of  his  chosen 
profession,  graduating  at  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  Medical  College,  in  1823.  He  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  at  Holley,  Orleans  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  it  was  here  he 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Eliza  Landfear,  with  whom  he  was  united  in 
marriage,  November  27,  1827.  Four  sons  and  six  daughters  were  born  to  this 
union,  of  whom  five  were  natives  of  Holley.  Here  Dr.  Webb  spent  thirteen 
or  more  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  in  building  up  a  successful  and  honorable 
practice.  Here  too  he  united  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  of  which  he  was  an 
honored  member,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a  member  of  Garrettsville 
Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M.  In  1840  he  exchanged  his  village  property  for  a 
home  and  thirty  acres  of  land  in  Freedom,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  to  which  he 
removed  with  his  family  in  May  of  that  year.  One  special  object  in  the 
removal  was  that  he  might  secure  land  where  his  boys  might  find  employment 
and  still  be  under  home  restraints.  Here,  as  in  Holley,  he  built  up  a  good 
practice,  the  needs  of  the  community  commanding  his  services  as  a  physician 
and  surgeon.  Here  he  labored  faithfully  until  he  was  attacked  by  that  terrible 
disease  (cancer  on  the  face)  which  after  many  months  of  intense  sufiering  ter- 
minated his  days,  while  he  heard  the  call  of  the  Great  Physician  to  "come  up 
higher."     In  his  life  Dr.  Webb  was  ever  known  as  a  Christian  physician,  and 


^- 


/Xy^-^^ 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOAVNSHIP.  723 

was  beloved  and  honored  as  such.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Freedom.  His  beloved  wife,  two  sons,  Warren  and  Mervin,  and 
daughter,  Sarah,  have  already  followed  him  "over  the  river."  Rollin  S.  Webb, 
Charles  B.  Webb,  Mrs.  Dr.  Tidball,  Mrs.  W.  S.  Wight,  Mrs.  Warren  Peirce, 
and  Miss  Mary  Webb,  are  all  residents  of  this  county  and  the  village  of  Gar- 
retsville.  Mrs.  Cornelia  Reilley,  the  eldest,  is  a  resident  of  Bay  City,  Mich. 
As  a  father  Dr.  Webb  was  one  of  the  wisest  and  best,  and  to  his  children  the 
memory  of  such  a  father  is  of  priceless  worth. 


GARRETTSVILLE    TOWNSHIP. 

JOHN  ADAMS,  clothier,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Germany,  February  26, 
1841,  son  of  John  and  Gretchen  (Tobic)  Adams,  who  were  the  parents  of  three 
children:  Henry  (deceased),  John  and  Harmon  (deceased).  John  Adams,  Sr. , 
a  brick-maker  by  trade,  died  September  6, 1867.  His  widow  survived  him  until 
November  12,  1883.  Our  subject  received  a  common  school  edvication  in  his 
native  country,  served  three  years'  apprenticeship  to  the  tailor's  trade,  and  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  until  he  came  to  America.  He  was  married  in  Germany, 
October  6,  1864,  to  Miss  Mary  Bucky,  who  was  born  May  12,  1845,  and  by  her 
he  had  four  children:  Mary,  Gustave,  Salena  and  Ludve,  latter  of  whom  died 
on  the  ocean  on  their  way  to  America.  Mr.  Adams  on  coming  to  this  country 
first  located  at  Nelson  Center,  this  county,  where  he  remained  a  few  months, 
then  removed  to  Garrettsville  and  engaged  in  business,  and  has  since  con- 
ducted a  gents'  furnishing  store,  and  from  a  small  beginning  his  trade  has 
gradually  increased  until  he  now  has  the  satisfaction  of  managing  a  large  and 
rapidly  growing  business.  He  has  traveled  quite  extensively,  visiting  twenty- 
one  of  the  States  and  Territories  here,  and  making  a  trip  to  the  scenes  of  his 
boyhood  days,  Germany,  where  he  has  a  large  circle  of  relatives  living.  He 
has  been  an  active  member  of  the  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  for 
over  thirteen  years;  is  also  connected  with  the  Y.  M.  T.  C.  He  is  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

JAMES  ASHALD,  furniture  dealer  and  undertaker,  Garrettsville,  is  a  son 
of  Abel  and  Elizabeth  (Wright)  Ashald,  natives  of  England,  who  cameto  Amer- 
ica in  1830,  and  settled  at  Stockbridge,  Mass.  They  were  parents  of  seven 
children,  of  whom  James  is  the  eldest.  Our  subject  was  born  in  Buckingham- 
shire, England,  October  21,  1827.  He  received  a  limited  education,  and  in 
early  life  commenced  to  learn  his  trade.  He  was  married,  March  19,  1851,  to 
Miss  Maria  Doty,  born  in  Green  River,  Columbia  Co.,  N.  Y.,  January  11,1832, 
by  whom  he  has  two  sons:  Albert  H,  station  agent  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road at  Brainard,  Neb.,  and  William  W.,  train  dispatcher  for  the  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railway  at  Gallon,  Ohio.  In  3852  Mr.  Ashald  went  to 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  about  four  years,  and  then  removed  to  Gar- 
rettsville, Ohio,  and  engaged  with  Manly  &  Beach,  whom  he  bought  out  two 
years  later.  In  1860  the  firm  became  Ashald  &  Demorest,  and  remained  thus 
four  years  (they  also  had  a  large  branch  establishment  in  Youngstown,  Ohio). 
In  1864  Mr.  Ashald  retired  and  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  with 
whom  he  remained  in  business  about  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
engaged  with  E.  A.  Upham,  as  salesman.  At  the  death  of  the  latter;  the  busi- 
ness eventually  came  into  the  hands  of  Mr.    Ashald,  who  has  since  continued 


724  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

in  the  same  building.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  undertakers  in  the  county,  hav- 
ing followed  it  since  ISGO.  He  has  held  nearly  every  ofiSce  iu  Garrettsville 
and  the  township:  Mayor,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  member  of  the  School  Board, 
School  Director,  etc.,  etc.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  since  1856,  and  one  of  the  Trustees  nearly  all  that  time.  During  the 
same  year  he  became  a  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M. 
In  politics  he  was  formerly  a  Whig,  but  now  a  Republican. 

SOLON  J.  BUTTLES,  Postmaster,  Garrettsville,  was  born  at  Farmington, 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  April  14,  1835;  son  of  Friend  and  Electa  (Payne)  Battles, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in  an  early  day. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children:  Susan  (deceased),  Sherlock  (deceased), 
Laura  (deceased)  Zeniah  (wife  of  Homer  Chapman,  of  Rootstown)  and  Solon 
J.  Friend  Buttles,  a  shoe-maker  by  trade,  received  his  first  commission 
as  Postmaster  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  which  he  held  for  several  years. 
He  died  January  12,  1858,  aged  sixty-seven,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  in 
January,  1856.  Our  subject  received  a  high  school  education,  and  early  in 
life  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  manufacturing  boots  and  shoes,  and 
eventually  embarked  in  that  industry,  which  he  followed  until  1861,  when, 
owing  to  ill  health,  he  retired  from  business  for  a  period  of  about  five  years. 
He  then  removed  to  Garrettsville  and  re-entered  the  manufacturing  business, 
which  he  followed  about  eight  years,  since  when  he  has  carried  on  the  retail 
trade  only.  He  was  married,  April  14,  1856,  to  Miss  Mary  Davidson,  born  at 
Farmington,  January  22,  1838,  daughter  of  William  A.  and  Margaret  (Flem- 
ing) Davidson,  natives  of  western  Pennsylvania,  and  early  settlers  of  Trum- 
bull County,  Ohio,  both  now  deceased.  To  this  union  were  born  three  children: 
W^illie  F.  (died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  months),  Luetta  D.  (died  in  her  fifteenth 
year),  Elma,  born  March  16,  1866  (she  is  her  father's  assistant  in  the  post- 
oflfice).  Mr.  Buttles  has  been  successful  in  business,  and  the  courteous  and 
obliging  manner  with  which  he  has  attended  to  the  wants  of  his  customers  is 
his  chief  characteristic  in  the  position  he  now  sustains  to  the  public  as  Post- 
master, which  office  he  has  held  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  since  February,  1882, 
at  which  date  he  received  his  appointment.  Although  always  an  attendant  at 
church,  he  never  became  identified  with  any  denomination  until  three  years 
since,  when  he  joined  the  Congregational  Church.  He  is  also  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  order  of  I.  O.  O.  F.,  No.  456.  Our  subject  cast  his  first  vote  for 
J.  C.  Fremont,  and  has  since  been  identified  with  the  Republican  party. 

MATTHEW  D.  CLARK,  barber,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Ireland, 
August  15,  1849,  son  of  Michael  and  Jane  (Sands)  Clark,  of  Farmington, Ohio, 
who  had  a  family  of  eight  children,  five  now  living:  Mary,  Matthew,  Kate, 
Anna,  and  John,  who  married  Celia  Johnson  (have  three  children:  Elser  J., 
Elton  P.  and  Claud,  deceased).  Our  subject  received  a  common  school  edu- 
cation in  his  native  land,  and  in  1864  came  to  America  with  his  mother, 
brothers  and  sisters  to  join  his  father,  who  had  preceded  them  seven  years, 
locating  at  Farmington,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio.  Our  subject  enlisted  in  Company 
D,  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  on  March  31,  1865,  in  the  battle  at  Dinwiddle 
Court  House,  Va.,  he  was  wounded,  and  a  week  later  his  left  leg  was  ampu- 
tated by  Dr.  D.  W.  Bliss,  Surgeon  of  the  Army  Hospital  at  Washington,  D. 
C.  After  his  discharge  from  the  service  he  attended  school  a  short  time,  then 
began  to  work  at  his  trade,  having  learned  it  in  Ireland.  He  was  married, 
October  18,  1868,  to  Miss  Alvira  Johnson,  born  in  Copley,  Ohio,  March  14, 
1850,  daughter  of  Fayette  and  Eliza  (Tayloi-)  Johnson.  By  this  union  there  is 
one  daughter — Maud  J.,  born  April  14,  1873.  Since  locating  in  Garrettsville 
Mr,  Clark  has  here  remained  continuously,  with  the  exception  of  three  years 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  725 

spent  in  Akron,  Ohio.  He  has  been  a  member  of  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I.  O. 
O.  F.,  about  nine  years;  also  of  the  Encampment  at  Ravenna,  and  of  Buckley 
Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Akron. 

JEDEDIAH  COLE,  civil  engineer  and  County  Surveyor,  Garrettsville, 
was  born  in  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  May  26,  1830;  son  of  Jedediah  and 
Elizabeth  (Noah)  Cole,  the  former  a  native  of  Vermont,  born  in  1797,  the  lat- 
ter of  Chester  County,  Penn.,  born  in  1802.  They  were  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  still  living:  Rebecca  J.,  wife  of  Uriah  Craig,  of  Kid- 
der, Mo.;  William  C,  a  farmer,  also  in  Missouri,  and  our  subject.  Jedediah 
Cole,  Sr. ,  was  a  carpenter  in  early  life.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1816.  and 
for  a  year  or  two  worked  at  his  trade,  but  for  the  balance  of  his  life  he  was 
engaged  in  farming.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  religious  circles,  being  one 
of  the  few  to  organize  the  Disciples  Church.  His  death  occurred  May  10, 
1850.  His  wife  died  August  5,  1834.  Our  subject  in  early  life  was  employed 
in  attending  the  neighboring  schools  and  rendering  what  assistance  he  could 
to  his  parents  on  the  homestead  farm.  He  was  married,  September  6,  1855, 
to  Miss  Katie  M.  Dickens,  who  was  born  Mai'ch  18,  1833,  at  Jacksonville,  111., 
by  whom  he  had  five  children:  Augustus  S.  (an  attorney  at  Ravenna,  Ohio), 
Helen  (deceased),  James  D.,  Katie  E.  and  Paul  H.  Mr.  Cole  entered  upon  his 
career  in  life  as  a  school  teacher  at  Salem,  111.,  where  he  remained  until  1856; 
then  for  two  years  was  in  northern  Iowa  engaged  in  different  enterprises,  such 
as  merchandising,  contracting  and  land  surveying,  and  while  there  he  did  his 
first  work  as  land  surveyor.  From  this  point  he  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
Wis.,  where  he  was  employed  principally  in  building  and  teaching.  While 
there  the  war  broke  out,  and  he  responded  to  the  first  call  for  men  in  1862, 
enlisting  in  Company  A.,  Thirty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was 
mustered  out  in  November,  1864,  for  promotion  to  Captaincy  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-third  U.  S.  C.  I.,  and  was  honorably  discharged  as  such  at 
the  close  of  the  Rebellion,  after  which  he  retired  to  his  home  in  Ohio  and 
embarked  in  lumbering,  in  which  he  continued  till  the  fall  of  1869,  when  he 
was  elected  to  the  ofiice  of  County  Surveyor,  a  j^sition  he  still  retains.  He 
has  served  one  term  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  held  the  same  ofiice  in 
Iowa  and  Wisconsin.  Has  also  served  as  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  two 
terms.  In  addition  to  his  labors  as  County  Surveyor  he  is  engaged  in  collect- 
ing and  in  real  estate  business.     Mr.  Cole  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

EDWARD  L.  DAVIS,  grocer,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Shropshire, 
England,  March  8,  1840,  and  was  brought  to  America  when  eleven  years  of 
age  by  his  father,  Ellis  Davis.  They  first  located  in  Ravenna,  and  from  there 
went  to  Hiram  Rapids,  where  they  lived  a  few  years.  Ellis  Davis,  who  was  a 
miller  by  trade,  clied  in  Garrettsville  September  3,  1865;  his  wife  died  in 
England  about  1843.  Their  children  were  two  in  number:  Ellis,  who  is  in  the 
insurance  business  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Edward  L.  Our  subject  received 
a  common  school  education,  and  early  in  life  began  to  work  at  the  miller's 
trade.  He  was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  November  3,  1861,  to  Ann 
Ferry,  who  died  August  19,  1875,  leaving  to  his  care  two  children:  Mary  G. 
and  Ellis  F.  Mr.  Davis  was  again  married  March  23,  1876,  this  time  to 
Emma  L.  Morgan  (widow  of  H.  Morgan,  of  Hartsgrove  Township,  by  whom 
she  had  one  daughter — Maud,  now  living  with  her  stepfather).  By  this 
union  there  were  two  girls:  Grace  and  Daisy.  Mrs.  Davis  died  October  IS, 
1880.  Our  subject  in  1861  took  charge  of  the  grist-mill  at  Garrettsville  and 
five  years  later  purchased  an  interest  in  the  same,  but  in  1880,  owing  to  the 
effects  of  dust  on  his  lungs,  he  was  forced  to  retire  from  milling.  He  then  pur- 
chased an  interest  in  a  grocery,  but  two  years  later  again  gave  up  active  busi- 


726  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

ne5s.  The  following  year  be  purchased  a  stock  of  groceries,  and  is  still 
engaged  in  that  business.  Mr.  Davis  has  served  the  people  as  City  Clerk  two 
terms,  and  on  the  Board  of  Education  three  years.  He  is  an  active  member 
of  Portage  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

JAMES  DUNN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  whose  portrait  appears  in 
this  volume,  was  born  October  11,  1822,  in  Hartford,  Windsor  Co.,  Vermont. 
His  father,  James  Dunn,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  early  engaged  in 
brick  making.  When  over  thirty  years  old  he  went  to  Vermont,  where  he 
was  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  for  a  Mr.  Udall,  and  while  there 
was  married  to  Mary  Udall,  a  niece  of  his  employer,  and  with  her,  in  1832, 
moved  to  this  county,  settling  on  the  farm  where  their  son,  our  subject,  now 
resides,  and  there  remained  until  their  death.  The  father  died  in  1858  and 
the  mother  in  1864.  He  (the  father)  had  some  reverses  financially  before  his 
marriage,  having  lost  the  first  $500  which  be  had  saved  by  economy,  but  such 
vicissitudes  only  served  to  make  them  more  ambitious,  and  prosperity  was  the 
outcome  of  their  efforts.  They  had  seven  children:  William,  a  resident  of 
Troy,  Ohio;  Mary,  married  to  Albert  Gage  (they  reside  in  Freedom  Township, 
this  county);  Belinda,  mai-ried  to  Benjamin  Baker  (they  reside  in  Crawford 
County,  Penn.);  James;  Amanda,  married  to  James  M.  Bowman;  Cosmo 
L.  (deceased),  and  Rachel  (deceased).  Our  subject  was  taken  from  the 
summer  schools  when  ten  years  old  to  assist  his  father  ifi  farm  duties,  and 
was  permitted  to  attend  .school  during  winter  terms  until  1844-45,  during 
which  period  be  was  a  student  in  the  Troy,  Ohio,  schools.  He  was  the  only 
son  to  remain  closely  associated  with  his  parents  in  their  farm  labors,  and  was 
given  the  greater  portion  of  their  property  in  return  for  his  labor  and  care  of 
them  in  their  old  age,  and  to  this  he  has  added  until  he  now  ranks  among  the 
well  to-do  men  of  this  county,  having  180  acres  of  well-improved  land  lying 
part  within  and  part  adjacent  to  the  village  of  Garrettsville.  He  also  owns  a 
good  share  in  the  old  bank  building  and  the  livery  stable  where  Truesdall  now 
conducts  a  general  livery  business,  Mr.  Dunn  being  partial  owner  of  the  stock. 
At  one  time  he  was  interested  in  banking.  During  bis  farming  and  business 
career  he  has  been  fortunate,  scarcely  meeting  any  reverses.  On  bis  beautiful 
farm  be  has  some  fine  Holstein  cattle.  October  14,  1846,  Mr.  Dunn  was  mar- 
ried to  Armona  S.  Reed,  who  died  March  31,  1873,  and  to  this  union  were 
born  the  following  children:  Elma  E.,  married  to  Charles  Truesdall;  Mary 
A.,  married  to  James  VanHorn,  and  George  J.,  recent  graduate  of  the  Gar- 
rettsville High  School.  Our  subject  was  married,  February  3,  1874,  on  second 
occasion,  to  Cordelia  S.,  widow  of  Dr.  O.  Manley.  Garrettsville  has  been  an 
incorporated  village  for  twenty  years,  and  as  an  appreciation  of  Mr.  Dunn's 
ability  and  judgment,  the  citizens  have  retained  him  as  a  member  of  the 
CoiTUcil  for  eighteen  years;  be  has  also  been  interested  in  the  public  schools, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  In  politics  be  is  a  Republican.  Mr. 
Dunn,  in  his  lifetime,  has  experienced  some  miraculous  escapes  from  sudden 
death  or  serious  injury.  About  the  year  1860  he  was  driving  an  ambitious 
borso  attached  to  a  sulky,  and  while  moving  at  a  rapid  rate  by  the  farm  of 
Zeb.  Rudolph,  the  father  of  Mrs.  James  A.  Garfield,  the  animal  became 
frightened  at  a  load  of  straw,  and  made  a  sudden  bound  to  one  side,  breaking 
the  axle  and  throwing  Mr.  Dunn  with  such  force  against  the  fence  or  ground 
as  to  render  him  unconscious  from  that  time,  3  o'clock  P.  M. ,  till  4  o'clock  A. 
M.  the  next  day.  Within  ten  days  be  was  back  to  bis  farm  duties.  At  another 
time  he  was  clearing  debris  from  bis  farm  well,  and  the  bucket,  in  which  the 
dirt,  etc.,  were  drawn  up,  became  detached  from  the  rope  when  about  twenty 
feet  above  him,  and  descended  with  tremendous  force,  just  glancing  off  bis 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  727 

head  and  inflicting  an  ugly  incision,  fracturing  the  frontal  bone  in  three 
directions.  In  three  weeks  he  was  himself  again.  In  October,  1883,  our 
subject  was  engaged  inserting  blinds  in  a  cupola  of  his  barn,  and  by  a  misstep 
he  fell  down  a  three-eighth  pitch  roof  with  rafters  about  sixteen  feet  long,  and 
to  the  ground,  a  distance  of  twenty-seven  feet  from  the  eave,  and  eleven  feet 
from  the  sill.  It  was  nearly  one  hour  before  his  hired  hand  fovmd  him  in  an 
unconscious  condition,  covered  with  blood,  and  leaning  against  a  trough  about 
eleven  feet  from  where  he  struck  the  ground.  The  depression  in  the  earth 
showed  that  he  struck  on  his  toes  and  head,  within  eighteen  inches  apart.  It 
was  the  spring  in  his  toes  which  saved  his  head  from  utter  destruction,  and  it 
appears  as  an  act  of  Providence  he  received  no  serious  injury.  The  bones  in 
one  foot  were  broken,  which  was  his  only  hurt,  and  he  is  now  hale  and  hearty. 

OSMON  S.  FERRIS,  attorney,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Versailles, 
Wyandot  Co.,  Ohio,  June  1,  1843,  son  of  Osmon  and  Lydia  (Streator)  Ferris, 
natives  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  and  who  shortly  after  marriage  removed  to 
Wyandot  County.  Both  are  now  deceased.  The  former,  who  was  a  practicing 
physician  of  Mantua,  Ohio,  died  October  10,  1884  Our  subject  for  sometime 
attended  the  Eclectic  Institute,  of  Hiram,  and  then  entered  Hillsdale  College, 
of  Michigan,  where  he  graduated  in  1870.  While  not  engaged  with  his  studies 
he  taught  school,  and  in  1872  graduated  from  the  law  schools  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  In  January  of  the  year  following  he  came  to  Garrettsville,  this  county, 
and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  Mr.  Ferris  was  married 
November  9,  1876,  to  Miss  Ellen  Rhinehart,  of  Union,  Cass  Co.,  Mich.,  born 
October  9,  1853,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  Rhinehart,  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Ohio  respectively.  By  this  union  there  are  two  sons:  Arthur  R., 
born  September  4,  1879,  and  Mark  S.,  born  April  27,  1884.  Mr.  Ferris  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1877  and  filled  that  office  one 
term,  during  which  he  prosecuted  the  case  of  Ohio  vs.  Mathew  Powers,  who 
was  convicted  of  manslaughter.  In  this  case  Mr.  Ferris  was  assisted  by 
Alfonzo  Hart,  ex-Lieutenant  Governor  of  Ohio.  The  opposing  counsel  were 
John  McSweeney,  of  Wooster,  and  W.  B.  Thomas  and  I.  T.  Siddall,  of  Ravenna. 
Our  subject  has  been  twice  Mayor  of  Garrettsville,  has  also  served  as  Clerk 
and  Solicitor,  and  is  now  holding  his  third  commission  as  Notary.  He  is  a 
member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M. 

ASEL  C.  HAWLEY,  retired  farmer,  Garrettsville,  was  born  December  9, 
1814,  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  eldest  of  the  family  of  seven  children  of 
Asel  and  Esther  (Clark)  Hawley,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  came  to  this 
county  in  1829,  when  our  subject  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  settled  in  Free- 
dom Township.  Here  Asel  C.  grew  to  manhood,  fully  acquainted  with  the 
hardships  and  privations  incident  to  pioneer  life.  His  education  was  limited 
to  what  could  be  obtained  in  the  common  schools  of  that  early  date.  Mr. 
Hawley  was  married  in  1836,  to  Sarah  M.  Gross,  of  Grantville,  Conn.,  who 
died  October  5,  1874.  He  was  married  on  second  occasion,  July  1,  1875,  to 
Betsey  Clark,  of  Collins,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  who  was  born  October  2,  1831.  Our 
subject  entered  upon  his  career  in  life  as  a  farmer,  and  has  always  followed 
this  pursuit,  until  1874,  when  he  retired  from  active  labor,  and  removed  to 
Garrettsville,  Ohio,  the  better  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  a  well  spent  life.  He 
was  ever  an  energetic,  enterprising  man,  and  considered  one  of  the  practical 
as  well  as  substantial  farmers  of  Freedom  Township. 

N.  WRIGHT  LEEZER,  photographer,  was  born  in  Noble  County,  Ohio, 
November  12,  1859,  son  of  William  C.  and  Sarah  E.  (Hill)  Leezer,  natives  of 
Morgan  County,  Ohio,  the  former  of  whom  is  a  mechanic  and  pattern-maker 
by  trade,  at  present  engaged  with  his  son  in  the  photographing  business.   They 


728  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

were  parents  of  three  children:  Wright,  Maud  and  Ella  (deceased  when  but 
three  years  of  age).  The  subject  of  our  sketch  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Athens,  Athens  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  received  but  a  common  school  educa- 
tion. Mr.  Leezer's  first  business  enterprise  was  manufacturing  confectionery, 
but  he  eventually  gave  that  up  and  learned  photography.  He  first  entered  this 
industrj'  in  Athens  Ohio.  In  order  to  perfect  himself  in,  the  art,  he  soon 
entered  a  large  studio  at  Logan,  Hocking  Co.,  Ohio.  The  'following  year 
he  removed  to  Attica,  Seneca  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  stayed  for  about  one  year, 
then  returned  to  Athens,  Ohio.  In  1S82  he  came  to  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  and 
entered  the  employ  of  C.  M.  French,  photographer.  In  1884  he  embarked  in 
the  photographing  business  for  himself  and  has  since  followed  the  art  with 
good  success.  In  1883  he  became  a  member  of  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I.  O. 
O.  F.,  and  is  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Young  Men's  Temperance 
Council  (Y.  M.  T.  C).  Religiously  he  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 
He  was  married  August  13,  1884,  to  Almeda  Stearn,  who  was  born  in  Salem, 
Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  October  22,  1859. 

EDGAR  W.  INIAXSON,  lawyer,  Garrettsville,  was  born  at  Troy,  Geauga 
Co.,  Ohio,  [February  3, 1844;  son  of  AYilJiam  and  SalinaC.  (Mumford)  Maxson; 
the  former  a  farmer  by  occupation,  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1813,  and  who  came 
with  his  parents  to  this  county  in  1822;  the  latter  a  native  of  Otsego  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  she  was  born  in  1820.  They  had  two  children:  Edgar  W.,  and 
Victor  R.,  a  farmer  now  living  on  the  old  home  farm  in  Hiram  Township. 
William  Maxson  died  September  20,  1876.  The  Maxson  family  are  of  English 
descent.  Daniel  Maxson  was  one  of  three  bi'others:  Edward,  John  and  Daniel, 
who  came  to  America  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  settled 
in  Rhode  Island,  where  Joshiia  Maxson,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was 
born.  His  grandmother  was  a  Morris,  and  was  a  descendant  of  a  Welsh  family 
of  that  name  who  date  back  to  the  early  pioneers  of  New  York  State.  Our 
subject  was  raised  on  a  farm  in  Hiram  Township,  where  his  parents  removed 
while  he  was  an  infant.  His  time  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  seventeen  years 
was  spent  in  Hiram  College  and  in  school  teaching.  In  1863  he  went  to 
Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor  and  graduated  from  the  Law  and  Literary 
Department  in  1865,  and  was  admitted,  to  the  bar  in  that  State  the  same  year. 
He  then  returned  to  Ohio  and  was  shortly  after  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  for 
three  years  following  was  engaged  in  teaching  graded  schools  in  Michigan  and 
Illinois.  He  was  married  November  27,  1867,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  C.  Mull,  a 
school  teacher  by  profession,  and  a  native  of  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  who  died 
September  10,  1875,  leaving  to  his  care  one  daughter-Maud.  Mr.  Maxson  then 
married,  December  14,  1876,  Miss  Eudora  Lockwood,  also  of  Otsego  County. 
N.  Y'^.,  and  a  near  relative  of  his  first  wife.  In  the  spring  of  1868  he  returned 
to  Garrettsville  and  entered  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  in  which  he  has 
since  been  engaged.  He  has  been  Solicitor  of  Garrettsville  for  seven  years 
and  has  refused  several  offices  of  honor,  which  at  different  times  he  has  been 
urged  by  his  friends  to  accept.  He  is  Past  Grand  of  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  I. 
O.  O.  F.,  and  an  active  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M.  He 
has  been  connected  with  the  Congregational  Church  about  four  years. 

HENRY  NOBLE  MERWIN,  produce  dealer,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in 
New  Milford,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  February  25,  1818;  son  of  Daniel  and 
Laura  (Marsh)  Merwin,  who  were  of  Welsh  and  English  descent  respectively 
(both  now  deceased)  and  parents  of  four  children:  Susan  A.,  Abbie  M.,  Henry 
N.  and  Amos  M.  The  Marsh  family  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  New  Milford, 
Conn.  Amos  Marsh,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  commissioned  District 
Attorney   of    Vermont   by    George     Washington.       Our    subject    was    raised 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  729 

on  a  farm  and  received  a  common  school  education.  He  was  married  November 
27,  1845,  to  Miss  Betsey  N.  Hino,  born  February  11,  1822,  daughter  of  Isaac 
and  Alta  (Riggs)  Hine,  both  now  deceased,  all  natives  of  New  England. 
In  1850  Mr.  Merwin  removed  to  Newton  Falls,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  for  a  period  of  twenty-two  years.  In  1873  he  retired  from 
farm  labor  and  removed  to  Garrettsville,  where  he  purchased  a  manufacturincr 
establishment,  formed  a  partnership  with  three  others,  and  engaged  in  manufact- 
uring butter  tubs,  etc.,  for  one  year.  Since  then  he  has  dealt  more  or  less 
extensively  in  produce.  Mr.  Merwin  is  serving  his  second  term  as  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  He  and  his  wife  have  been  consistent  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  for  forty  years.  He  is  connected  with  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456, 
I.  O.  O.  F.      In  politics  he  is  identified  with  the  Republican  party. 

OTIS  S.  NEWCOMB,  retired  farmer,  Garretsville,  was  born  in  Ontario 
County,  N.  Y.,  March  13,  1814;  eldest  child  of  Orrin  and  Pamelia  (Robison) 
Newcomb,  natives  of  New  York  and  Connecticut  respectively,  and  who  had  a 
family  of  twelve  childrem.  Orrin  Newcomb,  who  was  an  early  settler  of 
Geauga  County,  Ohio,  a  farmer  and  shoe  maker  by  occupation,  died  in  1836. 
His  widow  died  in  1878,  aged  eighty-iive  years.  Our  subject  was  raised  on  a 
farm  and  obtained  a  limited  education.  His  parents  removed  to  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  in  October,  1818,  and  he  grew  to  maturity  fully  acquainted  with 
the  vicissitudps  of  pioneer  life.  He  entered  on  his  career  of  life  as  a  farmer,  and 
followed  agricultural  pursuits  until  1873,  when  he  retired  from  active  labor 
and  removed  to  Garrettsville,  where  he  built  a  tine  residence  in  which  he  now 
resides.  He  was  married  in  November,  1841,  to  Mary  A.  Wright,  of  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  born  in  1819  and  died  in  1864,  the  mother  of  five  children: 
Selah  W.  (died  in  Perry ville,  Ky. ,  October  8,  1862);  Neri,  engaged  in  the 
Buckeye  Works  at  Akron,  Ohio;  Wallace  E.  and  Andrew  B.,  farmers,  and  Aurie 
v.,  wife  of  W.  S.  Freeman.  Mr.  Newcomb  married  on  second  occasion,  Octo- 
ber, 1864,  Lucy  A.  Chapman,  who  died  March  2,  1884,  leaving  to  his  care 
two  children,  George  A.  and  Gertie  A.  Our  subject  has  never  been  a  politi- 
cian or  office  seeker,  but  has  been  content  with  the  plain  home  life  of  a  farmer. 
He  may  be  considered  a  self-made  man,  and  was  one  of  the  practical  as  well  as 
substantial  farmers  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio.  He  is  a  member  of  Garrettsville 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 

JAMES  NORTON,  real  estate,  insurance  and  collection  agent,  and  Notary 
Public,  Garrettsville,  was  born  September  9,  1833.  His  parents  were  then  living 
in  a  log-house  on  their  farm,  on  the  west  part  of  Lot  29,  in  Hiram.  At  an  early 
day  the  homestead  was  changed  to  a  farm  on  Lot  49,  in  the  south  part  of  Hiram 
Township,  Here  the  subject  of  our  sketch  passed  his  childhood  and  youth, 
except  four  or  five  of  his  earlier  years.  When  thirteen  years  of  age  a  great 
misfortune  came  upon  him,  the  result,  as  supposed,  of  being  thrown  from  a 
horse  about  a  year  before.  For  several  months  his  life  hung  upon  such 
a  slender  thread  that  the  community  were  in  daily  expectation  of  hearing 
that  he  had  passed  away.  A  surgical  operation  was  performed  upon  the 
injured  limb  December  31,  1846,  by  Dr.  De  Wolf,  of  Ravenna.  Not  until 
the  spring  following  did  it  appear  that  he  could  possibly  survive  the  fearful 
attack  disease  had  made  upon  him;  an  iron  constitution  alone  was  in  his  favor. 
For  three  years  his  health  was  so  poor,  and  his  disability  so  great,  that  he 
did  not  attend  school  at  all.  At  sixteen,  his  health  being  still  very  far 
from  good,  he  recommenced  his  studies  at  the  district  school  in  Freedom, 
about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  home,  to  and  from  which  he  walked  with 
crutch  and  cane.  The  advancement  of  those  who  had  been  his  class-mates  and 
associates  before  his  sickness,  caused  a  very  dark  cloud   to  envelop  him.      To 


730  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

hear  them  recite  about  numerator  and  denominator,  reduction  ascending  and 
descending,  and  use  other  terms  which  it  seemed  to  him  he  could  never 
comprehend  or  understand,  brought  humiliation,  sorrow  and  weeping.  En- 
ergetic and  determined  application  to  his  books  soon  dispelled  the  darkness 
and  gloom,  and  at  the  close  of  the  term  he  was  fully  up  with  his  class.  There- 
after every  resource  available  for  improvement  was  made  use  of,  and  at  the 
commencement  of  the  autumn  term  in  1851,  he  was  permitted  to  enter  the 
"Western  Reserve  Eclectic  Institute,  well  advanced  in  the  common  branches. 
During  this  term  a  physician,  learning  of  the  existence  of  an  unhealing  and 
dangerous  sore  of  some  years'  standing,  upon  an  arm  of  our  subject,  engaged 
with  his  father  for  a  stipulated  price  to  effect  a  cure.  After  about  six  months 
the  doctor's  efforts  were  rewarded  with  permanent  success.  The  acquaintance 
with  young  Dr.  Smith  (who  died  the  next  year)  our  subject  looks  back 
upon  as  being  of  the  highest  importance  to  him.  About  a  year  later,  after 
three  terms'  attendance  at  the  Eclectic  Institute,  he  engaged  as  teacher  of  a 
district  school  in  Freedom,  on  the  Freedom  and  Ravenna  diagonal  road.  After 
this  and  until  the  close  of  the  year  1861,  his  time  was  occupied  in  attending  school 
and  in  teaching.  Most  of  the  time  he  attended  school  at  Hiram,  but  one  term  he 
attended  the  academy  at  Shalersville.  He  took  a  commercial  course  at  the  col- 
lege in  Cleveland,  and  took  lessons  in  penmanship  of  P.  R.  Spencer,  Sr. ,  at  his 
log-writing  academy  in  Geneva,  Ohio.  He  taught  the  district  school  at  the  center 
of  Shalersville  three  terms,  taught  two  terms  in  different  districts  in  Hiram,  and 
in  1858  commenced  as  teacher  in  Garrettsville,  and  there  remained  as  teacher 
of  the  fall  and  winter  terms  until  December,  1861,  when  he  resigned  as  teacher 
to  enter  the  Recorder's  office  at  Ravenna,  to  which  the  citizens  of  the  county 
had  elected  him  in  October  by  a  proud  majority.  Much  of  his  day  school 
work  was  supplemented  by  evening  lessons  given  in  penmanship.  Of  his 
services  as  Recorder  we  find  the  Portage  County  Republican- Democrat  of 
January  8,  1868,  speaking  as  follows:  "Mr.  James  Norton  retired  from  official 
connection  with  the  County  Recorder's  office  on  Monday,  after  a  six  years'  term 
of  service.  Mr.  Norton  has  proved  himself  a  model  Recorder,  and  there  is  no 
risk  in  pronouncing  his  records  as  handsome  and  accurate  as  any  in  the  State. 
Mr.  Norton  entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  office  January  6,  1862,  and  up  to 
January  6,  1868,  has  recorded  6,302  deeds,  2,039  mortgages,  134  leases,  409 
soldiers'  discharge  papers,  and  released  1,705  mortgages.  When  it  is  taken 
into  consideration  that  every  deed,  mortgage,  etc.,  contains,  say,  700  words, 
some  estimate  of  the  amount  of  work  performed  may  be  arrived  at.  In  the 
entire  six  years  Mr.  Norton  has  not  been  absent  from  his  office  one  single  busi- 
ness day,  and  has  made  nearly  all  the  records  himself."  Our  subject  declined  to 
go  into  the  convention  as  candidate  for  a  third  term,  because  there  were  several 
disabled  soldiers  seeking  the  place  at  that  time.  The  suddenness  of  the  change 
from  years  of  close  application  to  business  to  days  of  leisure,  subdued  the 
anticipated  enjoyment  and  comfort  of  the  latter.  A  line  of  business  did  not 
readily  open  up  to  our  subject.  He  therefore  spent  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1868  in  reviewing  his  studies  at  the  Commercial  College  in  Cleveland.  It 
was  his  desire  and  purpose  to  go  into  the  real  estate  agency  business  in  the 
city,  but  as  no  satisfactory  opportunity  presented  itself  or  was  found,  he 
engaged  with  others,  in  the  winter  of  1868-69,  in  organizing  a  banking  insti- 
tution at  Garrettsville,  and  for  a  time  was  its  Cashier.  The  perils  incident  to 
banking  in  those  days,  added  to  other  harassing  features  then  existing,  were  a 
severe  strain  upon  his  undisciplined  and  overly  sensitive  nerves,  and  he  with- 
drew from  the  business,  one  of  the  acts  of  his  life,  as  he  says,  upon  which  he 
looks  back  with  regret.     A  vacancy  having  occurred  in  the  superintendency  of 


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GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  733 

the  Garrettsville  schools  in  the  midst  of  a  school  year,  he  engaged  as  Super- 
intendent and  occupied  that  position  four  terms.  Subsequently  he  has  twice 
been  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  twice  as  Mayor  of  the  incorporated  village 
of  Garrettsville,  four  times  as  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  has  also 
been  Clerk  of  the  Board  many  years.  He  has  often  acted  as  Executor, 
Administrator,  Assignee  and  Guardian  in  the  settlement  and  management  of 
estates.  In  politics  Mr.  Norton  is  Republican.  In  1S48  he  united  with  the 
Disciple  Church  at  Hiram,  and  had  his  membership  with  that  denomination 
at  Hiram  and  at  Ravenna.  There  has  been  no  Disciple  Church  in  active 
working  condition  in  Garrettsville  for  several  years,  and  he  has  therefore 
worshiped  with  the  Baptists,  the  church  wherein  his  wife  was  reared.  For  five 
years  he  was  Superintendent  of  the  Baptist  Sunday-school,  and  for  many  more 
years  was  teacher  of  the  Bible  class.  December  17,  1859,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Ann  Eliza  Taber,  at  the  home  of  her  parents  in  Garrettsville,  which  was 
also  the  home  of  her  birth.  Her  father,  John  Taber,  was  born  in  Providence, 
R.  I.,  April  29,  1798,  and  died  suddenly  when  on  his  way  to  worship,  March 
12,  1871.  Her  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Henrietta  Greene,  a  rel- 
ative of  Gen.  Gi'eene,  of  Revolutionary  note,  was  born  in  Barre,  Mass.,  June 
21,  1799,  and  died  June  2,  1884,  in  Garrettsville,  in  the  house  where  she  had 
lived  a  little  more  than  half  a  century.  John  Taber  and  Mary  H.  Greene 
were  married  in  Pi'ovidence,  R.  I.,  October  19,  1819.  Mr.  Taber  was  cai'pen- 
ter  on  board  of  ship,  and  made  some  very  long  sea  voyages.  His  ship  was  at 
Callao  when  Bolivar  entered  Peru  with  his  Columbian  Army.  They  took  a 
ship  load  of  royalists  to  Cadiz,  Spain,  with  immense  quantities  of  gold  and 
silver.  This  was  a  six  years'  voyage,  mostly  in  South  American  waters.  The 
next  was  a  three  years'  voyage,  chiefly  doing  a  coasting  business  in  European 
seas.  In  early  life  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taber  were  members  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Providence,  which  was  founded  by  Roger  Williams.  They  moved 
to  Ohio  in  1829,  and  after  a  residence  of  four  years  in  Mogadore,  Summit 
County,  they  moved  to  Garrettsville.  Mr.  Taber  spent  about  three  and  a  half 
years  among  the  gold  mines  of  California,  starting  for  that  then  far-away 
country  in  the  spring  of  1850.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taber  were  the  parents  of  four 
children:  Mary  Henrietta,  born  November  15,  1829;  John  Herman,  born 
August  10,  1832;  James  Hunter,  born  June  21,  1835,  and  Ann  Eliza,  born 
September  23,  1837.  The  first  three,  after  living  to  mature  years,  deceased 
before  their  parents.  Mary  Henrietta  (Mrs.  Dr.  A.  M.  Sherman)  died  in  Gar- 
rettsville, October  26,  1853;  John  Herman  died  in  Council  Blufifs,  Iowa, 
November  8,  1856,  and  James  Hunter  died  in  Adrian,  Mich.,  December  5, 
1866.  Three  sons  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Norton.  The  first 
born  died  in  infancy  and  is  buried  in  Maple  Grove  Cemetery,  Ravenna;  James 
Edgar  was  born  in  Ravenna  March  18,  1866;  John  Herman  was  born  in  Garretts- 
ville February  12,  1869.  James  Edgar  graduated  from  the  Garrettsville  High 
School  in  1883;  the  subject  of  his  graduation  oration  was  "  The  Heirs  of  the 
Ages."  He  is  now  upon  a  classical  course  at  Hiram  College.  John  Herman  is 
still  (1885)  in  the  Garrettsville  High  School.  There  is  a  chart  and  record  of  the 
Norton  families  reaching  back  nineteen  generations.  Originally  the  nam«  was 
Norville,  a  corruption  of  the  French  "Nord-Ville"  (North- Villa  or  North-Town), 
and  Nor-ton  or  Norton  was  subsequently  adopted.  The  family  have  published  a 
pamphlet  showing  the  Norton  families  back  seven  generations.  This  is  as  far 
back  as  most  people  care  to  trace  the  ancestral  line.  To  those,  however,  Avhose 
curiosity  may  lead  them,  the  chart  and  record  is  accessible,  although  but  few 
copies  are  known  to  the  families  here  to  be  in  existence.  Thuel  Norton  was 
born  at  New  Hartford,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  March  10,  1801.     He  was  third  son 

38 


734  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

of  Peter  and  Elthina  (Thompson)  Norton.  He  died  in  Hiram,  April  2,  1880, 
in  a  few  hours  after,  and  from  injuries  received  by,  being  thrown  from  a  buggy 
by  a  runaway  horse.  When  he  was  six  years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Ohio, 
stopping  two  years  in  Vernon,  Trumbull  County,  a  short  time  in  Tallmadge, 
and  then  located  permanently  in  Springfield,  then  in  Portage  County,  but  now 
Summit  Coanty,  a  short  distance  east  of  Middlebuiy,  the  old  home  farm 
being  still  occupied  by  his  brother  Thomas.  Here  Thuel  grew  from  childhood 
to  manhood.  Where  the  city  of  Akron  is  now  was  dense  forest  then.  He  shot 
his  first  deer  upon  the  hillside  in  the  vicinity  of  where  Howard  Street  is  now. 
At  hunting  large  game,  however,  he  was  never  as  successful  as  his  older  brother, 
Almeron,  although  for  a  close  shot  he  had  no  superior  in  those  days.  He  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade,  and  put  up  many  buildings  in  and  about  Middlebury  and 
Tallmadge.  He  was  an  expert  at  scoring  and  hewing  timber,  and  in  "  bossing 
raisings."  He  was  a  man  of  powerful  muscle,  and  often  would  astonish  the 
people  at  "raisings,"  by  picking  up  and  carrying  to  its  place  a  stick  of  tim- 
ber that  ordinarily  would  require  two  men  to  carry.  As  a  framer  of  timber 
he  was  notably  a  close  workman.  At  Hiram,  August  4,  1822,  Thuel  Norton 
was  married  to  Harriet  Rebecca  Harrington,  who  was  born  July  15,  1803,  at 
Salisbury,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  but  the  most  of  whose  childhood  and  youth 
was  passed  in  Utica  and  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Her  father's  name  was  John  Har- 
rington, and  her  mother's  maiden  name  was  Asenath  Marvin.  Her  father  was 
a  boot  and  shoe-maker,  and  lived  in  Hiram  a  short  time,  nearly  sixty  years 
ago.  Her  mother  is  buried  in  the  family  lot  at  Hiram.  John  and  Asenath  Har- 
rington were  the  parents  of  a  large  family  of  children.  One  year  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Norton  resided  in  Rootstown,  this  county,  nine  years  in  Springfield, 
Summit  County,  and  in  1832  they  moved  to  Hiram,  first  locating  on  a  farm 
on  the  West  center  road,  but  subsequently  moved  to  the  south  part  of  the  town- 
ship, and  there  lived  upon  a  farm  many  years.  Although  Mr.  Norton  preferred 
the  carpenter's  trade  to  farming,  he  gradually  quit  the  former  and  took  up  the 
latter.  But  his  fondness  for  timber  work  was  somewhat  gratified  by  operating 
a  saw-mill  which  he  had  upon  one  of  his  farms.  It  was  more  of  a  diversion, 
however,  than  a  money-making  business.  When  old  age  had  come  upon  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Norton,  they  left  their  home  farm  and  lived  the  remainder  of  their  years 
at  the  center  of  Hiram.  In  August,  1880,  Mrs.  Norton  went  to  visit  a  son  and 
a  daughter  in  Garrettsville,  and  while  at  the  home  of  the  latter  she  became 
worse  and  died  in  the  evening  of  August  30.  Their  remains  rest  in  the  family 
lot  in  Hiram  Cemetery.  Thuel  and  Harriet  R.  Norton  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  as  follows:  Anna,  born  October  21,  1823;  Seth  D.,  born  August  19, 
1825;  Edwin,  born  July  16,  1827,  and  died  September  8,  1827;  Amelia  C, 
born  January  4,  1829;  Julia  M.,  born  April  24,  1831;  James,  born  September 
9,  1833;  Lois  E.,  born  November  28,  1835,  and  died  in  Trenton,  Mo.,  April 
27,  1866;  Emily  E.,  born  May  6,  1838;  Richard  C,  born  June  16,  1840,  and 
Harriet  R.,  born  January  28,  1846,  Seth  D.  is  an  attorney- at- law,  living  in 
Ravenna.  Richard  C.  is  President  of  South  East  State  Normal,  at  Cape  Gir- 
ardeau, Mo. 

R.  H.  OBER,  Mayor  and  furniture  dealer,  Garrettsville,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 30,  1849,  in  Newbury,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Hermon  and  Hannah 
(Hall)  Ober,  former  born  August  15,  1806,  in  Hollis,  N.  H..  died  August  20, 
1862,  coming  to  Ohio  when  a  young  man;  the  latter  born  August  10,  1808,  in 
Salem,  N.  H.,  and  is  still  living.  They  were  parents  of  eight  children:  John, 
born  in  1832;  Almira,  in  1833;  Sarah,  in  1836;  George,  in  1838;  Melissa,  in 
1840;  Charles,  in  1845;  Mary,  in  1847,  and  R.  H.  The  parents  were  Congre- 
gationalists.       Zachariah  Ober,    the  father   of  Hermon,  was  born  in  1775  in 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  735 

Tewksbury,  Mass.,  and  married  xlbigail  Hardy,  born  in  1775  in  the  same 
State.  Our  subject  remained  on  the  farm,  attending  the  conntry  schools,  and 
worked  in  a  machine  shop  with  his  brothers,  John  and  George,  until  eighteen 
years  of  age  when  he  entered  school  at  Hillsdale,  Mich.  He  soon  after  bought 
one-half  interest  in  a  saw-mill  with  his  brother-in-law,  C.  W.  Wright,  and 
assisted  in  operating  the  same  at  Newbury  for  three  years.  He  then  engaged 
in  shipping  lumber  with  his  brother,  C.  H.,  until  1874,  when,  August  20,  that 
year,  he  was  married  to  Martha  Patterson,  born  August  20,  1855,  in  Troy, 
Ohio,  daughter  of  Nelson  Patterson,  born  May  12,  1812,  in  Hanover,  N.  Y. , 
and  Eliza  (Wales)  Patterson,  born  April  8.  1812,  in  Gettysburg,  Penn.,  parents 
of  six  children:  Avery,  born  July  9,  1834,  and  died  October  10,  1863,  at 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. ,  of  a  wound  received  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  Septem- 
ber 19, 1863;  Francis,  born  August  16,  1836;  William,  born  September  30,  1841; 
Zylphia,  born  November  20,  1847;  Mary,  born  November  15,  1849,  and  Martha. 
The  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church,  and  both  parents  are  de- 
ceased. To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  four  children:  Edna,  born  August  6, 
1876;  Ethel,  born  January  5.  1879;  Harmon,  born  December  29,  188l;"Elgy^ 
born  December  16,  1883.  Soon  after  marriage  Mr.  Ober  came  to  Garretts- 
ville  and  opened  a  furniture  store  on  a  small  scale.  By  economy  and  strict 
attention  to  business  he  has  been  enabled  to  add  to  his  enterprise  until  he  now 
owns  one  of  the  best  establishments  of  the  kind  in  Portage  County.  In  1884 
he  was  nominated  by  the  Prohibitionists  for  Mayor  of  Garrettsville,  endorsed 
by  the  Citizens'  Convention,  and  was  elected.  He  has  served  the  city  well  in 
that  honorable  position.  He  united  with  the  Congregational  Church  when 
twelve  years  old,  and  has  held  various  offices  in  the  organization;  is  at  pres- 
ent Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Y.  M.  T. 
C,  and  has  held  the  highest  office  in  the  same.  His  estimable  wife  is  also  a 
worthy  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Ober  is  in  the  prime  of 
life,  and  the  various  positions  his  talents  may  merit  his  being  called  to  by  his 
neighbors  and  friends  will  be  chronicled  in  the  coming  years. 

THOMAS  REED,  policeman,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Ireland,  August 
13,  1823,  son  of  W^illiam  and  Margaret  (Nelson)  Eeed.  natives  of  that  coun- 
try, who  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  of  whom  Thomas  is  the  youngest. 
He  came  to  America  in  1842,  and  located  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained 
two  years  engaged  in  wharf  building.  He  then  came  to  Geauga  County,  Ohio, 
and  hired  to  a  man  for  five  years  as  a  farm  hand.  He  purchased  a  small  farm 
near  Cleveland  in  1854,  but  sold  it  six  years  later  and  bought  a  still  larger 
farm  in  Trumbull  County,  where  he  remained  until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Gar- 
rettsville with  the  intention  of  retiring  from  active  labor,  but  for  a  year  or  two 
dealt  in  stock.  In  1855  he  married  Miss  Caroline  A.  Pierce,  of  Geauga  County, 
Ohio,  and  by  her  has  three  children:  Marc  A.,  a  graduate  of  Scio  College,  who 
has  taught  school  nine  years,  and  is  at  present  Superintendent  of  Schools  is 
Girard,  Ohio;  Delia,  also  a  school  teacher  for  six  years,  and  who  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Garrettsville  schools,  and  Guy  W.  Mr.  Reed  received  an  appointment 
by  the  Council  as  Night  Policeman,  and  has  held  that  position  nine  years,  and 
has  also  served  as  Constable  five  years.  In  April,  1880,  while  trying  to  qxiiet 
a  drunken  row  he  received  a  blow  on  the  head,  fracturing  his  skull,  from  which 
six  pieces  of  bone  were  taken.  It  was  a  narrow  escape,  but  he  still  continues 
to  keep  the  peace  in  the  streets  of  Garrettsville  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the 
people.     He  is  a  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A    M. 

E.  C.  SMITH,  hardware  merchant,  Garrettsville,  was  born  October  19, 
1829,  in  Hart's  Grove,  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio.  His  father*,  Norman  Smith, 
was  born  in  1801  in  Sherburne,  Yt,  and  came  to  Parkman,  Ohio,  in  1818,  and 


736  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

later  to  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  where  he  died  in  iSoO.  His  wife,  the 
mother  of  our  subject,  was  Sallie  M.  Hickok,  born  in  New  York  State,  and 
who  came  to  Ohio  in  1820.  She  is  now  living  in  Manchester,  111.,  with  a 
daughter.  She  is  the  mother  of  the  following  children:  E.  C. ;  M.  H.,  a  phy- 
sician in  Manchester,  111.;  Maria  L.,  wife  of  H.  C.  Crawford,  and  living  at 
Troy,  Ohio;  Ellen,  wife  of  S.  C.  Bates,  in  Clinton,  Iowa;  Mary  A.,  widow  of 
James  Guthrie;  George  D.,  residing  in  Garrettsville;  Sarah,  wife  of  Jefferson 
McConnell,  i-esiding  in  Manchester,  111.  Our  subject,  who  was  educated  in  the 
country  schools  and  township  academy,  began  teaching  when  twenty  years  old 
at  $16  per  month.  He  farmed  for  a  while,  and  later  clerked  in  a  drug  store 
at  Garrettsville.  January  27,  1852,  he,  in  company  with  Ebenezer  Earl  and 
others,  went  to  the  gold  mines  in  California,  remaining  there  five  years.  He 
was  married,  August  27,  1857,  to  Marion  B.  McClintock,  born  July  4,  1829, 
in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  daughter  of  William  McClintock,  born  in  White- 
hall, N.  Y.,  in  1793,  and  Chloe  (Ferry)  McCbntock,  born  in  1798  in  Brooktield, 
Orange  Co.,  Vt.,  and  came  with  her  parents  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  in 
1814.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1832,  settling  in  Garrettsville,  where  they 
died,  the  father  August  7,  1873,  and  the  mother  June  17,  1878.  They  were 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  The  father  had  been  a  teamster  in  the  war  of 
1812.  They  were  parents  of  nine  children,  of  whom  six  are  now  living:  Polly, 
Sallie,  Marion  B.,  Helen,  John  C.  and  William  W.  In  1858  Mr.  Smith 
engaged  in  the  hardware  business  in  Garrettsville  under  the  firm  name  of 
Barber  &  Smith,  and  has  been  very  successful.  He  began  his  career  in  life 
with  a  willing  heart  and  strong  hands,  and  of  the  large  amount  of  property 
which  he  possesses  in  hardware,  mines,  bank  stock,  etc.,  he  is  certainly  the 
artificer.  He  has  served  as  Mayor  and  Councilman  of  Garrettsville,  and  has 
been  put  forward  at  times  by  his  friends  for  the  Legislature,  a  position  he  may 
yet  covet,  and  one  he  would  surely  fill  with  honor  to  himself  and  credit  to  his 
constituents  He  has  been  Vice  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Garrettsville  since  1870,  and  is  also  a  Director  in  the  same.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Kepublican.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  is  a  K.  T.  Portage 
County  has  but  few,  if  any,  more  substantial,  upright  and  honest  citizens 
than  him  whose  name  heads  this  biography,  and  whose  portrait  appears  else- 
where. 

ELIAS  C.  SWEET,  drayman,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Summit  County, 
Ohio,  February  14,  1835;  seventh  in  a  family  of  eight  children  born  to  Alfred 
and  Clarissa  (Capron)  Sweet,  the  former  of  whom,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
came  to  Ohio  *in  1824  and  died  October  14,  1872,  his  wife  having  preceded 
him  in  1838.  Our  subject  early  in  life  learned  the  cooper's  tx'ade  and  opened 
a  shop  in  Bath,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  four  years,  thence  went 
to  Copley,  same  county,  and  two  years  later  to  Wellington,  Lorain  County, 
and  from  thence  to  New  London,  Huron  County,  where  he  built  the  first 
cooper  shop  in  the  place.  During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  in 
the  100  daysj*  service  in  Company  B,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
after  his  return  home  he  married,  September  22,  1861,  Delia  J.  Niles,  born  in 
Lorain  County,  Ohio,  May  22,  1842,  daughter  of  Albert  and  Sophia  (Love- 
land)  Niles,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  early  settlers  of  Lorain  County. 
Mr.  Sweet  subsequently  returned  to  Bath,  Ohio,  and  farmed  in  connection  with 
his  trade.  In  1869  he  removed  to  Garrettsville,  this  county,  and  worked  as  a 
carpenter  and  cooper.  He  then  spent  a  year  on  a  dairy  farm  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, this  county,  and  finally  returned  to  Garrettsville,  to  his  present  place  of. 
residence.  Here  he  has  a  small  farm,  and  is  engaged  in  the  express  and  dray 
business,  and  since  1882  has  carried  the  mail  from  trains  to  the  postoffice. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  about  nine  years. 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  737 

CHARLES  A.  THAYER,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in 
Williamsburg,  Mass.,  February  10,  1825;  son  of  Jacob  and  Sarah  (Porter) 
Thayer,  the  former  a  native  of  Braintree,  Mass.,  born  January  25,  1793,  the 
latter  born  in  Hampshire  County.  Mass.,  in  1795.  They  removed  to  this  county 
in  1832,  settling  in  Freedom  Township,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  Their  family  consisted  of  four  children:  Henry  N. ,  a  farmer  and 
stock-dealer  of  Freedom,  Ohio;  Mary,  wife  of  E.  E.  Torrey,  a  farmer  and 
mechanic;  Edward  P.,  a  farmer,  and  Charles  A.  Jacob  Thayer  was  of  English 
descent,  dating  his  ancestry  back  to  the  seventeenth  century,  among  whom  were 
the  early  pioneers  of  Braintree,  Mass.  He  was  a  hard-working,  enei'getie 
farmer,  very  prominent  in  the  history  of  his  township,  and  devoting  the  best 
part  of  his  life  to  church  interests.  He  died  April  17,  1884,  his  wife  having 
preceded  him  in  1867.  Our  subject  was  married,  December  1,  1847,  to  Mary 
Nistetter,  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  January  8,  1827.  By  this  union  there 
are  five  children:  Wilbur  D.,  in  the  meat  market  with  his  father;  Albert  A.,.a 
lawyer  at  Warren,  Ohio;  Byron  E.  and  Andrew  A.  (both  farmers)  and  Lenora. 
Mr.  Thayer,  a  self-made  man,  has  dealt  more  or  less  extensively  in  stock,  in 
which  he  is  still  interested,  and,  along  with  his  son.  also  carries  on  a  meat 
market.  He  has  held  several  of  the  township  offices  and  is  now  serving  his 
first  term  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  a  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge, 
No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch.  Politically  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican. 

A.  H.  TIDBALL,  physician  and  surgeon,  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  whose  por- 
trait appears  in  this  volume,  was  boi*n  October  2,  1831,  in  Millersburg,  Holmes 
Co.,  Ohio.  His  father,  Joseph  Tidball,  who  was  born  June  24,  1787,  in  Alle- 
gheny County,  Penn.,  a  hatter  by  trade,  died  in  Shelby,  Ohio,  January  16, 
1884,  and  his  mother,  Eliza  K.  (Linn)  Tidball,  born  in  Easton.  N.  J.,  August 
13,  1801,  died  February  26,  1885,  in  Shelby,  Ohio.  They  were  parents  of 
ten  children.  Our  subject  was  .ediicated  in  the  common  schools,  studied  med- 
icine with  Dr.  J.  Y.  Cantwell,  of  Mansfield.  Ohio,  and  graduated  with  high 
honors  at  the  Cleveland  Medical  College.  He  began  practicing  his  profession 
for  which  he  had  so  well  prepared  himself,  at  Freedom,  Portage  County,  in  1853. 
He  practiced  successfully  for  two  years  in  northern  Indiana  and  for  the  same 
length  of  time  in  Santa  Cruz,  Cal.,  and  from  1859  to  1871  in  Mesopotamia, 
Ohio.  In  1871  he  located  in  Garrettsville,  this  county,  where  he  has  merited  a 
lucrative  patrouage.  He  is  an  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  member  of  the  lodge  and 
chapter  at  Gar-rettsville,  St.  John's  Commandery,  K.  T.,  of  Youngstown,  and 
Ohio  Consistory  of  Cincinnati,  A.  A.  S.  R.,  32°.  During  the  summer 
of  1880  he  traveled  extensively  through  Europe.  Dr.  Tidball  was  mar- 
ried. May  17,  1854,  in  Freedom,  Ohio,  to  Lizzie  J.  Webb,  born  in  Holley^ 
Orleans  Co.,  N.  Y.,  March  23,  1833,  daughter  of  James  Webb,  whose  biog- 
raphy and  portrait  appear  elsewhere  in  this  work.  To  this  union  were  born 
the  following  children:  Frank  Warren,  Fred  Luthei*,  Linn  Alonzo,  and  Stella 
Gertrude  (latter  deceased  when  three  years  old).  Our  subject,  in  politics,  is  a 
Democrat.  He  and  his  wife  are  earnest  Christians,  she  being  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church.  Dr.  Tidball  is  an  eminent  physican,  a  skillful  sur- 
geon, and  although  his  home  is  in  a  small  and  comparatively  quiet  town,  yet 
his  opinions  have  been  asked  for,  and  in  consultations  his  influence  has  been 
felt,  in  places  of  the  highest  rank.  No  trouble  is  too  irksome,  and  no  under- 
taking too  severe  for  him,  where  human  suffering  is  to  be  alleviated  in  any 
way.  The  Doctor  always  has  time  for  such  duties.  In  his  intercourse  with 
his  fellow-men  he  is  dignified  and  courteous,  and  his  sociability  gains  him 
many  friends.     To  all  enterprises  tending  to  the  prosperity  of  Garrettsville, 


738  BIOGRArHICAL    SKETCHES: 

Dr.  Tidball  has  given  of  his  means  freely,  and  the  financial  interests  of  any 
organization  to  which  he  may  belong,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  are  generously 
benefitted  by  his  unstinting  hand. 

JOSIAH  S.  TILDEN,  Cashier  First  National  Bank,  Garrettsville,  was 
born  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  Jaouary  29,  1852.  His  parents,  A.  P.  and  Har- 
riet B.  (Davis)  Tilden,  were  natives  of  this  county,  and  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  of  whom  two  attained  maturity:  Ella  H.,  wife  of  James  Thresher,  of 
Geauga  County,  and  Josiah  S.  A.  P.  Tilden  was  born  in  1816,  a  son  of 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  this  county.  He  removed  to  Geauga  County  when 
about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  engaged  in  merchandising.  In  18G4  he 
removed  to  Chardon,  Ohio,  held  the  position  of  County  Auditor  for  nine  years, 
and  is  still  a  resident  of  that  place,  but  has  retired  from  business.  His  wife 
died  in  1865.  Our  subject  received  a  common  school  and  academic  education. 
He  was  married,  April  17,  1879,  to  Miss  Clara  Crane,  a  native  of  this  county, 
and  daughter  of  E.  M.  Crane.  In  1874  Mr.  Tilden  came  to  Garrettsville  and 
engaged  as  Assistant  Cashier  in  the  First  National  Bank,  a  position  he  held 
six  years,  when  he  was  elected  Cashier,  which  office  he  still  fills.  He  is  also 
Treasurer  of  the  corporation  of  Garrettsville.  In  connection  with  banking,  he 
carries  on  a  general  insurance  agency.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Garrettsville 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  K.  T.  at  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

SMITH  E.  WADSWORTH,  hotel  proprietor,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in 
Windham  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  October  15,  1848;  son  of  Elmer  and 
Emiline  (Smith)  Wadsworth.  He  was  raised  on  a  farm  and  educated  at  the 
common  schools.  His  first  enterprise  for  himself  was  clerking  for  a  year  in  a 
meat  market  at  Ravenna,  this  county.  He  then  came  to  Garrettsville,  and 
along  with  his  father  and  brother  engaged  in  the  Dieat  market  business,  deal- 
ing in  connection  with  the  same  quite  extensively  in  hides,  pelts  and  tallow, 
buying  and  shipping  for  about  seven  years,  which  required  our  subject  to  be 
on  the  road  more  or  less.  He  was  married  January  5,  1876,  to  Miss  Hannah 
Styles,  born  in  Paris  Township,  this  county,  July  26,  1847,  daughter  of  James 
and  Eleanor  Styles,  early  settlers  of  that  township,  and  by  this  union  there  is 
one  child — Arthur  James.  In  March,  1880,  Mr.  Wadsworth  purchased  the 
Cannon  House,  which  he  combined  with  the  Wadsworth  House,  adopting  the 
name  "Cannon  House,"  of  which  he  has  since  been  "mine  host."  He  is  an 
active  member  of  Portage  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

STEPHEN  G.  WARREN,  physician,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  April  7,  1841;  son  of  Gamaliel  and  Patience  (Burden)  Warren, 
natives  of  New  Jersey  and  Rhode  Island  respectively,  and  who  had  a  fam- 
ily of  ten  children:  Eliza,  Maria,  Harriet,  Jane,  Ann,  Matilda,  Catherine, 
Polly,  Burden  and  Stephen  G.  They  removed  to  Geauga  County,  this  State, 
in  about  1835,  and  here  the  father  died  in  1876,  the  mother  two  years  later. 
Our  subject  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  at  the  ago  of  sixteen  years  entered  the 
Western  Reserve  Seminary  at  Farmington,  and  from  there  went  to  the  medical 
schools  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  18G4.  He  entered  upon 
his  pi'ofession  at  Erie,  but  owing  to  ill  health  had  to  retire  for  a  time,  and  the 
following  two  years  were  spent  in  West  Virginia.  He  was  married  June  27, 
1864,  to  Miss  Julia  M.  Gladding,  born  in  Attica,  N.  Y.,  November  9,  1841, 
daughter  of  Horace  and  Juliette  (Taylor)  Gladding,  natives  of  New  York,  the 
former  of  whom  is  now  deceased.  By  this  union  there  is  one  child — Clyde  T. 
In  1863  Dr.  Warren  located  at  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  where  he  has  since  been 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  is  an  active  member  of  Gar- 
rettsville Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M.,  also  of  Silver  Creek  Chapter,  No.  144, 
and  Oriental  Commandery  No.  12,  K.  T.,  of  Cleveland. 


GARRETTSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  739 

GUY  WARREN,  physician,  Garrettsville,  was  born  at  Newton  Falls, 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  January  22,  1844;  son  of  John  J.  and  Louisa  M.  (Bishop) 
Warren.  The  former,  born  in  Eden,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  came  to  Nelson  Town- 
ship, Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  at  an  early  date,  and  is  now  a  retired  M.  D.  of  that 
place ;  the  latter,  a  native  of  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  was  born  February 
29,  1823,  and  died  May  29,  1852.  They  were  parents  of  live  childi-en,  of 
whom  our  subject  is  third,  and  he  was  seven  yeai's  old  when  his  parents  moved 
to  Nelson  Township,  this  county.  Here  he  spent  his  early  days  assisting  on 
the  farm,  and  attending  the  common  schools.  He  finished  his  classical  educa- 
tion and  medical  course  at  the  Eclectic  Institute  in  Philadelphia,  graduating 
in  1870,  immediately  entering  on  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  at  Gar- 
rettsville, Ohio,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  married  August  2,  1871, 
to  Ellen  M.,  daughter  of  Henry  C.  and  Lucinda  (Hopkins)  Tilden,  and  born 
in  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  January  12,  1851.  By  this  union  there  are 
two  children:  Loiiie  B.  and  Carrie.  Thus  far  the  Doctor's  practice  has  proven 
a  success,  and  from  a  small  beginning  he  now  has  a  ride  extending  over  six 
or  seven  townships,  the  result  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  profession  and 
a  strict  attention  to  business.  He  is  an  active  member  of  Portage  Lodge.  No. 
456,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

PHILANDER  WATERS,  farmer  and  mechanic,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in 
Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  July  31,  1838,  eldest  in  the  family  of  nine  children 
of  Milton  and  Pluma  (Moore)  Waters,  natives  of  New  York.  The  former,  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  an  early  settler  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  died 
September,  1882;  his  widow  still  survives.  Our  subject's  facilities  for  obtain- 
ing an  education  were  limited  to  the  common  schools.  He  entered  on  his 
career  in  life  as  a  farm  hand,  but  having  a  natural  inclination  for  mechanics, 
eventually  entered  a  shop,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  latter  occupation. 
During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  with  the  100  days  men  in  Com- 
pany I.  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guards.  Mr.  Waters 
was  married  July,  18G7,  to  Miss  Maria  Reynolds,  a  native  of  Windham  Town- 
ship, this  county,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Virdie,  born  in  November, 
1872,  and  PearJ,  born  in  February,  1874.  In  1881  Mr.  Waters  removed  to 
Garrettsville,  purchased  a  small  farm  and  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural 
pursuits. 

ROLLIN  S.  WEBB,  lawyer,  Gan-ettsville,  was  born  in  Freedom  Town- 
ship, Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  January  4,  1844,  son  of  Dr.  James  and  Eliza  L.Webb. 
His  early  life  was  employed  on  the  homestead  farm  and  in  attending  the 
neighboring  common  school  and  academy.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered 
upon  his  career  in  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  furnishing  establishment  in  Youngstown, 
where  he  remained  about  a  year,  and  then  returned  to  Garrettsville  and  entered 
the  employ  of  W.  S.  Wright,  who  at  that  time  was  Postmaster  and  owned  a  gro- 
cery store.  He  remained  in  his  service  several  months,  then  enlisted  in  the 
One  Hxindred  and  Fifty-fifth  Ohio  National  Guards,  Company  H,  100  days 
regiment,  and  immediately  went  to  the  front  and  participated  in  numerous 
engagements,  and  returned  home.  He  spent  the  following  year  on  the  home- 
stead in  Freedom  Township,  this  county;  then  taxight  school  one  winter  in 
Ravenna  Township,  then  went  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and  devoted  his  time 
for  two  years  to  the  study  of  dentistry.  Returning  to  Garrettsville  he  fol- 
lowed this  profession  for  ten  years,  when  he  was  obliged  to  retire  on  account 
of  ill-health.  He  was  married  October  12,  1871,  to  Vine  F.  Gillson,  born  in 
Geauga  County,  Ohio,  November  23,  1848,  daughter  of  Willard  and  Sylva 
(Frisby)  Gillson,  natives  of  Vermont  and  early  settlers  of  Geauga  County,  and 
who  were  the  parents  of  six  children:     Norman,  Luther,  Flavilla,  Frank  L., 


740  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Josephine  and  Anna.  Mrs.  Gillson  is  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  have 
one  child — Roscoe  J.  Having  a  natural  inclination  for  law,  our  subject  began 
the  study  of  the  same  in  1877,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  the  January 
term  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1880,  and  opened  an  office  in  Garrettsville, 
where  he  has  since  remained  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  has  served 
the  people  of  his  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  one  term  of  three  years;  is 
an  active  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge,  No.  246,  F.  &  A.  M.  Politically  he 
is  a  strong  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

CHARLES  B.  WEBB,  editor,  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Freedom  Town- 
ship, Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  May  28,  1848,  son  of  Dr.  James  and  Eliza  (Land- 
fear)  Webb,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  Febru- 
ary 26,  1799,  and  came  to  Freedom  Township  about  1835,  where  he  practiced 
medicine  for  over  twenty  years;  the  latter  was  born  in  Hartford,  Conn., 
November  18,  1807.  They  had  ten  children,  viz.:  Cornelia  B. ;  Warren  J., 
a  lawyer  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  who  died  in  1866;  Lizzie  J. ;  Carrie  M. ;  Sarah  M., 
died  in  Garrettsville  in  1873;  Merwin  F.,  died  while  in  the  army  at  Natchez, 
Miss.,  in  1863;  Rollin  S. ;  Helen  M. ;  Charles  B.  and  Mary  R."  Dr.  James 
Webb  died  at  his  residence  in  Freedom  Township  November  9,  1852.  Our 
subject  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  academy  at  Freedom,  and 
Hiram  College,  and  afterward  taught  school  in  Freedom  and  Shalersville.  He 
resided  in  his  native  township  until  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  came  here 
and  worked  two  years  at  the  printing  business,  then  went  to  Cleveland  and  was 
employed  nearly  two  years  in  the  Leader  office.  September  1,  1873,  he  pur- 
chased the  Garrettsville  Journal,  and  has  since  been  its  editor  and  proprietor. 
He  was  married  January  6,  1875,  to  Miss  Ella  S.  McHenry,  born  April  13, 
1856,  at  SandyviJle,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Reuben  and  Adaline  McHenry,  the 
foi-merborn  in  Leesburg,  Va.,  February  4,  1812;  latter  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  March 
7,  1814.  By  this  union  were  born  three  children:  Estella  Adaline,  Gertrude 
Eliza  and  Lawrence  Mervin.  Mr.  Webb  is  Clerk  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  with  which  he  has  been  connected  several  years,  and  of  which  he  was 
Treasurer  six  years.  He  is  a  member  of  Portage  Lodge.  No.  456,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
at  Garrettsville.      Politically  he  is  identified  with  the  Republican  party. 

CHARLES  A.  WHITE,  retired  farmer,  Garrettsville,  is  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, born  September  14,  1825,  son  of  Noadiah  and  Wealthy  (Hazen)  White, 
natives  of  New  England  and  early  settlers  of  Garrettsville,  parents  of 
ten  children,  eight  of  whom  were  boys  over  six  feet  in  height.  Our  subject  came 
here  with  his  parents  when  eight  years  of  age,  and  grew  to  maturity  amid 
pioneer  scenes,  acquiring  such  an  education  as  could  be  obtained  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  those  early  days,  and  entered  upon  his  career  in  life  as  a  farmer. 
In  1850  he  crossed  the  plains  to  California,  returning  in  about  a  year.  Mr. 
White  Was  married  in  1853  to  Lucinda  Landfear,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
born  September  5,  1830,  who  has  borne  him  three  children:  Clara,  Will  and 
Hattie.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  Mr.  White  enlisted  in  1861  in  Com- 
pany H,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  100-days  men.  In  1862  he 
re- enlisted,  this  time  in  Company  D,  Eighty- fourth  Regiment,  and  served 
four  months;  then  in  1864  he  enlisted  in  Company  E,  Sixtieth  Regiment, 
serving  till  the  close  of  the  wai'.  Mr.  White  has  tilled  the  offices  of  Deputy 
Sheriff  about  four  years.  Constable  six  years,  and  as  Marshal  of  Garrettsville 
five  years.  In  1880  he  took  a  mail  route  of  a  circuit  of  three  offices,  which  he 
controlled  four  years.  He  retired  from  farm  labors  in  18S2,  and  removed  into 
the  village.  He  is  a  member  of  Bentley  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Mantua. 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  741 


HmA]>I  TOWNSHIP. 

HOMER  F.  ABBOTT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  is  a  native  of  Hiram  Tovm- 
ship,  this  county,  born  October  22,  1843,  son  of  Pliny  and  Ann  (Gillett,  nee 
Fletcher,)  Abbott,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Vermont  respectively,  of  Eng- 
lish descent,  former  of  whom  came  to  this  county  in  1827  to  settle,  and  latter  in 
about  1832  to  Garrettsville,  this  county,  with  her  mother  and  sister.  They  were 
married  in  this  county  in  1842.  Both  had  been  married  before,  but  had  no 
issue.  Our  subject  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Hiram  Town- 
ship, his  parents  having  died,  aged  seventy-one  and  sixty- eight  years  respect- 
ively. He  was  married  January  30,  1868,  to  Miss  Carrie  Haker,  of 
Cuyahoga  County.  Ohio,  a  native  of  Germany,  born  February  14,  1847;  and, 
her  father  having  died  while  en  route  to  America  in  1853,  she  was  reared  in 
Euclid  Township,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  by  Sardis  Welsh.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Abbott  have  had  five  children:  Howard  (deceased),  Arthur  L.,  Ada  B.,  Harry 
and  Mildred  A.  Mr.  Abbott  has  served  in  some  of  the  township  offices  for 
several  years.     He  is  a  Republican  in  his  politics. 

SHELDON  C.  CANFIELD,  blacksmith,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Pleas- 
ant Grove,  111.,  in  1838.  His  parents,  Joseph  and  Max'iette  (Root)  Canfield, 
natives  of  New  York  State,  moved  to  Illinois  in  an  early  day.  From  Illinois 
our  subject  came  to  this  State  in  1850  and  settled  in  Geauga  County,  where  he 
remained  until  1867  engaged  in  farm  work  and  painting.  The  years  1867  to 
1870  he  passed  in  Michigan,  then  came  to  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  where 
he  has  since  given  his  attention  to  blacksmithing.  Mr.  Canfield  was  married  in 
1861  to  Miss  Rebecca  Hill,  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  a  native  of  New  York 
State,  whence  her  parents  emigrated  in  1855,  settling  in  this  county.  Our 
subject  purchased  property  in  Hiram  Center.  He  has  served  as  Clerk  of  his 
township.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

GEORGE  H.  COLTON,  teacher,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, this  county,  October  10,  1848,  son  of  John  B.  and  Mary  L.  (Tilden) 
Colton,  of  Hiram  Township,  this  county.  He  was  educated  principally  at 
Hiram  College,  in  this  township,  where  he  graduated  in  1871  and  then  spent 
one  year  in  attending  the  civil  engineer  course  at  the  Michigan  University, 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  He  followed  surveying  and  engineering  for  one  year  and 
engaged  in  a  survey  of  the  Cuyahoga  Valley  Railroad,  which  position  he 
resigned  in  1873  and  accepted  the  chair  of  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  at 
Hiram  College,  which  he  still  fills.  He  was  married  November  14,  1873,  to 
Miss  Clara  A.  Taylor,  of  Nelson  Township,  where  she  was  born  September  23, 
1849,  daughter  of  Edwin  E.  Taylor.  By  this  union  there  is  one  daughter — 
Mary  B.,  born  October  8,  1874. 

OREN  J.  CONANT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Grove,  Geauga  County,  was  born  in 
Geauga  County,  Ohio,  January  30,  1851,  sou  of  Gardner  and  Mary  (Wood) 
Conant,  natives  of  Vermont,  of  English  and  French  descent,  i-espectively,  who 
settled  early  in  life  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  and  moved  to  this  county  in 
1854,  where  they  lived  until  their  death.  Mrs.  Conant  died  December  16, 
1875,  aged  fifty-three  years,  and  Mr.  Conant  November  5,  1882,  aged  seventy- 
eight  years.  Our  subject  has  never  left  the  home  farm,  and  here  he  now  has 
130    acres  of    well-improved  land,  containing  good  buildings,  etc.     He   was 


Y42  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

married  June  22,  1876,  to  Miss  Stella  F.  Bancroft,  of  Nelson  Township,  this 
county,  where  she  was  born  October  23,  1853,  the  daughter  of  Barnos  K.  and 
Anna  (Chalker)  Bancroft,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Ohio  respectively,  and 
of  English  descent,  who  settled  in  an  early  day  in  this  county,  where  Mr. 
Bancroft  died  in  1870  and  his  widow  still  resides.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Conant 
has  been  born  one  daughter — Jessie  M. ,  born  May  24,  1879.  In  politics  oar 
subject  is  a  Democrat. 

STEPHEN  H.  DAVIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rapids,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  R.  I.,  August  23,  1829,  son  of  Peter  and  Mary  Ann  (Hazard)  Davis, 
who  moved  to  New  York  State  in  1840,  where  they  remained  until  1852,  at 
which  time  they  came  to  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  they  now  reside.  Our 
subject  began  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  as  an  apprentice  to  blacksmithing, 
which  trade  he  continued  for  twenty-four  years,  mostly  in  Janesville,  N.  Y. 
In  1866  he  immigrated  to  this  county  and  purchased  land  in  Hiram  Township, 
which  he  has  improved  and  upon  which  he  still  resides.  He  was  married 
November  5,  1850,  to  Miss  Martha  Ashard,  born  in  Madison  County,  N.  Y., 
September  13,  1830,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Hannah  (Howd)  Ashard,  resi- 
dents of  Madison,  and  where  Mr.  Ashard  died;  his  widow  died  in  Hiram 
Township,  this  county.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  five  children,  of  whom 
two  survive:  William  J.  and  Mary  H.  Mr.  Davis  has  given  his  attention  since 
coming  to  this  county  to  agriculture.  He  was  a  member  of  the  lodge  of 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  which  gave  in  its  charter  in  1864.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 
His  wife  is  an  adherent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

HENRY  A.  DYSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Hiram  Township, 
this  county,  October  18,  1822;  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Young)  Dyson,  natives 
of  Delaware  and  Connecticut  respectively,  and  who  came  with  their  parents  to 
this  county  in  1804.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died  in  1845,  and  the  father 
in  1868.  Our  subject  began  the  trade  of  stone-mason  in  his  youth,  which  he 
followed  in  later  years,  giving  also  some  attention  to  farming.  He  became 
owner  of  land  in  1857  in  Hiram  Township,  upon  which  he  now  resides.  He 
was  married  in  1843,  to  Miss  Lucinda  Wright,  of  Hiram  Township,  a  native  of 
New  Y''ork  State,  born  in  1822  of  parents  who  were  early  settlers  in  this  county, 
now  deceased.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  one  son — Nelson  H. ,  born  November 
22,  1848,  and  married  November  22,  1868,  to  Miss  Emma  Young,  of  Hiram 
Township,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  J  oann  (Harris)  Young,  natives  of  Connect- 
icut and  Rhode  Island  respectively,  and  of  English  descent,  who  settled  in  this 
county  in  1811.  Mr.  and  Mrs. Nelson  Dyson  are  the  parents  of  three  sons:  How- 
ard L.,  Eugene  B.  and  Clarence  A.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dyson,  with  their  son  Nelson 
H.  and  his  wife,  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church.  Our  subject  has  tilled 
most  of  the  township  offices;    both  he  and  his  son  are  Democrats  in  politics. 

ERWIN  E.  EDWARDS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Hiram 
Township,  this  county,  June  19,  1844,  son  of  Erwin  and  Polly  (Waite) 
Edwards,  the  former  a  native  of  this  county,  the  latter  of  Vermont.  They 
were  the  parents  of  one  son  and  one  daughter:  Erwin  E.  and  Frances  H.,  who 
died  several  years  since.  The  father  died  in  1860.  The  mother  still  resides 
on  the  homestead  farm  with  her  son,  Erwin  E.,  who  became  owner  of  the 
same  at  the  death  of  his  father.  Mrs.  Edwards  was  formerly  the  wife  of 
Newman  Elwell,  of  Vermont,  who  died  in  Newberry  Township,  Geauga  Co., 
Ohio,  soon  after  moving  there.  He  was  the  father  of  three  children,  of  whom 
only  one  survives — Mary.  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1881,  to  Miss  Lona  M. 
Chamberlin,  boi'n  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  daughter  of  James  and 
Jerusha  (Chase)  Chamberlin,  early  settlers  in  this  county,  and  where  Mr. 
Chamberlin    still    resides,  his    wife    having   died    several    years   since.     Mr. 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  743 

Edwards  has  made  some  valuable  improvements  on  the  home  farm,  which  com- 
prises ninety- sis  acres,  valued  at  from  $70  to  $90  per  acre.  He  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics. 

JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD,  twentieth  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  November  19,  1831,  in  Orange,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Abram 
and  Eliza  (Ballon)  Garfield,  latter  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  a  relative  of 
the  celebrated  Hosea  Ballou.  The  genealogy  of  the  Garfield  family  traces 
back  to  1587,  in  which  year  a  tract  of  land  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  near 
Chester,  England,  and  not  far  from  the  celebrated  picturesque  vale  of  Llan- 
gollen, was  given  to  James  Garfield  (or  Gearfeldt)  through  the  influence  of 
Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester.  The  Gearfeldts  were  probably  descendants 
of  the  old  Knights  of  Gaerfili  Castle,  whose  prow^ess  in  arms  and  deeds  of 
chivalry  are  frequently  made  mention  of  m  English  history.  Their  crest  con- 
sisted of  a  helmet  with  the  visor  raised  and  an  uplifted  arm  holding  a  drawn 
sword,  and  their  motto  was  "  J?r  cruce  vinco'^  (In,  or  under,  the  cross  I  con- 
quer). In  1630  Edward  Geartield,  of  Chester,  England,  and  who  was  born  in 
1575,  came  to  America  in  a  company  of  colonists,  and  from  him,  in  a  direct 
line,  comes  James  A.  Garfield. 

Abram  Garfield,  father  of  our  subject,  born  December  28,  1799,  at  Wor- 
cester, Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  township 
of  Orange,  died  in  1835,  leaving  a  young  family  of  four  children,  of  whom 
James  A.  was  the  youngest,  being  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  only  a  year 
and  a  half  old.  The  family  were  poor  and  were  kept  together  only  by  the 
industry,  energy  and  courage  of  the  widowed  mother.  Young  Garfield  received 
a  common  school  education  while  working  on  his  mother's  farm,  and  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  while,  two  years  later,  he  served  for 
a  few  months  as  a  boatman  on  the  Ohio  Canal.  Through  his  own  arduous 
efforts  he  obtained  a  college  education,  entering  at  the  age  of  seventeen  on  a 
course  of  study,  first  in  the  Geauga  Seminary,  at  Chester,  Ohio,  and  a  little 
later  in  the  Eclectic  Institute,  then  recently  established  at  Hiram,  this  county, 
and  not  long  after  entering  that  institute  he  was  made  an  assistant  teacher. 
In  1854  he  entered  the  Junior  Class  of  "Williams  College,  Massachusetts,  hav- 
ing in  a  little  more  than  three  years  fitted  himself  for  college,  and  completed 
the  two  first  years  of  college  study.  He  was  a  favorite  pupil  of  the  venerable 
President  Hopkins,  and  when  he  graduated,  in  1856,  he  carried  off  one  of  the 
highest  honors  of  his  class.  In  obtaining  his  education  Mr.  Garfield  was 
wholly  dependent  upon  himself.  His  earnings,  first  as  a  carpenter,  then  as  a 
teacher,  supplemented  by  some  small  loans  (subsequently repaid  in  full), 
•carried  him  through  his  course  of  study. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  Mr.  Garfield  was  chosen  teacher  of  the 
ancient  languages  and  literature  in  the  institution  at  Hiram,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  he  was  elected  Principal.  He  was  an  incessant  and  effective  worker, 
frequently  teaching  six  or  seven  hours  a  day,  besides  attending  to  the  general 
supervision,  and  delivering  numerous  lectures  on  a  great  variety  of  topics, 
both  before  his  students  and  before  popular  audiences. 

In  1859,  without  solicitation  or  effort  on  his  part,  the  Republican  party  in 
his  district  elected  him  to  the  Ohio  Senate,  and  although  the  youngest  member 
of  that  body,  he  immediately  took  rank  with  foremost  Senators  in  ability, 
industry,  and  usefulness. 

Just  before  the  conclusion  of  his  Senatorial  services,  the  Southern  Rebell- 
ion broke  out.  In  accordance  with  all  his  political  antecedents  and  convic- 
tions, Mr.  Garfield  at  once  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Union  against  secession. 
Early  in  the  autumn  of  1861  he  was  made  Colonel  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment 


744  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

of  Ohio  Vohinteers.  This  regiment,  largely  enlisted  by  his  personal  efforts, 
was  rapidily  organized,  drilled,  and  prepared  for  the  field.  On  the  17th  of 
December  it  was  ordered  to  eastern  Kentucky,  and  its  Colonel  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Eighteenth  Brigade  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio.  With  this  com- 
maad  Col.  Garfield  conducted  a  highly  successful  winter  campaign  against  a 
force  of  rebels  under  the  command  of  Humphrey  Marshall.  The  victories  of 
Middle  Creek  and  Pound  Gap  were  the  first  successes  of  the  Union  A.rmy  that 
year  in  the  West.  Their  immediate  result  was  the  expulsion  of  the  Confed- 
erate forces  from  eastern  Kentucky.  President  Lincoln,  recognizing  the  value 
of  this  success,  promoted  Col.  Garfield  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General. 

Gen.  Garfield  now  joined  the  army  of  Gen.  Buell.  He  commanded  the 
Twentieth  Brigade  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  and  in  the  subsequent  operations 
around  Corinth,  Decatur,  and  Huntsville,  Ala.  In  the  winter  of  1862-63 
he  was  a  member  of  the  coui't-martial  that  tried  Fitz-John  Porter.  In  January 
of  the  latter  year  he  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  then  under 
the  command  of  Gen.  Rosecrans,  who  at  once  made  him  Chief  of  Staff  of  the 
array.  In  this  position  Gen.  Garfield  rendered  distinguished  services.  He 
was  the  confidential  adviser  of  the  commander-in-chief.  He  participated  in  all 
the  engagements  in  middle  and  southern  Tennessee.  He  greatly  distinguished 
himself  for  ability  and  bravery  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Chickamauga,  and  was 
immediately  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major- General.  Here  Gen.  Garfield's 
military  career  closed.  He  resigned  his  commission  on  the  5th  of  December, 
1863,  to  enter  another  field  of  duty. 

On  leaving  the  army  Gen.  Garfield  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, having  been,  in  October,  1862,  elected  by  the  Nineteenth  Ohio  Congres- 
sional District  its  Representative  to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress.  He  soon  took 
rank  among  the  ablest  and  most  useful  members  of  the  House.  During  his 
first  term  he  served  on  the  Committee  of  Military  Affairs,  during  the  second 
on  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  In  the  Fortieth  Congress  he  was 
Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  and  in  the  Forty- first  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Banking  and  Currency.  On  the  organization  of  the  Forty-second 
Congress,  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Appropriations,  the  most 
laborious  and  responsible  position  in  the  House.  The  duties  growing  out  of 
these  responsible  positions  were  discharged  in  a  manner  highly  creditable  to 
himself  and  advantageous  to  the  country.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
they  bounded  the  circle  of  his  legislative  life.  Some  of  his  special  services  were 
peculiarly  onerous  and  valuable.  In  1864,  as  Chairman  of  a  special  committee, 
he  made  a  thorough  examination  into  the  affairs  of  the  Printing  Bureau  of  the 
Treasury  Department.  As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Banking,  he  inves- 
tigated the  Gold  Panic  of  1870,  and  submitted  to  the  House  a  valuable  report 
of  the  investigation.  In  1867  he  introduced  into  the  House,  and  carried 
through  it,  the  bill  creating  the  National  Bureau  of  Education, — a  most  valua- 
ble bureau,  which  he  defended  against  all  assaults.  But  his  most  conspicuous 
and  valuable  services  were  in  the  field  of  the  national  finances.  His  continued 
thorough  study  of  this  difficult  subject,  for  which  his  previous  training  well 
fitted  him,  rendered  him  the  most  thorough  master  of  it  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  one  of  the  most  thorough  in  the  country.  Convinced  that 
the  interest  no  less  than  the  honor  of  the  nation  lay  in  that  direction,  he  stren- 
uously resisted  all  propositions  looking  toward  repudiation  and  inflation, 
advocating,  from  the  first,  an  honest  payment  of  the  public  debt  and  a  speedy 
return  to  specie  payments. 

January  13,  1880,  the  Ohio  Legislature  elected  Gen.  Garfield  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Republi- 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  745 

can  Convention  to  meet  at  Chicago.  Here,  amid  unqualified  enthusiasm,  he 
was  nominated  for  the  Presidential  chair  and  was  subsequently  duly  elected. 
But;  President  Garfield  was  not  destined  to  long  enjoy  his  new- made  honors, 
for  the  assassin-fiend  was  already  shadowing  his  footsteps;  the  bullet  that  had 
its  fatal  billet  had  been  cast  in  the  mold.  On  July  2,  1881,  while  on  the  eve 
of  stepping  on  board  the  train  at  the  Baltimore  Eailway  station,  at  "Washing- 
ton (for  he  was  on  his  way  to  Long  Branch,  there  to  meet  his  wife),  he  was 
fired  at  twice  by  the  graceless  madman,  Guiteau,  the  second  shot  taking  effect, 
the  bullet  entering  the  President's  side,  tearing  through  the  spine  and  lodging 
in  the  fiesh. 

After  long,  lingering,  painful  suffering,  heroically  borne  with  true  Christ- 
ian spirit,   the  martyred  President,   in  the  quiet  Francklyn    Cottage,  Long 
Branch,    passed    through    "the  Golden  Gate"    September    19,    1881.        His 
remains  repose  in  the  beautiful  Lake  View  Cemetery,  Cleveland,   Ohio. 
"Farewell  !  the  leaf-strown  earth  enfolds 
Our  stay,  our  pride,  our  hopes,  our  fears, 
And  autumn's  golden  sun  beholds 
A  nation  bowed,  a  world  in  tears." 

James  A.  Garfield  had  great  powers  of  physical  and  mental  endurance;  he 
was  strongly  built  and  well  proportioned,  standing  six  feet  high,  a  man  of 
wide  range  of  studies,  taste  and  thought.  Public  duties  did  not  engross  all  of 
his  talents  and  attention,  for  in  the  spring  of  1861,  after  a  full  course  of  legal 
reading,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  and  in 
1866  he  obtained  the  same  standing  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
From  the  time  of  his  admission  to  its  bar,  he  every  year  argued  cases  in  the 
latter  tribunal. 

He  had  great  patience  in  the  accumulation  of  facts,  great  skill  in  generaliz- 
ation and  in  the  development  of  principles.  In  his  chosen  fields  of  statesman- 
ship, probably  no  man  in  Congress  had  at  command  a  larger  body  of 
systematized  knowledge.  As  a  public  speaker,  he  was  forcible  and  elegant. 
Some  of  his  occasional  papers  and  addresses  have  a  high  degree  of  merit.  Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  his  paper  on  "  The  American  Census,"  read  before  the 
Social  Science  Association;  his  adresses  on  "College  Education"  and  "The 
Future  of  the  Republic, "  and  his  "Eulogy"  onMaj.-Gen.  George  H.  Thomas. 
He  had  large  power  over  young  men;  and  while  an  educator,  many  hundreds 
of  students  received  from  him  a  vigorous  and  healthy  intellectual  and  moral 
impulse. 

Mr.  Garfield  was  married  in  1858,  to  Miss  Lucretia  Rudolph,  of  Hiram, 
and  was  eminently  happy  in  his  domestic  life.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Christian  or  Disciples  Church,  and  while  a  teacher  at  Hiram — though  never 
intending  to  follow  that  calling — he  was  an  acceptable,  and  even  favorite, 
speaker  in  the  pulpits  of  that  denomination.  While  thoroughly  progressive 
in  his  thoughts  and  tendencies,  Mr.  Garfield  was  far  from  being  an  extremist; 
abundant  evidence  of  which  can  be  found  along  the  course  of  his  whole  public 
life.  In  1872  Williams  College  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of 
LL.D.,  as  a  recognition  of  his  learning  and  ability. 

RICHARD  MASTERSON  HANK,  retired,  P.  O.  Hiram,  is  a  native  of 
Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born  June  22,  1814,  son  of  Daniel  and 
Mary  (Masterson)  Hank,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  of  English  descent.  They 
were  married  in  Fayette  County,  that  State,  December  16,  1792,  and  in  1804 
moved  to  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and  soon  after  taking  up  his  abode  there 
Daniel  Hank  purchased  a  farm  of  200  acres  of  heavily-timbered  land  on  the 
Mosquito  Creek  bottom  in  Howland Township,  on  which  was  a  log-cabin  and  a 
few  acres  of  land  in  cultivation.     Before  his  death  he  built  a  large  frame 


746  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

house,  and  the  first  frame  barn  in  the  township,  and  besides  working  at  his 
two  occupations  of  ii'on  molder  and  stone-mason  a  part  of  the  time,  he  and 
his  two  elder  sons  cleared  the  forest  from  about  100  acres  of  the  farm,  split 
rails  and  fenced  it  into  fields  and  so  brought  the  land  into  cultivation.  He 
died  June  5,  1821,  and  his  widow  December  22,  1856,  aged  fifty  and  eighty- 
three  years  respectively.  Of  their  eight  children,  Richard  Masterson  is  the 
only  survivor.  Our  subject  received  his  collegiate  education  at  Allegheny 
College,  Pennsylvania,  and  afterward,  in  1839  and  1840,  was  a  student  in  the 
oflice  of  Tod  &  Hoffman,  in  Warren,  Ohio,  (David  Tod,  afterward  Governor 
of  Ohio,  and  Ben  Hoffman,  afterward  Juclge  of  Common  Pleas,  now  a  resident 
of  Youngstown,  Ohio,)  but  bis  health  failing,  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  the 
pursuit  of  law.  Mr.  Hank  was  married  April  4,  1843,  to  Miss  Harriet  E. 
Griffin,  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  also  a  native  of  Fayette  County,  Penn. , 
born  February  8,  1824,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Esther  (Smith)  Griffin,  of  Eng- 
lish descent,  natives  of  the  same  county  and  State,  where  they  died.  Our  sub- 
ject taught  school  for  several  years  in  his  native  county,  and  in  1840  pur- 
chased a  farm  then  noted  for  its  mineral  springs,  which  he  improved  and  made 
quite  a  pleasant  place  of  resort,  now  known  as  the  "  Howland  Springs." 
From  there  he  came  to  this  county  in  1865  and  purchased  a  nursery  in  Hiram 
Township,  where  he  now  resides.  He  has  served  his  township  for  eighteen 
years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  was  one  of  the  officers  of  Hiram  College  of 
this  township.  In  1871  he  with  others  organized  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Garrettsville,  Ohio,  of  which  he  was  President  for  several  years.  His  wife  is 
a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

ROYAL  P.  HUTCHINSON,  farmer,  P.  O  Hiram,  was  born  in  Hiram 
Township,  this  county,  January  2,  1826,  son  of  Orin  and  Paulina  (Sweet) 
Hutchinson,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  State  respectively,  both  now 
deceased.  They  settled  in  this  county  about  1811,  and  reared  a  family  of 
whom  three  survive:  Royal  P.,  Egbert  S.  and  Mary  C.  Our  subject  purchased 
the  land  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  where  he  now  resides,  in  1852,  and 
has  followed  general  agriculture  through  life.  He  was  married  September  17^ 
1854,  to  Miss  Abby  J.  Kennedy,  of  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  a  native 
of  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  her  parents  were  early  settlers,  but  who  in 
later  years  moved  to  Aurora  Township,  where  they  both  died.  To  this  union 
have  been  born  four  children,  two  now  living:  William  R.  and  Mary  A.  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church.  Mr.  Hutchinson  has  served 
in  some  of  the  township  offices.     He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

DAVID  KERNOHAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  April  17,  1854,  in 
County  Antrim,  Ireland,  son  of  James  Kernohan,  who  died  in  his  native  land 
during  1862,  and  Mary  (Clark)  Kernohan,  who  immigrated  to  America  in  1864, 
accompanied  by  four  of  her  children,  settling  at  Niles,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio. 
There  our  subject  received  his  education,  removing  to  Hiram  Township,  this 
county,  in  1876,  where  he  entered  the  service  of  Benjamin  Tilden,  who  with  his 
wife,  Samantha  (Edwards)  Tilden,  were  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  among  the 
first  settlers  in  this  county,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They  were  members 
of  the  Disciples  Church.  Mr.  Tilden  died  January  31,  1884,  aged  seventy- one, 
his  w^idow  July  26,  same  year,  aged  sixty-seven  years,  making  our  subject  leg- 
atee of  their  property.  On  December  3,  1878,  David  Kernohan  was  married 
to  Flora  Ledyard,  born  March  19,  1846,  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county, 
adopted  daughter  of  Mr.  Tilden  (also  a  beneficiary  under  his  will  to  the  extent 
of  12,000)  and  widow  of  Ransom  Ledyard,  who  died  June  25,  1877,  leaving 
a  daughter— Myra  V.,  born  August  5,  1869.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kernohan  are  the 
parents  of  one  son — James  D.,  born  September  24,  1879. 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  747 

GEORGE  H.  LAUGHLIN,  President  of  Hiram  College,  Hiram,  was 
born  December  28,  1838,  at  Quincy,  111.  Being  now  in  the  very  prime  of 
life  and  of  excellent  physique,  his  greatest  work  is  probably  yet  before  him. 
His  hair  is  considerably  tinged  with  grey,  but  his  step  has  lost  none  of  its 
elasticity,  nor  have  his  dark  brown  eyes  lost  any  of  their  original  fire  and 
expressiveness.  His  early  training  was  received  on  an  Illinois  farm,  and  his 
first  educational  opportunities  were  limited.  In  October,  1857,  he  entered 
Berean  College,  Jacksonville,  111.,  but  being  dissatisfied  with  that  institution, 
he  left  it  in  less  than  one  year,  to  enter  Abingdon  College,  Knox  Co.,  111., 
where  he  remained  four  years  as  student  and  graduated  with  the  highest  hon- 
ors of  his  class.  At  Cameron,  111.,  August  21,  1862,  he  was  married  to  Deb- 
bie J.  Ross,  who  has  pi'oved  to  be  a  devoted  wife  and  helper.  At  this  time  he 
began  teaching  and  preaching,  and  has  since  steadily  continued  his  work.  He 
regards  teaching  as  his  profession,  and  preaching  as  an  avocation.  For  three 
years  we  find  him  engaged  in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois,  afterward  eight 
years  Principal  of  the  Ralls  County  Academy  at  New  London,  Mo.,  five  years 
of  this  time  filling  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools. 
During  this  time  his  Sundays  were  spent  in  preaching.  He  has  done  much 
work  in  county  institutes,  in  preparing  teachers  for  their  woi'k.  In  1874  he 
was  called  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Ancient  Languages  in  Oskaloosa  College,  Oshkosh, 
Iowa.  After  holding  this  position  seven  years,  he  was  elected  President  of 
that  institution.  After  a  successful  term  of  two  years  he  resigned  to  accept 
the  Presidency  of  Hiram  College,  Hiram,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio.  This  position 
he  has  held  for  two  years  past  with  admirable  success,  having  already  won  the 
approval  and  regard  of  the  friends  and  patrons  of  the  college.  His  life  has 
been  a  very  active  one,  and  will  doubtless  continue  so,  until  he  shall  lay  aside 
•  the  armor  which  he  has  never  allowed  to  rust.  Much  of  his  time  has  been 
spent  in  writing  for  educational  papers,  both  as  editor  and  correspondent. 
He  has  given  many  lectm'es  on  educational  and  religious  themes.  He  is  of  a 
metaphysical  turn  of  mind.  As  a  minister  he  is  decidedly  non-sectarian,  and  as 
a  public  speaker  he  has  been  regarded  as  very  successful.  He  is  logical  and 
concise  in  writing,  using  pure  diction,  and  possessing  a  style  clear  and  forci- 
ble, as  well  as  oratorical.  In  character  he  is  blameless,  and  throughout  his 
life,  including  a  public  career  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  "  not  a  stain 
can  be  found  on  his  shield." 

GOULD  B.  MURWIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  is  a  native  of  Dela- 
ware County,  N.  Y. ,  born  January  25,  1819,  son  of  James  and  Ann  (Barlow) 
Murwin,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Nova  Scotia,  and  of  Irish  and  English 
descent,  respectively,  and  who  were  married  in  Delaware  County,  N.  Y. ,  where 
they  lived  a  term  of  years  and  then  removed  to  Tompkins  County,  N.  Y., 
where  Mr.  Murwin  died.  His  widow  became  a  resident  of  Ashtabula  County, 
Ohio,  whex'e  she  died.  Our  subject  moved  to  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  in  1838, 
thence  to  .Mentor,  Lake  Co.,  Ohio,  and  in  1840  to  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  where 
he  continued  in  the  shoe  trade  for  five  years.  He  then  returned  to  Ashtabula 
County,  where  he  operated  a  tannery  and  shoe  business,  and  in  1849  came  to 
this  county  and  purchased  land  in  Hiram  Township,  where  he  still  resides, 
following  general  agriculture.  Mr.  Miu'win  was  married,  August  19,  1847,  to 
Miss  Amanda  E.  Udall,  of  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  where  she  was  born 
August  2,  1826,  daughter  of  George  and  Melinda  (H^^tchins)  Udall,  natives  of 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and  of  English  and  Irish  descent,  respectively, 
and  who  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  this  county,  where  Mr.  Udall  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two  years  and  his  widow  still  resides,  aged  eighty-two  years. 
Our  subject  is  the  father  of  one  son — Herbert  B.,  born  August  7,  1859,  mar- 


748  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

ried  October  13,  1880,  to  Miss  Flora  B.  Wells,  of  Hiram  Township,  this 
county,  born  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  March  15,  1857,  daughter  of  William 
H.  and  Hannah  D.  (Bancroft)  Wells,  now  residing  in  Portage  County,  Ohio. 
Our  subject  has  served  in  some  of  the  township  oflQces;  in  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat. 

NOBLE  H.  NICHOLS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  was  born  in 
Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  May  29,  1825;  son  of  Andrew  and  Sallie  (Haven)  Nich- 
ols, natives  of  the  same  county  and  State,  born  September  27,  1790,  and  July 
17,  1797,  respectively;  former  was  a  Sergeant  in  the  war  of  18J2;  they  were 
married  January  7,  1819.  Andrew  Nichols  remained  in  New  York  State  until 
1832,  when  he  came  to  Ohio  and  settled  with  his  wife  in  Shalersville  Town- 
ship, this  county,  where  they  created  a  home  and  raised  a  family  of  five  sons 
and  five  daughters:  Polly  M.,  Koby  D.,  Paris  C,  Noble  H.,  LucretiaO.,  Mason 
E.,  James  H.,  Martha  L.,  Rossella  J.,  Albert  M.  The  father  was  an  active 
Democrat  all  his  life,  and  died  in  Shalersville  Township  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years;  his  widow  also  died  here,  aged  seventy-live  years.  Their  remains 
are  interred  in  the  Shalersville  Cemetery,  this  county.  Our  subject  was  married, 
April  11,  1844,  to  Miss  Ursula  B.  Drake,  of  Shalersville  Township,  born  in 
Hampshire  County.  Mass.,  November  28,  1822,  daughter  of  Stimpson  W.  and 
Abigail  (Joslin)  Drake,  also  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  married,  lived  and 
died  in  Hampshire  County,  that  State.  The  wife  of  our  subject  came  to  Ohio 
in  1843  and  is  now  the  mother  of  eight  children:  Marcus  H.,  Geoi-ge  F., 
Charles  L.,  Addie  L.,  Henry  C,  Ida  M.,  William  A.  and  Clarence  P.  Ida  and 
Andrew  died  in  infancy.  Our  subject  purchased  land  first  in  Shalersville 
Township  in  1847.  In  1850  he  sold  this  and  purchased  in  Mantua  Township, 
and  eight  years  later  removed  to  Hiram  Township,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
and  is  now  the  owner  of  over  1,000  acres  of  land.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Disciples  Church. 

SYLVESTER  R.  PACKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  is  a  native  of  New 
London  County,  Conn.,  born  March  4,  1803,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Ketura 
Packer,  who  were  natives  of  the  same  State,  where  they  remained  until  death. 
Sylvester  R.  came  to  this  county  in  1826  and  purchased  land  in  Hiram  Town- 
ship, on  which  he  still  resides.  He  was  married  in  1827  to  Miss  Laura  Maxon, 
of  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  also  a  native  of  Connecticut,  where  she  was 
born  September  6,  1809,  and  whose  parents  were  among  the  first  settlers  in 
this  county.  To  this  union  were  born  eight  children,  of  whom  only  two  sur- 
vive: Angeline  and  Mary.  Mr.  Packer  has  served  in  some  of  the  township 
offices.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

JASON  L.  PRICHARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Grove,  Geauga  County,  is  a 
native  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born  August  14,  1837,  son  of 
Jesse  and  Cornelia  (Cadwell)  Prichard,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Connect- 
icut respectively,  and  of  English  descent.  They  settled  in  this  county  in  an 
early  day,  locating  first  in  Nelson  Township,  and  then  in  Hiram  Township, 
latterly  moving  to  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  Jesse  Prichard  followed  the 
milling  business  until  his  death  in  1883.  His  wife  also  died  in  the  same 
year.  Our  subject  engaged  in  the  saw-mill  business  in  this  county  in  1860, 
operating  and  building  at  different  times  five  or  six  mills.  In  1882  he  became 
owner  of  the  old  home  farm  in  Hiram  Township,  upon  which  he  now  resides 
and  where  he  is  building  a  stationary  saw-mill.  He  married  in  1863  Miss 
Caroline  Abbott,  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  she  was  born  January  24, 
1837,  daughter  of  Harrison  and  Mary  (Burt)  Abbott,  natives  of  Massachusetts 
and  of  English  descent.       Caroline  Prichard,  who    was    the    mother    of    one 


HIRAM  TOWNSHIP.  749 

daughter,  died  March  29,  1880.  Our  subject  then  married,  September  4,  1881, 
Mrs.  N.  K.  (Keblor)  Freeman,  of  Geauga  County,  born  in  Trumbull  County, 
Ohio,  November  8,  1842,  the  widow  of  Loran  Freeman,  who  died  in  1879, 
leaving  no  offspring.      Mr.  Prichard  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

NELSON  F.  RAYMOND,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Hiram  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  30,  1841,  son  of  Silas  and  Rebecca  (Pitkin)  Ray- 
mond, natives  of  Orange,  N.  H.,  and  Hartford,  Vt. ,  respectively.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  about  1816  and  1818  and  were  married  in  Hiram  Township, 
this  county,  in  May,  1826,  where  they  reared  a  large  family,  six  of  whom  sur 
vive.  Silas  Raymond  died  in  1881,  aged  eighty-two  years,  his  wife  having 
preceded  him  in  1878,  aged  seventy-eight.  Our  subject  was  married  December 
28,  1871,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Hyde,  of  Farmington,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  where 
she  was  born  November  23,  1844,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Rebecca  (Sager) 
Hyde,  natives  of  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,  and  Trumbull  County,  Ohio, 
respectively,  and  who  were  married  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  they 
settled  about  1838  and  where  they  still  reside.  Our  subject  and  wife  are  the 
parents  of  one  son — Glenn  H.,  born  August  13,  1877.  Mr.  Raymond  pur- 
chased in  1870  his  farm  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  which  he  has  greatly 
improved,  and  has  given  considerable  attention  to  fruit-raising,  mostly  grapes. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church  of  Hiram  Center.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JOSEPH  P.  ROBERTS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  is  a  native  of  Middlesex 
County,  Conn.,  born  in  1821.  His  parents,  Asher  and  Sarah  (Paddoe)  Roberts, 
were  natives  of  Connecticut,  of  English  descent.  They  were  the  parents  of 
live  children,  two  of  whom  survive:  Jane  and  Joseph  P.  The  father  died  in 
1823,  and  the  mother  then  married  Charles  Cone  (by  whom  she  had  three 
children)  and  died  in  1878.  Our  subject  removed  to  Hiram  Township,  this 
county,  in  1839,  spending  the  first  two  years  in  Shalersville,  where  he  began 
blacksmithing,  a  trade  he  continued  twenty  years  in  Mantua,  this  county. 
In  1857  he  came  to  Hiram  Township  and  purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now 
resides,  and  which  he  has  improved  in  various  ways.  He  was  married  in  1845 
to  Miss  Lovina  Spencer,  born  in  Mantua,  only  daughter  of  Hiram  and  Eliza- 
beth Spencer,  early  settlers  in  this  county.  By  this  union  were  two  children: 
Sarah,  and  Mary  (deceased).  Mrs,  Roberts  died  in  1848  and  Mr.  Roberts 
again  married,  on  this  occasion,  in  1855,  Miss  Lora  AVebster,  of  Ashtabula 
County,  Ohio,  her  native  home,  by  whom  he  had  three  children:  Julia,  Lydia 
(deceased)  and  Bion.  She  died  in  1872,  and  our  subject  then  married,  the 
third  time,  in  1877,  Miss  Adda  Stanton,  a  native  of  this  county,  and  by  her 
has  one  son — Ray.     Mr.  Roberts  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

NUMAN  P.  SQUIRE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rapids,  was  born  in  Aurora  Town- 
ship, this  county,  December  9, 1813;  son  of  Warren  and  Lovina  (McConoughey) 
Squire,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  English  and  Irish  descent,  respec- 
tively, and  whose  parents  settled  in  this  county  in  1809.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried, in  1839,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Avery,  of  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  a 
native  of  New  York  State,  and  whose  parents  immigrated  to  this  county  in  a  very 
early  day.  To  this  union  was  born  one  son — Frank,  who  is  married  and 
resides  upon  the  home  farm.  The  mother  of  this  son  died  September  6,1844, 
and  our  subject  married  again,  in  1846,  Miss  Julia  A.  White,  of  this  county, 
also  a  native  of  New  York  State,  and  daughter  of  Nathan  White,  who  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers  in  this  county.  Mr.  Squire  purchased  his  farm  in  Hiram 
Township,  this  county,  in  1846,  and  has  improved  the  same  in  many  ways.  He 
has  served  his  township  in  most  of  its  offices;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

39 


750  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

ANDREW  J.  SQUIRE,  physician,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Aurora  Town- 
ship, this  couaty,  September  17,  1815;  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Clarissa  (Stewarfc) 
Squire,  natives  of  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  of  English  descent,  who  immi- 
grated to  Ohio  in  1810  and  settled  ia  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  same  year 
In  1815  they  moved  to  Mantua  Township,  where  Ezekiel  Squire  followed  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  died  September  5,  1822.  He  was  the  father  of  four 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  Medical  University 
at  Willonghby,  Ohio,  (from  1810  to  1841)  and  began  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  in  1843.  There  he  continued  until  1864^ 
when  he  moved  to  Hiram  Center,  where  he  still  continues  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  The  Doctor  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  and  served  from 
1859  to  1861;  has  also  filled  most  of  the  township  offices — Justice  of  the 
Peace,  etc.  He  was  married  in  1850  to  Martha  Wilmot,  of  Mantua  Township, 
daughter  of  Ella  and  Lucretia  (Blair)  Wilmot,  early  settlers  of  this  county, 
and  to  this  union  have  been  born  two  sons:  Andrew,  practicing  law,  and 
Marion,  attending  the  Medical  College. 

FRANCIS  STRONG,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  is  a  native  of  Vermont, 
born  in  1807,  where  his  parents,  Francis  and  Thankful  Strong,  formerly  of 
Massachusetts,  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  came  to  this  county  in  1836  and  for 
two  years  operated  a  woolen -mill  in  Garrettsville;  thence  moved  to  Hiram  Town- 
ship, where  he  has  since  followed  general  agriculture  and  has  served  in  most  of 
the  township  offices.  He  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  has  been  a  Deacon  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church  for  twenty-five  years;  he  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics. 
Mr.  Strong  was  married,  in  1837,  to  Louisa  Hitchcock,  of  this  county,  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  daughter  of  Chauncy  and  Mary  (Goodrich)  Hitchcock, 
who  settled  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  in  1835,  and  here  remained  until 
their  death.  Our  subject  and  wife  are  parents  of  one  daughter — Clara  L., 
born  in  Hiram  Township,  and  who  was  married  April  16,  1865,  to  James  K. 
Rudolph,  also  a  native  and  resident  of  Hiram  Township,  born  April  16,  1840, 
son  of  John  and  Cleona  (Atwater)  Rudolph,  natives  of  Virginia  and  Ohio, 
respectively,  and  who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  this  vicinity. 

LEWIS  C.  TODD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Chautauqua 
County,  N.  Y.,  July  30,  1824;  son  of  Lewis  C.  and  Ellen  (Stedman)  Todd, 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  State  respectively,  of  English  descent, 
and  who  were  married  in  Chautauqua  County,  where  they  lived  several  years, 
he  being  a  teacher  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and  a  piiblisher  and 
preacher.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1834  and  settled  in  Nelson  Township, 
but  in  1854  removed  to  Geauga  County,  where  the  father  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  and  in  1862  they  removed  to  Nelson,  where  they  both  died.  Our 
subject  purchased  land  in  this  county  in  1845,  to  which  he  added  in  1862  by 
purchases  in  Nelson  Township,  where  he  farmed  until  1882,  when  he  moved  to 
his  present  residence  in  this  township.  Our  subject  has  been  twice  married, 
his  first  wife  being  Mary  P,  Cook,  who  died  in  1861,  leaving  two  children: 
Clarence  L.  and  Mary  E.  He  was  married,  November  6,  1862,  to  Electa  J. 
Young,  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  a  native  of  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y. ,  where 
she  was  boi-n  November  27,  1834,  daughter  of  Elisha  W.  and  Lovica  (Ryder) 
Young,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York,  respectively,  and  of  English 
descent.  By  this  [marriage  he  is  parent  of  two  children:  one  son,  Melvin 
B.,  and  a  daughter,  Jennie  L.  Mr.  Young  was  the  inventor  of  the  first  smut- 
mill,  and  also  a  patentee  of  other  discoveries  in  mechanics.  He  died  in 
Geauga  County  in  1881  and  his  widow  in  1882.  Our  subject  is  a  Master 
Mason;  he  is  Independent  in  politics. 

WILLIAM  E.  UDALL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Hiram 
Township,  this  county,  April   20,    1820;    son  of    Rufus   and   Mary  (Loomis) 


HIRAM  TOAVNSHIP.  751 

Udall.  Our  subject  became  owner  of  land  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county, 
in  1839,  which  he  sold  a  few  years  later,  and  in  1843  purchased  the  property 
on  which  he  now  resides.  He  has  followed  farming  through  life:  also  oper- 
ated a  threshing  machine,  in  the  season,  for  three  years,  and  has  been  a  mover 
of  millings  for  the  past  twenty  years.  He  was  married  in  Hiram  Township, 
this  county,  November  22,  1842,  to  Miss  Sallie  Bently,  of  Troy  Township, 
Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  where  she  was  born  November  15,  1818,  daughter  of  Sim- 
eon and  Eliza  Bently,  natives  of  New  York  State,  and  who  moved  in  1842 
from  Geauga  Coiinty,  Ohio,  to  Putnam  County,  where  they  died  a  few  years 
later.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  one  son — Charles  Albert,  born  November 
6,  1847.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Udall  have  been  members  of  the  Disciples  Church  for 
forty-five  years.     In  politics  he  is  a  fvepublican. 

FRANK  M.  UDALL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Hiram  Township, 
this  county,  December  20,  1838;  son  of  George  and  Melinda  (Hutchins) 
Udall,  natives  of  Vermont  and  New  Hafnpshire  respectively.  They  moved  to- 
this  county  in  1818,  where  they  lived  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Udall  in  1857,, 
and  where  his  widow  still  resides  with  our  subject.  Frank  M.  Udall  was  mar- 
ried in  1864  to  Miss  Clara  A.  Bishop,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  which  city  her 
parents  had  emigrated  from  Nova  Scotia  about  1847.  Her  father  died  in  that 
city,  where  her  mother  still  resides.  To  the  union  of  our  subject  and  wife 
have  been  born  five  children:  George  M. ,  Jessie  A.,  George  F.,  Olevia  and 
Don  B.,  all  living  but  George  M.  and  Don  B.  Mr.  Udall  served  fourteen 
months  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  Company  A,  Forty- second  Regi- 
ment Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  tlie  Christias 
Church  at  Hiram  Center.  He  has  served  as  Township  Clerk.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican. 

BENJAMIN  F.  WATERS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Trum^ 
bull  County,  Ohio,  January  20,  1822;  son  of  Gideon  and  Phcebe  (Rhodes;) 
Waters,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  State  respectively,  and  whe 
were  married  in  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.  About  1812  they  came  to  TrumbuK 
County,  Ohio,  where  they  reared  a  family  of  eight  children  and  where  Gideon 
Waters  died  :  his  widow  then  removed  to  this  county,  where  she  passed  the 
remainder  of  her  days.  Our  subject  was  married  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio, 
in  1846,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Hyde,  whose  parents  were  early  settlers  in  this 
county,  and  where  they  died.  To  this  union  have  been  born  two  sons  and  two 
daughters:  Emergene,  Alva  C. ,  Frank  H.  and  Mary  (latter  deceased.)  Ouer 
subject  came  into  this  county  in  1865  and  paichased  land  in  the  township 
where  he  now  resides,  devoting  his  time  to  general  agriculture.  He  served 
under  the  100- days  call  in  the  late  war,  a  member  of  Company  H,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy- first  Regiment  Ohio  National  Guards,  and  was  captured,  bat 
soon  after  paroled.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
Politically  he  is  a  Republican. 

ERASTUS  M.  YOUNG,  retired,  P.  O.  Hiram,  was  born  in  Hiram  Township, 
this  county, April  2,  1813,  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Montgomery)  Young, 
of  English  descent,  natives  of  Windham  County, Conn.,  where  they  were  married 
and  whence  they  moved  to  this  county  in  1811.  They  settled  in  Hiram  Township, 
where  they  cleared  up  a  large  farm,  I'eared  a  family  of  five  children,  of  wbona 
only  our  subject  survives,  and  here  the  mother  died  in  1815,  the  father  in  1823, 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner, 
which  he  followed  principally  for  twenty-five  years.  He  then  purchased  land 
in  Hiram  Township,  which  he  farmed  until  1880,  when  he  sold  the  same  and. 
moved  to  Hiram  Center,  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married  in  1837  to 
Miss  Loi'ena  E.  Mackintosh,  of  Mantua  Township,  where  her    parents  eettlei 


752  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

in  an  early  day.  She  died  August  13,  1839,  mother  of  one  daughter — Loreua 
E.  Mr.  Young  then  married  in  1841  Miss  Chestina  Allyn,  of  Hiram  Town- 
ship, a  native  of  Connecticut,  born  May  29,  1821,  and  whose  parents  were 
also  very  early  settlers  in  this  county,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  To  this  second  union  were  born  three  children:  Lorena  A.,  Sutton  E. 
and  Clark  M.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Young  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church,  in 
which  the  former  has  filled  the  office  of  Deacon  over  forty  years.  He  is  a 
Kepublican  in  politics. 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP. 

SAMUEL  ALVOED,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  in  Kirtland, 
Lake  Co.,  Ohio,  August  19,  1823;  son  of  Elijah  and  Mary  (Barker)  Alvord, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  at  Colchester,  New  London  Co.,  Conn.,  June  12, 
1773,  and  the  latter  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  June  14,  1793.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  the  latter  State  May  25,  1819,  and  the  same  year  removed  to  Ohio.  Our 
subject  came  to  Mantua  in  April,  1833,  where  he  was  educated,  and  November 
17,  1847,  he  married  Serena,  daughter  of  Phineas  U.  Jennings,  born  July  12, 
1823,  on  the  old  homestead,  Lot  39,  Mantua.  By  this  union  there  is  one  child, 
a  son — Phineas  Elbert — born  October  24,  1868,  the  only  grandchild  of  P.  U. 
Jennings.  Om'  subject  early  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed 
for  many  years.  He  is  strictly  temperate;  has  never  bought  a  glass  of  liquor 
at  any  bar  for  himself  or  any  one  else  yet,  or  used  tobacco  in  any  way.  He 
now  resides  on  his  farm,  which  is  a  part  of  Lots  38  and  39,  in  Mantua,  and  71 
in  Shalersville  Townships,  where,  by  honest  industry  and  fair  dealing,  united 
with  a  systematic  and  practical  knowledge  of  the  wants  and  duties  of  life,  he 
has  surrounded  his  home  with  the  comforts  and  conveniences  necessary  for  the 
enjoyment  of  rural  life. 

ALLEN  A.  BARBER,  merchant,  Mantua  Station,  was  born  May  1,  1833, 
in  Freedom  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Capt.  Harmon  andLucena  (Daniels) 
Barber,  natives  of  Ohio.  Capt.  Harmon  Barber,  an  eccentric  citizen,  was 
elected  to  the  command  of  a  company  of  militia  after  the  war  of  1812  and 
proved  himself  to  be  one  of  the  best  commanders  of  the  day.  He  was  one  of 
sixteen  children,  and  he  himself  raised  a  family,  whose  names  are  Calvin,  mar- 
ried to  Louise,  sister  of  Gen.  Leggett,  and  residing  in  Iowa;  Allen  A. ;  Ches- 
ter T.,  married  to  Ursula  Halstead,  also  in  Iowa;  Brewster  O.,  died  in  Gar- 
rettsville,  Ohio,  of  disease  contracted  in  the  army,  during  the  late  war  of  the 
Rebellion  (he  was  married  to  Ann  Henry);  Polly  (deceased).  Our  subject  was 
married,  January  9,  1850,  to  Helen,  daughter  of  William  and  Chloe  McClin- 
tock,  by  whom  he  had  four  children:  Fred  A.,  married  to  Florence  Burroughs; 
Will  H. ;  Frank  M.  and  George  A.  Mr.  Barber  for  many  years  has  been  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Barber  &  Smith,  one  of  the  oldest  in  Garrettsville  or 
Portage  County,  and  for  a  long  period  was  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Barber  &  Sons,  of  Mantua.  He  is  a  Knight  Templar,  and  W.  M.  of  Mantua 
Lodge,  No.  533,  and  was  the  first  Odd  Fellow  initiated  in  Garrettsville  Lodge. 

FREDERICK  P.  BARD,  furniture  dealer,  Mantua  Station,  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1845,  in  Kent  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Pelatiah  and  Hannah 
(Lanning)  Bard,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1802;  the 
latter,  a  native  of  Upper  Canada,  was  born  in  1801.     They  were  the  parents  of 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  75S 

nine  childi'en:  Caroline,  Martha  C,  Frances  L.,  Mary  C,  Helen  H.,  George 
W.,  Charles  H.,  William  F.  and  Frederick  P.  During  the  late  war  of  the 
Rebellion  three  of  the  sons  enlisted  in  the  service  of  their  country:  Charles 
H.  was  a  member  of  Company  F,  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  he  is  now 
a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  Mich.;  William  F.  was  in  the  Forty-fifth  Mounted 
Infantry  and  died  in  Andersonville  Prison;  Frederick  P.  served  for  a  time 
under  Gen.  Garfield  in  Company  A,  Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
but  received  an  honorable  discharge  on  account  of  disability  caused  by  sick- 
ness from  which  he  has  never  fully  recovered.  He  was  married,  May  30,  1871, 
to  Jennie  A.,  only  child  of  Charles  and  Sarah  Baker,  of  Irish  descent,  with 
whom  they  make  their  home.  By  this  union  there  is  one  child — Sarah  A. 
Mr.  Baker,  a  native  of  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  came  here  in  1869,  bought  the 
land  on  which  they  live  from  John  Craft,  and  built  a  fine  brick  residence. 
His  family  are  all  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Bard  is 
a  reputable  citizen  of  Mantua  Township;  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. ;  also  a 
Good  Templar.  He  is  now  engaged  in  the  furniture  business,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1881. 

C.  A.  BARTHOLOMEW,  farmer,  P.  O.  Aurora  Station,  was  born  August 
31,  1828,  in  Auburn,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio;  son  of  Jonathan  F.  and  Mary  (Wil- 
son) Bartholomew,  natives  of  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  and  Montpelier,  Vt, 
respectively,  and  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1814,  passing  en  route  through 
Buffalo  at  the  time  that  city  was  in  flames,  it  having  been  fired  by  the 
British,  settling  permanently  in  Auburn  Township,  Geauga  County.  They 
had  a  family  of  twelve,  nine  of  whom  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood, 
eight  now  living:  Perleyett  (Mrs.  Frazee)  in  Burton,  Geauga  County;  Julyann 
(Mrs.  Redtield)  in  Fayette  County,  Iowa;  C.  A.;  N.  S. ;  Betsey  (Mrs.  L.  Reed) 
in  Burton;  Mary  (Mrs.  Canfield)  in  Auburn;  Alonzo  D.  in  La  Fayette  County, 
Iowa;  T.  C.  P.  in  Auburn.  Jonathan  P.  Bartholomew  died  February  5,  1863; 
his  widow  survived  until  February  22,  1884.  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1852, 
to  Emily,  daughter  of  Chauncey  Wincheli,  a  native  of  Suffield,  Mass.,  and 
whose  history  will  be  found  elsewhere.  Mr.  Bartholomew  is  a  prosperous 
farmer;  he  is  prominently  identified  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  a 
member  of  Lodge  213.  Twinsburg. 

SYLVESTER  BEECHER  (deceased)  was  born  at  Milford,  Conn.,  January 
23,  1786,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Polly  Beecher.  He  removed  to  Ohio*  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  having,  prior  to  leaving  his  native  State,  contracted 
with  a  party  named  Canfield,  to  superintend  the  building  of  the  first  mill  ever 
erected  at  Newton  Falls,  Trumbull  County.  He  made  the  journey  to  Ohio  on 
foot,  and  being  robbed, (?u  ro«<^e, of  $4,  which  comprised  his  wordly  possessions, 
he  arrived  at  his  destination  penniless  and  a  stranger.  He  completed  his  con- 
tract, however,  after  which  he  was  employed  as  a  laborer  in  the  brick  yard  of 
Wilcox  &  DeWolf,  of  Vernon,  Trumbull  County,  and  while  with  them  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Betsey  Bushnell,  who  subsequently  became  his 
wife.  Upon  the  dissolution  of  his  connection  with  this  firm  he  visited  an  uncle, 
then  residing  at  Shalersville,  Mr.  Hine,  father  of  the  late  Abel  Hine  of  that 
township.  While  with  his  uncle  he  was  induced  to  purchase  the  old  home- 
stead, which  was  then  in  Middletown,  now  Shalersville  Township,  from  a  Mn 
Shaler,  after  whom  the  village  of  Shalersville  or  Shalersville  Center  was  named- 
After  Mr.  Beecher  purchased  his  first  100  acres  he  entered  Mr.  Shaler' s  service, 
and  made  his  first  payment  on  his  land  by  clearing  the  village  lands  and 
adjoining  roads  of  timber.  About  this  time  he  eulisted  in  the  war  of  1812, 
bat  returned  after  a  four  months'  service,  having  been  slightly  wounded  in  the 
head  dui-ing  a  skirmish  with  the  Indians,  and  began  to  improve  his  purchase. 


754  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

He  then  visited  his  native  State,  working  there  in  a  woolen  and  button  factory 
■antil  he  had  earned  more  than  enough  to  complete  the  payment  on  his  land. 
Investing  in  a  stock  of  goods  he  came  back  to  Ohio  with  a  team  and  wagon, 
defraying  his  expenses  by  selling  a  part  of  his  stock,  and  renting  a  room  in 
Yernon  Township,  Trumbull  County,  he  disposed  of  the  residue.  Soon  after 
he  made  a  third  trip  to  Connecticut,  returning  with  another  stock  of  goods, 
which  were  placed  on  sale  where  now  stands  the  village  of  Palmyra.  On  July 
16,  181G,  he  married  Miss  Betsey  Bushnell  and  by  her  had  twelve  children, 
seven  of  whom  survive:  Kosella  (Mrs.  Horr,  a  widow),  Samuel,  Austin,  Harriet 
(Mi-8.  W.  W.  Patton,  of  Kent),  Lura  (Mrs.  Dr.  C.  S.  Leonard,  in  Ravenna), 
Electa  (Mrs.  George  R.  Miller)  and  John  H.  The  last  mentioned  was  born  in 
Shalersville  Township,  June  21,  1841,  was  educated  at  Hiram  College,  where 
Uarfield  received  his  training,  and  married  March  29,  1880,  Miss  Georgia, 
daughter  of  A.  N.  Farr,  Esq.,  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Mantua  Township, 
this  county.  He  (John  H. )  is  now  General  Agent  for  the  Ohio  Farmers  Insur- 
ance Company;  he  is  prominently  connected  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  Lodge 
533,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Mantua  Station.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  (Sylvester 
Beecher)  died  in  1855,  leaving  an  estate  estimated  at  $95,000,  most  of  which 
is  in  Mantua  Township.     His  widow  departed  this  life  June  10,  1884. 

AUSTIN  S.  BEECHER,  hardware  merchant,  Mantua,  was  born  February 
1,  1830,  in  the  township  of  Shalersville.  this  county,  son  of  Sylvester  and 
Betsey  (Bushnell)  Beecher,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio  at  an 
©arly  day.  They  were  parents  of  twelve  children,  seven  now  living:  Rosella 
|Mrs.  Haw);  Samuel  S. ;  Austin  S. ;  Harriet  A.  (Mrs.  Patton),  in  Kent;  Laura 
A.  (Mrs.  Dr.  Leonard),  in  Ravenna;  Electa  (Mrs.  George  R.  Miller),  in  Free- 
dom Township,  and  J.  W.  Our  subject's  father  made  several  trips  between 
this  State  and  the  East  before  settling  permanently.  The  tirst  journey  he  made 
on  foot,  bearing  articles  of  merchandise  to  sell  while  en  route;  then  in  a  wagon 
laden  with  commodities.  He  located  in  Shalersville,  where  he  became  a  prom- 
inent merchant  and  a  large  land-holder.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
jied  February  9,  1857,  to  Olive  A.,  daughter  of  Jesse  Brewster,  and  to  this 
anion  was  born  one  son — Frank,  educated  at  Oberlin  and  Hiram  Colleges,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1872  and  1873  respectively,  and  at  the  law  school, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  1874.  He  is  now  an  attorney  at  law 
in  theJatter  city.  Our  subject  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Mantua,  and 
has  lately  opened  a  complete  line  of  hardware,  etc.,  in  the  new  building 
erected  by  Charles  Thomson.  He  has  held  the  offices  of  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  several  years,  and  is  a  member  of  Mantua  Lodge 
No.  533,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 

CHAUNCY  BLAIR,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  in  Mantua 
Township,  this  county,  February  7,  1819,  son  of  John  and  Pattie  (Smith)  Blair, 
saatives  of  Massachusetts,  who  immigrated  to  this  county  in  1810,  settling  near 
where  our  subject  now  resides.  John  Blair  built  the  tirst  frame  house  in  the 
township,  procuring  all  his  material  from  Pittsburgh  (the  nails  used  in  its  con- 
struction being  hand  made,  with  peculiar  heads).  It  was  formerly  used  as  a 
hotel,  and  for  many  years  was  the  temporary  abiding-place  for  transient  guests 
and  for  those  who  came  into  the  county  to  settle.  It  stands  on  the  farm  of 
®ur  subject,  near  the  village  of  Mantua.  John  Blair  was  twice  married,  and 
liis  family  consisted  of  ten  children,  two  of  whom  ax'e  now  living:  Mrs.  Annie 
Patterson,  eighty-two  years  of  age.  and  Chauncy.  Our  subject  was  married 
April  23,  1840,  to  Martha,  third  child  of  Lansing  and  Mary  (Vantleet)  Story, 
who  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  parents  of  seven  children,  four 
now  living.     Mr.  Story  came  to  this  county  in  1835  and  settled   near  Mantua 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  755 

Center,  but  after  a  few  years  went  West,  subsequently  returned  and  here  died. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chauncy  Blair  were  born  eight  children,  seven  now  living: 
Harriet,  Delia,  Jennie,  Addie,  Nettie.  Frankie  and  Cora;  Anson  is  deceased. 
Our  subject  and  wife  are  enjoying  the  fruits  of  years  of  labor  on  their  well 
iruproved  farm,  which  comprises  450  acres  of  land. 

ELSTON  R.  BLAIR,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  August  8, 
1826,  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Alfred  and  Julia  (Miller)  Blair. 
His  grandfather,  John  Blair,  came  to  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  in  1806, 
and  built  and  conducted  the  first  hotel  in  Mantua,  the  same  being  constructed 
of  frame,  supplied  with  glass,  etc. ,  purchased  at  Pittsburgh.  The  venerable 
building  is  still  intact  and  stands  on  the  farm  of  Chauncy  Blair.  Our  subject 
was  married  June  15,  1852,  to  Lucy  A.,  daughter  of  Avery  and  Annie  Patter- 
son. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blair  have  no  children.  Mrs.  Blair's  father,  Avery  Pat- 
terson, was  born  in  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  Octc>ber  27,  1792,  and  came  to  Ohio 
when  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  here  married  Annie  Blair,  born  in  Blandf  ord, 
Mass.,  in  1802,  daughter  of  John  and  Pattie  (Smith)  Blair,  who  bore  him  two 
children,  only  one  now  living — Lucy  A.,  wife  of  our  subject.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Patterson,  pioneers  on  the  borders  of  civilization,  began  life  in  the  most  prim- 
itive manner,  and  lived  to  see  cities  rise  up  in  the  wilderness  and  the  fields  to 
blossom  as  the  rose.  Mr.  Patterson  at  one  time  owned  over  900  acres  of  land. 
He  died  in  1859.  His  widow,  now  over  eighty-two  years  of  age,  resides  with 
Mr.  Blair. 

FRANK  BLAIR,  farmer,  manufacturer  and  dealer  in  cheese  and  butter, 
Mantua,  was  born  January  6,  1846,  on  the  fai'm  where  he  now  lives  in  this 
township,  and  on  which  his  father  first  settled  in  1827,  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Cynthia  (Jeiferson)  Blair, former  a  native  of  Blandford,  Mass., born  December  9, 
1802,  latter  of  Wrentham,  Mass.  Benjamin  Blair  was  brought  to  Mantua  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1804  by  his  father, who  was  land  agent  here  for  the  early  set- 
tlers, and  who  subsequently  revisited  Massachusetts,  but  returned  to  Mantua,  Ohio, 
in  1806,  and  was  accidentally  killed  while  "raising"  a  cabin  in  1807,  when  Ben- 
jamin was  but  four  years  of  age.  Benjamin  Blair  married,  in  Mantua,  Ohio,  May 
17, 1827,  Cynthia  Jefferson,  who  bore  him  eight  children,  four  of  whom  are  now 
living:  James  J.;  Nelson  B.,  died  October  28,  1884  (he  was  married  first  to 
Caroline,  daughter  of  Alfred  Blair,  afterward  to  Mary  Frost);  Henry  C, 
died  in  1856;  Newton,  died  April  18,  1851;  Wallace  B. ,  married  for  his  first 
wife  Sarah  Eggleston,  and  for  his  second  married  Emma  Talbot;  Edwin,  died 
in  1844;  Austin  A.,- was  married  October,  1876,  to  Minnie  Hazlet;  and  Frank. 
Our  subject  was  married  January  22,  1872,  to  Annie,  daughter  of  Carnot 
Mason,  of  Hiram,  this  county,  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  parent  of  ten 
children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Blair  is  eighth.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blair  have  four  chil- 
dren: Claud  C,  Frank  B.,  Harry  M.  and  Nina  M.  Our  subject  is  a  leading 
citizen  of  Mantua  Township,  where  he  has  been  extensively  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  cheese  for  the  past  twelve  years.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  con- 
nected with  Lodge  No.  533,  of  Mantua.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

PETER  CARLTON  (deceased)  was  born  June  3,  1787,  in  Stafibrd,  Conn., 
and  was  a  son  of  Caleb  and  Margaret  Carlton,  who  were  the  parents  of  Han- 
nah, married  to  John  Bestor;  Caleb;  Lucy,  married  to  Alvin  Bestor;  Peter; 
Elias;  Sallie,  married  to  Willis  Kneeland;  Dudley.  Our  subject  was  the  first 
Carlton  to  settle  in  this  county,  coming  in  1811,  his  parents  following  in  1814. 
He  was  married,  November  29,  J 810,  to  Clarissa,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Per- 
sis  (Davis)  Ladd,  and  born  February  25,  1779,  one  week  before  the  inaugura- 
tion of  George  Washington  as  President.  Says  a  writer:  '"Here,  amid  the 
influence  of  the  crude  and  imperfect  civilization  that  existed   in  those  early 


756  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

days,  she  was  reared  to  habits  of  industry,  and  enjoyed  only  such  educational 
advantages  as  the  limited  means  of  her  pai'ents  were  able  to  bestow,  until  she 
was  twenty-one  years  old."  Soon  after  their  marriage  our  subject  and  wife 
left  for  Ohio,  and  after  a  toilsome  journey  of  twenty-seven  days  arrived  at 
Painesville,  Ohio,  where  they  met  Horace  Ladd,  who  had  preceded  them  a 
short  time.  With  Mr.  Ladd,  Peter  Carlton  and  his  wife  left  their  wagon  and 
goods,  mounted  their  horses  and  struck  out  for  Mantua,  and  on  their  way,  at 
Welshfield,  they  met  a  man  whose  track  in  the  leaves  served  as  a  guide  to  their 
right  course.  At  night  they  reached  Blackbrook,  a  small  stream  with  muddy 
bottom,  which  with  care  they  managed  to  cross.  While  making  preparations 
to  cross  they  started  a  hog,  which  ran  away,  as  they  supposed,  toward  a  house. 
They  followed  it,  and  soon  came  to  the  clearing  of  Eli  as  Harmon,  and  from 
there  went  to  the  clearing  of  Mrs.  Carlton's  brother,  Eleazer  Ladd,  reaching 
there  about  10  o'clock.  They  were  desirous  of  settling  in  Geauga  County,  but 
the  settlers  of  Mantua,  being  solicitous  about  increasing  their  settlement, 
offered  to  build  them  a  house  and  render  other  necessary  assistance.  They 
were  induced  to  make  a  final  settlement.  In  1812  the  war  broke  out,  and  Mr. 
Carlton  went  forward  to  defend  his  country.  After  several  years  spent  in 
clearing  the  farm,  it  was  traded  for  the  home  now  owned  by  their  youngest 
son,  P.  A.  Peter  Carlton  died  in  1861;  his  widow  survived  him  several  years. 
One  evening  she  listened  to  the  reading  of  an  excellent  book,  retired  in  her 
usual  health,  and  was  found  the  next  morning  apparently  in  a  gentle  sleep, 
but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  she  was  stricken  from  life's  roll  on  earth  and 
gathered  into  life  eternal.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children:  George,  born 
September  5,  1811,  died  August  29,  1836;  Sherman,  born  June  21,  1813,  died 
February  20,  1851;  Caleb  D.,  born  May  22,  1815,  died  December  19,  1867; 
Francis,  born  April  29,  1817;  Clarissa,  born  June  30,  1819,  married  Septem- 
ber 27,  1841,  to  I.  P,  Sperry;  P,  A.;  Sallie,  born  August  1,  1823,  died  May  27, 
1845  (she  married  Robert  McMurdy);  Lydia,  born  August  14,  1825,  died  Sep- 
tember 27,  1845;  Percis  A.,  born  July  4,  1829;  Huldah  E.,  born  November  21, 
1833.  P.  A.,  who  was  born  February  26,  1821,  in  Mantua  Township,  this 
county,  attended  the  country  schools  and  the  school  at  Kirtland,  and  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm.  He  was  married  September  27,  1848,  to  Sallie  A.  Par- 
ker, born  November  8,  1829,  in  Aurora,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Horace  and  Achsa 
(McElwain)  Parker,  natives,  the  former  of  this  county,  the  latter  of  Vermont. 
The  father,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  died  leaving  her 
and  Huldah,  and  the  mother  subsequently  married  James  Pease,  by  whom  she 
had  eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living:  Celia,  Malinda,  Sylvia, 
Helen,  Abner,  Samuel  and  Frank.  The  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Disciples 
Church.  To  P.  A.  Carlton  and  his  wife  were  born  ten  children,  nine  of  whom 
are  now  living:  Arah,  married  to  Carrie  Donnel  (he  is  a  dentist  at  Mantua  Sta- 
tion); Herbert,  married  to  Tillie  Parker;  John  and  James  (twins),  the  former 
married  to  Hettie  Cobb,  and  the  latter  to  Lou  Whittier;  Clara;  GUy  E. ;  Per- 
sis  E. ;  Horace  P.  and  Lucy  A.  P.  A.  Carlton  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Dis- 
ciples Church.  He  owns  the  old  homestead  of  200  acres.  Mr.  Carlton  was 
drafted  in  the  late  war  and  hired  a  substitute.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 
His  brother  Sherman's  son,  Charles,  was  said,  by  James  A,  Garfield,  who 
preached  his  funeral  discourse,  to  have  been  the  lirst  Union  man  to  shed  blood 
in  a  regular  engagement  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion.  After  being  seriously 
wounded  he  was  brought  home  by  Francis  Carlton,  whose  sketch  appears  else- 
where. In  this  volume  will  be  found  the  portraits  of  Peter  and  Clarissa  Carl- 
ton, who  were  exemplary  Christian  people. 

FRANCIS  CARLTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  April  29,  1817,  in 
Mantua  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Peter  and  Clarissa  (Ladd)  Carl- 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  757 

ton,  natives  of  Stafiford,  Conn.,  and  Marlboro,  Mass.,  respectively,  and  who 
were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  five  now  living:  Francis;  Clarissa  (Mrs. 
Sperry),  in  Tallmadge,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio;  P.  A.,  residing  on  the  old  home- 
stead; Hulda  (Mrs.  Sperry),  in  Tallmadge,  and  Percis  A.,  widow  of  Charles 
Taylor,  also  in  Tallmadge,  Ohio.  Peter  Carlton  and  wife  came  to  this  county 
in  the  spring  of  1811,  and  settled  in  Mantua  Township,  where  he  bought  a 
farm,  which  in  a  few  years  he  traded  for  one  owned  by  B.  F.  Blair.  He  was 
a  pioneer  farmer  of  Mantua  Township,  and  died  May  27,  1861,  aged  seventy- 
five  years.  Clarissa  (Ladd)  Carlton  died  January  10,  1883,  aged  ninety-four 
years.  Our  subject  was  married  October  23,  1839,  to  Polly,  daughter  of  Dan- 
iel and  Margaret  (Squires)  Bidlake,  who  came  to  Mantua  Township,  this 
county,  in  1810.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlton  have  been  born  seven  children:  Gr. 
W.,  married  to  Chloe  Hotchkiss;  F.  M. ,  married  to  Mary  Nelson;  Lydia  A., 
wife  of  S.  T.  Thayer;  A.  P.,  married  to  Helen  Cobb;  Abbie,  wife  Charles 
Parker;  Ida  B. ,  wife  of  Caleb  Kettring,  and  Emma  M. 

LEVI  E.  CARLTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  March  7,  1824,  in 
Mantua  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Dudley  and  Lydia  (Eaton)  Carlton, 
natives  of  Stafford,  Tolland  Co.,  Conn.,  former  born  September  3,  1796,  latter 
August  31,  1791,  and  who  were  married  in  1814,  and  moved  to  Ohio  in  the 
same  year.  There  were  born  to  them  five  sons  and  one  daughter,  two  sons 
and  the  daughter  being  deceased;  two  sons  living  in  Mantua  and  one  in  Kan- 
sas: E.  D.,  a  widower,  residing  in  Mantua;  B.  P.  in  Kansas;  and  Levi  E.  in 
Mantua.  Dudley  Carlton  died  in  1878,  and  his  wife  in  1868.  Capt.  Caleb 
Carlton,  Dudley  Carlton's  father,  was  a  soldier  throughout  the  entire  Revolu- 
tionary war,  serving  seven  years.  He  moved  to  Ohio  with  his  son,  Dudley, 
and  died  in  1823.  Our  subject  was  married,  October  16,  1851,  to  Mary  L., 
daughter  of  Capt.  John  and  Betsey  W.  Esty,  and  born  December  18,  1830.  To 
this  union  were  born  two  sons,  both  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

HENRY  COBB,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  April  22,  1821, 
in  Suffield,  Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  son  of  Samuel  and  Harriet  (Sheldon)  Cobb, 
natives  of  Connecticut.  His  paternal  great-grandfather  was  Dr.  Samuel 
Cobb,  born  August  25,  1716,  in  Wales,  and  who  emigrated  to  New  England, 
where  he  remained  for  a  time  at  Barnstable,  near  Cape  Cod,  Mass.  In  1743  he 
removed  to  Tolland,  Conn.,  and  was  a  celebrated  physician  and  magistrate. 
He  died  universally  lamented  April  6,  1781.  He  married  Maiy  Hinkley, 
who  died  December  9,  1746,  leaving  two  children.  On  April  11,  1749,  he 
was  again  married,  this  time  to  Hannah  Bicknell,  by  whom  he  had  twelve 
children.  David,  one  of  his  sons,  born  June  6,  1761,  at  Tolland,  Conn., 
married  Hope  Norris,  June  25,  1782,  and  by  her  had  thirteen  children; 
one  of  his  sons,  Samuel,  was  born  June  2,  1785,  and  married,  June  1, 
1820,  Harriet,  daughter  of  Oliver  Sheldon,  who  bore  him  three  children: 
Henry  (our  subject),  Newton,  born  October  6,  1823,  and  Harriet,  born 
February  18,  1828,  now  the  widow  of  J.  M.  Taylor,  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  Our 
subject's  father  purchased  several  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  Western  Re- 
serve, and  in  June,  1833,  removed  with  his  family  to  Mantua  Township,  locat- 
ing on  Lot  19,  known  as  "  Cobb's  Corners,"  a  postoflice  being  established 
there,  of  which  Mr.  Cobb  was  Postmaster  for  seventeen  years,  receiving  his 
commission  from  Amos  Kendall,  Postmaster- General  under  Andrew  Jackson. 
Mr.  Cobb  was  a  stanch  Democrat  and  died  December  22,  1852,  his  widow  sur- 
viving him  until  December  16,  1860.  Our  subject  passed  his  eai'ly  years  in 
Connecticut,  and  after  coming  here  assisted  his  pai'ents  to  clear  up  the  farm. 
His  education  was  acquired  during  the  winters  in  the  primitive  log-school- 
house  and  by  studying  at  nights.     He  thus  fitted  himself  to  be  a  teacher,  and 


758  BIOGRArHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

for  many  years  followed  this  profession.  On  October  10,  1849,  he  married 
Antoinette  H.,  daughter  of  Hezron  Taylor,  natives  of  Connecticut,  by  whom 
he  has  had  five  children:  Helen  F.,  born  July  16,  1850  (married  January  15, 
1874,  to  A.  P.  Carlton.  They  have  four  children:  Henry  Lee,  born  October 
26,  1875;  Howard  A.,  born  June  25,  1880;  Grace  Gr.,  born  November  3,  1882, 
and  Emma  A.,  born  October  24,  1884);  Frederick  H.,  born  July  12,  1854 
(married  Harriet  A.  Folder  October  1,  1882,  and  died  December  23,  1884, 
leaving  one  son,  Birchard  F.,  born  February  26,  1884);  Hattie  A.,  born  April 
26,  1859  (married  John  D.  Carlton,  November  9, 1882);  Clara  B.,born  March  2, 
1866,  and  Frances  E.,  born  January  17,  1869,  died  February  2,  1885.  Our 
subject  has  been  an  active  citizen  of  Mantua  Township  for  years,  and  has 
filled  all  the  important  township  offices  acceptably.  He  holds  two  commissions 
for  Justice  of  the  Peace,  issued  by  R.  B.  Hayes. 

NEWTON  COBB,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  brother  of  Henry  Cobb 
(whose  sketch  appears  above),  was  born  in  Suffield,  Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  and 
came  to  this  county  with  his  father,  Samuel  Cobb,  in  1833,  locating  on  Lot  19 
in  Mantua  Township.  He  was  united  in  marriage  March  2,  1854,  with  Annis 
C.  Carlton,  and  by  this  union  has  one  child — Lura  A.,  married  to  John  B. 
King,  April  7,  1877. 

STEPHEN  J.  DAVIS  (deceased)  was  born  October  10,  1816,  in  Delaware 
County,  N.  Y. ;  son  of  Aca  and  Anna  Davis.  He  was  married  August  31, 
1848,  to  Philena,  daughter  of  Alonzo  and  Emily  (Mount)  Gates,  of  Harbor 
Creek  Township,  Erie  Co. ,  Penn.,  who  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  all 
now  living,  viz. :  Grandison,  married  to  Lucy  Dalley,  residing  in  Dakota; 
Abby,  wife  of  S.  Brown,  at  Chautauqua  Lake;  Pamelia,  wife  of  William 
Trimble,  formerly  of  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  now  of  Erie,  Penn. ;  Philena,  the 
widow  of  our  subject,  and  George,  married  to  Julia  Bostwick,  in  Springfield, 
Penn.  Mrs.  Davis  was  born  in  Erie  County,  Penn.,  and  came  here  with  her 
husband  (on  account  of  his  failing  health)  and  here  bought  a  home.  To  our 
subject  and  wife  was  born  one  son — Clinton,  married  to  Jennie,  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  Mcintosh,  of  Mantua,  Ohio.  Stephen  J.  Davis  departed  this  life  in 
August,  1878.  His  widow  makes  her  home  with  her  son,  Clinton,  and  is  car- 
rying on  a  flourishing  millinery  and  fancy  goods  store  at  Mantua  Corners, 
where  she  is  known  as  an  affable,  conscientious  lady. 

J.  H.  DITTO,  of  the  firm  of  J.  H.  Ditto  &  Sons,  dealers  in  flour, 
feed  and  groceries,  and  proprietors  of  a  livery,  Mantua  Station,  was  born 
November  1,  1828,  thirty  miles  southeast  of  Montreal,  Quebec;  son  of  Peter 
and  Mary  (Bucheau)  Ditto,  who  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  eleven 
now  living.  Our  subject  came  to  the  United  States  in  1846,  and  during  the 
year  1856  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Lawson  and  Emily  (Fer- 
ris) Stearns,  of  Newbury,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio.  They  have  a  family  of  three 
children:  Frank  S.,  Henry  E.  and  Charles  J.,  all  of  whom  are  associated  with 
their  father  in  business  near  the  railroad  depot.  Our  subject  and  his  sons  are 
leading  citizens  of  Mantua  Township,  and  are  regarded  as  enterprising,  pub- 
lic-spirited men. 

JOHN  ESTY  was  born  in  Phelpstown,  Ontario  Co.,  N.  Y.,  June  30,  1793, 
and  his  wife,  Betsey  W^  (Jones)  was  born  in  Middlefield,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass., 
February  1,  1799.  They  moved  to  Mantua,  this  county,  in  1818,  and  were 
married  the  same  year.  There  were  born  to  them  four  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  three  sons  and  two  daughters  are  now  living.  The  four  sons 
and  two  daughters  lived  to  have  homes  of  their  own,  and  all  resided  in  this 
State  but  one  son,  who  died  in  Missouri  August  13,  1871,  aged  forty  seven 
years;  one  daughter  died  in  infancy.     John  Esty  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  759 

1812,  and  received  a  commission  as  First  Lieatenaat  in  1825  from  Gov.  Mor- 
row. In  1830,  during  the  administration  of  Gov.  Trimble,  he  was  promoted 
to  be  Captain  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Rifles.  He  was  a  Democrat  until  the 
organization  of  the  Republican  party,  with  which  he  allied  himself,  and 
which  he  supported  until  his  death.  He  was  a  man  who  maintained  the  best 
interests  of  his  country,  and  was  loved  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  died  Novem- 
ber 15,  1863,  aged  seventy-one  years;  his  wife  died  November  10,  1869.  Our 
subject  is  a  citizen  of  wealth,  influence  and  enterprise.  He  has  served  as 
Trustee  of  his  township  for  two  years. 

ALONZO  N.  FARR,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  in  East  Clari- 
don,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  November  28,  1822,  son  of  Abel  and  Betsey  (Mastic) 
Farr,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Chesterfield,  Mass.,  May  6,  1795,  and 
the  latter  in  Dunsmore,  Vt.,  July  16,  1796.  Mrs.  Betsey  Farr's  grandfather, 
John  Mastic,  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1717,  and  married  Sarah  Coy,  born  in 
1712  in  Farmington,  Mass.  He  was  pressed  into  the  English  service,  where 
he  remained  until  reaching  Boston  Harbor,  when  he  escaped,  and  in  his  flight 
exchanged  clothes  with  a  man  digging  a  cellar  under  a  mill,  and  also  changed 
his  name  from  Salter  to  Mastic,  by  which  he  was  always  known  thereafter. 
Nathaniel  Mastic,  Mrs.  Farr's  father,  was  born  in  Massachusetts  July  8,  1772, 
and  married  Lydia  Caryl,  born  in  1771.  Abel  Farr,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
married  in  1819,  came  to  Ohio  the  same  year,  and  for  two  years  resided  on  the 
present  site  of  Elyria;  thence  he  removed  to  Claridon,  and  in  March,  1829, 
to  this  county,  where  he  lived  until  1837,  when  he  went  to  Troy,  Geauga 
County,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  April  20,  1864.  His  children,  ten  in 
number,  survive:  Lorenzo  A.,  Alonzo  N.,  LovellL,  William  H.,  Arvilla  L., 
Edwin  A.,  Lutheria  E.,  Asenath  M.,Eri  M.  and  Orren  S.  Our  subject  was 
married  November  20,  1845,  to  Annah  P.,  daughter  of  Eber  Kennedy,  and  by 
her  has  four  daughters:  Adell  N.  (Mrs.  L.  Turner),  Edna  M.  (Mrs.  S.  San- 
ford),  Frinda  A.  (Mrs.  F.  R.  Munn)  and  Georgie  A.  (Mrs.  J.  H.  Beecher). 
Mrs.  Fai-r's  grandfather,  Simeon  Pryor,  came  to  Ohio  in  1800,  and  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  settled  in  Portage  County,  Ohio,  and 
died  June  29,  1837.  Mrs.  Farr's  father,  Eber  Kennedy,  came  to  Ohio  from 
Blanford,  Mass.,  in  1804;  settled  in  Aurora,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio;  married 
Polly  Pryor  July  4,  1808;  died  May  15,  1837,  aged  fifty  eight  years.  Polly, 
his  widow  died  February  15,  1880,  aged  ninety-one  years.  Our  subject  has 
held  the  offices  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  twenty-one  years,  Township  Trustee, 
Postmaster  eight  years,  and  is  now  a  Notary  Public.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics, a  valued  citizen  and  an  enterprising  man. 

J.  W.  FOSTER,  merchant,  Mantua,  was  born  June  26,  1817,  in  Mantua 
Township,  this  county,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Betsey  (Eggleston)  Foster, 
natives  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  respectively,  and  who  first  came 
to  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  subsequently  moving  to  Mantua  Township, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Jonathan  Foster  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  alive  to  every  improvement.  He  endeavored  to  raise  sheep,  but 
his  efforts  proved  a  failure,  as  the  first  night  three  of  his  six  sheep  were 
devoured  by  wolves.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many  years,  a  Repre- 
sentative of  this  county  in  the  Legislature,  Associate  Judge,  a  man  of  very 
decided  ability.  His  children  were  seven  in  number,  three  now  living:  Mar- 
tha and  Mary,  maiden  ladies  residing  on  the  old  home  farm,  and  J.  W.  Our 
subject  was  married  in  April,  1855,  to  Aurelia,  daughter  of  Joel  and  Julia 
Chapman,  latter  the  first  white  child  born  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  a 
daughter  of  Elias  Hai-mon.  By  the  union  of  J.  "W.  Foster  and  wife  were 
born  four  children,  only  one  now   living — Jessie  A.      Our   subject  has  been 


7G0  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

engaged  in  mercantile  trade  in  Mantua  for  forty-four  years,  and  as  Postmas- 
ter of  the  village  nineteen  years.  He  is  one  of  the  substantial  business  men 
of  this  place. 

JAMES  FROST  (deceased)  was  born  in  Blandford  Township,  Hampden 
Co.,  Mass.,  son  of  John  and  Eleanor  Frost,  His  educational  advantages  were 
limited,  as  his  father  died  when  he  was  but  eleven  years  old,  and  he  was  then  put 
out  to  work.  At  the  expiration  of  one  year  he  returned  home  and  took  charge 
of  the  farm,  remaining  thus  occupied  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  In 
May,  1816,  being  then  twenty-five  years  old,  he  came  to  Ohio,  and  soon  after 
married  Semira,  daughter  of  Samuel  Forward,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1803,  and 
whose  family  was  the  second  to  settle  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county.  Our 
subject  and  wife  were  the  parents  of  seven  children:  Charles;  Frank;  John,  a 
bachelor,  a  thorough  business  man,  who  is  proprietor  of  the  Mantua  Steam 
Flouring  Mills;  Elmer,  who  was  born  October  22,  1826  (is  now  Trustee  of  the 
township,  and  has  held  other  official  positions;  was  married  November  8, 
1848,  to  Rhoda,  daughter  of  L.  Reed,  and  they  had  two  children:  James  B., 
married  to  Percis  Barker,  and  Eva  A.,  who  died  in  infancy);  Madison  and  Ben- 
ton, living  in  Auburn  Township,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  and  Mary,  wife  of  Nelson 
Blair  (have  two  daughters  now  residing  in  Parkman,  Ohio). 

FRANK  FROST,  farmer,  Mantua  Corners,  was  born  March  9,  1821,  in 
this  township,  son  of  James  and  Semira  (F'orward)  Frost,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel  Forward  an(J  James  Frost,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  early  pioneers 
of  Ohio,  the  foi'mer  settling  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1803,  and 
the  latter  in  Mantua  in  1816.  The  father  of  our  subject  had  six  sons  (five  now 
living)  and  one  daughter,  viz. :  Charles,  Frank,  John,  Elmer,  Madison,  Benton 
and  Mary,  wife  of  Nelson  Blair  (have  two  daughters  residing  in  Geauga 
County,  Ohio).  Our  subject  was  married  November,  1844,  to  Rhoda  C.  Bump, 
who  died  in  1865.  He  subsequently  married  Marcia  A.,  daughter  of  Lot 
Mitchell,  of  Windham  County,  Conn.  Mr.  Frost  has  no  children.  He  is  a 
leading  farmer  and  cheese  manufacturer  of  this  county,  and  has  served  his 
township  as  Assessor  and  Trustee.     Politically  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  FROST  (deceased)  was  born  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county, 
March  21,  1823,  son  of  James  and  Semira  (Forward)  Frost,  the  former  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  and  came  to  Ohio  in  1816,  the  latter  born  in  Con- 
necticut, came  in  1803.  They  were  the  second  family  in  Mantua  Township, 
and  settled  two  miles  west  of  the  pi'esent  site  of  Mantua  Station.  They  reared 
a  family  of  eight  children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living:  Frank,  John,  Mad- 
ison, Mary  and  Benton;  Elmer  and  his  wife  died  of  pneumonia,  former,  Feb- 
ruary 14,  latter,  February  17,  1885,  and  their  funeral  obsequies  were  both  held 
on  same  day.  Our  subject  was  a  fai'mer  and  miller  by  occupation,  and  head 
of  the  firm  of  John  Frost  &  Co.,  of  the  Centennial  Mills,  an  establishment 
employing  the  new  process  roller  system  and  possessing  a  capacity  of  turning 
out  seventy-five  barrels  of  flour  per  day.  The  Centennial  is  the  leading  mill 
in  the  vicinity.  John  Frost  died  of  pneumonia  February  22,  1885,  aged  sixty- 
one  years.     He  was  a  citizen  of  capital,  enterprise  and  public  spirit. 

EDWIN  M.  FROST,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  August  22, 
1832,  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Marvin  and  Mary  Ann  (Demaw) 
Frost,  former  of  whom,  a  native  of  Blandford,  Mass.,  came  to  Mantua  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1818,  settling  on  Lot  33,  now  occupied  by  Nelson  Brann; 
latter  a  French-Canadian.  They  had  four  children,  three  now  living:  J  K., 
who  was  a  resident  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  where  he  died  in  1882  (leaving  a  widow 
and  two  children:  Hallie  and  George);  Lorenzo  L.  and  Edwin  M.  In  1864  the 
parents  of  our  subject  removed  to  Hudson,  where  they  passed  the  remainder 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  761 

of  their  days  with  their  Bon  J.  K.  Frost.  In  1854  Edwin  M.  was  married  to 
Agnes  A.,  daughter  of  Garrett  C.  Vanwagnen,  who  came  to  Ohio  from  New 
"York  State  and  was  the  parent  of  a  family  of  fifteen  children,  of  whom  Mrs. 
Frost  is  twelfth.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frost  have  been  born  three  children:  R. 
F.,  a  physician  in  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio;  Lou  Y.  and  Arthur  E.  at  home.  In 
politics  our  subject  is  a  Democrat. 

DEMAS  HARMON  (deceased)  was  born  January  11,  1805,  in  Suffield, 
Conn.,  son  of  Cephas  and  Deborah  Harmon.  He  was  married  to  Rachel  Gil- 
lett,  April  21,  1830,  by  whom  he  had  live  children:  Maria  R.,  wife  of  C.  B. 
White  (had  six  children:  Elbridge  G.,  Arthur  H.,  Charles  C,  Fred  H.,  Mary 
E.  and  Marcia  M. ;  three  are  still  living:  Charles  C,  Fred  H.  and  Mary  E.); 
Eloisa  C,  wife  of  E.  M.  Kent  (have  five  children:  Anna  A.,  Demas  E.,  Zenas 
A.,  Eleanor  E.  and  Arthur  A);  Mary  A.,  wife  of  F.  Cantield,  of  Austin,  III. 
(had  two  children:  Louisa  and  Hatfcie  B. ;  Hattie  B.  is  still  living);  Horace 
A.,  married  Tryphena  Reed  (have  two  children:  Vernie  I.  and  Demas),  and 
Silas  D.,  a  bachelor.  In  1833,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  he  came  to  Chardon, 
Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  the  spring  of  1834,  whonhe  moved 
to  Mantua,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  and  bought  215  acres  of  land.  He  died  May 
19,  1842.  His  widow,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  married  King  Nooney,  a 
brother  of  Capt.  Nooney  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  by  him  had  one  daughter — 
Sarah  R.— now  the  wife  of  G.  O.  Reed.  Mr.  Nooney  died  October  9,  1848. 
His  widow  still  resides  on  the  farm  located  by  her  first  husband  many  years 
ago.  Her  son,  Silas  D.,  who  lives  with  her,  has  charge  of  the  farm,  dairy, 
etc.,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  thje  town. 

SAMUEL  HARMON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  son  of  Alexander  and  Mary 
(Hanchett)  Harmon,  was  born  in  Suflfield,  Conn.,  July  30,  1808,  came  to  Ohio 
in  1834  and  settled  in  the  northern  part  of  Mantua  Township.  In  1835  our 
subject  married  Jane  Deming,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Mary  (Smith) 
Deming,  and  born  in  ^andisfield,  Mass.,  November  1,  1815.  By  this  union 
eight  children  were  born,  seven  now  living:  Esther  A.  (Mrs.  H.  L.  Moore,  in 
Kansas),  Orcelia  J.  (Mrs.  H.  H.  Converse),  Martha  A.  (Mrs.  G.  W.  Stitt),  Car- 
rie L.  (Mrs.  H.  J.  Sanford),  Rhoda  J.  (Mrs.  M.  H.  Case,  in  Illinois),  Samuel 
(who  married  Sylvia,  daughter  of  Charles  Streator,  of  Shalersville,  this  county), 
and  Fred  H.,  residing  with  his  brother  Samuel  at  the  old  home.  Jauuary, 
1875,  Mr.  Harmon  buried  his  wife,  and  March,  1878,  he  married  Mrs.  Wood; 
they  live  near  the  old  homestead.  Our  subject  has  held  several  offices  of 
trust  in  the  township,  and  is  a  quiet,  unassuming,  well-to-do  farmer. 

HORACE  D.  HINCKLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born 
August  29,  1817,  the  second  white  child  born  in  Auburn,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio, 
son  of  Charles  and  Nancy  (Turner)  Hinckley,  the  former  born  in  1793,  in  Con- 
necticut, and  the  latter  in  1791,  in  Massachusetts,  but  afterward  removed  to 
New  York  State,  settling  near  Albany.  They  were  married  during  the  fall  of 
1816,  at  Walworth,  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  the  following  winter  moved  to 
Geauga  County,  Ohio,  making  the  journey  on  sleds  drawn  by  oxen,  and,  en  route, 
the  party  narrowly  escaped  death.  While  passing  a  clearing  two  trees  fell, 
crushing  one  of  the  sleds  and  delaying  the  venturesome  toilers  in  the  unfre- 
quented pathways  two  days.  They  arrived  at  their  destination  in  safety,  how- 
ever, and  lived  for  many  years,  Mr.  Hinckley  dying  in  1842,  and  his  widow 
during  the  year  1866.  They  reared  a  family  of  seven  children,  three  sons  now 
living:  James  B.,  Gilbert  and  Horace  D.  Our  subject  was  married  October  21, 
1846,  to  Sylvia,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Celia  Bradley,  natives  of  Vermont  and 
Russell,  Mass.,  respectively,  and  who  had  four  children,  three  now  living: 
Martha  (Mrs.    Burnett),   Lydia   (Mrs.    Zabriskie),  both   residing   in    Geauga 


762  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

County,    and   Mrs.  Hinckley.     Our  subject  has  resided  in  this  county   since 
1865,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  553. 

PHINEAS  U.  JENNINGS  (deceased)  was  born  May  4,  1796,  in  Craftsbury, 
Vt. ,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Serena  (Bigelow)  Jennings,  former  born  August 
29,  1752,  died  April  14,  1836;  latter  born  March  16,  1765,  died  April  16, 
1835.  They  were  married  November  13,  1786,  and  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children:  Betsey,  born  October  16,  1787;  Anna,  born  January  8, 
1791;  Lucretia,  born  October  13,  1793;  Phineas  U.,  born  May  4,  1796; 
Talmon,  born  July  4,  1798;  Lucy  M.,  born  December  21,  1801;  Elial, 
born  July  15,  1804;  Benjamin,  born  May  1,  1807.  Our  subject,  when  eight 
years  old,  was  bound  out  to  Daniel  Freeman,  a  farmer  and  hotel-keeper, 
and  with  him  remained  until  he  reached  his  majority.  He  then  started 
on  life's  career  with  one  suit  of  clothes.  "When  with  Freeman  he  cut 
a  cord  of  wood,  hauled  it  seven  miles,  and  with  the  means  obtained  by  the 
sale  of  the  wood  he  purchased  a  "Scholar's  Arithmetic,"  dated  1814,  which  is 
well  preserved  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Alvord.  In  1821  he  came  to  Ohio,  driv- 
ing a  team  for  Benjamin  Dow,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  to  Judge  Foster.  The 
journey  was  made  with  a  sled,  and  while  crossing  a  lake  the  ice  broke,  and 
Mr.  Jennings'  cabinet  got  wet  and  with  it  his  family  Bible,  the  only  gift  of 
his  father,  which  is  also  held  in  good  preservation  by  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Alvord.  It  was  published  in  1789.  His  first  purchase  of  land  was  in  1821 
in  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  the  tract  being  sixty-four  acres  of  wild  for- 
est, and  clearing  it,  he  made  it  his  home  for  life,  adding  thereto,  from  time  to 
time,  until  he  became  the  possessor  of  300  acres  besides  considerable  other 
property,  all  acquired,  not  by  fortunate  speculation,  but  by  honest  and  patient 
industry.  With  a  limited  education  he  was  a  close  observer,  and  with  a  strong 
and  vigorous  intellect  he  rapidly  formed  an  accurate  judgment  of  men  and 
things,  and  in  active  life  was  one  of  the  substantial  and  reliable  citizens  of 
the  township.  Being  stricken  with  blindness  in  his  old  age,  he  bore  the  afflic- 
tion with  cheerfulness,  patiently  awaiting  for  his  eyes  to  be  opened  in  the 
"home  over  there,"  where  his  aged  companion  had  preceded  him  about  two 
years.  He  was  certain  of  good  treatment  by  his  son-in-law  and  daughter,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Alvord,  and  hence  chose  them  to  care  for  him  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
which  ended  June  26,  1882.  June  16,  1822,  he  was  married  to  Cleona  Wil- 
mot,  born  April  23,  1806,  in  Cheshire,  New  Haven  Co.,  Conn.,  and  in  1814 
she  came  to  Ohio  with  her  widowed  mother,  sister  and  brother,  Ella  Wilmot. 
To  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jennings  were  born  Serena,  July  12,  1823;  Cor- 
delia, born  May  28,  1828,  died  March  9,  1832;  Eoena  C,  born  September  5, 
1830;  Cordelia  E.,  born  Julv  25,  1832,  died  December  7,  1835.  Mrs.  Jennings 
died  March  26,  1880.  They  united  with  the  Disciples  Church  in  1838,  and 
died  in  full  faith.  Their  property  was  divided  equally  between  their  two 
daughters.  Through  a  kindly  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased  and  a 
desire  to  perpetuate  his  name,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alvord  have  contributed  to  this 
work  a  portrait  of  Phineas  U.  Jennings.  Elsewhere  in  this  volume  will  be 
found  a  brief  biography  of  Mr.  Alvord,  who  has  always  been  closely  identified 
with  Portage  County. 

EDGAR  M.  KENT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  November  22,  1828, 
in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Amasa  and  Eleanor  (Johnson)  Kent, 
natives  of  Tolland,  Conn.,  who  came  to  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  at  an  early 
period  and  here  passed  the  remainder  of  their  days.  Amasa  Kent  died  Jan- 
uary 4,  1881,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  May  1.  1870.  Our  subject,  their 
only  child,  was  married  June  17,  1852,  to  Eloisa  C,  daughter  of  Demas  and 
Rachel  Harmon,  who  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  Mrs.  Kent  being  the 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  763 

second.  Demas  Harmon  died  in  1842,  and  bis  widow  subsequently  married 
King  Noney,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Mantua.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kent  have  five 
children:  Annie  A.,  wife  of  Albert  A.  Giles  (have  one  child — Georgiana); 
Demas  E. ;  Zenas  A.,  married  to  Emma  E.  Plumb;  Eleanor  E. ;  Ai-thur  H. 
Mr.  Kent,  who  lives  on  his  father's  old  farm,  is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of 
Mantua  Township,  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church;  he  is  a  Republican  in 
politics. 

HORACE  LADD,  Sr.  (deceased),  was  born  in  Vernon,  Conn.,  October  18, 
1789,  and  came  to  Ohio  in  1811,  settling  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county. 
Four  years  later,  in  1815,  he  married  Eunice  R.,  daughter  of  Samuel  Moore, 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  Avho  moved  to  this  State  in  1806,  locatino-  on  Lot 
20,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Mantua,  but  dying  on  Lot  27,  where  Horace  Ladd, 
Jr.,  now  resides.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ladd  were  born  seven  children,  live  now 
living:  Calista  R.  (Mrs.  H.  Hart);  Eunice  (Mrs.  C.  Wood);  Horace,  Jr.; 
Perley  (Mrs.  A.  W.  Seymour)  and  Rodolphus,  who  married  Harriet  C.  Chapin. 
Horace  Ladd,  Jr.,  was  married,  January  9,  1853,  to  Abigail  C,  dauo-hter  of 
Lorenzo  and  Maria  Chapin,  and  widow  of  Mr.  Griffen,  by  whom  she  had  one 
child — Frank  P.  Griffen,  married  to  Mary  J.  Jones;  and  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ladd  have  been  born  six  children,  five  now  living:  Willie  H. ,  Georo-e  C, 
Hattie  E.,  Henry  K.  and  Eva  J.  George  C.  married  Charlotte  A.  Jones,  of 
Indiana  (have  two  children:  Jesse  and  an  infant)  and  resides  in  Malcolm, 
Neb.  Horace  Ladd,  Jr.,  has  served  twelve  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  also 
for  many  years  as  Township  Clerk  and  Trustee.  He  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. His  grandfather  and  five  brothers  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
his  father  in  the  war  of  1812. 

RODOLPHUS  LADD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  July  27,  1830,  in 
Mantua  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Horace  Ladd  (a  soldier  in 
the  war  of  1812)  and  Eunice  K.  (Moore)  Ladd,  former  of  whom  came  to  this 
county  in  1811;  the  latter,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Moore,  came  to  this  county 
in  18(36.  They  settled  in  Mantua  Township,  and  were  the  parents  of  follow- 
ing children:  Calista  (Mrs.  Hart),  Eunice  S.  (Mrs.  Wood),  Lucy  (deceased), 
Perley  (Mrs.  A.  AV.  Seymour),  Rodolphus  and  Horace,  Jr.  Our  subject  was 
married  January  25,  1854,  to  Harriet  E.,  daughter  of  Lorenzo  and  Maria 
(Kent)  Chapin,  pai-ents  of  seven  children,  four  of  whom  sui'vive:  Henry  A., 
Abigail,  Charles  E.  and  Harriet  E.  (Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapin  settled  in  Mantua 
Township,  this  county,  in  1814,  owned  the  farm  where  our  subject  now  resides, 
and  died  here,  the  former  March  14,  1875,  and  the  latter  six  years  later.)  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Rodolphus  Ladd  have  had  three  children:  Emma  (Mrs.  Bliss)  in  Ells- 
worth, Kan.,  Frank  C.  at  home,  and  Charlie  G.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  ten 
years.  Our  subject  has  served  his  township  as  Treasurer  for  two  years,  and 
School  Director  many  years. 

JESSE  LING  was  born  March  3,  1842,  in  New  York  State,  son  of  Edward  E. 
and  Betsey  Ling,  who  were  the  parents  of  Mary  A. ,  Edward,  James,  Jane,  Walter, 
Jesse  and  Robert.  He  was  married  October  15,  1866,  to  Roena  C,  daughter 
of  Phineas  U.  and  Cleona  (Wilmot)  Jennings  (who  were  married  June  16, 
1822),  former  born  May  4.  1796,  in  Craftsbury,  Vt.,  son  of  Benjamin  Jen- 
nings, who  was  born  August  29,  1752,  and  Serena  (Bigelow)  Jennings,  who  was 
born  March  16,  1765;  latter  born  April  23,  1806,  in  New  Haven  County,  Conn. 
Phineas  U.  Jennings  came  to  Ohio  in  1821  and  purchased  sixty- four  acres  of 
land  in  Mantua  Township,  paying  $8  per  acre,  and  this  he  made  his  life 
home,  adding  to  it  from  time  to  time  till  he  became  the  owner  of  300  acres 
besides  much  other  proparty.  He  was  a  rugged  pioneer  living  in  a  rude  cabin 
on  his  farm  until  1833,  when  he  erected  a  frame  house  in  which  he  resided  all 


764  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

his  days.  He  made  four  trips  to  the  East,  sometimes  by  sleigh  and  sometimes 
by  wagon,  and  also  by  rail;  his  last  trip  was  made  in  1870.  His  wife  was  a 
sister  of  E.  Wilmot,  who,  accompanied  by  his  mother  and  her  family,  came  to 
Ohio  in  1814  and  settled  in  Mantua  Township.  They  were  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Serena,  born  July  12,  1823;  Cordelia,  born  May  28,  1828, 
died  March  9, 1832;  Koena  C,  born  September  5,  1830,  and  Cordelia  E.,  born 
July  25,  1832,  died  December  7,  1835.  Phineas  U.  Jennings  died  June  26, 
1882;  his  wife,  March  26,  1880.  Jesse  Ling  was  at  one  time  a  mariner,  and 
for  three  years  served  in  the  United  States  Navy.  He  and  his  wife  have  no 
children  of  their  own,  but  have  an  adopted  daughter  named  Sadie  J.  Ling. 
They  occupy  a  lai'ge  tract  of  land  in  the  southei'n  part  of  this  township,  a 
portion  of  which  is  Mrs.  Ling's  share  of  her  father's  estate. 

HEZEKIAH  MAY  (deceased)  was  born  April  3,  1782,  in  Pomfret,  Wind- 
ham Co.,  Conn.,  son  of  Ithimer  May,  He  was  married  February  10,  1812,  to 
Artemesia  White,  who  bore  him  four  children:  Jude  S.,  Olivia  S.,  Delos  W., 
and  Norman  (deceased  in  1850).  Jude  S.  was  born  in  1815,  in  Otsego  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  married,  September  3,  1845,  Zelia,  daughter  of  A.  Patterson,  by 
whom  he  had  two  children:  Hezekiah  and  Florence,  the  former  married  to 
Bessie  Luce,  September  25,  1877,  and  has  one  child — Zelia.  Olivia  S.,  the 
second  child,  is  married  to  E.  Mitchell,  and  resides  in  Nebraska.  Delos  W. 
was  born  in  New  York  State,  May  15,  1822,  and  has  been  twice  married;  his 
first  wife,  Miranda  Mitchell,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  died  February 
3,  1853,  leaving  two  children:  AdelbertD.,  married  to  Ijilliau  Bidlake,  and 
Norman  L.,  married  to  Cornelia  Lester.  On  August  21,  1853,  Delos  W.  married 
his  second  spouse,  Elizabeth  A.,  daughter  of  George  W.  King,  also  of  New 
York  State,  and  by  her  has  two  daughters:  Emma  M.  (Mrs.  A.  Carlton)  and 
Cora  D.  Our  subject  accompanied  his  family  to  Ohio  in  1829  and  settled  in 
Mantua  Township,  where  he  had  purchased  a  tract  of  100  acres  from  the  Shel- 
don heirs,  the  deed  being  drawn  up  by  Judge  Harmon.  This  property  was  in 
an  unbroken  wilderness  and  contained  but  a  small  improvement,  a  building 
reared  by  Mr.  Olney  for  milling  purposes.  He  cleared  this  laud,  however, 
erected  the  second  mill  in  the  township  and  accumulated  a  productive  estate. 
He  died  in  1854.  Delos  May  has  been  a  successful  miller  for  many  years  and 
is  universally  esteemed  for  his  probity  and  enterprise.  He  has  served  hia 
township  in  various  official  positions,  such  as  Trustee  and  School  Director. 

CHAUNCEY  MESSENGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  December  9, 
1821,  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county;  son  of  William  and  Ruth  (Miller) 
Messenger,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  pioneers  of  Ohio,  whither  they  came  in 
1815,  and  to  this  county  one  year  later,  settling  on  the  farm  where  Mr.  Kilby 
now  (1885)  resides.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children:  Will- 
iam A.  (deceased),  married  to  Elizabeth  Skinner  (deceased),  afterward  to 
Betsey  Douglas;  Jerome,  now  residing  in  Coldwater,  Mich.,  married  to 
Maranda  Thomas  (deceased);  Clemon,  married  to  Pletus  Skinner;  Zerina 
(Mrs.  H.  Coe)  now  a  widow;  Voyla,  married  to  Mrs.  Eliza  Willcutt  Jud- 
son,  a  widow  (deceased);  Cebra  (deceased);  Milton  (deceased);  Rectina 
(Mrs.  Rufus  Edwards),  a  widow;  Chauncey;  Franklin,  married  to  Caroline 
Goddard;  Aflta  (Mrs.  R.  E.  Mcintosh),  and  Henry,  married  to  Harriet  Fuller. 
Our  subject  was  twice  married,  first  occasion  September  23,  1857,  to  Susan 
Phelps,  who  died  May  29,  1859,  leaving  one  child — Mary  S.  He  next  mar- 
ried, March  11,  1860,  Clarissa  Walker,  daughter  of  Josiah  and  Eunice  (Wis- 
well)  Walker,  by  whom  he  has  had  five  children:  Chauncy  L. ,  Susan  A. 
(deceased),  Jenny  E.,  Grant  and  John  W.  Mr.  Messenger  is  one  of  the  most 
substantial  men  of  this  township,  and  has  served  as  Trustee,  School  Director, 
etc.,  etc. 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  765 

FKANKLIN  MESSENGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  October  13, 
1824,  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county;  son  of  William  and  Ruth  (Miller) 
Messenger,  natives  of  Granby,  Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  who  removed  to  Ohio  in 
1814,  settling  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  where  they  reared  a  family  of 
twelve  children:  Alvira  (deceased);  Jerome,  residing  at  Coldwater,  Mich.; 
Clement,  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio;  Zernia  (Mrs.  Coe),  a  widow;  Viola,  in 
Mantua;  Sobradid;  Milton  (deceased);  Rectina  (Mrs.  Edwards),  residing  in 
Oberlin,  Ohio;  Chauncey,  in  Mantua;  Franklin;  Affa  (Mrs.  Mcintosh),  in 
Mantua;  Henry,  in  Mantua.  William  Messenger,  who  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, died  November  18,  1853,  aged  seventy-three  years  and  his  widow 
August  13,  1875,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried, October  5,  1847,  to  Caroline  Goddard,  daughter  of  Diyden  and  Maria 
(Merriman)  Goddard,  the  former  of  whom  died  in  1871,  aged  sixty-eight,  and 
the  latter  in  1872,  aged  sixty-six.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Messenger  have  had  nine 
children:  Ellen  (Mrs.  Rogers),  George  (deceased),  Alvirus  (deceased),  Har- 
riet (Mrs.  Cox),  Flora,  Mila  A.  (Mrs.  Dines),  Martha  (Mrs.  Russell), 
Frank  and  Alice. 

SAMUEL  NOBLE,  manufacturer  of  cheese,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  is  a 
native  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born  July  27,  1854;  son  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  (Meggs)  Noble,  natives  of  Ireland,  who  came  to  Ohio 
in  1844,  settling  in  Trumbull  County.  Here  they  reared  and  educated  their 
family  of  nine  children  and  fitted  them  for  the  various  duties  of  life.  Our 
subject  was  one  of  twin  brothers,  and  after  completing  his  studies,  acquired 
the  art  with  which  he  has  so  long  been  identified.  He  now  owns  and  operates 
a  cheese  factory,  located  in  the  southern  part  of  Mantua  Township,  which  is 
well  organized,  fully  equipped  and  supplied  with  every  facility  for  the  busi- 
ness in  which  our  subject  has  scored  a  very  pronounced  success.  The  factory 
is  operated  eight  months  in  the  year  and  has  a  capacity  of  turning  out  520 
cheeses  per  month,  most  of  which  is  shipped  to  Boston,  Mass.  Our  subject 
was  married,  March  9,  1882,  to  Miss  Emma,  daughter  of  Capt.  Bissell. 

GEORGE  NOLD,  miller,  Mantua,  was  born  March,  1840,  in  Fairfield 
Township,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio;  son  of  Jacob  and  Catharine  (Ziegler)  Nold, 
natives  of  Bucks  and  Lancaster  Counties,  Penn.,  and  among  the  earliest  settlers 
in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  Jacob  Nold  was  a  miller,  and  brought  into  that 
county  the  first  set  of  French  buhr  stones  for  milling  purposes.  He  and  his  wife 
lived  and  died  in  Columbiana  County  after  raising  a  family  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren, twelve  of  whom  are  still  living:  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Yoder);  John,  married 
to  Esther  Huber;  Susan  (Mrs.  Esterly);  Mary  (Mrs.  Blosser;;  Abraham,  mar- 
ried to  Sarah  Sitler;  Barbara  (Mrs.  Detwiler);  Jacob,  married  to  Nancy 
Kindy;  Samuel,  married  to  Velina  Sitler;  David,  married  to  Emaline  Moyer; 
Nancy  (Mrs.  Staufifer);  Catharine  (deceased);  George,  married  to  Lydia 
Schwartz;  Alevia  (deceased);  and  Sarah  (Mrs.  Newcomer).  George  Nold  and 
his  partner,  John  Frost,  are  now  running  the  leading  flburing-mill  in  Mantua. 
This  mill  is  provided  with  all  the  latest  improvements,  rollers,  etc.,  with  a 
capacity  of  turning  out  seventy -five  barrels  of  flour  daily,  and  is  of  great 
advantage  to  the  village. 

COL.  C.  H.  RAY,  merchant  and  Postmaster,  Mantua,  is  a  native  of 
Mantua,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  born  October  31,  1835,  and  now  owns  the  farm  on 
which  he  was  born  and  reared.  His  grandfather  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
Army,  his  father  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  a  Mantua  company,  and  himself,  with 
five  brothers,  served  in  the  Union  Army  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  He 
attended  school  at  Hiram  in  the  early  days  o^  that  very  excellent  and  popular 
school  at  that  place,  and  at  the  time  Rev.  Sutton  Hayden  was  President  of  the 

40 


766  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

institute,  and  James  A.  Garfield  a  student  and  teacher  of  classes.  Our  sub- 
ject worked  on  his  father's  farm  in  summer  and  taught  a  district  school  in 
winter.  From  first  to  last  Mr.  Ray  was  an  enemy  of  the  slave  power,  and 
when  Kansas  commenced  her  struggle  for  freedom  his  attention  was  attracted 
in  that  direction,  and  in  1856,  while  yet  a  boy,  with  an  older  brother,  he  drove  a 
team  of  horses  attached  to  a  covered  wagon  from  Wisconsin  to  Kansas,  a  distance 
of  nearly  1,000  miles,  camping  out  and  sleeping  in  the  wagon  nights  during  the 
whole  journey,  a  trip  he  enjoyed  very  much.  He  remained  in  Kansas  for  two 
years  clerking  in  a  store  for  an  elder  brother  and  working  in  a  mill.  Here  he  voted 
against  the  Pi-o-slavery  Constitution  and  its  propositions,  and  for  a  Free  State 
Constitution  for  Kansas.  While  here  he  was  honored  with  an  introduction  to 
John  Brown  of  Harper's  Ferry  fame,  who  frequently  called  at  his  brother's 
house  during  those  troublesome  times,  and  whom  he  has  ever  regarded  as  a 
man  of  very  high  character,  and  a  man  of  pure  principles,  a  prophet  born 
before  his  day,  and  in  1883  wrote  a  lengthy  article  for  the  National 
Tribune,  Washington,  D.  C,  on  John  Brown's  work  in  Kansas,  that  was  well 
received  by  the  public  and  read  with  much  interest.  He  returned  to  Ohio  in 
the  spring  of  1859,  worked  on  the  farm  at  home  and  taught  a  winter  term  of 
school  io  his  home  district  where  he  had  learned  his  A  B  C's.  He  enlisted  in 
the  army  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1862,  being  the  fifth  one  of  a 
family  of  six  boys  to  join  the  Union  Army.  On  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1863, 
Mr.  Ray  was  elected  Captain  of  a  Mantua  company  of  Ohio  militia  and  com- 
missioned as  such  by  His  Excellency,  David  Tod,  Ohio's  great  war  Governor, 
and  on  the  22d  day  of  Sej^tember  of  the  same  year  he  was  elected  and  com- 
missioned Colonel  of  the  First  Regiment  Ohio  Militia  in  Portage  County.  At 
the  close  of  the  civil  war  he  engaged  in  the  milling  business  for  a  few  years, 
and  in  1867  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  which  pursuit,  together  with 
farming,  he  is  now  in,  having  carried  on  the  mercantile  business  in  Mantua 
and  in  the  same  building  for  more  than  eighteen  years.  He  is  now  and  has 
been  Postmaster  at  Mantua  for  the  past  eighteen  years,  having  received  his 
appointment  under  Andrew  Johnson's  administration.  Col.  Ray  was  married, 
on  the  22d  day  of  June,  1868,  to  Miss  Martha  A.  Cochran,  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Leverett  Cochran,  who  represented  Portage  County  in  the  Ohio  Legisla- 
ture in  1854  and  1855.  Our  subject  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  poli- 
tics, being  a  stanch  and  uncompromising  Republican,  and  upon  Gen.  J.  A. 
Garfield  receiving  the  nomination  for  President  in  1880,  he  at  once  took  the 
stump  for  his  old  teacher  and  neighbor  and  labored  hard  for  the  Republican 
cause  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  was  rewarded  for  his  labor  by  seeing  his 
old  friend  seated  in  the  Presidential  chair.  Born  to  labor  and  inured  to  toil, 
Col.  Ray  has  led  an  active  and  industrious  life,  and  by  strict  economy  and 
close  attention  to  business  has  accumulated  a  handsome  competency,  but  has 
at  no  time  allowed  his  bxisiness  to  occupy  his  whole  time  and  attention,  but 
has  traveled  quite  extensively  in  this  country,  and  seconded  by  a  good  wife, 
tries  to  enjoy  life  by  getting  the  most  out  of  it  as  it  comes  along.  During  the 
summer  of  1884  Col.  and  Mrs.  Ray  crossed  the  continent,  traveling  quite 
extensively  in  the  great  West,  and  visited  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the  wonderful 
"Yellowstone  National  Park."  He  wrote  up  the  country  and  their  tour  for  a 
home  paper,  and  on  their  return  the  Colonel  took  the  lecture  platform,  where 
he  has  delivered  his  lecture  entitled  "  The  National  Park."  Col.  Ray  is  one 
of  the  charter  members  of  Mantua  Lodge,  No.  533,  F.  &  A.  M.,  also  a  charter 
member  of  Richardson  Council,  No.  63,  R.  &  S.  M.,  Cryptic  Masonry, 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  and  a  charter  member  of  Bentley  Post,  No.  294,  G.  A.  R.,  of 
Mantua.  ' 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  767 

SAMUEL  S.  RUSSELL,  retired  coal  dealer,  Mautua,  was  born  May  14, 
1807,  in  Jeflerson  County,  N.  Y. ;  son  of  Return  and  (Jei-usha)  Osborn  Rus- 
sell, natives  of  West  Windsor,  Conn.,  who  removed  to  New  York  at  an  early 
day,  thence  to  near  Cleveland,  in  W^arnersville  Township,  Cuyahoga  Co., 
Ohio,  in  1822,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They  were  parents  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  are  still  living:  Edward  A. ;  Samuel  S. ;  Rachel  A.  (a 
maiden  lady  residing  with  the  society  of  Shakers);  Robert  E.,  in  Iowa;  Mary 
A.  (Mrs.  Philips),  in  Glenville;  William  H.,  in  California;  Sanford  H.  (a 
widower).  Our  subject  was  married  April  1,  1860,  to  Adeline  H.,  daughter  of 
Elijah  Russell,  who  died  December  26,  1883,  without  issue.  Mr.  Russell  was 
formerly  a  Shaker,  and  filled  all  the  prominent  offices  in  that  society.  He 
resided  for  a  time  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but 
removed  to  this  county  in  1866,  and  is  now  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
Mantua.  He  has  an  adopted  son,  George  S.  Russell,  a  photographer,  married 
to  Lovetta  Kyle,  by  whom  he  has  two  cliildren.  Our  subject  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 

C.  H.  SAGE,  proprietor  of  the  Mantua  House,  Mantua  Station,  was  born 
July  28,  1847,  in  Freedom  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Roswell  and  Minerva 
(Hawley)  Sage,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  came  to  Portage  County,  Ohio, 
in  about  1830,  and  settled  in  Freedom  Township,  where  the  father  has 
remained  to  the  present  time.  Roswell  Sage  was  twice  married,  on  first 
occasion  to  Miss  Hawley,  who  bore  him  seven  children:  C.  R. ;  H.  H. ;  Dwight; 
C.  H. ;  Roswell;  Clita,  wife  of  E.  Tuttle,  Jr.,  and  Harriet,  widow  of  S.  S.' 
Hurlburt.  Mrs.  Sage  died  in  1850,  and  Mr.  Sage  subsequently  married  Mrs. 
W.  Parshall,  by  whom  he  has  three  children  living:  Theodocia.  Flora  and 
George.  Our  subject,  September  3,  1879,  married  Anna  Hare,  whose  parents 
are  natives  of  Maryland.  For  a  time  Mr.  Sage  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness at  Mantua,  but  subsequently  disposed  of  same  to  Mr.  Beecher  and  took 
possession  of  the  Mantua  Hotel,  located  near  the  railroad  depot  in  Mantua, 
and  which  is  known  as  one  of  the  best  appointed  and  conducted  establish- 
ments of  the  kind  in  the  township. 

JASON  SANFORD  (deceased)  was  born  December  80,  1800,  in  Massachu- 
setts, son  of  Samuel  and  Rhoda  Sanford.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1816  and 
lived  for  a  time  with  Squire  Atwater,  an  early  settler,  when  he  learned  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith.  On  November  1,  1827,  he  married  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Hannah  (Burt)  Ladd,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts;  settled  in  Mantua  Township  in  1811,  and  here  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  He  was  a  tanner,  currier  and  shoe-maker.  He  reared  a 
family  of  nine  children,  three  of  whom  now  live:  Mary  (Mrs.  Denman);  Dan- 
iel B.,  residing  in  Claridon  Ohio;  and  Hannah,  widow  of  our  subject.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanford  were  born  seven  children:  Persis  J.,  Martin  B. ,  Henry 
J.  and  Laura  L.  living;  Delia  M.  died  June  15,  1855.  Alice  A.,  May  22, 
1862,  and  Sylvia,  August  21,  1877.  Persis  J.  became  the  wife,  in  1853,  of 
W.  H.  Bowen,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  has  borne  him  two  children:  C.  H. 
and  Willie  R.,  both  educated  at  Hiram  College  and  Akron  College,  the  former 
of  whom  married  Emma  Wespeaker,  and  the  latter  Hattie  Baldingei-.  Mr. 
Sanford  died  in  1848,  and  his  widow  now  resides  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Bowen,  whose  husband's  family  came  from  Vermont  and  settled  in  Hiram  in 
1833,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of  their  days.  Mr.  Bowen  is  a  member 
of  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  533,  of  Mantua.  He  is  a  leading  man  in  the  com- 
munity, ya^ 

H.   J.    SANFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  in  November, 
1838,  in  Mantua,  this   county;    sou  of  Jason   and  Hannah   (Ladd)  Sanford, 


768  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  came  to  this  county  and  settled  in  Mantua 
Township  in  1811.  They  had  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Persis  (Mrs.  Bowen),  Martin,  H.  J.  and  Laura  (Mrs.  Crane).  Our  subject  was 
married  April  10,  1867,  to  Carrie  Harmon,  the  fourth  of  nine  children,  whose 
father,  an  old  settler,  now  resides  in  the  north  part  of  Mantua.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sanford  are  the  parents  of  three  children:  Alice  J.,  Mary  C.  and  Khoda  M. 
Our  subject  is  now  located  on  a  farm  in  the  central  portion  of  Mantua  Town- 
ship; he  has  been  Trustee  of  this  Township  three  terms,  School  Directoi',  Asses- 
sor, etc.,  besides  iilliug  offices  of  minor  importance.  He  is  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  this  county;  a  prominent  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

SAMUEL  SANFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  March  7,  1844,  in 
Mantua  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Edwin  and  Harriet  (Wilmot)  Sanford, 
natives  of  this  county.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Samiiel  Sanford,  with 
the  Atwaters,  came  to  this  county  at  an  early  day  and  settled  in  Mantua  Town- 
ship. Edwin  Sanford  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  reared  a  family  of 
two  children:  Lucia,  now  Mrs.  Johnson,  who  has  one  child,  Anna  M. ;  and 
Samuel.  Our  subject  married  October  4,  1870,  Edna  M.,  daughter  of  A,  N. 
Farr,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Hattie  A.  and  Annie  B.  Mr.  Sanford  is 
now  building  himself  a  handsome  brick  residence  of  modern  style. 

C.  M.  SEIBEL,  cultivator  of  small  fruits  and  music  teacher,  P.  O.  Mantua 
Station,  was  born  iu  Germany,  October  5,  1823,  son  of  Andrew  Seibel.  He 
immigrated  to  America  in  1844,  accompanied  by  one  brother,  and  after  a  brief 
sojourn  in  New  York,  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Here  they  founded  a 
school  of  instrumental  music,  which  has  included  upon  its  roster  of  pupils  the 
names  of  the  most  celebrated  leaders  of  bands  in  Cleveland.  The  brothers  are 
now  attending  to  their  music  classes  in  Cleveland,  Ravenna,  and  other  cities  of 
this  State.  Wearying  of  the  rounds  of  city  life,  some  years  ago,  our  subject 
became  a  resident  of  Mantua,  and  purchased  a  small  estate,  on  which  he  has 
made  many  improvements,  among  which  might  be  mentioned  a  fishery,  stocked 
with  the  choicest  varieties  of  the  tinny  tribe,  principally  black  bass.  The 
larger  specimens  are  retained  in  an  aqueduct,  so  to  speak,  supplied  with  spring 
water,  while  the  smaller  ones  are  developed  in  an  addition.  The  runway  leading 
to  the  fishery  is  shaded  with  grape  vines,  highly  cultivated  and  productive,  and 
here  the  Professor  enjoys  the  fullest  complement  of  pleasures  peculiar  to  a  Ger- 
man gentleman  of  taste  and  leisure.  Mr.  Seibel  has  been  twice  married,  on  first 
occasion,  in  1851,  to  Maryann  Johnson,  by  whom  he  had  two  childx'en:  Lottie 
and  Maria.  This  wife  dying,  he  subsequently  married,  in  1861,  Lepoldina 
Heitzman,  who  bore  him  two  children:  Lillian  and  Andrew. 

SYLVAN  SKINNER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua,  was  born  February  16,  1845, 
in  Mantua  Township,  this«ounty,  son  of  William  and  Delight  (Pinney)  Skin- 
ner, natives  of  Massachusetts  (Mrs.  Skinner  had  been  previously  the  widow  of 
Mr.  Wait,  by  whom  she  had  two  childi-en,  one  now  living — Otis  Wait,  in 
Hiram).  William  Skinner,  Sr.,  and  wife  came  to  this  county  in  1806,  settling  on 
the  farm  where  their  grandchildren  now  reside.  William  Skinner,  Jr.,  was 
born  September  9,  1804,  a  son  of  William  Skinner,  Sr.,  and  by  trade  was  a 
maker  of  scythes,  snaths,  rakes  and  wagons,  but  in  later  life  turned  his  atten- 
tion entirely  to  farming.  He  had  a  family  of  three  childi'en,  two  of  whom  are 
now  living:  Adelbert  L.  .and  Sylvan.  Our  subject  was  married,  Februaxy  25, 
1865,  to  Pastoria,  daughter  of  John  C.  White  Kirtland,  by  whom  he  has  one 
son — William.  The  Skinner  family  was  the  twelfth  to  settle  in  Mantua  Town- 
ship, this  county,  and  the  land  on  which  our  subject  resides  was  entered  by  his 
grandfather  eighty  years  ago,  who  also  built  the  house,  and  this  property  at 
his  death  descended  to  his  son  (our 'subject's  father)  encumbered  with  a  mort- 


MANTUA  TOWNSHIP.  769 

gage  of  $1,800,  which  the  latter  cleared,  and  in  the  course  of  time,  by  indus- 
try and  perseverance,  he  became  a  well-to-do  man  worth  upward  of  $10,000. 
Our  subject  is  a  progressive  man,  highly  esteemed  by  the  community.  He  has 
filled  the  office  of  Constable  for  three  years. 

WILLIAM  A.  SMITH,  proprietor  of  saw-mill,  tub  and  bucket  manufact- 
urer and  lumber  dealer,  Mantua,  was  born  April  13,  1832,  in  Litchfield,  Litch- 
field Co.,  Conn.,  son  of  Minus  and  Emma  (Blakeman)  Smith,  who  came  to 
Kavenna  Township,  this  county,  in  1833,  thence  removed  to  the  northeast 
part  of  Shalersville,  where  Mr.  Smith  operated  a  saw-mill  for  about  twelve  years. 
Our  subject,  the  second  in  a  family  of  five  children,  was  married,  September 
4,  1861,  to  Martha,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Nancy  (Perkins)  Sanford,  who  were 
the  parents  of  four  children:  Mary  J.,  married  to  H.  S.  Granger  (they  reside 
in  Phillips  County,  Kan.);  Sarah,  wife  of  S.  L.  Peck,  in  Elkader,  Iowa;  Mrs. 
Smith;  and  Delos  C. ,  a  soldier  under  Garfield,  serving  in  Company  A,  Forty-sec- 
ond Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  who  was  wounded,  from  the  efifects  of  which 
he  died  at  forty  years  of  age.  The  Sanfords  are  of  English  origin,  and  trace 
their  genealogy  back  through  ten  generations.  The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Smith 
enlisted  when  sixteen  years  of  age  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  at  his  death,  when 
ninety-three  years  of  age,  he  was  buried  with  military  honors  befitting  the  last 
soldier  of  that  struggle.  Mrs.  Smith  is  carrying  on  a  millinery  and  fancy 
notion  trade  in  one  of  the  finest  business  houses  in  the  village,  in  the  Smith  & 
Bowen  Block,  which  she  built  in  1883.  Our  subject  and  wife  have  no  children 
of  their  own,  but  have  adopted  a  daughter  named  Clara. 

CHARLES  M.  TAYLOR,  farmer,  proprietor  of  saw-mill,  and  cheese-box 
manufacturer,  Mantua,  was  born  September  11,  1818,  at  Suffolk,  Hartford  Co., 
Conn. ;  son  of  Hezron  and  Mary  Ann  (Mix)  Taylor,  who,  in  1831,  came  to  this 
county  and  settled  in  Mantua  ToMmship,  on  the  farm  where  our  subject  now 
resides.  They  here  raised  a  family  of  five  children:  Charles  M. ;  Mary  H., 
deceased  in, infancy;  Joseph  M.,  married  to  Harriet  Cobb  (he  died  in  1879).; 
Antoinette,  wife  of  H.  Cobb;  Andrew  H,  married  first  to  Mary  McFarland, 
subsequently  to  Almeda  A.  Curtis.  Hezron  Taylor  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  war 
of  1812,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  brought  his  family  here  by  way 
of  Albany  in  wagons,  and  came  across  the  lake  during  the  prevaleneo  of  the 
equiijoxial  gales.  He  purchased  the  "Blackburn  tract"  of  Mr.  Trimble,  and 
here  died  in  1866,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  in  April,  1863.  Our  subject 
was  married  in  September,  1840,  to  Sabrina  A.,  daughter  of  Alfred  Day,  by 
whom  he  had  six  children,  five  now  living:  Henry  C,  Laura  M.,  Lusira  V., 
Lillian  E.,  Herman  H.  and  Herbert  T.  (deceased  1878),  all  of  whom  save  the 
last  mentioned  have  been  heads  of  families.  His  wife  dying  in  1852,  Mr. 
Taylor  was  married.  October,  1855,  to  Clara  Parker,  by  whom  he  has  eight 
children:  William,  Edward,  Charles,  Ezra,  Frank,  Minnie,  Mattie  and  John. 
He  carried  on  a  farm  at  the  old  homestead,  and  for  the  past  twelve  years  has 
been  proprietor  of  a  cheese-box  factory  and  saw-mill  located  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  township.  He  is  au  enterprising  citizen,  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church;  a  Republican  in  politics. 

ANDREW  H.  TAYLOR,  hotel  proprietor,  Mantua  Station,  was  born  May 
1,  1834,  in  Mantua  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Hezi'on  and  Mary  A.  (Mix) 
Taylor,  natives  of  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1828,  and  set- 
tled in  the  west  part  of  Mantua  Township,  near  what  was  known  as  "Cobb's 
Corners,"  where  they  began  life  in  the  woods.  Of  New  England  stock,  they 
were  earnest  workers  in  the  cause  of  civilization  in  the  wilderness,  and 
devoted  their  lives  to  the  education  and  happiness  of  their  children.  Of  the 
five  children  born   to  them,  three  now   live:  Charles  M.,    Antoinette,   wife  oi 


770  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Henry  Cobb,  and  Andrew  H.  Our  subject  has  been  twice  married,  the  first 
time,  January,  1863,  to  Mary  P.  McFarland,  who  died  July  8.  1865.  His  sec- 
ond marriage,  April,  1868,  was  with  Almeda  A,  Curtis,  by  whom  he  had  one 
child— Bertha  M.,  at  home.  Mrs.  Taylor  died  in  March,  1875.  Mr.  Taylor 
was  raised  on  his  father's  farm,  but  early  in  life  began  business  on  his  own 
account,  for  the  past  thirteen  years  in  Mantua,  where  four  years  ago  he  erected 
the  hotel  which  he  has  since  successfully  conducted. 

LEWIS  TURNEli,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born,  March  30, 
1816,  in  Wayne  County,  N.  Y. ;  son  of  Amasa  and  Polly  (Thayer)  Turner, 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  respectively,  and  who  came  to  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  in  1817,  remaining  until  1827,  when  they  removed  to  this  county, 
where  they  lived  until  their  death.  The  father  of  our  subject  kept  hotel  for 
man}'  years  (during  this  tiine  McCarson  was  hanged)  but  finally  became  a 
farmer.  His  family  consisted  of  six  sous  and  two  daughters,  four  of  the 
former  still  living:  Norman  in  Geauga  County;  Preston  in  Mantua  Township, 
this  county;  Henry  in  Freedom,  this  county,  and  Lewis.  Our  subject  married 
Sarah  Merriman,  in  1836,  by  whom  he  had  the  following  childi-en:  Harry 
(deceased);  Lewtou,  married  toAdell  Farr;  Lomira  M. ;  Sanford;  Charles,  mar- 
ried to  Ella  Nelson;  Stanton,  married  to  Martha  Benninger;  Egbert,  married  to 
Ida  Clark;  Emma  (Mrs.  Chalker),  and  Bell  (Mrs.  Van  Allen).  Mr.  Turner 
occupies  the  old  homestead,  a  large  tract  of  land  one  and  a  half  miles  north 
of  Mantua  Station.      He  is  a  genial,  hospitable  gentleman. 

G.  C.  WAY,  physician  and  surgeon,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born  June 
26,  1848,  in  Shalersville  Township,  Portage  County,  Ohio;  son  of  Robert  and 
Lucinda  G.  (Work)  Way,  who  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  the 
following  survive:  J.  H.,  residing  on  the  old  homestead  in  Shalersville;  W.  O. ; 
A.  B. ;  Celestia  M. ,  wife  of  Dr.  S.  L.  McCarthy,  of  Altoona,  Penn.,  and  Dora 
E.,  wife  of  H.  W.  Fields,  also  residing  in  Altoona,  and  G.  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Robert  Way,  formerly  of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Ohio  in  1835,  and  settled  in 
Shalersville,  where  they  remained  until  the  death  of  the  former.  May  10,1867; 
his  widow  now  resides  with  G.  C.  Our  subject  was  educated  at  Jefferson  Col- 
lege, Penn.,  and  at  the  college  at  Alliance,  Ohio.  He  began  the  study  of  medi- 
cine under  Dr.  George  M.  Proctor,  of  Shalersville,  in  1866,  and  afterward  with 
Dr.  Johnson,  of  Alliance,  and  his  brother-in-law.  Dr.  McCarthy,  of  Altoona, 
and  matriculated  at  Michigan  University,  Ann  Arbor,  whence  he  graduated  at 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  in  the  spring  of  1874:.  He  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  with  Dr.  S.  L.  McCarthy  in  1873.  After  graduating 
he  practiced  alone  at  Allenville  and  Altoona,  and  in  1881  he  came  to  Mantua. 
The  Doctor  has  a  large  and  successful  practice  and  is  considered  the  leading 
physician  of  Mantua  Township.  He  was  married.  May  9,  1883,  to  Caroline, 
daughter  of  Chauncey  and  Percis  (Parker)  Winchel.  Mr.  Winchell  was  an 
early  settler  of  Mantua  Township,  and  a  very  successful  man,  owning  at  one 
time  nearly  1,000  acres  of  land,  which  is  now  inherited  by  his"  children. 

SYLVESTER  Iv.  WILCOX,  physician  and  surgeon,  Mantua  Corners,  was 
born  August  4,  1824,  in  Chester,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass.;  son  of  Ralph  and  Bet- 
sey (Noney)  Wilcox,  latter  of  whom  was  a  sister  of  Capt.  Noney,  of  the  war 
of  1812.  The  father  of  our  subject,  Ralph  Wilcox,  a  farmer,  came  to  Ohio  in 
an  early  day  and  settled  at  Mantua  Corners,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  Hia  children  were  Norman  (deceased);  Reuben  G. ,  a  blacksmith  at 
Hiram  Rapids;  Eliza  (deceased),  and  Sylvester  K.  Our  subject  was  educated 
to  the  profession  of  medicine,  at  the  Medical  Department  of  Western  Reserve 
College,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  whence  he  graduated  in  1846.  and  then  settled  in 
Mantua  Township,  Ohio;  thence  he  removed  to  Hiram  Township,  but  after  ten 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  771 

years'  residence  there,  retumed  to  Mantua  Township,  where  he  has  since 
remained.  Dr.  Wilcox  has  been  twice  married;  the  first  time,  September  10, 
1845,  to  Harriet  M.  Stodard,  by  whom  he  had  two  children:  L.  D. ,  and  Har- 
riet, wife  of  DelosPeck,  in  California.  His  second  marriage  occurred  in  Mecca, 
Trumble  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1862,  with  Olive  S.  Whitney,  by  whom  there  is  no  issue. 
The  Doctor  is  a  grandson  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  is  an  accomplished 
physician,  a  valuable  citizen.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


NELSON    TOWNSHIP. 


ZINA  R.  BANCROFT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Nelson 
Township,  this  county,  March  11,  1838,  son  of  Thompson  Bancroft,  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  who  was  brought  to  this  county  in  infancy,  and  here  he 
attained  his  maturity,  helping  to  cut  down  the  forests,  and  following  the  occu- 
pation of  a  farmer.  Thompson  Bancroft  was  united  in  marriage  with  Lucy 
C.  Atwater,  also  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  bore  him  five  children:  Sylves- 
ter, deceased;  Edwin  L.,  deceased;  Zina  R. ;  Augusta  P.,  and  an  infant, 
deceased.  He  died  in  1877,  and  his  widow  in  1879.  Our  subject,  who  has 
always  been  a  farmer,  was  married  October  6,  1859,  to  Clara  Reed,  born  Sep- 
tember 1,  1837,  in  Crawford  County,  Penn.,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Sarah 
(Moore)  Reed,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  early  settlers  of  Mead  Township, 
Crawford  Co.,  Penn.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
Lucy  C,  Henry  T.  and  Eddie  H. 

MILTON  COLE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, tbis  county,  February  23,  1836;  son  of  Jedediah  Cole  (see  sketch  of  J. 
Cole),  a  native  of  Vermont,  who  was  twice  married.  In  March,  3835,  he  was 
married  (second  occasion)  to  Parthena  (Sanford)  Hamlin,  born  in  Harrington, 
Conn.,  April  10,  1810,  who  bore  him  five  children:  Milton;  Francis,  in  Lorain 
County,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Aurilla  Thompson,  in  Garrettsville,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Cordelia 
Bancroft,  in  Michigan,  and  Edwin  S.,  born  in  1848,  and  died  in  his  seven- 
teenth year.  Jedediah  Cole  is  deceased;  his  widow  still  survives.  Our  sub- 
ject received  a  common  school  education,  and  has  followed  farming  all  his 
life,  still  living  upon  the  old  farm  originally  settled  by  John  Noah,  the 
eighth  settler  in  Nelson  Township.  On  April  22,  1863,  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Jennie  M.  Doty,  born  in  New  York  State  April  22,  1840,  daughter 
of  Ebenezer  and  Rebecca  (Pierce)  Doty,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  both  now 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cole  are  the  parents  of  one  daughter — Lottie  M., 
born  March  5,  1864.  Our  subject  is  an  active  member  of  Portage  Lodge,  No. 
436,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

JOHN  B.  COLTON,  farmer,  P.O.  Garrettsville,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
was  born  November  27,  1811,  son  of  Theron  and  Elizabeth  (Clark)  Colton, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  moved  to  this  county  in  1815,  and  who  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  one  deceased  in  infancy,  the  remainder  attaining 
maturity,  four  of  whom  are  now  living,  whose  combined  ages  aggregate  three 
hundred  years.  Theron  Colton,  born  in  Granby,  Conn.,  established  the  first 
blacksmith  shop  in  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  and  conducted  an  extensive 
business  for  three  townships.  He  died  in  1851  at  the  age  of  seventy  eight 
years,  his  widow  surviving  him  about  fourteen  years.  Our  subject  was  raised 
on  a  farm,  his  education  being  limited  to  that  obtainable   in  the   log-school- 


772  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

bouse  of  that  early  day.  He  has  always  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer. 
He  was  married  in  1847  to  Mary  L.  Tilden,  a  native  of  Hiram  Township,  this 
county,  where  she  was  born  in  1829.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
Geoi-ge  H.,  a  Professor  in  Hiram  College;  Emily  N.,  wife  of  G.  W.  Newcomb, 
and  Sheridan  B.  Mr.  Colton  has  added  several  acres  to  the  old  homestead 
where  his  parents  lived  and  died,  aud  which  he  now  owns.  Mr.  Colton  has 
served  the  people  of  his  township  in  several  offices  of  trust.  He  has  never 
been  a  politician  or  office  seeker,  but  has  ever  lived  contented  with  the  plain 
home  life  of  a  farmer. 

BURT  F.  COUCH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, this  county,  August  22,  1850,  son  of  Ferris  and  Antoinette  (Johnson) 
Couch,  natives  of  Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  and  Cornwall,  Conn.  They 
were  the  parents  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  attained  maturity:  Sarah  A. 
(wife  of  Edward  Burk),  Emily  J.  and  Burt  F.  Ferris  Couch  settled  here  in 
1817,  and  became  very  prominent,  serving  as  Sheriff  of  the  county,  having 
been  elected  in  1854,  and  in  an  early  day  as  Captain  of  the  militia.  He  died 
August  27,  1881,  upon  the  same  farm  on  which  he  ate  his  first  meal  upon  his 
arrival  in  town  July  25,  1817.  His  widow  died  at  the  same  place  July  6, 
1884.  Our  subject  was  married  July  25, 1872,  to  Miss  Ella  C.  McElwain,  born 
in  Garrettsville,  this  county,  December  7,  1855.  Bv  this  union  there  are  two 
children:  Myrtle  A.,  born  June  24,  1874,  and  Lela  B.,  born  July  10,  1876. 
Mr.  Couch  is  an  enterprising  young  man,  who  has  always  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  farmer.  He  is  now  living  on  his  father's  old  homestead;  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Portage  Lodge,  No.  456,  L  O.  O.  F.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

CYRENUS  CRAWFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  in  Genesee 
County,  N.  Y.,  August  5,  1818;  son  of  Stephen  and  Rebecca  (Carpenter) 
Crawford,  natives  of  New  York,  and  parents  of  eight  children,  all  of  whom 
attained  maturity,  and  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  eldest.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stephen  Crawford  came  to  Ohio  in  1819,  residing  at  Southington  for  eight 
years,  thence  moved  to  Farmington  for  one  year,  and  finally  settled  in  Nelson 
Township.  The  father  died  in  1868;  the  mother  was  killed  in  1844  by  being 
thrown  from  a  buggy.  Our  subject  has  resided  in  Nelson  Township  since  his 
parents  came  here,  and  engaged  in  farming,  in  connection  with  which  he  has 
recently  gone  into  the  raising  of  a  superior  breed  of  stock.  He  was  united  in 
marriage,  August,  1858,  with  Miss  Mary  Brown,  a  native  of  New  I'^ork,  and 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Brown. 

BENJAMIN  FOWLER,  retired  farmer, Garrettsville, was  born  July  25, 1807, 
in  Northumberland  County,  Penn.,  and  removed  when  nine  years  old  to  Lyco- 
ming County,  same  State,  with  his  parents,  James  Fowler,  born  in  Northum- 
berland County,  Penn.,  and  Ann  (Craft)  Fowler,  born  in  England,  and  who 
came  to  America  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  The  father  was  a  distiller  dur- 
ing early  manhood,  and  later  a  farmer.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy -five 
years,  of  palsy.  He  and  his  wife,  who  died  in  1824,  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Their  children  were  eight  in  number,  five  of  whom  are 
now  jiving:  Benjamin,  Daniel,  Deborah,  Nancy  and  Kate.  Our  subject  was 
educated  in  the  log  cabin  schoolhouse,  and  during  his  short  terms  in  the  win- 
ters he  progressed  rapidly.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  he  mastered  every 
problem  in  what  is  now  known  as  "  Pike's  Arithmetic  "  in  twenty-one  days  and 
nights.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  began  labor  on  a  vessel  which  plied  on 
Baltimore  Bay,  and  there  remained  five  years.  In  1829  he  rented  a  large  farm 
along  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  five  years  later  left  there  for  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  where  he  settled  among  the  wolves  and  other  ferocious  animals. 
Here  he  improved  about  114  acres,  besides  clearing  other  farms.     In  1853  he 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  773 

moved  to  this  county,  and  settled  where  he  now  resides.  He  owns  175  acres, 
known  as  the  old  "  Spencer  farm,''  for  which  he  paid  $8,000.  Since  locating 
here  he  has  made  a  specialty  of  stock-raising  and  dairying;  he  also  continued  the 
cheese-making  business,  which  he  had  commenced  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio, 
in  1848,  but  this  industry  he  withdrew  from  in  1881.  While  in  Trumbull 
County  there  were  added  to  his  various  other  duties  the  operating  of  a  saw- 
mill, and  the  first  threshing  machine  ever  used  in  that  county.  At  one  time 
he  was  interested  in  a  banking  business  at  Garrettsville,  this  county,  which 
proved  a  loss  to  him.  Our  subject  married,  in  1829,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
John  and  Abbie  (McClow)  Shaffer,  natives,  former  of  Pennsylvania,  latter  of 
New  Jersey.  To  this  union  were  born  eleven  children,  eight  of  whom  are 
now  living:  J.  Wilson,  married  to  Flora  De  Lon;  Henry  M.  C. ,  married  to 
Caroline  Bristol,  born  October  5,  1833,  daughter  of  Lot  and  Lucy  (Towsley) 
Bristol,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  early  settlers  of  Portage  County  (her  father 
died  in  1866,  leaving  two  children:  Fred  and  Caroline);  they  have  two  chil- 
dren: Ransom  and  Virginia;  Harriet,  married,  for  her  second  husband,  to 
Oscar  Hoskins;  Sarah  J.,  married  to  Fred  Bristol;  Lorenda,  married  to  Sam- 
uel Craig;  Cornelius,  married  to  Hannah  Missner;  John,  married  to  Rosa  Doty; 
Watson,  married  to  George  Collins.  Mrs.  Fowler  died  in  1874.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  our  subject  has  been 
closely  attached  for  over  forty  years.  Mr.  Fowler  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  for  Andrew  Jackson,  and  has  since  adhered  faithfully  to  the  principles  of 
the  Democratic  party.  The  Fowler  family  are  descended  from  thi'ee  brothers 
who  emigrated  from  England  at  an  early  period,  and  soon  after  separated.  One, 
Nathan,  was  married  and  lived  in  New  York,  and  his  son  Benjamin  was  on 
board  a  vessel  which  remained  out  of  sight  of  land  for  three  years  and  six 
months.  He  was  with  George  Washington  during  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle. His  father  was  killed  in  the  French  and  Indian  war.  Another  of  the 
three  brothers,  Elithan,  married  and  resided  in  Connecticut;  and  the  third 
brother,  David,  married  a  French  woman  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
from  him  the  race,  of  which  our  subject  is  a  member,  sprang.  The  Fowler  fam- 
ily as  a  rule  are  long  lived.  Benjamin,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  died 
at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  six  years. 

OSCAR  D.  FREEMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  in  Fredonia,  N. 
Y.,  January  20,  1836,  son  of  Joseph  and  Phebean  (Freeman)  Freeman, 
natives  of  New  Y''ork,  and  to  whom  six  children  were  born,  our  subject  being 
the  third.  Joseph  Freeman  was  a  molder  by  trade,  but  subsequently  adopted 
the  life  of  a  farmer,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Michigan.  His  wife  died  in 
1843.  Oscar  D.  Freeman  was  raised  in  Michigan,  where  he  obtained  a  com- 
mon school  education  and  began  his  career  in  life  as  a  farmer.  In  1862  he 
removed  to  this  county,  and  the  year  following  was  married  to  Miss  Lavinia 
Knowlton,  a  native  of  Nelson  Township,  this  county.  By  this  union  there  is 
oue  son — Porter  C.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  Mr.  Freeman  enlisted 
with  the  100-days'  men  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio 
National  Guards,  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Kelley's  Bridge  and  dis- 
charged on  account  of  disability.  He  has  served  one  term  each  as  Township 
Treasurer  and  Constable. 

COLUMBUS  C.  FULLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  April  23, 1818, 
on  the  farm  in  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  which  is  still  his  home,  and  is 
a  son  of  Jeremiah  R.  and  Hannah  B.  (Bierce)  Fuller,  natives  of  Connecticut, 
who  had  a  family  of  five  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Chauncey,  in 
Iowa,  and  Columbus  C.  Jeremiah  R.  Fuller  came  to  this  county  in  1817  and 
died  in  1851;  his  widow  died  in  February,  1882,  aged  ninety-two  years.     Our 


774  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

subject  was  married,  in  1848,  to  Mary  A.  Bierce,  born  in  Nelson  Townsliip, 
this  county,  in  1830,  and  who  has  borne  him  the  following  children:  Harry  B., 
who  was  highly  educated,  and  was  a  successful  teacher,  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven  years;  William  J.;  Lucius  B. ,  a  graduate  of  Oberlin  College 
and  a  theological  student,  died  in  his  twenty-sixth  year;  Marcus  B.,  twin 
brother  of  Lucius  B. ,  who  graduated  at  the  same  time  and  is  now  a  mission- 
ary in  India;  Gerald  M.;  Columbus  C,  Jr.,  and  George  N.  Mr.  Fuller  has 
always  been  a  farmer,  and  for  fifteen  years  has  been  an  extensive  breeder  of 
Ayrshire  cattle.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church;  has  held 
several  of  the  township  offices;  in  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

AMOS  F.  HANNAH,  hotel  keeper,  NelsoD,  was  born  in  Nelson  Township, 
this  county,  January  3,  1836,  the  second  in  a  family  of  four  children  born  to 
John  and  Clarissa  (Foot)  Hannah,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts, 
respectively.  John  Hannah  came  to  Ohio  in  1813,  lost  his  wife  in  1844,  and 
subsequently  married  Susan  Hannah,  who  now  resides  with  her  step-son;  John 
Hannah  died  in  1872.  Our  subject  was  married,  in  1861,  to  Maria  L.  Clark, 
a  native  of  Nelson,  who  has  borne  him  five  children,  only  two  of  whom,  Archie 
and  Ruby,  are  living.  Mr.  Hannah  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  until 
the  spring  of  1877,  when  he  purchased  the  "  Cascade  House,"  erected  in  1868 
by  H.  L.  Bancroft,  at  Nelson  Ledges,  one  of  the  most  romantic  spots  in 
northern  Ohio,  which  has  become  a  very  popular  summer  resort,  and  under 
Mr.  Hannah's  able  management  the  business  of  this  hotel  has  steadily 
increased. 

GEORGE  E.  HEDGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville.  was  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  May  24,  1837;  son  of  Calvin  and  Sally  (Richards)  Hedger, 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  Vermont  respectively,  and  early  settlers  of  Trum- 
bull County,  both  now  deceased.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children: 
Amanda,  Alonzo,  Joseph,  Martha,  Mary,  John  and  George  E.  Our  subject 
was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  has  been  engaged  more  or  less  extensively  in 
raising  and  dealing  in  thoroughbred  cattle.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1859, 
and  on  November  7,  1861,  was  married  to  Caroline  Curtis,  who  was  born  June 
11,  1837,  on  the  place  which  has  always  been  her  home,  daughter  of  Julius 
Curtis,  who  was  born  in  Glastonbury,  Conn.,  December  25,  1797,  and  who  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  removed  to  Ohio,  locating  in  Geauga  County,  where  he  re- 
mained five  years  and  then  returned  to  Connecticut.  Later  Mr.  Curtis  once  more 
became  a  resident  of  Ohio,  and  in  1822  married  Rhoda  McCall,  who  is  still 
living,  aged  seventy-six,  and  who  bore  him  four  children:  Catharine,  Eben- 
ezer,  Barsheba  and  Caroline.  Mr.  Curtis  soon  after  his  marriage  came  to  this 
county,  where  he  died  March  6,  1883;  he  was  a  prominent  stock-dealer 
and  farmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hedger  have  two  children:  Walter  J.  and  Susie 
A.  Our  subject  has  served  nine  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  also 
been  Trustee  and  Assessor  of  Nelson  Township. 

JOHN  S.  HOBART,  farmer,  P.  O.  Parkman,  Geauga  County,  was  born  in 
New  Hampshire,  November  25,  1806;  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  (Wheeler) 
Hobart,  natives  of  Massachusetts.  Our  subject  came  to  Ohio  in  1814,  and  has 
always  been  a  farmer.  He  was  twice  married,  on  the  first  occasion,  in  1834, 
to  Margaret  Moore,  who  died  October  29,  1856,  the  mother  of  nine  children, 
as  follows:  Thomas  M.,  Benjamin  E.,  Mary  E.,  Jefferson  R.,  William  W., 
Marsena,  Freedom,  Hannah  and  Marcellus.  His  second  marriage  occurred 
March  1,  1858,  with  Aurilla  C.  Alton,  born  at  Warren,  Ohio,  December  16, 
1823,  daughter  of  William  and  Nancy  (Budd)  Netterfield,  natives  of  south- 
western Pennsylvania,  and  early  settlers  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  Three 
children  were  born  to  this  union:  Addison,  Allison  and  John  S.  Mr.  Hobart 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Nelson  for  forty  years. 


NELSON  TOWNSHIP.  775 

LUMAN  C.  HOFKINS,  farmer,  P. .  O.  Nelson,  was  born  in  Cornwall, 
Conn.,  May  8,  1820;  son  of  Luman  and  Anna  (Clark)  Hopkins,  natives  of  that 
State,  who  had  a  family  of  six  children:  Harriet  (deceased),  Catharine  (de- 
ceased), Ann,  Luman  C,  Palmer  (deceased)  and  Charlotte.  Luman  Hopkins 
came  in  1824  to  the  farm  where  Luman  C.  now  lives  and  has  always  lived, 
when  the  latter  was  four  years  old.  Oar  subject  received  a  common  school 
education,  and  chose  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  which  he  has  always  fol- 
lowed, and  for  several  years  has  conducted  a  large  dairy.  He  has  been  twice 
married,  on  the  first  occasion,  in  1844,  to  Miss  Janette  L.  Sackett,  who  died 
in  1847.  His  second  marriage,  in  April,  1848,  was  with  Eliza  Stilson,  born 
in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county,  June  1(3,  1828.  By  this  union  there  were 
six  children:  Philo,  George,  Ernest,  Nettie,  Herbert  (deceased)  and  Arthur. 
Mr.  Hopkins  has  held  the  office  of  Township  Trustee  several  times,  also  that 
of  Township  Treasurer.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  fourteen  years. 

WILLIAM  W.  McCALL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  in  Nelson  Town- 
ship, this  county,  January  13,  1834,  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  P.  (Sherwood) 
McCall,  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  parents  of  five  children,  who  attained 
maturity.  Joseph  McCall  was  born  in  1804,  came  to  Ohio  in  1820,  and  for 
fifty-three  years  resided  on  the  homestead  where  he  died  June  26,  1884.  His 
widow,  who  survives  him,  was  born  September  6,  1812,  daughter  of  Joshua 
B.  and  Anna  (Bonny)  Sherwood,  who  brought  her  to  Ohio  in  infancy.  Mr. 
McCall  was  married  October  21,  1856,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Knowlton,  born  in 
Nelson  Township,  this  county,  September  13,  1836.  Mrs.  McCall  was  the 
daughter  of  James  and  Isabel  Knowlton.  James  Knowlton,  a  native  of  Bland- 
ford,  Mass.,  came  to  Charlestown  in  this  county  in  1809,  and  to  Nelson  in 
1810.  Isabel  (Nicholson)  Knowlton  was  a  native  of  Canaan,  N.  Y.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  McCall  were  born  five  children:  Jonathan  N.  (Superintendent  of 
Schools  at  Ithaca,  Mich.),  Ella,  Almon  W.  (a  gradup,te  of  Garrettsville  High 
School,  and  was  engaged  as  Principal  of  the  Girard  schools,  to  assume  the 
duties  of  this  position  on  Monday,  September  8,  1884,  but  the  evening  previous 
was  drowned  while  bathing),  Rosa  M.  and  Ernest  J.  In  early  life  our  subject 
taught  school,  but  subsequently  identified  himself  with  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  has  since  continued  this  occiipation.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  about  twenty-five  years. 

THOMAS  MERWIN,  local  minister,  Nelson,  was  born  in  Onondaga 
County,  N.  Y.,  July  16,  1816,  son  of  Jesse  and  Lydia  (Ewers)  Merwin,  natives 
of  New  England,  and  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1822,  settling  in  Nelson  Township, 
this  county,  where  the  former  was  the  first  physician  to  practice.  Our  sub- 
ject received  a  common  school  education  and  began  life  as  a  farmer.  In  1853 
he  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  in 
Stark  County,  Ohio,  October  17,  and  appointed  to  preach  at  Nelson,  McClin- 
tocksburg,  Southington  and  Middlefield.  He  was  obliged  to  retire,  however, 
on  account  of  his  wife's  precarious  health.  He  was  also  called  to  the  pulpit 
at  Pierpont,  Ohio,  but  declined,  and  at  the  following  annual  conference  he 
withdrew  from  the  itinerancy,  and  since  then  has  held  a  local  membership. 
He  has  since  given  his  attention  somewhat  to  his  farming  interests.  Mr.  Mer- 
win was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Lucy  M.  Messenger,  a  native  of 
Windham  Township,  this  county,  who  died  November  17,  1854,  aged  thirty- 
four  years  and  four  months^-leaving  two  children  to  his  care:  Matthew  A.  and 
Wealtha  Almina.  His  second  wife  was  Mary  A.  Palm,  born  in  Austintown, 
Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  one  son — John  P. 

KETCHEL  B.  PAYNE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Parkman,  Geauga  County,  was  born 
in  New  York,  August  18,  1812,  son  of  Solomon  J.  and  Lucretia  (Bierce)  Payne, 


776  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1816  and  located  in  this  county 
and  township.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  children.  Solomon  J.  Payne 
died  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years;  his  widow  at  the  age  of  fifty -eight. 
Afforded  but  little  opportunity  to  attend  school,  the  education  of  our  subject 
has  been  largely  obtained  in  his  intercourse  with  the  world,  and  through 
business  and  social  relations.  He  was  married,  April  18,  1844,  to  Mary  Jane 
Chaflfee,  born  in  Vermont,  February  7,  1826.  They  have  four  children  living: 
Robert  K.,  Benjamin  F.,  MelindaE.,  wife  of  Robert  Everett,  and  Solomon. 
Our  subject  has  always  been  a  farmer,  and  his  ax  has  helped  cut  down  the 
forests  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  many  pleasant  homes  that  now  adorn 
the  county.  He  has  tilled  the  offices  of  Treasurer  and  Constable;  for  many 
vears  he  has  been  a  consistent  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

BENJAMIN  F.  PAYNE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  May  20,  1851, 
in  Nelson,  son  of  Ketchel  B.  and  Mary  Jane  (Chaffee)  Payne,  natives  of  New 
York  and  Vermont  respectively.  (See  sketch  of  K.  B.  Payne.)  Our  subject 
availed  himself  of  the  advantages  of  a  common  school  education,  and  has 
devoted  his  life  to  farming,  in  which  he  has  been  pronouncedly  successful. 
He  was  married  September  20,  1871,  to  Miss  Belle  Brown,  born  December  30, 
1854,  in  Parkman,  daughter  of  James  and  Susan  (Hannah)  Brown.  By  this 
union  there  is  one  son — Algernon,  born  June  8,  1872.  Mr.  Payne  purchased 
his  present  farm  in  1872,  and  has  a  tine  herd  of  Shorthorn  cattle.  During  the 
spring  he  engages  quite  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  maple  sugar,  hav- 
ing an  orchard  of  800  maple  trees.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  promising 
young  men  of  the  county.     He  is  now  serving  Nelson  Township  as  Constable. 

EBENEZER  T.  PRENTICE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  in  Onon'- 
daga  County,  N.  Y.,  November  29,  1811,  son  of  Salmon  and  Edna  (Sweet) 
Prentice,  also  natives  of  the  above  county  and  State,  and  who  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  of  whom  Ebenezer  T.  is  the  sixth.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried in  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  June  15,  1836,  to  Sarah  Vallance,  born 
October  9,  1817,  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  By  this  union  there  are  tive  chil- 
dren: Samuel,  Byron,  Charles,  Cyrus  and  Eri  (latter  deceased).  Mr.  Prentice  has 
always  followed  agricultural  pursuits,  clearing  in  all  three  farms.  He  came 
to  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  in  1849,  and  located  the  farm  on  which  he 
now  lives.  He  has  served  the  people  as  Trustee,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years 
has  been  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

DUANE  E.  SHERWOOD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Nelson,  was  born  on  the  place 
where  he  now  resides,  November  16,  1854,  son  of  Ebenezer  B.  and  Joanna 
(McCall)  Sherwood,  who  were  the  parents  of  three  children:  Duane,  Laura 
(now  Mrs.  Hedden)  and  Carrie  (now  Mrs.  Mattison).  Ebenezer  B.  Sherwood 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  came  to  Nelson  Township,  this  county,  in 
1813.  He  was  an  energetic,  enterprising  man,  and  cleared  a  large  tract  of 
land.  He  died  in  1882,  aged  seventy-two  years.  His  widow  still  resides  on 
the  old  homestead,  at  the  advanced  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  Our  subject,  who 
has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  was  raised  on  a  farm  and  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  district  and  at  Hiram  College. 

FRANKLIN  SMITH,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Ben 
nington  County,  Vt.,  October  26,  1804.  He  was  married  to  Alvira  White,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  who  bore  him  two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Harriet 
(deceased),  Warren,  Albert  J.  and  Eleanor,  wife  of  George  Combs.  Mr. 
Smith  immigrated  to  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  in  .1818,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest 
pioneers  now  living  of  that  county.  In  1825  he  removed  to  Michigan  for 
four  years,  and  then  returned  to  (jeauga  County,  Ohio,  purchased  a  large  f  arm^ 
upon  which  he  resided  for  seventeen  years,  and  then  came  to  this  county.   His 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  777 

wife  died,  in  September,  1880,  and  be  has  disposed  of  bis  farm  and  retired 
from  tbe  labors  of  an  active  life.  He  has  been  an  energetic,  enterprising  man, 
and  was  ever  considered  one  of  the  substantial,  practical  farmers  of  Nelson 
Township.     At  an  early  day  Mr.  Smith  became  a  F.  &  A.  M. 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP. 


GUSTAVUS  P.  BACON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Palmyra,  was  born  May  29,  1813, 
in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county,  on  the  homestead  farm  where  he  now 
resides,  son  of  William  and  Polly  (Thurber)  Bacon,  natives  of  Vermont.  Will- 
iam Bacon  visited  this  county  in  1800,  and  after  securing  his  land,  returned, 
as  he  had  come,  on  foot.  In  1802  he  came  back  to  Palmyra  Township  with 
his  family,  and  was  assisted  by  the  Indians  in  raising  a  cabin,  and  here  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Of  the  ten  children  born  to  this  pioneer 
couple  but  four  survive:  William  R.,  Gustavus  P.,  Almon  T.  and  Chauncy  C. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  Deerfield,  October  9,  1836,  to  Chris- 
tena  Woodward,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  To  this  union  have  been  born  ten 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  John  W.,  married  to  Lizzie  Burnett,  who 
died  leaving  four  children:  John,  Charles,  Delia  and  Mary  (his  second  mar- 
riage was  with  Mrs.  Mary  Hornesby);  Emeline  L. ,  wife  of  William  G.  Byers; 
Hiram  G.,  married  to  Lizzie  Craig  (their  children  are  Frank  and  Nellie);  Coz- 
zens,  married  to  Josephine  Edsall  (they  reside  in  Throckmorton  County,  Tex., 
have  two  children:  Blanche  and  Warren):  Mary  C. ;  Martha;  and  Lodica residing 
on  tbe  homestead.  Mr.  Bacon  is  the  oldest  native-born  resident  of  Palmyra 
Township,  this  county. 

ALVA  BALDWIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Palmyra,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  was  born 
in  Warren,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  July  4,  1795,  son  of  John  T.  and  Catherine 
(McArtbur)  Baldwin,  natives  of  Milford,  Conn.,  who  came  to  this  county  by 
wagon  in  1805,  arriving  at  the  farm  on  July  7.  Tbeii's  was  tbe  first  wagon 
that  crossed  the  county,  there  being  but  two  or  three  families  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  township.  John  T.  Baldwin  took  up  eighty  acres  of  land,  and 
after  paying  for  bis  land  had  '$1  left.  He  and  our  subject  participated 
in  the  war  of  1812.  They  went  out  at  Hull's  surrender,  with  the  Fourth 
Division  of  Ohio  Militia  under  Gen.  Wadsworth.  Our  subject  had  his  father's 
team,  and  while  at  Cleveland  they  met  Gen.  Harrison,  who  employed  John  T. 
Baldwin  to  pick  up  all  the  provisions  for  tbe  army  be  could  find.  They  were 
out  all  winter.  Soon  after  the  close  of  that  struggle  they  went  to  Detroit, 
and  from  thence,  in  1815,  to  Toledo  with  a  party  of  twelve  men.  The  party 
consisted  of  Col.  McArtbur;  Maj.  Mansfield,  of  Atwater;  Horatio  Day;  Lewis 
Ely  and  Merrick  Ely,  of  Deerfield;  Capt.  John  T.  Baldwin  and  Alva  Bald- 
win, of  Palmyra;  Judge  King,  of  Stowe,  with  some  discharged  soldiers  from 
Detroit,  all  on  foot,  with  each  a  United  States  knapsack  on  bis  back,  well 
stored  with  provisions  and  blankets.  There  was  no  settlement  at  Toledo  at 
that  time.  John  T.  Baldwin  took  up  land  on  Bean  Creek,  and  through  his 
landed  possessions  became  wealthy.  Three  sons  accompanied  him  from  Pal- 
myra to  Toledo.  He  subsequently  built  a  vessel  on  the  Cuyahoga.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  where  bis  estimable  wife  bad 
also  departed  this  life.  The  youngest  son,  Marcus,  who  is  a  resident  of 
Toledo,  and  Alva,  our  subject,  are  tbe  only  survivors  of  their  children.      The 


778  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

latter  returned  to  the  homestead  farm  in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county, 
where  he  remained,  and  is  now  passing  the  declining  years  of  his  life 
surrounded  by  his  children  and  grandchildren.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  mar- 
ried in  Ravenna,  in  1818,  to  Sally  Andrus,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Andrus. 
To  this  union  two  children  were  born:  Andrus  T.,  and  Lucinda,  who  died 
October  4,  1838,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.  Andrus  T.  was  born  on  the 
homestead  farm  in  1820.  He  has  been  engaged  in  various  pursuits,  and  for 
twelve  years  was  in  the  hardware  trade  at  Medina  and  Ravenna.  In  1884  he 
disposed  of  his  business  and  removed  to  the  homestead  to  care  for  and  live 
with  his  respected  parent  through  the  latter  part  of  his  existence.  He  was 
married  November  5,  1839,  in  Palmyra,  to  Samantha  Daniels,  a  native  of 
Medway,  Mass.,  born  August  29,  1821.  She  died  February  23,  1861,  leaving 
one  son — Alvah  V.,  who  was  born  July  2, 1840,  was  thoroughly  educated  for  a 
physician  and  surgeon,  and  was  a  graduate  of  the  old  and  new  schools  of 
Cleveland.  He  was  a  student  of  the  lamented  President  Garfield,  and  was  a 
young  man  of  pronounced  ability,  and  gained  a  strong  hold  on  the  hearts  of 
all  who  knew  him.  He  was  married  to  Eliza  Merwin,  who  bore  him  three 
children,  all  now  living:  Ida  S.,  Gustave  W.  and  Clayton  R.  His  widow 
resides  in  Palmyra.  Andrus  T.  was  married  the  second  time  in  1873,  the 
lady  being  Ella  Olmstead,  a  native  of  Palmyra.  By  this  union  are  two  chil- 
dren, both  now  living:  John  B.  and  Minnie  S. 

D.  D.  CARSON,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Carson  &  Diver,  merchants, 
Palmyra,  was  born  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  July  23,  1843,  a  son  of  George 
and  Catherine  (Gross)  Carson,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  reared  a  family 
of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living:  Catherine  J.,  Harriet,  Uriah 
W.,  David  D.,  Emily  M.,  Elmer,  William  F.,  Clara  and  Ellen.  His  father,  an 
early  pioneer  of  Berlin,  Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  and  his  estimable  wife 
still  reside,  has  always  followed  farming  as  an  occupation.  He  has  served  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  upward  of  twenty-seven  years  and  at  present  is 
Notary  Public.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  1864  to  Miss  Sarah 
A.  Buck,  who  died  in  Union,  Mo.,  in  1880.  He  was  married  on  second  occa- 
sion to  Sarah  A.,  daughter  of  John  Gross,  of  Berlin,  Ohio.  Mr.  Carson  in 
1864  enlisted  in  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry, serving  five  months,  and  participated  with  his  regiment  in  active  serv- 
ice at  Martinsbtirg,  Va.  Subsequently  Mr.  Carson  removed  to  Franklin 
County,  Mo.,  where  for  sixteen  years  he  engaged  in  teaching  school  and 
fai-ming.  After  his  return  to  Berlin  he  taught  school  for  a  time.  In  the 
spring  of  1883  he  formed  a  partnership  with  E.  J.  Shively  in  mercantile  trade 
at  Palmyra.  In  December  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Shively  retired  from  the  con- 
cern, and  our  subject  carried  it  on  alone  until  May,  1884,  when  G.  R.  Diver 
was  admitted  to  the  firm.  The  house  carries  about  $5,000  in  general  stock  and 
drugs,  and  has  a  lucrative  trade.  Mr.  Carson  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
while  a  resident  of  Missouri.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  holds  a  membership  in 
the  K.  of  P.  and  I.  O.  O.  F. 

SAMUEL  A.  CHURCH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Palmyra,  was  born  on  the  home- 
stead farm  in  Palmyra  Township,  this  county,  February  16,  1854,  and  is  a 
grandson  of  Samuel  and  Tryphena  (Terrell),  who  settled  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship in  1833.  His  father,  James  M.  Church,  was  born  in  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.,  December  19,  1815;  his  mother,  Phebe  (Olmstead)  Church,  was  also  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  They  are  among  the  oldest  living  pioneers  of  Pal- 
myra Township,  parents  of  four  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living:  Anna, 
wife  of  W.  D.  Edwards;  "William  S. ;  Jane,  wife  of  N.  K.  Goss,  and  Samuel 
A.      The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  occupies  the  homestead,  was  married  in 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  779 

1876  to  Dassie,  daughter  of  Alexander  Scott,  and  a  native  of  Palmyra  Town- 
ship. One  son — James  Scott — has  blessed  this  union.  Mr.  Church  is  an  hon- 
ored member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  is  one  of 
the  leading  farmers  of  the  township.  Politically  he  supports  the  Democratic 
platform. 

WILLIAM  C.  DAVIS,  proprietor  of  restaurant  and  billiard  room,  Dia- 
mond, was  born  in  Paris  Township,  this  county,  in  August,  1844,  son  of  John 
D.  and  Margaret  (Jones)  Davis,  and  grandson  of  William  Davis,  one  of  the 
earliest  pioneers  of  Palmyra  Township.  His  father  moved  from  Paris  Town- 
ship to  Palmyra  Township  in  1847,  settling  on  a  farm,  where  he  died  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1883,  aged  seventy-one  years.  The  widow,  who  subsequently  married 
William  Edwards,  now  resides  in  Alliance.  The  subject  of  this  sketch,  one 
of  eight  children,  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  served  an  apprenticeship 
of  three  years  in  Cleveland  as  a  stone-cutter.  He  worked  at  his  trade  until  he 
came  to  this  place  in  the  summer  of  1880,  and,  purchasing  a  lot,  built  his  pres- 
ent residence  and  billiard  room.  This  was  the  second  building  erected  in  the 
place,  and  Mr.  Davis  has  carried  on  a  large  and  successful  business.  He  was 
married  .'it  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  May,  1872,  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Silas  Betts, 
of  Canfield.  Three  children  have  been  born  to  bless  this  union:  Roscoe, 
Daisy  and  Gracie,  latter  of  whom  died  in  1881,  aged  twenty-three  days.  Mr. 
Davis  is  a  man  of  influence  in  the  community,  highly  respected  by  all  who 
know  him. 

GEORGE  R.  DIVER,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Carson  &  Diver,  Palmyra, 
was  born  in  Deerfield  Townshii^,  this  county,  September  12,  1865.  His  father, 
Orison,  was  also  a  native  of  Deerfield  Township,  born  August  20,  1829,  the 
youngest  son  of  John  and  Christena  (Hartzell)  Diver.  At  the  death  of  his 
father,  Orison  Diver  accepted  his  responsibilities,  became  proprietor  of  the 
"  Diver  House,"  and  attended  to  the  transportation  of  mails  between  Cleveland 
and  Pittsburgh.  He  was  twice  married,  first  to  Samantha  Mowen,  who  died 
one  year  after  marriage,  leaving  one  child  named  Manty,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  five  years  and  seven  months.  His  second  marriage  was  with  Sarah  Gross,  by 
whom  he  had  one  child — George  R.,  our  subject.  He  was  a  man  of  sound 
moral  worth,  widely  and  favorably  known.  He  died  September  21,  1877,  and 
his  widow  is  now  the  wife  of  D.  D.  Carson.  Our  subject  received  school  advan- 
tages, and,  possessing  business  ability,  engaged  in  the  livery  business  at  Deer- 
field, this  county.  This  he  subsequently  disposed  of  and  in  May,  1884,  formed 
the  present  copartnership.  The  firm  carry  a  general  stock  of  goods,  and  enjoy 
a  lucrative  trade. 

E.  M.  EVANS,  Postmaster,  Palmyra,  is  a  native  of  Whales,  where  he  was 
born  in  1837.  He  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  July,  1866,  and  came  to 
Chicago,  and  on  his  recovering  from  a  three  months'  sickness  he  left  for  Mil- 
waukee, where  he  worked  at  his  trade  as  cabinet-maker  until  the  spring  of 
1868.  He  then  removed  to  Arena,  Iowa  Co.,  Wis.,  where  he  conducted  a  fur- 
niture store.  In  1869  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Welsh  Baptist  Church 
of  Ridgeway,  Iowa  Co.,  Wis.,  where  he  held  membership.  In  the  fall  of  1871 
he  was  called  to  supply  the  Welsh  Baptist  Church  in  the  settlement  near  Osh- 
kosh.  Wis.  In  the  spring  of  1882  he  came  to  Chicago  and  held  a  position  in 
the  retail  department  of  A.  H.  Andrews  &Co.  In  the  fall  of  1882  the  Welsh 
Baptist  Chui'ch  of  Frostburg,  Md. ,  extended  him  a  call,  and  he  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry  by  said  church  in  December,  1883.  W^hile  in  Frostburg  he 
published  a  volume  of  his  compositions  in  the  Welsh  language,  including 
prose  and  poetry,  which  volume  had  an  extensive  sale,  and  has  been  used  b}'^ 
the  Welsh  Sabbath-schools  of  the  United  States  for  recitations  in  their  anni- 


780  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

versaries  and  exhibitions.  For  the  sake  of  arranging  his  business  afifairs  in  the 
West,  Mr.  Evans  resigned  his  charge  of  the  church  in  Frostburg,  and  when  he  was 
about  to  depart  from  his  people  they  presented  him  with  a  beautiful  gold  watch 
valued  at  $140.  After  his  visit  to  Wisconsin  he  returned  to  Johnstown,  Penn  , 
where  he  had  accepted  a  call  from  the  Welsh  Baptist  Church.  The  church 
being  crippled  by  a  strike  of  seven  months,  and  the  panic  of  1873  and  1874,  Mr. 
Evans  concluded  to  accept  the  call  of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Paris,  Portage 
Co.,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Paris  in  the  fall  of  1875,  and  while  there  he  was 
invited  to  Palmyra  by  the  Baptist  friends  there  to  reorganize  the  church  and 
to  repair  an  old  church  building  that  had  been  abandoned  for  many  years.  He 
soon  found  the  two  charges  and  preaching  once  in  Palmyra  and  twice  in  Paris 
every  Sabbath  too  much  of  a  task,  so  he  concluded  to  I'elinquish  his  charge  of 
the  church  in  Paris,  and  in  1877  he  opened  a  drug  store  in  Palmyra  and  in  the 
eame  year  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Palmyra,  which  position  he  has 
acceptably  filled  since  that  time.  He  was  without  means  when  he  came  to  this 
country,  but  by  close  economy,  integrity  and  perseverance  has  accumulated  a 
good  home  and  substantial  business.  Mr.  Evans  was  married  in  1879  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  V.  Evans,  a  native  of  Palmyra,  Ohio.  Their  living  children  are 
John  V.  and  Alfred  D.  Mr.  Evans  devotes  all  his  spare  time  to  his  minis- 
terial duties. 

THOMAS  EVANS,  proprietor  of  saloon  and  restaurant,  came  to  Palmyra, 
this  county,  in  June,  1879,  and  was  engaged  in  the  mines  about  one  year, 
when  he  struck  a  coal  shaft  and  opened  a  bank  which  he  sold  to  a  profit.  Sub- 
sequently he  opened  a  saloon,  in  which  business  he  has  since  been  actively 
engaged.  He  erected  his  present  structure  in  1882,  where  he  carries  a  lai'ge 
stock  of  liquors,  wines,  cigars,  etc.,  and  has  a  pool  table  in  connection  with 
his  place.  He  has  been  successful  in  this  business.  Mr.  Evans  is  a  native  of 
Wales,  where  he  was  born  in  1852,  and  is  a  son  of  George  and  Ellen  Evans. 
He  was  married  in  his  native  land  in  1878,  to  Miss  Eliza  Griffith,  by  whom 
he  has  thi-ee  children:  Arthur,  David  G.  and  Mary  Ellen.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  K.  of  P.     He  numbers  among  the  active  business  men  of  this  place. 

H.  H.  GILLINGHAM,  Superintendent  Hutson  Coal  Company,  Diamond, 
was  born  in  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  November  21,  1856,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  W.  and  Mary  A.  Gillingham,  the  former  a  native  of  Maryland,  the 
latter  of  Mahoning  County,  Ohio.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  all 
of  whom  are  now  living,  viz.:  Elizabeth,  wife  of  F.  J.  Powell;  Samuel  O.; 
Reuben;  Hiram  H. ;  Delia  A.  and  Charles  E.  The  family  settled  in  Deerfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1854,  where  they  have  since  made  their  home.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  Deerfield  Township  in  1880,  to  Miss  May 
O.  Vaughan,  a  native  of  Robinson,  111.  One  son — AVillie  D. — has  been  born 
to  this  union.  Mr.  Gillingham  and  Mr.  Hutson  sunk  the  shaft  for  the  coal 
bank  in  August,  1883,  since  which  time  Mr.  Gillingham  has  assumed  the 
superintendency,  and  enjoys  an  interest  in  the  concern.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 
As  a  citizen  he  is  highly  esteemed. 

WILLIAM  JENKINS,  M.  D.,  Diamond,  was  born  in  Treforest,  Wales,  in 
1852,  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann  (Jones)  Jenkins.  His  father,  who  was  a  clergman, 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1863,  and  after  locating  at  various  places  he  set- 
tled in  Waterville,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  presides  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  ma)ried  in  Delaware  County,  in  1875, 
to  Mary  E.  Thomas,  by  whom  he  has  the  following  children  now  living:  Mary 
A.  and  Thomas  S.  Mr.  Jenkins  received  his  collegiate  education  in  the  Uni- 
versity at  Delaware,  where  he  graduated  in  the  class  of  1876.  He  attended 
two  courses  of  lectures  at  the  Howard  University  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  grad- 


PALMYRA  TOWNSHIP.  781 

uated  at  the  Columbus  Medical  College  in  1881.  His  brother,  Dr.  Jenkins, 
of  Plain  City,  Madison  Co.,  Ohio,  was  his  preceptor,  from  whom  he  received 
all  the  advantages  for  his  studies.  He  subsequently  became  assistant  to  Dr. 
Hamilton,  in  the  college  at  Columbus,  with  whom  he  was  connected  until  he 
came  to  this  place  in  May,  1881.  Dr.  Jenkins  has  built  up  a  rapid  and  increas- 
ing practice,  and  is  well  established  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  all  who 
know  him.  He  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Congregational  Church;  an  hon- 
ored member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

O.  B.  MASON,  merchant.  Diamond,  was  born  in  Marlborough,  Stark  Co., 
Ohio,  March  14,  1838,  son  of  Otis  and  Mary  Mason,  both  deceased.  Mr.  Mason 
is  the  founder  of  Diamond,  being  the  first  business  man  to  locate  here  in  1880, 
and  is  deserving  of  great  credit  for  his  labors  in  building  up  and  improving 
the  place.  He  erected  the  first  edifice  here,  now  used  as  a  depot  and  restau- 
rant, and  opened  a  general  stock  of  goods.  In  December,  1881,  he  erected  his 
present  structure,  where  he  has  since  continued  doing  a  successful  trade;  has 
also  for  years  been  engaged  in  the  lumber  business,  and  beginning  life  as  he 
did,  empty-handed,  he  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  pages  of  history.  He  was 
appointed  Postmaster  in  1881,  a  position  he  has  filled  acceptably  to  all.  Mr. 
Mason  is  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Republican  party.  He  holds  the  esteem 
and  friendship  of  all  classes  who  have  learned  to  appreciate  his  moral  worth. 
Our  subject  was  married  in  Marlborough,  Ohio,  in  1863,  to  Mary  A. ,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Campbell,  of  Atwater  Township,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  two  living 
children:  Frank,  born  in  June,  1871,  and  Dawn,  born  August  21,  1881. 

NOBLE  MERWIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Diamond,  was  born  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, this  county.  May  22,  1853,  son  of  Nathaniel  R.  and  Jane  (Hitchcock) 
Merwin,  natives  of  Connecticut.  The  parents  and  grandfather,  David  Merwin, 
settled  on  the  farm  in  1814,  purchasing  one  section  of  land,  a  portion  of  which 
they  lived  to  clear,  and  here  they  passed  honored  and  useful  lives.  Nathan- 
iel R.  Merwin  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  nee  Mary  A.  Stilson,  two 
sons  were  born:  George  and  David.  Of  the  children  born  to  his  second  mar- 
riage four  are  living:  Eliza  (wife  of  L.  Thomas),  Lucy  (wife  of  R.  Whittle- 
sey), Charles  A.  and  Noble.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  Pal- 
myra Township,  in  1873,  to  Helen  Brainerd,  of  Boardman,  Mahoning  County. 
Flora  M.  and  Noble  H.  are  the  living  issue  of  this  union.  Mr.  Merwin  resides 
on  a  portion  of  the  homestead  farm,  consisting  of  150  acres.  The  family  is 
an  outgrowth  of  pioneer  stock,  and  bears  the  respected  and  honored  characters 
of  worthy  and  esteemed  parents. 

JACOB  SCOTT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Diamond,  one  of  the  oldest  native  residents 
of  Palmyra  Township,  was  born  on  the  homestead  farm  in  1831,  and  is  a  son 
of  Alexander  and  Christian  (Bean)  Scott.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ireland 
and  a  son  of  Robert  Scott,  who  settled  in  Mifflin  County,  Penn. ,  in  1800,  where 
he  lived  to  the  close  of  his  life.  Alex.  Scott  is  the  oldest  living  pioneer  of 
Palmyra  Township,  having  passed  his  ninety-first  birthday.  His  estimable 
wife  died  in  September,  1872,  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom 
are  now  living:  John,  Nancy,  Mary,  Alexander,  Robert,  Jacob,  Roswell  and 
Margaret.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  first  married  to  Miss  Sarah  J. 
McElvey,  who  died,  leaving  one  child — Sarah  J. — wife  of  A.  V.  Lewis.  He 
was  married  on  second  occasion,  in  1865,  to  Miss  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Stewart  (deceased),  who  was  born  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1802,  immigrated  to  this  country  and  settled  in  Palmyra  Township, 
in  1832.  In  1837  he  married  Rebecca  Gilbert,  and  soon  after  settled  on  the 
farm  where  he  and  his  respected  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  life's  journey, 
and  which  is  still  occupied  by  his  children.     Mr.  Scott's  farming  lands  in  Pal- 


782  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

myra  Township  and  in  Milton  cover  147  acres.  In  the  spring  of  1884  he 
erected  his  present  commodious  residence  at  Diamond.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Grange. 

EDWARD  SEEDHOUSE,  proprietor  of  saloon  and  restaurant,  Palmyra, 
is  a  native  of  England,  where  he  was  born  in  1833.  In  1866  he  came  to 
America,  and  was  engaged  in  the  coal  mines  of  Pennsylvania.  While  there 
he  met  and  married  Sarah  Lemm,  who  died  in  Pennsylvania.  His  second 
marriage  was  with  Nora  Anna  Stone,  by  whom  he  has  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters: Joseph,  Harriet  (wife  of  William  Bailey),  William,  and  Mary  A.  (wife  of 
Richard  Davis).  Mr.  Seedhouse  came  to  Palmyra  in  1882,  and  opened  his 
present  place,  where  he  conducts  a  prosperous  business.  As  a  citizen  he  sus- 
tains a  good  reputation. 

W.  G.  SMITH,  M.  D.,  Palmyra,  was  born  in  New  Wilmington,  Lawrence 
Co.,  Penn.,  July  11,  1854,  and  is  the  eldest  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (;6anks) 
Smith,  who  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living: 
W^  G.,  Robert,  Ella  S.,  Maggie  E.,  Eddie,  Edith,  Ida  and  Samuel  A.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  and  died  at  New  Wilmington,  Penn.,  in  1875.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  received  his  primary  education  in  his  native  place,  and  there 
served  as  clerk  in  the  postoffice,  and  also  secured  five  years'  experience  in  the 
druo"  business.  During  a  greater  portion  of  this  time  he  studied  medicine 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Pettit.  He  was  sober,  industrious  and  fru- 
gal, securing  means  through  his  own  exertions  with  which  to  educate  himself. 
In  September,  1875,  he  entered  Miami  Medical  College,  graduating  in  the 
class  of  1877.  In  May  of  the  same  year  he  located  in  Palmyra.  Though  a 
stranger  without  means  and  in  competition  with  old  practitioners,  from  the 
first  success  attended  his  efforts,  and  his  calls  have  been  continuously  increas- 
ing, until  now  he  controls  the  largest  practice  in  and  about  the  township.  He 
is  a  member  of  Portage  County,  Ohio  State  Medical  Societies.  Is  connected 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  Doctor  was  married,  October  26, 
1879,  to  Mary  A.  Force,  born  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  March  12,  1862,  daugh- 
ter of  David  and  Abigail  P.  Force,  latter  of  whom  died  of  heart  and  lung 
trouble  at  her  residence  in  Palmyra,  February  24,  1885.  One  child — Willie — 
is  the  living  issue  of  this  union. 


PARIS  TOWNSHIP. 


ELIJAH  HAWLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Newton  Falls,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio 
is  the  oldest  living  resident  of  Paris  Township,  this  county,  and  was  born  near 
his  present  residence  October  11,  1815;  son  of  Chauncy  and  Mercy  (Selby) 
Hawley.  natives  of  Massachusetts,  the  former  born  March  24,  1780,  the  latter 
March  24,  1786.  Chauncy  Hawley  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  State, 
and  there  married  May  27,  1808.  He  was  a  hatter  by  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  in  connection  with  farming.  In  1815  he  with  his  family  came  to  Paris 
Township,  this  county,  where  he  resided  till  his  death,  which  occurred  June  17, 
1846.  His  widow  died  June  18,  1875.  Of  their  six  children  the  following 
survive:  Elijah;  Eliza,  widow  of  Joseph  Brown;  and  Urania,  wife  of  M.  M. 
Seymour.  Elijah  Hawley  left  home  when  seventeen  years  of  age  and  began 
working  at  the  trade  of  cabinet-making,  but  gave  it  up  after  three  months, 
and  served  an  apprenticeship  at  carpentering,  at  which  he  worked  many  years. 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  783 

In  1842  he  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Anna  (Sefton)  Stewart,  by 
whom  he  had  six  children;  five  now  living:  Henry.  Miles,  Charles,  William 
and  George.  Our  subject  at  his  marriage  had  but  little  capital,  and  his  first 
purchase  of  land  was  twelve  acres,  which  he  paid  for  by  building  a  house  for 
Stephen  Bingham.  The  result  of  his  industry  is  380  acres  of  well-improved 
land.  Mr.  Hawley  was  successful  in  architecture  and  bridge  building,  and  was 
the  author  of  a  design  for  a  substantial  wooden  bridge.  He  has  held  several 
township  offices;  was  lirst  Assessor  of  Paris  Township.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat. 

JOHN"  LEONARD  (deceased)  was  born  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio.  March 
8,  1815;  son  of  George  and  Margaret  (Hoftman)  Leonard,/ natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia  respectively.  George  Leonard,  who  was  reared,  educated 
and  married  in  Washington  County,  Penn.,  was  a  farmer  and  also  a  carpenter 
and  joiner.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  On  coming  to  Ohio  he  first 
settled  in  Mahoning  County,  as  did  his  parents.  He  then  moved  to  Paris 
Township,  this  county,  in  1832,  and  here  died  in  the  fall  of  1843,  aged  fifty- 
five  years.  His  widow  died  in  Michigan  in  18(30,  aged  seventy-four  years. 
Eight  of  their  twelve  children  survive:  Nancy,  Henry,  Catherine,  Moses, 
Aaron,  Joshua,  Sarah  and  Hannah.  Of  these,  Joshua  and  Aaron  served 
through  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion.  John  Leonard,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  married.  September  1,  1835,  to  Fanny,  daughter  of  James  and 
Susan  (Shaflfer)  Patterson,  natives  of  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  early  settlers 
of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  To  this  union  was  born  one  child — Lura  L.,  who 
died  in  1871,  aged  twenty  years.  Mi".  Leonard  died  March  1(3,  1885,  of  heart 
disease.  He  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  New- 
ton Falls.  He  followed  farming,  and  at  his  death  was  owner  of  241  acres  of 
good  land.     He  filled  several  of  the  township  offices  of  trust. 


RANDOLPH   TOWNSHIP. 


ROBERT  ALEXANDER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania November  22,  1807;  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Alexander,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Ireland  respectively,  the  latter  of  whom  emigrated  to 
America  when  nine  years  of  age.  They  were  married  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
there  lived  and  died.  Our  subject  came  to  Ohio  in  1834,  and  married  Nancy 
Merriman  December  22,  1836.  She  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this 
county,  July  5,  1817,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Esther  Merriman,  natives  of 
Connecticut,  and  who  located  in  this  county,  being  among  the  first  settlers, 
whei-e  they  remained  permanently.  Mrs.  Merriman  died  in  1834,  and  Mr. 
Merriman  subsequently  married  Harriet  Bush,  a  native  of  New  York  State, 
and  who,  on  the  death  of  her  husband  in  1841,  moved  to  Pennsylvania,  where 
she  now  resides.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  are  the  parents  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  survive:  Esther,  Elizabeth,  Lavina,  Eliza,  Martha, 
Alice,  Clara  and  Edger.  The  deceased  are  Sarah,  Charles,  Joseph,  William 
and  an  infant.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade,  but  of  late 
years  has  been  engaged  in  fai-ming.  He  owns  fifty-six  acres  of  land  where  he 
and  his  family  reside. 

D.  C.  ALLEN,  brick  mason,  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county.  May  14,  1842;  son  of  Ben  Ammi  and  Minerva  Allen,  the  former 


784  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

a  native  of  New  York  State,  the  latter  of  Connecticut,  but  who  removed  to  this 
county  in  1815,  where  they  located  and  remained  until  the  father's  death  in 
1880;  the  mother  is  still  living.  Our  subject  is  a  brick  mason  by  trade,  and 
has  thus  been  engaged  through  life.  July  3,  1867,  he  was  married  to  Mattie 
Anderson,  born  May  13,  1845,  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  daughter 
of  Caldwell  and  Rachel  Anderson,  both  deceased,  the  former  November 
14,  1883,  the  latter  May  16,  1883.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen  have  live  chil- 
dren, of  whom  one  only  survives — Viola  M. ,  born  October  29,  1871.  The 
deceased  are  Myrtle  R.,  twin  infants,  and  Gertrude  D.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen 
are  members  of  Ihe  Methodist  Church.  They  own  forty -five  acres  of  land  in 
Randolph  Township,  this  county,  and  a  beautiful  home  where  the  family 
resides.  During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  our  subject  enlisted  in  Battery 
A,  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  and  served  his  country  seventeen  months. 

HIRAM  AUSTIN,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y.,  February  2,  1818;  son  of  Cyrenius  and  Clarissa  (Stanly)  Aus- 
tin, natives  of  Connecticu.t,  whence  they  moved  to  New  York,  thence  to  Por- 
tage County,  Ohio,  February  21,  1821,  and  here  remained  until  their  death. 
The  mother  died  June  17,  1840,  the  father  who  had  been  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
July  13,  1852.  On  June  1,  1841,  our  subject  was  married  to  Elizaette  A. 
Sears,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  February  21,  1820,  daughter- 
of  Elias  and  Ruth  (Culter)  Sears,  both  deceased,  and  to  this  union  have  been 
born  four  children,  two  now  living:  Duane  S.  and  Montgomery  O. ;  also  one 
grand-daughter,  Cora  E.  Hatcher,  living  with  her  grandparents.  The 
deceased  are  Emma  E.,  died  April  18,  1864,  and  Ann  Eliza  C,  died  February 
7,  1875.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Austin  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  which 
connection  he  has  held  the  offices  of  Class-leader,  Steward  and  Trustee.  He 
has  tilled  the  office  of  Trustee  in  his  town  several  times.  He  was  elected 
President  of  the  Building  Board  of  the  High  School  building  in  Randolph. 
He  owns  land  in  the  village  of  Randolph  on  which  he  and  his  family  reside, 
and  projjerty  in  different  parts  of  the  county.  He  acquired  a  common  school 
education  and  taught  early  in  life. 

GEORGE  AUSTIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Suffield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  August  10, 1826;  son  of  Anthony  and  Mariana  Austin,  natives 
of  Connecticut,  who  immigrated  to  Ohio  about  1809,  and  who  remained  in  this 
county  until  1853,  in  which  year  they  moved  to  Indiana,  remaining  there  until 
1865  and  then  returning  to  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where  they  died, 
the  mother  in  1869,  the  father  in  1870.  Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage, 
March  9,  1860,  with  Sarah  Nash,  born  in  Indiana,  June  24,  1836,  daughter  of 
Calvin  and  Emily  Nash,  natives  of  Ohio,  and  who  moved  to  Indiana  and  there 
remained  until  their  death,  in  1853  and  1841  respectively.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Austin  have  been  born  five  children:  Lorenzo  G.,  Theresa  E.,  Cora  B.,  Emmet 
D.  and  Eliza  E.  Mr.  Austin,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life, 
owns  seventy-seven  and  a  half  aci-es  of  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 
Mrs.  Austin  and  Lorenzo  G.  and  Theresa  E.  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

AARON  AUSTIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county,  February  22,  1829,  the  son  of  Bissell  and  Artemesia  Austin, 
natives  of  New  York.  Bissell  Austin  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  immedi- 
ately after  that  struggle  he  removed  to  and  settled  in  this  county.  Here  he 
and  his  wife  died,  aged  fifty-five  and  eighty  years  respectively.  Our  subject 
was  united  in  marriage,  November  9,  1867,  with  Sarah  Pendleton,  born  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  December  25,  1840,  daughter  of  Hubbard 
and  Betsey  Pendleton,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Ohio  respectively,  and  who 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  785 

settled  in  this  county  in  a  very  early  day,  and  here  remained  until  their  death, 
the  father  dying  in  1857.  the  mother  in  1844  Our  subject,  who  has  been 
engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  has  bought  and  sold  considerable  property  and 
now  owns  eighteen  acres  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He 
has  filled  the  office  of  Township  Trustee  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  his  constituents. 

ALYIN  BANCROFT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  May  19,  1832;  son  of  Aralziamon  and  Phoebe  Bancroft, 
natives  of  Granville,  Mass.,  who  came  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  remaining 
until  1850,  at  which  time  they  moved  to  Marlboro,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  where 
they  settled  and  died,  the  father  in  1872,  the  mother  in  1881.  Our 
subject,  was  united  in  marriage,  September  28,  1861,  with  Sarah  A.  Don- 
nell,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  January  16,  1844,  daughter  of 
A.  P.  Donnell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  are  the  parents  of  one  child  —Jennie 
L.,  wife  of  Henry  Brockett.  Our  subject  when  twelve  years  of  age  started  in 
life  for  himself  with  nothing.  He  traveled  all  over  the  West  engaging  in 
miscellaneous  trade  until  1860,  when  he  became  associated  with  his  uncle  in 
mercantile  business.  This  he  continued  for  five  years  when  he  closed  out  and 
engaged  in  other  enterprises  for  several  years,  after  which  he  r<^sumed  mercan- 
tile ventures  at  Marlboro  with  I.  S.  France,  with  whom  he  remained  until 
1878;  then  he  opened  a  store  in  Randolph,  this  county,  with  S.  B.  Trescott, 
and  with  him  remained  until  1881,  then  bought  him  out,  and  sold  an  interest 
to  Albert  Stanbaugh,  with  whom  he  is  now  associated  under  the  firm  name  of 
Bancroft  &  Stanbaugh  Our  subject  owns  about  200  acres  of  real  estate,  forty 
of  which,  where  he  and  his  family  reside,  are  in  Portage  County,  the  remain- 
der being  in  Iowa. 

W.  BASSETT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  Jan- 
uary 14,  1830,  son  of  Ezra  L.  and  Susan  Bassett,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who 
moved  to  this  county  about  1833,  and  remained  here  until  the  death  of  former 
in  1866;  the  latter  is  now  nearly  ninety-six  years  of  age.  Our  subject  was 
married  December  4,  1860,  to  Celinda  Winchell,  born  February  19,  1838,  in 
Randolph,  daughter  of  David  and  Eunice  Winchell,  natives  of  Connecticut, 
who  came  to  this  county  in  a  very  early  day  and  remained  until  their  death. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bassett  have  been  born  three  children,  one  of  whom  is  now 
living — Emmett,  born  May  22,  1877.  The  deceased  are  Wilbur,  born  in  1868, 
drowned  June  16,  1870,  and  Rosie,  born  December  22,  1872,  died  September 
4,  1873.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bassett  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  They  own  thirty-three  acres  of  improved  land,  on  which  they 
reside  with  their  family. 

ORLANDO  BENTLEY,  retired  farmer  and  merchant,  Randolph,  was 
born  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  March  9,  1824;  son  of  Caleb  and  Anna 
Bentley,  the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  a  farmer,  the  latter  a  native 
of  New  York.  Thev  were  married  in  Massachusetts  and  moved  to  New  York, 
where  they  remained  several  years,  thence  went  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Cuyahoga 
County,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Caleb  Bentley  died  August  19, 
1835,  his  widow  surviving  him  until  June  27,  1865.  On  May  7,  1850,  our  sub- 
ject was  married  to  Caroline  D.  Sears,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county, 
June  26,  1828,  daughter  of  Elias  and  Ruth  Sears.  Mr.  Sears  was  a  native  of 
Middletown,  Conn.,  and,  with  his  wife,  came  to  Ohio,  whei'e  they  remained  till 
their  death.  Mr.  Sears  died  March  4,  1840;  Mrs.  Sears  in  1838.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bentley  have  been  blessed  with  one  child— Charles  G.,  born  January  1, 
1867,  residing  at  home  with  his  parents.  Our  subject  engaged  in  carriage- 
making  vintil  he  was  twenty-foiir  years  of  age,  then   followed  farming  for  a 


786  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

few  years,  and  finally  went  into  mercantile  business,  in  which  he  has  been 
engaged  most  of  the  time  since.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  Subor- 
dinate Lodge,  No.  65,  of  Ravenna;  has  tilled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  Randolph  for 
five  years  at  one  time,  and  also  at  different  other  times.  He  owns  120  acres  of 
land  and  a  fine  residence  in  which  he  and  family  reside,  also  town  lots.  He 
is  living  a  retired  life  on  his  farm. 

W.  H.  BETTES,  farmer.  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Summit  County, 
Ohio,  July  10,  1824,  son  of  Silas  and  Fannie  (Ryder)  Bettes.  Silas  Bottes 
was  born  in  Massachusetts  July  16,  1791,  and  immigrated  to  Ohio,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death,  December  31,  1832.  His  widow  then  married,  in 
1834,  Fx'ederick  Dye,  who  died  in  1855.  She  next  raari'ied  S.  B.  Spellman 
in  1866,  and  he,  also,  died,  leaving  her  a  widow  for  the  third  time.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married,  June  25,  1856,  to  Lodema  Brockett,  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county,  December  13,  1829,  daughter  of  Albert  and  Betsey  Brock- 
ett, former  a  native  of  Connecticut,  latter  a  native  of  England,  Mrs.  Brock- 
ett died  in  Portage  County,Ohio,  August  5,  1843,  and  Mr.  Brockett  then  mar- 
ried, October  12,  1844,  Fannie  Ward,  who  lived  only  a  few  days;  afterward, 
in  March,  1846,  he  married  Frances  Hanson,  who  is  still  living.  He  died 
February  6,  1878,  in  Portage  County,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bettes  are  parents 
of  four  children:  Charlie  E.,  born  October  23,  1857;  Carrie  L.,  born  October 
2,  1859;  Viola  L.,  born  October  21,  1866,  and  Mae  A.,  born  October  5.  1868. 
Mr.  Bettes,  wife  and  three  eldest  children  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 
Our  subject  taught  school  during  the  early  part  of  his  life,  his  wife  being  a 
teacher  also.  Since  then  he  has  engaged  in  farming.  He  was  in  the  late  war 
of  the  Rebellion.  Commissioned  as  First  Lieutenant,  May  11,  1861,  in  an 
independent  company  of  militia,  known  as  the  Randolph  Guards;  enlisted  in 
September,  1861,  as  a  private  in  the  Sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry;  commis- 
sioned as  Second  Lieutenant  in  November,  and  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant 
in  December;  resigned  commission  in  April,  1863;  was  commissioned  as 
Major,  August  23,  1863,  in  the  Third  Regiment  of  Militia  in  Portage  County; 
re-enlisted  in  the  United  States  service  in  December,  1864,  and  was  commissioned 
as  First  Lieutenant  in  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- fourth  Regiment 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Mr.  Bettes  was 
commissioned  Justice  of  the  Peace  April  25,  1859;  re  elected  January  22,  1866, 
and  again  October,  1882.  He  was  Democratic  candidate  for  Representative  in 
1875,  but  was  defeated;  was  renominated  in  1877,  and  again  defeated  by  a 
majority  of  250  votes,  the  rest  of  the  ticket  being  defeated  by  500  and  over. 
In  1879  he  was  nominated  for  Probate  Judge,  and  defeated  by  a  small  major- 
ity. Our  subject  owns  eleven  acres  of  splendid  land  in  this  township,  where 
he  and  his  family  reside. 

FREDERICK  BILES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Marlborough,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was 
born  in  Germany,  September  IS,  1820,  a  son  of  Frederick  and  Dora  Biles, 
who  first  immigrated  to  Columbiana  County,  Ohio;  afterward  moved  to  Stark 
County,  where  they  remained  until  the  fathers  death  in  1842.  The  mother 
subsequently  moved  to  Seneca  County,  Ohio,  where  she  died  in  1872.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married,  October  8,  1848,  to  Elizabeth  Frederick,  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  January  10,  1828,  daughter  of  David  and  Charlotte  Frederick, 
who  moved  to  Stark  County,  where  the  latter  died  in  1848,  the  former  August 
20,  1883.  To  this  union  have  been  born  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  sur- 
vive: David,  Jacob,  Samantha,  Catharine,  Eldora,  William  N.,  Ada,  Delbert 
and  Ona  M.  Mary  and  Rebecca  J.  are  deceased.  Mr.  Biles  owns  sixty- 
six  acres  of  first-class  land,  where  he  and  his  family  live.  He  settled  in  the 
county  in  1860;  has  met  with  good  success,  and  is  now  one  of  the  enterpris- 
ing farmers  of  Portage  County. 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  787 

LEWIS  M.  BLOOMFIELD,  farmer  and  stock -raiser,  P.  O.  Marlborough, 
Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Bloomfield  Townsh'ip,  Crawford  Co.,  Penn., 
December  10,  1815,  son  of  Lewis  and  Susan  Bloomfield,  former  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  latter  of  Fayette  County,  Penn.  They  settled  in  Stark  County, 
Ohio,  in  1830,  and  there  remained  until  their  death.  Our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage,  June  7,  1838,  with  Lydia  Ingledue,  who  was  born  in 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  in  1813.  To  this  union  were  born  five  children: 
Alpheus  S.,  Celestine,  Thomas  M.,  Susan  G.  and  Ascenath.  The  mother  of 
these  childi-en  died  December  8,  1876.  She  was  one  of  the  true  and  noble 
women  of  her  day,  and  an  exemplary  mother.  Her  death  was  sadly  regretted 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends.  Our  subject  married,  March  17,  1882,  Mrs.  Hen- 
rietta Hotchkiss,  of  Meadville,  Penn.,  who  died  January  1,  1883,  after  which 
he  married,  June  4,  1884,  for  his  third  wife,  Rachel  A.  Beans.  Our  subject 
has  been  engaged  in  farming,  stock-raising  and  dealing,  and  owns  about  240 
acres  of  improved  land.  He  has  given  each  one  of  his  children  11,000,  either 
in  land  or  money.  Mr.  Bloomfield  has  filled  the  office  of  Township  Trustee 
about  seven  years.     He  is  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 

JOSEPH  C.  BRAINERD,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in 
Martinsburg,  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  September  25,  1819;  son  of  Joseph  and  Nancy 
(Post)  Brainerd,  natives  of  Connecticut,  former  of  whom  died  in  New  York; 
latter  came  to  this  county.  The  widow  was  married  to  Deacon  Jotham  Mitchell. 
She  died  in  this  county,  he  in  New  York.  Our  HM)ject  was  married  Octo- 
ber 25,  1840,  to  Lovinna  Merriman,  boi'n  December  29,  1820,  died  December 
30,  1843.  After  her  decease  Mr.  Brainerd  married,  July  23,  1844,  Elizabeth 
Clark,  born  June  2,  1822,  in  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Billings  and 
Caroline  Clark  (deceased).  Our  subject  engaged  in  saddle  and  harness  mak- 
ing, afterward  in  stock-dealing  and  farming.  During  the  war  he  and  his 
brother  dealt  in  horses  for  the  Government,  since  when  he  has  retired.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brainerd  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
served  as  Deputy  Sheriff  of  the  county  for  several  terms,  also  as  Township 
Clerk,  and  held  a  Notary's  commission  for  about  eighteen  years.  He  is  the 
father  of  two  children:  Frances  L.,  born  October  4,  1841,  wife  of  Capt.  S.  S. 
Blackford,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  and  Henry  C,  born  June  28,  1845,  now  a 
practicing  physician  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Our  subject  has  a  beautiful  home  in 
Randolph  Township,  this  county. 

JOSIAH  BROCKET,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  February  9,  1802,  son  of  Jared  and  Eunice  Brocket,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Our  subject  came  to  this 
county  June  1,  182*9.  He  was  married,  October  15,  1828,  to  Rebecca  Raymon, 
born  in  Wallingford,  Conn.,  April  19,  1807,  daughter  of  John  and  Hannah 
Raymon.  Mr.  Raymon  died  in  Connecticut,  and  his  widow  came  to  this  county 
and  here  remained  till  her  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brocket  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  six  of  whom  survive:  Susan,  widow  of  Carie  Redfield;  Belinda, 
wife  of  Cyrus  Bettice;  Lucius;  Helen,  wife  of  David  Yearien;  Lucinda,  wife 
of  Lyman  Eliot,  and  Zenas.  The  deceased  are  Leman  and  Norman.  Our  sub- 
ject is  a  mechanic,  but  has  followed  farming  for  several  years,  and  now  owns 
fifty  acres  of  good  land.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  township. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

WILLIAM  BROCKETT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut, June  5,  1824,  son  of  Albert  and  Betsey  Brockett,  former  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, born  May  28,  1795,  latter  of  English  origin,  born  January  4,  1797. 
They  settled  in  this  county  in  1825,  and  here  remained  until  their  death,  she 
dying  August  5,  1843.    Albert  Brockett  afterward  married,  October,  1844,  Fan- 


788  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

nie  Ward,  who  died  soon  after,  and  on  March  31,  1846,  he  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Frances  M.  Hanson,  who  is  still  living;  he  died  February  6,  1878.  Oar 
subject  was  married  October  5,  1853,  to  Celinda  Loomis,  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  April  1,  1832,  daughter  of  Harlon  and  Maria  Loomis, 
the  former  of  whom,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  died  July  19,  1870;  his  widow, 
who  still  survives,  was  born  in  Portage  County,  Ohio.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brockett  have  been  born  six  children,  four  now  living:  Seth  S.,  Emma  M., 
Edward  W.  and  Newell  W.  The  deceased  were  infants.  Mr.  Brockett,  who 
has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns  205  acres  of  improved  land  on 
which  he  and  his  family  reside.  Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Dis- 
ciples Church. 

ANDREW  BRUMBAUGH,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Baltimore,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio, 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania  July  5,  1830.  His  father  came  with  his  parents 
from  Pennsylvania  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  in  1810.  After  he  was  of  age  he 
returned  to  his  native  State,  and  while  there  he  married  Catharine  Stiffler, 
and  after  the  birth  of  our  subject  they  came  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  and  in 
April,  1832,  they  located  on  Lot  10,  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where 
they  still  reside.  Here,  with  hard  labor  and  economy,  and  suffering  the  pri- 
vations incident  to  pioneer  life,  they  cleared  up  a  large  farm  and  raised  a  fam- 
ily of  thirteen  industrious  children,  viz. :  Andrew,  Ephraim,  Nancy,  Jacob, 
Isaac,  Elizabeth,  Conrad,  Samuel,  Mary,  Susan,  Henry  P.,  Lydia  and  Eli,  all 
married  except  the  youngfest,  who  is  twenty-six  years  old.  Five  of  these,  viz., 
Andrew,  Ephraim,  Isaac,  Nancy  and  Samuel,  own  and  live  on  farms  adjoining 
the  old  home  farm,  and  Henry  P.  and  Eli  are  living  with  the  parents  on  the 
old  home.  Our  subject  was  married  March  28,  1857,  to  Abigail  Pontious,  born 
in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  July  10,  1828,  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Eva  Pontious, 
who  came  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  from  Pennsylvania  in  a  very  early  day.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brumbaugh  were  born  fom"  children:  Angeline,  Sarah  A.,  Lou- 
isa and  Cyrus.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  and 
owns  122  acres  of  improved  land.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Brethren  Church.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  township  for 
three  years. 

EPHRAIM  BRUMBAUGH,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Baltimore,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio, 
was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  IMay  7,  1832;  son  of  Henry  and 
Catharine  Brumbaugh,"  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  residents  of  Randolph 
Township,  this  county.  They  reared  thirteen  children,  all  now  living.  Our 
subject,  the  next  to  the  eldest  of  this  family,  was  united  in  marriage  May 
19,  1861,  with  Catharine  Zug,  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Penn.,  November  6, 
1842,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Zug,  both  now  living.  Mrs.  Brum- 
baugh died  March  5,  1881,  and  after  her  death  Mr.  Brumbaugh  was  married, 
April  17,  1884,  to  Mellie  Warner,  born  in  Marlboro,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio, 
August  29,  1849,  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  W.  and  Catharine  Warner,  both 
residing  in  Stark  County.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  seven  children, 
all  by  his  first  wife:  Elmer,  Elmira  A.,  Emma  E.,  Ervin  and  Hattie,  now 
living,  and  Edwin  and  Ellen,  deceased.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged 
in  farming  and  milling,  owns  thirty-six  acres  of  improved  land  and  a  third 
interest  in  a  saw-mill.  He  is  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  of 
which  his  first  wife  was  also  a  member;  his  present  wife  belongs  to  the 
United  Brethren  denomination.  His  father  resides  on  the  farm  where  he  settled 
in  1832,  when  that  part  of  the  township  was  a  vast  wilderness. 

J.  R.  BUCKMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  on  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides  in  Randolph,  May  6,  1836,  son  of  Reuben  and  Parnell  Buck- 
man,  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  who  immigrated  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  789 

1805.  Reuben  Buckman  was  born  in  1800,  and  his  wife  in  1802.  They  set- 
tled in  this  county,  where  they  remained  till  their  death,  he  dying  February 
7,  1860,  his  widow  September  24,  1883.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  three  of  whom  survive,  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  J.  R.  Buckman, 
our  subject,  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  and  owns  the  undivided 
half  of  thirty-two  acres,  whereon  he  resides.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church,  and  has  proved  himself  to  be  a  good  and  faithful  son.  After 
his  father's  death  he  remained  at  home  and  cared  for  his  mother  until  her 
demise. 

CHARLES  H.  BURNS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Atwater, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  October  15,  1831,  son  of  John  and  Betsey  Burns,  both  of 
whom  died  in  this  county,  former,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  in  1854, 
latter,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  in  1850.  Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage 
December  26,  1858,  with  Susan  Kendrick,  born  in  Brimfield  Township,  this 
county,  March  16,  1839,  daughter  of  David  and  Jane  Kendrick,  former  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire,  the  latter  of  Ireland,  and  who  both  died  in  Kent, 
Ohio,  the  father  in  1876,  the  mother  in  1879.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burns  have 
been  born  three  children:  Raymond  C,  Ethel  and  Vactor  A.  Mr.  Burns  has 
been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  has  bought  and  sold  considerable  real  estate. 
He  is  now  filling  his  fourth  term  as  Trustee  of  this  township.  He  has  also 
been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  these  positions  he  has  tilled 
with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constituents. 

GEORGE  CARLILE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Marlborough,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was 
born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  October  27,  1837,  son  of  Canada  and  Julia 
Carlile,  respectively  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and 
who  came  to  this  county  about  1846,  where  they  remained  until  the  father's 
death,  January  4,  1882;  the  mother  is  residing  on  the  home  farm.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  September  15,  1867,  to  Phidelia  Baldwin,  born  in  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  February  28,  1844,  the  daughter  of  Philemon  and  Harriet 
Baldwin,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  this  county,  the  latter  of  Ver- 
mont. They  settled  in  this  county,  where  Mr.  Baldwin  died  February  9, 
1865;  his  widow  now  resides  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Car- 
lile have  one  child — Bernice,  born  April  8,  1869.  Our  subject  served  in  the 
late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  having  enlisted  September,  1861,  as  a  private  in 
Company  D,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  his  discharge  in 
1862  he  re-enlisted  in  the  Second  Ohio  Heavy  Artillery,  in  which  he  served 
until  he  was  transferred  to  the  Eighth  Veteran  Invalid  Corps,  Company  B, 
remaining  with  this  company  until  he  was  commissioned  Second  Lieutenant 
of  Company  E,  Sixth  United  States  Infantry.  Mr.  Carlile  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge  October,  1866,  Mr.  Carlile  is' a  plasterer  by  trade,  but  has 
been  engaged  in  farming,  and  owns  fifty-six  acres  of  good  land  where  he  and 
his  family  reside. 

J.  P.  COE,  farmer  and  tile  manufacturer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  is  a  native  of 
Randolph  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  born  April  5,  1821,  son  of  Almon  B. 
and  Climena  (Spellman)  Coe,  natives  of  Massachusetts.  Almon  B.  Coe  came 
to  this  county  in  1811,  his  wife  in  1816,  and  here  remained  until  bis  death  in 
1853.  After  his  death  his  widow  moved  to  Wisconsin,  where  she  resides 
with  her  daughter.  Our  subject  was  married  October  22,  1845,  to  Jane  A. 
Spees,  born  in  Onondaga,  N.  Y. ,  March  7,  1824,  daughter  of  Lanson  and 
Harriet  Spees,  natives  of  Greene  County,  N.  Y. ,  and  who  came  to  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  in  1837,  remaining  until  their  death.  Mr.  Spees 
died  July  19,  1868,  his  widow,  February  13,  1873.  Mrs.  Coe,  our  subject's 
wife,  died  February  3,  1883.    She  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 


790  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coe  were  born  three  children:  Emma  C,  wife  of  Dr.  H. 
C.  Brainerd,  Almon  B.  and  Charles  P.  Mr.  Coe,  who  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  all  his  life,  owns  seventy  acres  of  improved  land.  He  has  tilled  the 
offices  of  Trustee  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  his  township.  He  and  his  son 
Charles  P.  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tile.  Mr.  Coe  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  Church  for  many  years. 

JOSEPH  COLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county,  July  17,  1837,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Eva  Coler,  natives  of 
France,  who  came  to  America  about  1829,  and  here  remained  until  the  death 
of  the  mother  in  1844,  after  which  the  father  married  a  Mrs.  Crawford  and 
moved  to  Illinois,  where  they  remained  until  their  death,  he  dying  in  1865. 
Our  subject  was  married  January  1,  1867,  to  Elizabeth  Moos,  who  was  born  in 
Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  April,  1846,  a  daughter  of  Adam  and 
Elizabeth  Moos,  natives  of  Baden,  Germany,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1842, 
where  they  remained  until  the  latter' s  death.  Adam  Moos  resides  in  Ran- 
dolph Township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coler  are  the  parents  of  four  children:  Albert, 
Edward,  Ira  IT.  and  Mary  E.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming,  and 
owns  seventy  acres  of  good  land.  He  enlisted  in  1861,  in  Company  D,  First 
Ohio  Light  Artillery,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  was  mus- 
tered out.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  at  the  bat- 
tles of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  in  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  and  in  other  engage- 
ments. He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  township.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

MARVIN  COLLINS,  ex-merchant,  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county,  April  11,  1846,  son  of  Austin  and  Delight  Collins,  the 
former  a  native  of  Conway,  Mass.,  the  latter  of  Randolph  Township,  this 
county.  Austin  Collins,  who  was  a  farmer,  came  to  Ohio  at  a  very  early  day 
and  was  man-ied  at  Randolph,  where  he  and  his  wife  located  and  remained 
until  their  death,  the  former  dying  November  30,  1881,  the  latter  in  October, 
1882.  Our  subject  was  married  September  8,  1868,  to  Susan  A.  Gates,  born 
in  Illinois  in  June,  1851,  a  daughter  of  Sherman  W.  and  Eleanor  C.  Gates, 
who  now  reside  in  Michigan.  Mrs.  Collins  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples 
Church.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  business  most  of  his 
life,  and  owns  a  beautiful  residence  where  he  and  his  wife  now  reside.  He 
opened  his  store  in  1869,  and  sold  out  last  March  to  O.  Bentley.  Mr.  Collins 
and  wife  are  a  very  pleasant  couple,  and  rank  among  the  better  class  of  peo- 
ple of  this  township. 

JOSEPH  C.  COZENS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Marlborough,  Stark  County,  was 
born  in  Marlboro,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  September  6,  1824,  son  of  William  and 
Martha  Cozens,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  the  latter  of 
Virginia.  They  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  they 
remained  until  their  death,  he  dying  in  1841  and  she  in  1864.  Our  subject 
was  married  October  7,  1860,  to  Barbara  Boston,  who  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  June  9,  1834,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Boston.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cozens  has  been  born  one  child — Ella,  born  September  10,  1861, 
now  the  wife  of  William  Biles,  an  enterprising  and  industrious  young  man, 
who  bids  fair  to  make  his  mark  in  the  world.  Mr.  Cozens  owns  seventy-five 
acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside,  his  daughter  and  hus- 
band residing  with  him.  They  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.      They  moved  to  Portage  County  from  Stark  County  in  1883. 

JAMES  A.  CRAIG,  marble  cutter  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Lake 
County,  Ohio,  February  14,  1839.  His  parents,  James  and  Barbara  Craig, 
were  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  early  settlers  of  Lake  County,  Ohio,  whence 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  791 

they  removed  to  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  where  Mrs.  Craig  died. 
They  were  parents  of  the  following  children:  James  A.,  Jane,  Chancy,  Char- 
ley and  Ann.  James  Craig  resides  with  a  son  in  Deerheld  Township,  this 
county,  and  is  in  the  seventv-fourth  year  of  his  age.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  by  trade  a  machinist.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Nine- 
teenth Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  the  ninety  days'  call;  re-enlisted, 
this  time  in  Company  D,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served 
through  the  war.  He  did  active  duty  at  Stone  River,  where  he  was  wounded 
in  the  foot,  which  disabled  him  for  one  year.  He  was  again  wounded  (in  the 
knee)  at  Shiloh.  and  confined  to  hospital  seven  months.  He  recovered  in  time 
to  participate  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  the  battles  of  Nashville,  Franklin, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Cumberland  Gap,  Pea 
Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Crab  Apple  Orchard,  and,  on  the  field  where  the  gal- 
lant McPherson  fell,  he  was  struck  by  a  shell  which  for  a  time  rendered  him 
unfit  for  service.  He  was  also  at  the  storming  of  Fort  Donelson,  and  was 
mustered  out  at  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  in  the  fall  of  1865.  Returning  to  peaceful 
pursuits  he  leased  the  stone-cutting  and  marble  business  which  he  has  carried 
on  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where  he  resides.  He  was  man'ied 
in  this  township  to  Miss  Lorintha  Ward.  Their  children  now  living  are 
Rose  A.,  born  August  18,  1876;  Boyd,  born  March  9,  1878:  and  Milly  I.,  born 
August  9,  1882.     Mr.  Craig  is  a  member  of  the  .G.  A.  R. 

Z.  A.  DAVIS,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1819;  son  of  Henry  and  Lodema  D.  Davis,  natives  of  New  York, 
and  who  emigrated  to  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  about  1825.  Mrs. 
Davis  died  there  in  1827,  and  Mr.  Davis  then  married,  for  his  second  wife, 
Mary  Col  ton,  born  in  this  county;  died  in  1853.  Henry  Davis  died  in  Ran- 
dolph Township  in  1851.  Our  subject,  Z.  A.  Davis,  was  married,  in  1810,  to 
Betsey  M.  Sears,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  and  after  her  death 
Mr.  Davis  married.  May  23,  1852,  Caroline  D.  Anderson,  born  in  New  York  in 
1826.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  six  <;hildren,  four  of  whom  survive:  G. 
AY.,  Arthur  C,  Celestia  A.  and  Darwin  B.  The  deceased  are  Cassius  M., 
killed  by  the  cars  in  1875,  and  Emmett  A.,  who  died  in  1871.  Mr.  Davis  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  most  of  his  life,  but  is  now  a  retired  capitalist.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church,  and  are  a  highly  respected 
couple.  He  has  been  acting  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  last  six  years,  and 
is  said  to  control  the  most  property  of  any  man  in  town. 

DAN  DIBBLE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  June  17,  1827,  the  son  of  Dan  and  Mary  Dibble,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, who  came  to  this  county  in  1818,  where  they  remained  until  his 
death  (caused  by  the  falling  of  a  tree),  October  26,  1827.  His  widow  subse- 
quently married  Philetus  Hillyer,  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  and  lived  m  that 
county  until  his  death,  when  she  returned  to  Randolph  and  lived  with  her  son 
Dan  until  her  demise,  August  18,  1870.  Our  subject  was  married,  November 
2,  1847,  to  Anjenette  Rossiter,  who  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this 
county,  in  1826,  and  died  January  19,  1855.  January  19,  1856,  Mr.  Dibble 
then  married  Harriet  Winchell,  born  in  Randolph  in  1830,  a  daughter  of 
David  and  Eunice  Winchell,  both  deceased.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  three 
children:  Giles  F.,  Seymour  D.  and  Mary  H.,  wife  of  A.  D.  Hoskins.  He  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life  and  owns  about  118  acres  of  improved 
land,  also  town  property. 

ALPHEUS  DICKINSON,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in 
Granville,  Mass.,  October  8,  1793;  son  of  Oliver  and  Lovica  Dickinson,  who 
emigrated  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1805,  the  latter  of  whom  died  in   1818. 


792  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

After  her  death  Oliver  Dickinson  married,  for  his  second  wife,  Lydia  Rose,  a 
sister  of  his  first  wife,  and  who  died  in  1842.  Our  subject  was  married  six 
times.  He  was  united  in  marriage  on  first  occasion  November  15,  1815,  with 
Hannah  Sears,  born  in  1798,  died  March  15,  1824.  His  second  wife,  Percy 
Roberts,  was  born  April  11,  1801,  married  October  10,  1824,  and  lived  until 
April  1,  1826.  His  third  wife,  Mary  Johnson,  was  born  January  19,  1803, 
married  June  19,  1826,  and  died  March  20,  1832.  His  fourth  wife  was 
Maria  A.  Curtis,  born  July  11,  1807,  married  March  7,  1833,  died  January 
19,  1864.  His  fifth  wife  was  Martha  Sears,  born  March  20,  1834,  married 
May  18,  1864,  died  December  26,  1866.  These  were  all  maiden  ladies.  His 
sixth  and  last  wife  was  Mrs.  Evaline  Richmond,  born  April  3,  1808,  married 
August  28,  1867,  died  February  13,  1881.  Our  subject  is  the  father  of  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  five  of  whom  are  living.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  1812,  being  drafted  and  mustered  into  service  February  15, 
1813,  under  Lieut.  John  Redden.  Was  then  marched  to  Lower  Sandusky, 
where  now  stands  the  city  of  Fremont.  He  served  seventy  days,  and  supplied 
a  substitute  by  his  father's  desire  to  fill  balance  of  time,  six  months,  which 
debarred  him  from  receiving  a  pension.  He  has  engaged  in  farming  all  his 
life,  and  owns  at  present  twenty-three  acres  of  land  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  since  4.821,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  in  the 
township. 

WALTER  J.  DICKINSON,  merchant,  Randolph,  was  born  in  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  January  27,  1832;  son  of  Alpheus  and  Mary  Dickinson  (whose 
sketch  appears  in  this  work).  January  28,  1853,  our  subject  was  married  to 
Elmina  A.  Chatfield,  who  was  born  in  Killingworth,  Conn.,  May  11,  1834,  and 
died  July  17,  1882.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Rachel  Chatfield, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1844.  settling  at  Sfcowe,  Summit 
County,  where  they  remained  until  1848,  when  they  moved  to  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county.  January  20,  1884,  Mr.  Chatfield  died,  and  his  widow  now 
resides  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county.  To  our  subject  and  wife  were 
born  six  children,  of  whom  four  are  now  living:  Mary  E.,  born  July  1,  1856; 
Alpheus  L.,  born  November  17,  1859;  Seldon  C,  born  June  5,  1864,  and 
Maria  R.,  born  August  20,  1869.  The  deceased  are  Lewis  J.,  born  December 
3,  1853,  died  March  10,  1855,  and  Rosa,  born  August  1,  1858,  and  died  August 
8,  same  year.  Our  subject  has  been  the  proprietor  of  a  general  store  in  Ran- 
dolph for  many  years;  he  filled  the  position  of  Postmaster  at  Randolph  from 
July  1,  1861,  until  May,  1869.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  of  which  his  deceased  wife  was  also  a  member,  they  having  enlisted 
in  the  good  cause  in  January,  1852.  Mr.  Dickinson  has  tilled  the  office  of 
Township  Clerk  almost  continuously  since  1855;  was  a  member  of  the  special 
School  Board  for  four  years.  He  owns  about  twelve  acres  of  land,  on  which 
is  a  neat  house  where  his  family  reside  with  him.  He  is  a  useful  man  in  the 
community  in  which  he  lives. 

G.  W.  DODGE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Nelson,  New 
Hampshire,  December  11,  1830,  son  of  William  J.  and  Ann  Dodge,  who 
moved  to  Akron,  Ohio,  in  1837,  and  in  1846  to  this  county,  where  they 
remained  until  the  death  of  "the  father  December  19,  1882.  The  mother  is  a 
resident  of  Randolph  Township,  this  county.  Our  subject  was  married 
August  9,  1860,  to  Minerva  Hoskins,  daughter  of  Milo  and  Polly  Hoskins,  the 
former  deceased,  latter  now  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dodge  have  had  six  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  now  living:  Addie  M. ,  William  J.,  George  A.,  Mabel 
and  Harry.     Belle  is  deceased.       Mr.  Dodge  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  793 

his  life,  and  owns  103  acres  in  Kandolph  Township,  this  county,  where  he 
and  his  family  reside.     He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

A.  P.  DONNELL,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Lisbon, 
Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  August  6,  1818,  son  of  John  and  Maria  Donnell,  natives 
of  Pennsylvania,  but  who  removed  to  Ohio,  settling  first  in  Columbiana  County, 
afterward  in  Portage  County,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  The 
mother  died  April  26,  1846,  the  father  December  17,  1863.  Our  subject  was 
married  February  11,  1841,  to  Harriet  C.  Dye,  daughter  of  Frederick  and 
Lovina  Dye,  who  were  natives  of  New  York,  remaining  there  until  the  latter's 
death,  which  occurred  December  24,  1831,  after  wLich  Frederick  Dye  came  to 
Ohio  and  spent  the  balance  of  his  life  here,  dying  August  15,  1855.  Harriet 
C.  was  born  November  29,  1820,  and  died  August  26,  1874.  On  July  5,  1875, 
our  subject  was  married  to  Susan  E.  Rogers,  who  was  born  in  Holmes  County, 
Ohio,  October  25,  1830,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Spellman,  Our  sub- 
ject is  the  father  of  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living:  Juliet,  Sarah 
A.,  Francis  M.,  Charles  E.,  Edson  and  Carrietta.  Clinton  is  deceased.  Our 
subject  and  family  live  in  Randolph  Township.  He  worked  in  leather  most 
of  his  life,  but  has  been  engaged  in  farming  to  some  extent  of  late  years. 

JOHN  DUSSEL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Germany  Septem- 
ber 7,  1819,  son  of  Peter  and  Elizabeth  Dussel,  who  remained  in  Germany 
until  the  death  of  the  father  in  about  1858;  the  mother  died  in  1878.  Our 
subject  was  married  in  May,  1847,  to  Barbara  Riesenbach,  born  in  Germany  in 
1814,  daughter  of  Nicholas  Riesecbach.  They  have  had  four  children:  Peter 
L.,  John  H.  (a  practicing  attorney  in  Ravenna,  Ohio),  Barbara  and  Anna  B. 
Mr.  Dussel,  who  is  a  surgeon,  practiced  his  profession  about  twenty-five  years, 
but  has  since  been  engaged  in  farming,  and  owns  forty-six  acres  of  land.  He 
came  to  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and  has 
remained  here  ever  since.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  his 
township;  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  Mrs.  Dussel  died  September  19,  1878,  a  kind  mother 
and  loving  wife,  and  her  loss  is  still  mourned. 

PETER  ELMERICK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  October  29,  1854,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
Elmerick,  natives  of  Germany,  who  located  in  this  county  in  1844,  where  they 
still  reside.  The  father  has  been  a  life-long  farmer,  and  has  attained  the  ripe 
old  age  of  sixty-six  years;  the  mother  is  sixty-four  years  old.  Both  are  con- 
sistent members  of  the  Catholic  Church.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren, all  living:  Peter  (our  subject),  Joseph,  John,  William,  Frank,  Anthony, 
Mary,  Clara  and  Elizabeth.  Peter  Elmerick  acquired  a  good  common  school 
education,  and  has  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  now  owning  ninety-two 
acres  of  improved  land  in  Randolph  Township.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church.  He  has  been  very  successful  through  life,  and  bids  fair  to  make 
his  mark  in  the  world. 

JOHN  FOX,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Baltimore,  Stark  County,  was  born  in 
Fairfield  Township,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  March  9,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Susanna  Fox,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  who  came  to  Colum- 
biana County,  Ohio,  but  after  living  here  some  years  moved  to  Stark  County, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death. '  The  mother  died  December  30,  1848, 
and  the  father  was  subsequently  united  in  marriage  with  Barbara  A.  Thomas, 
who  died  in  February,  1865.  He  died  December  21,  1865.  Om-  subject  was 
married  June  19,  1853,  to  Catharine  Neiswonger,  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
November  18,  1824,  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Barbara  Neiswocger,  who  also 
died  there,  and  by  this  union  have  been  born  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are 
now  living:     Benjamin  F.,  Levi  M.,  David  S.,  John  L.,  Isaac  W.  and  Lydia 


794  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

A.  Jennie  A.  is  deceased.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  has  fol- 
lowed agi'icultural  pursuits  through  life.  He  owns  125  acres  of  fine  land 
where  he  and  his  family  reside.  Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

";>•  G.  O.  FEASER,  physician,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Wellsville,  Col- 
umbiana Co.,  Ohio,  February  24,  1840,  a  son  of  John  and  Margaret  Fraser,  who 
were  of  Scotch  origin,  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  where  they  remained 
until  the  death  of  the  father,  November  9,  1871;  the  mother  resides  on  the 
home  fai'm  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  married,  December 
7,  1862,  to  Libbie  M.  Icenhour,  born  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  June  1, 
1845,  daughter  of  John  E.  and  Mary  C.  Icenhour,  who  wei*e  of  English 
descent,  former  born  in  Ohio,  latter  in  Lincolnshire,  England.  They  lived  in 
Columbiana  County  until  her  death,  February  14,  1878.  Mr.  Icenhour  still 
resides  iij  his  native  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fraser  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Crrin  C,  born  April  24,  1864,  and  M. 
Edna,  born  September  1,  1866;  John  I.,  born  July  27,  1874,  died  September 
22,  1881.  Our  subject  for  a  number  of  years  dealt  in  marble  and  imported 
granite  from  Scotland.  Afterward  he  read  medicine,  graduated  in  the  regular 
school  of  medicine  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1876,  and  is  now  practicing  in 
Randolph,  Ohio,  with  good  success.     He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M, 

DANIEL  FULMER,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Baltimore,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was 
born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  February  8,  1836;  son  of  Jacob  and  Catharine 
Fulmer,  natives  of  Germany,  who  settled  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  in  a  very 
early  day.  After  living  there  some  thirty  years  they  moved  to  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  and  here  Jacob  Fulmer  died  in  1861.  His  widow  is  now 
a  resident  of  Brimtield  Township,  this  county.  Our  subject  was  united  in 
marriage,  April  22,  1866,  with  Lovina  Wagoner,  born  in  Stark  County,  in 
1844,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Magdalene  Wagoner,  both  now  living.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fulmer  have  had  three  children,  one  of  whom  is  living — Norman  F.,  born 
March  23,  1869.  An  infant  and  Ervin  C.  are  deceased.  Our  subject,  who  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  now  owns  eighty-five  acres  of  land  where 
he  and  his  family  reside.  Himself  and  wife  have  been  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Reformed  Church  since  they  were  children. 

ADAM  GOOTHIER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  April  5,  1843, 
in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides;  son  of 
Adam  and  Catharine  Goothier,  natives  of  Germany,  and  who  located  in  this 
county  in  1832,  where  they  remained  until  the  death  of  the  father  in  1862.  The 
mother  departed  this  life  in  1874.  Our  subject  was  married,  February  22, 
1876,  to  Catharine  Kline,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  June  16, 
1855,  daughter  of  John  F.  and  Elizabeth  Kline,  natives  of  Germany,  and  who 
settled  in  this  county,  where  they  have  remained.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goothier  have 
had  three  children:  Elizabeth,  Henry  and  Julius.  Our  subject,  who  has 
engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns  fifty-three  acres  of  land,  where  he  and 
his  family  reside.      He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Chui'ch. 

THOMAS  GORBY,  farmer  and  stock  dealer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  October  6,  1818;  son  of  Jonathan  and  Ann  Gorby. 
They  were  natives  of  Delaware  but  immigrated  to  Ohio  and  first  settled  in 
Columbiana  County  about  1814;  afterward  when  our  subject  was  about  eight 
years  of  age,  they  moved  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  Mrs.  Gorby  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  her  mind.  She  afterward  recovered  her  former  health  and 
died  in  Hancock  County,  Ohio,  in  1841.  Jonathan  Gorby  came  to  this  county 
where  he  remained  some  years,  then  visited  Gallia  County,  Ohio,  where  he 
concluded  to  remain.     He  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a  tree  in  1855.      Our  sub- 


RANDOLPH  TOAVNSHIP.  795 

ject  was  united  in  marriage,  September  4,  1842,  with  Wealthy  Goss,  born 
in  this  township,  July  10,  1820,  daughter  of  Davis  and  Hannah  Goss,  the 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut,  the  latter  of  Vermont,  and  who  settled  and 
remained  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  all  their  lives.  The  father  died 
while  on  a  visit  to  his  son  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  23,  1848.  The  mother 
departed  this  life  ten  years  previously,  and  after  her  death,  September  19, 
1847,  Davis  Goss  was  married  to  Mrs.  Polly  Roundy,  who  is  also  deceased. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gorby  have  been  born  six  children,  three  of  whom  survive: 
Marietta,  wife  of  David  Simison;  Emogene,  wife  of  Dr.  G.  A.  Case,  of  Kent, 
Ohio,  and  Emeline,  wife  of  Herbert  O.  Hutson.  Edmond  was  born  March  31, 
1846,  died  July  21,  1865.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming 
and  dealing  in  stock  all  his  life,  owns  about  330  acres  of  land,  mostly 
improved.  He  has  tilled  the  office  of  County  Commissioner  and  Township 
Assessor.      His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

J.  F.  HAUGHAWONT,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in 
Juniata  County,  Penn. ,  December  22,  1824,  son  of  Peter  and  Mary  Haugha- 
wont,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1830,  and  here  remained  until  their  death;  the 
former  died  in  October,  1858,  and  the  latter  in  January,  1882.  Peter  Haugha- 
wont  followed  farming  through  life.  Our  subject  was  married  March  21, 
1854,  to  Helen  M.  Pegg,  who  was  born  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  February  29, 
1836,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Lydia  B.  (Day)  Pegg,  former  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  latter  of  New  York.  They  settled  in  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  remaining 
for  several  years,  when  they  removed  to  Indiana,  where  Mrs.  Pegg  died  in 
December,  1837.  Thence  Mr.  Pegg  came  to  Illinois,  where  he  died  in  1842. 
The  union  of  our  subject  and  wife  has  been  blessed  with  four  children,  three 
of  whom  survive:  Joel  C,  born  March  13,  1855;  MaryE.,  born  November  11, 
1860,  and  Cordelia  E.,  born  July  3,  1866;  the  deceased  is  Alida  P.,  born  May 
3,  1859,  died  December  11,  1859.  Our  subject  has  engaged  in  farming  most 
of  his  life,  but  is  now  retired.  Mrs.  Haughawont  is  a  member  of  the  Univer- 
salist  Church.  Our  subject  owns  230  acres  of  land  in  this  township,  has 
filled  the  office  of  Trustee  in  Suffield  Township,  and  is  one  of  the  present 
Trustees  of  Randolph  Township,  this  county. 

LEWIS  HINE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  October  11,  1824,  son  of  Jonah  and  Jerusha  Hine,  natives  of 
Connecticut,  the  former  of  whom  came  to  Ohio  in  1818,  the  latter  in  1805, 
and  were  there  married  November  23,  1820,  locating  in  Randolph  Township, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Jonah  Hine  died  November  23,  1842,  his 
widow  June  13,  1872.  Our  subject  was  married  March  22,  1849,  to  Clarintine 
Bostwick,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  November  27,  1826,  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Sophia  Bostwick  (both  deceased).  Our  subject  and  wife  have  three  children 
living:  Eldora,  wife  of  A.  H.Brewster,  Loretta,  and  Sidney  H.,  born  November 
10, 1866,  and  one  Aurilla  Hoffman,  deceased,  at  age  of  twenty-five  years.  ]\£r. 
Hines  received  a  common  school  education  and  has  been  engaged  in  farming. 
He  owns  about  forty-two  acres  of  land  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county. 
His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Mr.  Hine's  family  ranks 
among  the  leading  residents  of  Randolph  Township. 

W.  W.  HONEYWELL,  carriage  builder,  P.  O.  Randolph,  is  a  native  of 
Portage  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  February 
28,  1839,  son  of  John  C.  and  Dorcas  Honeywell,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
who  removed  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  settling  in  this  county,  and  remained 
until  the  death  of  the  former  in  February,  1875;  the  latter  resides  in  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county.  On  July  4,  1861,  our  subject  was  married  to 
Maria  E.  Terry,  born  in  Randolph,  August  4,  1839,  daughter  of  Timothy  and 


796  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Almira  Terry,  natives  of  Connecticut,  but  who  moved  to  Ohio  when  Portage 
County  was  a  wilderness,  and  here  they  remained  until  th'eir  death.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Honeywell  are  the  parents  of  live  children:  Ellsworth  I.,  Yiola  A.,  Will- 
iam C,  Albert  A.  and  Ida  A.  Mr.  Honeywell  had  been  engaged  in  wagon  and 
carriage  making  until  within  a  few  years  since,  when  he  embarked  in  commer- 
cial business.  Mrs.  Honeywell  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church.  He 
has  a  nice  property,  where  he  and  his  family  reside,  owning  also  other  property 
in  Randolph  Township.  Their  parents  were  among  the  pioneers  of  the  county 
and  experienced  many  hardships  during  its  infancy. 

N.  D.  HOSKIN,  salesman,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  September  13,  1851,  son  of  Milo  and  Polly  Hoskin.  He  was  united  in 
marriage  September  30,  1875,  with  Mary  Dibble,  a  native  of  this  county,  born 
October  5.  1857,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Harriet  Dibble,  residents  of  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county.  Mr.  Hoskin  and  wife  are  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Hattie  L.,  born  October  28,  1877,  and  Howard  D.,  born  June  10, 
1880.  Our  subject  acquired  a  good  common  school  education,  and  has  engaged 
in  commercial  business  all  his  life.  He  has  been  successful  in  all  of  his 
undertakings,  and  now  owns  a  nice  property  in  Randolph  Center,  Ohio.  He 
and  family  command  the  respect  of  all  who  know  them. 

ORVIEL  HUTSON,  of  Randolph,  was  born  in  Paris  Township,  Portage 
Co.,  Ohio,  December  6,  1824.  He  is  the  second  son  of  Richard  R.  and  Nancy 
(Best)  Hutson,  who  in  1830  settled  in  Edinburg,  Portage  Co. ,  Ohio,  making  that 
their  permanent  home.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  died  in  1851, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years.  His  mother  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  but  in 
early  childhood  removed  with  her  parents  to  Ohio.  She  died  in  1875.  Mr. 
Hutson  was  married,  May  27,  1847,  to  Maria  S.  Clark,  who  was  born  in  Con- 
cord, Lake  Co.,  Ohio,  October  17,  1824.  Mrs.  Hutson  is  of  New  England  ori- 
gin, her  parents,  Billings  and  Caroline  (Brigden)  Clark,  being  among  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  northern  Ohio.  The  former  died  March  18,  1883,  aged  ninety- 
three  years,  the  latter  in  April,  1870.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutson  have  had  four 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Celia,  Herbert  and  Jennie;  Adelbert  dying 
in  infancy.  Mr.  Hutson  and  family  settled  in  Randolph  in  1863.  He  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  now  owning  ninety-five  acres,  where  he 
and  his  wife  reside.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutson  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  has  tilled  the  office  of  Township  Trustee,  and  has  also 
been  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 

JOSEPH  B.  JEROME,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  New  York 
State,  October  24,  1819,  son  of  Alva  and  Melica  Jerome,  who  came  to  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  when  Joseph  B.  was  three  or  four  years  of  age,  and  here  remained 
until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  married,  February  17.  1850,  to  Mary  M. 
Churchill,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  March  10,  1826,  daugh- 
ter of  Stephen  and  Maria  Churchill.  Stephen  Churchill  was  born  in  1796, 
and  died  in  1879.  His  widow,  who  was  born  in  1803,  is  now  residing  with 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Jerome.  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  four 
children,  three  now  living:  Louela  A.,  born  May  6,  1856,  now  the  widow  of 
Milfred  Meacham;  Nettie  J.,  born  December  1,  1861,  died  July  16,  1884;  Jes- 
sie M.,  born  September  5.  1865,  and  Joseph  E.,  born  August  14,  1867.  Mr. 
Jerome  has  been  engaged  in  farming  most  of  his  life,  and  owns  forty-five  acres 
of  land  where  he  resides.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples 
Church. 

JOHN  A.  KELLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  July  14,  1846,  son  of  Thomas  (a  farmer  and 
shoe-maker),  and  Paulina  Keller,  natives  of  Germany,  former  born  September 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  797 

4,  3821,  latter  born  June  27,  1825.  They  arrived  in  this  county  October  25, 
1845,  where  they  have  since  i-emained.  They  had  a  family  of  ten  children. 
Our  subject  worked  for  his  father  till  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  com- 
mencing the  trade  of  painter  in  1859,  and  at  this  he  worked  until  three  years 
ago,  when  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming  exclusively.  He  was  married, 
December  26,  1871,  to  Susan  Rupright,  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  October 
3,  1852,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Rupright,  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  who  located  in  an  early  day  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  they  have 
remained  ever  since.  To  this  union  have  been  born  five  children,  foui'  now 
living:  Cora  L.,  born  November  22,  1873;  Dela  A.,  born  January  19,  1876; 
Mary  A.,  born  January  21,  1879,  and  Eva  Elizabeth,  born  October  25,  1884. 
Gerty  A.,  born  December  11,  1872,  died  January  4,  1873.  Mr.  Keller  has  met 
with  good  success  in  life,  and  owns  about  seventy-eight  acres,  where  he  and 
his  family  reside.  He  is  a  member  of  the  School  Board,  and  in  1882  was 
Supervisor.  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church.  His  wife 
belongs  to  the  German  Lutheran  denomination. 

ADAM  KLEIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Germany  January 
12,  1832,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Klein,  natives  of  Germany,  who  immi- 
grated to  Ohio  in  1832,  and  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where 
the  latter  died  in  1841.  Mr.  Klein  then  married  Gertie  Deppre,  who  died  in 
1861,  and  he  followed  her  September  7,  1881.  Our  subject  was  married,  Jan- 
uary 30,  1856,  to  Barbara  Shaffer,  born  in  Germany  October  27,  1834,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Shaffer.  Her  parents  both  died  in  Germany,  and  she  came  to 
America  when  she  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Klein  are 
the  parents  of  fourteen  children:  Eva,  John  C. ,  Elizabeth,  Barbara,  Mary  A., 
Clara  E.,  Anna  M.,  George,  Adam,  Emma  A.,  Henry,  Lewis,  William  and 
Alfred.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  through  life  with  success, 
and  now  owns  eighty-two  acres  of  improved  land.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

GEORGE  KLING,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany, 
March  22,  1825;  a  son  of  Nicholas  and  Katherine  Kling,  natives  of  Germany, 
and  who  died  there.  Our  subject  is  a  wagon-maker  by  trade,  having  worked 
in  the  shop  about  thirty  years.  He  also  worked  in  St.  Louis  three  years.  He 
was  married,  January  1,  1850,  in  St.  Louis,  to  Margaret  Loubert,  born  in 
Baden,  Germany,  March  5,  1826,  daughter  of  Martin  and  Anna  M.  Loubert, 
who  came  to  this  county  in  1848,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kling  have  been  born  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Anna,  Catharine,  Margaret,  Martin,  Adam,  Jacob  and  George  W.  The 
deceased  are  Mary  and  George.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming, 
and  now  owns  seventy-eight  acres  of  good  land,  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  Mr. 
Kling  has  met  with  fair  success  through  life. 

JOHN  KNAPP,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  October  20,  1842;  son  of  John  and  Agnes  Knapp,  natives 
of  Germany,  who  settled  in  this  county  about  1831,  where  they  have  since 
remained.  Our  subject  was  mai-ried  February  8,  1870,  to  Elizabeth  Shroder, 
born  in  this  township  in  1844,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Shroder,  the 
former  deceased  in  1880,  the  latter  still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knapp  are  the 
parents  of  four  children,  two  of  whom  survive:  Henry  and  Willie  (twins), 
born  September  30,  1883;  the  deceased  are  Mary  and  Frank.  Our  subject  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life  and  now  owns  seventy-one  acres  of 
improved  land  on  which  there  is  a  beautiful  house  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.      They  are  all  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

42 


798  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

H.  F.  LADD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  July  1,  1859;  a  son  of  Henry  and  Sophia  (Youngman)  Ladd,  former 
born  in  Mantua,  Ohio,  October  23,  1816;  they  were  married  May  15,  1849;  he 
died  June  3,  1864;  Sophia,  his  widow,  was  born  in  Maine,  February  7,  1824; 
moved  with  her  parents  to  Ohio  in  1834,  and  died  April  1,  1884.  Henry  Ladd, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  farming  through  life,  was  the  parent  of  four  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Mary  S. ,  born  June  7,  1851,  married  to 
Samuel  A.  Woolf  October  24,  1872;  Henry  F.,  and  Edward  H.,  who  was  born 
August  22,  1862,  married  November  5,  1884,  to  Cora  E.  Hatcher,  born  Sep- 
tember 22,  1864,  daughter  of  Harrison  and  Ann  Eliza  Hatcher.  The  deceased 
is  William  H.,  born  November  25,  1856,  died  September  13,  1858.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  July  3,  1881,  to  Ella  D.  Cavender,  born  in  Atwater,  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  March  24,  1861,  daughter  of  David  and  Harriet  (Sears)  Caven- 
der. Our  subject  with  his  brother  is  engaged  in  farming  the  old  homestead, 
consisting  of  113  acres  of  improved  land,  which  they  own.  The  name  Ladd 
is  recognized  among  the  old  pioneers  of  this  county. 

RUSSEL  LOOMIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  April  1,  1830;  son  of  Jason  and  Marietta  Loomis, 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut,  latter  of  Ohio,  and  who  located  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  and  here  remained  until  the  death  of  the  mother  in 
1852.  Jason  Loomis  mariied  for  his  second  wife  Rosaaa  Hawn,  who  died  in 
1875,  and  he  then  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  died  in  1880.  Our  subject  was 
married  November  5,  1854,  to  Kadijah  Hiltabidel,  who  died  November  5,  1879, 
and  on  April  27,  1882,  he  married  Eliza  Crockett,  born  March  8,  1837,  in 
Virginia,  daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  Crockett.  Our  subject  is  the  father 
of  four  children:  Elmer  G.,  Rolla  J.,  Nettie  E.  and  Nora  M.  Mr.  Loomis, 
who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  and  brick  making,  owns  eighty-three  acres 
on  which  he  has  a  fine  brick  residence  where  he  and  his  family  reside,  also 
sixty-five  acres  of  land  in  Indiana. 

S.  M.  LOOMIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  is  the  widow  of  Harris  J.  Loo- 
mis, who  was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  April  10,  1838;  son 
of  Harlon  and  Maria  W.  Loomis,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio 
and  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county*  in  a  very  early  day,  remaining 
until  his  death,  July  19,  1870.  His  widow  now  resides  on  the  farm  where 
they  moved  when  first  married,  in  Randolph  Township.  H.  J.  Loomis  was 
first  married  to  Permelia  Stoffer,  born  in  Sufl&eld  Township,  this  county, 
November  24,  1843,  a  daughter  of  Arthur  Stoflfer,  who  resides  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county.  To  this  union  were  born  two  children,  one  living — 
Dora  B.,  born  November  12,  1863;  Walter  H.  is  deceased.  After  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Loomis,  Mr.  Loomis  was  united  in  marriage  March  28,  1873,  with  Mrs. 
Susan  M.  Bain,  born  in  Roolstown  Township,  this  county,  October  10,  1839; 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  France  (former  of  whom  died  in  1865;  lat- 
ter now  resides  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county).  To  this  union  were  born 
four  children:  Zofoa  B.,  born  May  8,  1874;  Maud  F.,  born  September  21, 1875; 
Clyde  H.,  born  May  7,  1877,  and  Harris  R.,  born  September  24,  1880.  Mr. 
Loomis  was  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising  all  his  life,  and  he  and  his 
family,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  owned  240  acres  of  improved  land  with  a 
beautiful  residence  and  out-buildings  on  the  same.  He  was  Land  Assessor  in 
1880,  and  filled  the  office  of  Township  Assessor  two  terms.  He  died  Novem- 
ber 10,  1883.     His  widow  and  her  family  reside  on  the  home  fcxrm. 

S.  E.  LOOMIS,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  on  the 
farm  where  he  and  his  family  now  reside  in  Randolph  Township,  Portage  Co., 
Ohio,  March  18,  1845,  son  of  Harlon  and  Maria  Loomis,  the  former  of  whom 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  799 

was  a  native  of  Mansachusefcts,  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Harlon  Loomis  settled  in 
this  county  in  1818,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  July 
19,  1870.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Oar  subject  was  united  in  marriage 
December  15,  1874,  with  Alice  Wheeler,  born  October  10,  1853,  in  Marl- 
boro, Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Jeiferson  and  Mary  Wheeler.  To  this 
union  have  been  born  two  children:  Harlon  W.,  born  December  1,  1875,  and 
Daisy  M.,  born  October  5.  1879.  '"  Mr.  Loomis  has  been  engaged  in  farming 
and  stock-raising  all  his  life,  and  owns  at  present  "285  acres  of  first-class  land, 
whereon  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  in  Ran- 
dolph Township.      He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

ALBERT  H.  LOOMIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county.  July  21,  1848,  son  of  Harlon  and  Maria  Loomis,  for- 
mer of  whom  died  July  19,  1870;  his  widow  still  survives  him.  Our  subject 
was  married  April  20,  1S73,  to  Alice  France,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this 
county,  September  22,  1853,  daughter  of  Calvin  and  Esther  A.  France,  natives 
of  Ohio,  who  remained  here  all  their  lives  and  now  reside  in  Rootstown  Town- 
ship. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loomis  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  three  of  whom 
are  now  living:  Minnie  E..  born  September  28,  1874;  Waldo  F.,  born  April 
22,  1882,  and  Ada  M.,  born  September  9,  1883.  Bertha,  born  April  27,  1878, 
died  August  14,  18/8.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his 
life,  owns  112^  acres  of  improved  land  in  Randolph  Township,  whereon  he  and 
his  family  lately  resided,  and  a  farm  of  41i  acres  situated  one-half  mile  east 
of  Randolph  Center,  where  the  family  moved  in  the  spring  of  1885,  making 
in  all  154  acres.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loomis  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 
He  has  met  with  good  success  in  life,  and  himself  and  family  are  among  the 
leading  residents  of  Randolph. 

JOHN  MAXWELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Marlborough,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was 
born  in  New  Baltimore,  that  county,  December  24,  1831,  son  of  Alexander  and 
Judith  Maxwell,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
about  1825,  remaining  there  about  twelve  years,  then  moved  to  this  county, 
where  the  mother  died  in  1851,  and  after  her  demise  the  father  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Amy  Winders.  He  died  March  11,  1885;  his  widow  survives 
him.  Our  subject  was  married  August  18,  1860,  to  Elsie  E.  Honeywell,  born 
October  19,  1835,  in  East  Liberty,  Allegheny  Co.,  Penn.,  daughter  of  JohnC. 
and  Dorcas  Honeywell,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  the 
latter  of  Pennsylvania.  They  came  to  this  county  and  here  remained  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  February  24,  1875.  His  widow  survives  him.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maxwell  have  been  born  three  children:  Bertha  D.,  Elma  E. 
and  Jesse  L.  Mr.  Maxwell,  who  has  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns 
eighty-six  acres  of  land  whex'e  he  and  his  family  reside.  Himself,  wife  and 
two  daughters  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

CHARLES  MEACHAM,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Tallmadge, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio.  May  6,  1822,  son  of  Russell  and  Betsey  Meacham,  natives  of 
Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  and  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1818,  and  after  moving  about 
from  place  to  place  finally  settled  in  Sufiield,  this  county,  when  he  turned  his 
attention  to  farming,  and  there  they  remained  until  their  death.  Russell 
Meacham  engaged  in  the  clothing  trade  when  the  country  was  new,  and  there  was 
no  money  current,  in  order  to  provide  for  a  large  family.  He  died  in  1852;  his 
widow  died  in  1861.  Our  subject  was  married  February  14,  1853,  to  Lucy  A. 
Coburn,  born  in  Brimfield  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  Marcji  18,  1829, 
daughter  of  David  and  Nancy  Coburn,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  who  came 
to  Ohio,  and  died  in  this  county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meacham  have  been  born 
ten  children:     Milford  O.  (deceased),  Myra  A.,  Ira  C,  Joy  E. ,  Ura  D.,  lona 


800  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

A.,  Eva  A.,  Van  F.,  Melvin  C.  and  Louela  M.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged 
in  farming  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  now  owns  202  acres  of  land  in  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county,  on  which  he  has  a  beautiful  residence,  fine  large 
barn  and  other  necessary  outbuildings.  He  has  had  some  experience  in  the 
woods,  having  had  to  clear  off  the  timber  before  he  could  get  a  crop  in.  Mr. 
Meacham  has  met  with  good  success;  has  been  Township  Trustee  several  times 
and  has  filled  other  offices. 

REV.  JOSEPH  MERIAM,  retired  minister,  Randolph,  was  born  at  Graf- 
ton, Worcester  Co.,  Mass.,  October  15,  1797,  and  is  a  son  of  Timothy  and 
Sarah  Meriam,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death.  Timothy  Meriam  depai'ted  this  life  December  11,  1829,  his  widow 
July  29,  1835.  Joseph  Meriam,  a  graduate  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
emigrated  to  Virginia  as  a  missionary  in  1822.  In  the  spring  of  1823  he 
came  to  Ohio  and  engaged  in  missionai'y  work  in  the  new  counties  until  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year,  at  which  time  he  came  by  invitation  to  Randolph, 
this  county,  and  was  installed  Congregational  minister  January  7,  1824,  where 
lie  has  since  remained.  He  was  half  of  the  time  for  twelve  years  engaged  as 
pastor  at  both  Randolph  and  Rootstown,  since  that  time  he  has  been  pas- 
tor at  Randolph,  and  also  supplied  different  places  at  different  times.  He 
is  now  retired,  but  still  retains  the  relationship  of  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  the  desk  being  tilled  by  stated  supplies  from  year  to  year.  Our 
subject  was  united  in  marriage,  January  25,  1826,  with  Emiline  Bidwell,  born 
in  Farmington,  Conn.,  July  13,  1800,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Bidwell, 
who  departed  this  life  at  Madison,  Lake  Co.,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meriam  are 
parents  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Joseph  B.,  engaged  in 
business  at  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Emiline  Antoinette,  wife  of  Dr.  E.  D.  Burton, 
also  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  and  Theodore  F.,  who  resides  in  Randolph,  this 
county.  The  deceased  are  William  M.  and  Elizabeth.  Our  subject  owns  a 
beautiful  residence  and  ten  acres  of  land  in  this  township.  He  and  his  good 
wife  are  faithful  and  consistent  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and 
are  loved  by  all  in  the  community  in  which  they  reside. 

SARAH  MERRIMAN,  Randolph,  is  the  widow  of  E.  R.  Merriman,  a  son 
of  Eliakim  and  Hannah  Merriman,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  this 
county  a  great  many  years  ago  and  there  remained  until  their  death.  E.  R. 
Merriman,  the  first  white  male  child  to  see  the  light  in  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  was  born  April  23,  1807.  He  married,  the  first  time,  Julia  Hall, 
who  died  in  1852,  and  by  her  had  three  children:  Dwight  R.,  born  December 
14,  1835,  died  October  28,  1856;  a  daughter  deceased  in  infancy;  and  Malitta, 
born  February  28,  1844,  now  wife  of  Marvin  Churchill.  Mr.  Merriman  was 
next  married,  December  23,  1853,  to  Sarah  Miller,  born  in  Ashland  County, 
Ohio,  October  26,  1823,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  Harper.  (Her  first 
husband's  name  was  Miller,  by  whom  she  has  one  son  living — Lewis  Miller, 
born  November  22,  1849.)  Mr.  Harper  died  in  1870;  his  widow  still  sur- 
vives him.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merriman  were  the  parents  of  three  children,  of 
whom  survive  Julia  L.,  born  November  25,  1854,  wife  of  Sanford  Tick- 
ner;  Albert  R.,  born  September  8,  1857;  and  Melvin  E.,  born  May  16,  1861. 
E.  R.  Merriman  was  a  farmer  through  life,  and  owned  105  acres  of  land  at  the 
iime  of  his  death,  which  occurred  April  9,  1879.  His  family  lost  a  kind  father 
and  a  good  husband. 

HENRY  MERRIMAN  was  born  in  Randolph,  February  26,  1838;  son  of 
Otis  and  Phebe  Merriman,  natives  of  Ohio.  He  has  engaged  in  farming,  and 
owns  sixty  acres  of  land. 

W.  E.  MERRIMAN,  salesman,  Randolph,  was  born  in  Randolph,  Ohio, 
August  26,  1840,  the  eldest  son  of  Levi  and   Jane  A.   Merriman,  the  former 


EANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  801 

born  in  Randolph  Township,  December  10,  1811,  the  latter  born  in  Augusta, 
N.  Y. ,  June  4,  1818,  daughter  of  Norman  and  Sarah  Humphrey.  Norman 
Humphrey  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1793;  his  wife  in  New  York,  September 
10,  1797.  They  were  married  February  28,  1815,  and  removed  to  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  in  January,  1819,  where  they  remained  until  his  death,  January 
3,  1822.  Mrs.  Humphrey  afterward,  January  25,  1827,  married  Dr.  Rnfus 
Belding,  who  died  in  Randolph,  this  county,  April  8,  1854,  and  his  widow  died 
in  Ravenna,  Ohio,  June  2,  1881.  Levi  Merriman  was  a  son  of  Maj.  Isaac  and 
Esther  Merriman,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  removed  to  this  county  in  ]805, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Mrs.  Merriman  died  in  1834,  and 
Maj.  Merriman  then  married  Harriet  Force,  who  is  still  living  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  died  in  June,  1842.  Levi  Merriman  was  married,  May,  1838,  to  Jane  A. 
Humphrey,  and  this  union  was  blessed  with  three  children,  of  whom  our  sub- 
ject, Wilfred  E.,  is  the  only  one  now  living.  The  deceased  are  Sarah  D.,  born 
May  23,  1845,  died  October  1,  1862,  and  Edward  F.,  born  January  27,  1854, 
died  September  29,  1862.  Levi  Merriman  and  wife  were  members  of  the  Dis- 
ciples Church  for  fifty  years.  He  died  July  26,  1884,  and  his  widow  now 
resides  with  our  subject  in  Randolph,  this  county.  In  1853  our  subject  had 
the  misfortvine  to  break  his  left  leg,  from  which  injury  he  never  fully  recov- 
ered. In  May,  1857,  the  limb  was  amputated  midway  between  the  ankle  and 
knee,  and  one  week  later,  a  second  operation  becoming  necessary,  it  was 
amputated  above  the  knee.  Mr.  Merriman  filled  the  office  of  Postmaster 
in  his  native  village  in  1870  and  1871.  For  thirteen  years  he  was  Township 
Treasurer;  in  1880  Census  Enumerator. 

C.  B.  NEEDHAM,  farmer  and  stock-dealer.  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in 
Massachusetts,  November  12,  1836;  son  of  Alfred  and  Mary  Needham,  natives 
of  that  State,  former  born  August  2,  1802,  latter  October  11, 1803.  They  came 
to  this  county  June  1,  1837,  where  they  settled  and  remained  until  Mrs.  Need- 
ham's  death,  January  7,  1863.  Alfred  Needham  survives  her  and  now  enjoys 
the  best  of  health.  Our  subject  was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion,  Decem- 
ber 29,  1859,  to  Maria  E.  Weldy,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter  Weldy,  of 
Atwater,  and  by  this  union  was  born  one  child — Charlie  W.,  born  October  21, 
1860,  died  October  16.  1861.  Mrs.  Weldy  dying  September  11,  1861,  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  years  and  six  months,  our  subject  married,  March  14,  1863, 
Lucy  M.  Grant,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  May  2,  1840,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Miranda  Grant.  Mr.  Grant  was  born  in  Vermont,  Decem- 
ber 30,  1803,  his  wife  in  New  York,  December  8,  1815,  and  they  came  to  this 
county,  remaining  until  her  death,  Februaiy  1,  1880.  Mr.  Grant  is  still  living 
and  enjoys  good  health.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  B.  Needham  have  two  children: 
Fred  G.  and  Ida  M.  Our  subject  spent  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  in  mercan- 
tile biTsiness  at  Atwater,  Ohio,  but  for  the  last  twenty  years  he  has  been 
engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  and  his  family  own  280  acres  of 
improved  land. 

SIMON  PERKI^^S,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  this  county, 
November  17,  1834,  a  son  of  David  and  Electa  Perkins,  the  former  a  native  of 
Vermont,  the  latter  of  Massachusetts.  David  Perkins  came  to  Ohio  aboufc 
1814;  his  wife  some  years  later.  They  were  married  in  Summit  County,  Ohio, 
where  they  remained  a  number  of  years,  thence  came  to  this  county,  and  here 
remained  until  their  death.  The  father,  who  was  a  stone-mason  by  trade,  died 
March  12, 1864;  the  mother  in  1878.  October  1,  1854,  our  subject  was  married 
to  Mary  Ann  W.  Rogers,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  June  6, 
1835,  daughter  of  Williani  and  Minerva  Rogers,  natives  of  Connecticiit  and 
Pennsylvania  respectively,  but  residents  of  this  county,  where  they  died,  former 


802  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

in  1849,  latter  in  1859.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perkins  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren: David  S.,  born  January  8,  1856,  and  now  a  practicing  physician  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio;  Electa  B.,  born  January  5,  1859,  wife  of  C.  B.  Ladd;  and 
Maude  S.,  born  July  24,  1868,  residing  with  her  parents.  Our  subject  has 
engaged  in  farming  and  owns  127  acres  in  Randolph  Township.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  G.  A.  R.,  and  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  several 
years.  In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  commissioned  Second  Lieutenant 
of  an  infantry  company  (Randolph  Guards),  May  11,  1861,  and  December  14, 
following,  was  commissioned  Captain  of  same  company,  but  so  many  of  this 
company  enlisted  into  the  United  States  Regular  Army  that  it  was  disbanded. 
Our  subject  was  next  elected  Captain  of  Company  Gr,  Third  Regiment  Ohio 
Militia,  in  Portage  County,  July  4,  1863;  then  he  joined  the  United  States 
service  as  Recruiting  Lieutenant,  January  13,  1865;  was  mustered  out  as  Cap- 
tain of  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- fourth  Regiment,  Ohio  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  February  21,  1865.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perkins  and  family  reside  in 
this  township,  where  they  have  a  pleasant  and  beautiful  home. 

JOSEPH  PRICE,  physician  and  surgeon,  Randolph,  was  born  in  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  October  15,  1823,  son  of  Nathan  and  Abigail  Price,  the  former 
of  Welsh  and  the  latter  of  English  origin,  both  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
who  moved  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  they  remained  until  their  death, 
Nathan  Price  dying  August,  1863,  and  his  widow  in  August,  1864.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married,  October  25,  1843,  to  Cynthia  M.  Underwood,  born  February 
15,  1827,  in  New  Baltimore,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Dr.  W.  and  Rachel  Under- 
wood (both  deceased).  To  the  Doctor  and  wife  have  been  born  four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Emmet  W.,  a  practicing  physician  and  surgeon 
in  Kent,  Ohio;  Louisa  P.,  wife  of  Julius  Dunbar,  of  Youngstown,  Ohio;  Mary 
E.  and  Benjamin  F.  W.  Our  subject  engaged  in  tailoring  until  he  was  twen- 
ty-two years  of  age,  after  which  he  read  medicine  with  his  father- in-law  in 
New  Baltimore,  Ohio,  and  graduated  in  the  regular  school  of  medicine,  at 
Starling  Medical  College,  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  the  spring  of  1851.  He  is  a 
member  of  Portage  County  Medical  Society,  Northeastern  Medical  Society,  as 
well  as  the  Ohio  State  Society.  He  was  a  member  of  the  School  Board  for 
eighteen  years.  The  Doctor  owns  128  acres  of  land  with  a  line  residence, 
where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

HENRY  K.  REDFIELD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  on  the  farm 
he  now  owns,  March  29,  1822;  son  of  Samuel  and  Margaret  Redfield,  natives 
of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  IS  10,  settling  in  this  county  and  here 
remaining  until  their  death.  Samuel  Redfield  died  in  1876,  his  wife  in  1874. 
Our  subject  was  married,  March  25,  1852,  to  May  Donnell,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Myra  Donnell,  and  born  in  Atwater,  this  county.  This  union  has  been 
blessed  with  five  children,  three  of  whom  survive:  Frank  D.,  Mary  H.  and 
Emma  J.  Ida  J.  and  Lillie  A.  are  deceased.  Mr.  Redfield  was  raised  on  a 
farm,  has  been  engaged  in  agriculture  through  life  successfully,  and  owns  132 
acres  of  improved  land.  He  acquired  a  good  common  school  education;  has  filled 
the  office  of  Assessor  of  Randolph  Township;  is  a  member  of  the  Secret  Police. 
Our  subject's  father  walked  from  Connecticut  to  Ohio  (carrying  a  large  bundle 
on  his  back)  and  arrived  in  1810.  He  was  the  first  man  to  volunteer  in  the  war 
of  1812  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  Maiden  upon  Hull's  svirrender. 

FREDERICK  RIEDINGER,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  P.  O.  Randolph, 
was  born  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  November  16,  1840,  a  son  of 
George  P.  and  Susan  Riedinger,  natives  of  Baden,  Germany,  who  came  to 
America  in  1840.     They  settled  in  this  county,  where  they  remained  until  their 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  803 

death.  The  father  died  in  1864;  the  mother  in  1874.  Our  subject  was  married, 
November  12,  1863,  to  Louisa  Ackerman,  born  in  Marlboro  Township,  Stark 
Co.,  Ohio,  March  18,  1843,  a  daughter  of  Matthias  and  Henrietta  Ackerman, 
natives  of  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  who  immigrated  to  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
and  afterward  removed  to  Crawford  County,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death,  the  mother  dying  in  December,  1868,  the  father  in  February,  1880. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riedinger  had  live  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living:  George 
F.,  born  September  3,  1864;  Mary  L.,  born  April  15,  1866;  Henry  W.,  born 
April  8,  1868,  and  Hattie  S.,  born  December  16,  1872.  An  infant  is  deceased. 
Our  subject  is  a  farmer  and.  stock-dealer,  and  owns  128  acres  of  improved  land. 
He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. ;  has  filled  the  office  of  To.wnship  Trustee  and  that  of 
Assessor  for  four  years  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
constituents. 

PETER  RIEDINGER,  Jr.,  farmer,  P.O.  Randolph, was  born  in  Randolph 
Township,  this  county,  AugvTst  1,  1850,  son  of  George  P.  and  Susan  Riedinger, 
natives  of  Baden,  Germany,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1840,  and  remained 
until  their  death,  the  former  dying  in  1864,  the  latter  in  1874.  Our  subject 
was  united  in  marriage,  December  18,  1877,  with  Emma  Weaver,  born  in 
Stark  County,  Ohio,  September  3,  1857,  daughter  of  George  and  Charlotte 
Weaver,  natives  of  Germany,  and  who  immigrated  to  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
where  they  have  resided  ever  since.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riedinger  have  been 
born  five  children,  four  now  living:  Elton  E.,  born  September  10,  1878:  Ivin 
E.,  born  September  11,  1879;  Merle  D.,  born  January  11,  1883,  and  Ruth 
Emma,  born  January  6,  1885.  Claudius  W.,  born  September  24,  1880,  is 
deceased.  Our  subject,  who  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  owns  124  acres  of  good 
land.  He  has  tilled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  the  township  two  years.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

VOLNEY  ROGERS,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born 
in  Randolph  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  August  1,  1837,  son  of  William 
and  Minerva  Rogers,  former  a  native  of  Connecticut,  latter  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  who  settled  in  this  county,  where  they  remained  until  their  death  in  1850 
and  1857  respectively.  Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage,  April  23,  1859, 
with  Mary  E.  Perkins,  born  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  February  10, 
1844,  daughter  of  David  and  Electa  Perkins,  who  died  in  this  county.  To  Mr, 
and  Mrs.  Rogers  have  been  born  five  children,  three  now  living:  Dennis  E., 
born  May  16,  1868;  Nellie  I,  born  September  9,  1880,  and  Ruth  V.,  born 
February  9,  1884.  Those  deceased  are  Benjamin  V.,  born  January  31,  1860, 
died  June  8,  1867,  and  Blanche  A.,  born  April  19,  1875,  died  June  15,  1882. 
Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  and  dealing  in  stock,  and  owns  130 
acres  of  good  land.  He  enlisted  in  1861  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  mustered  out  June  22,  1864.  Mr. 
Rogers,  who  went  to  school  to  James  A.  Garfield,  and  boarded  with  him  one 
term,  was  also  a  teacher,  and  taught  fifteen  terms. 

JAMES  SARIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  August  26,  1829,  son  of  Ephraim  and  Jerusha  Sabin,  the  former  a 
native  of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  the  latter  of  Vermont,  and  who  were  mar- 
ried in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where  they  settled  and  died,  the  for- 
mer in  1872,  the  latter  a  few  years  later.  Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage, 
June  17,  1859,  with  Sarah  E.  Burdge,  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1829,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Moses  and  Elizabeth  Burdge,  both  of  whom  died  in  this  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Sabin  have  had  four  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Charlie 
C. ,  H.  B.  and  Rena  R.  Buric  P.  is  deceased.  Our  subject,  who  has  been 
engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns  at  present  thirty  acres  of  good   land  in 


804  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Kandolph  Township.  The  family  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church.  Our 
subject  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  Ke  has  filled  the  office  of  Township 
Trustee  at  different  times;  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education;  was 
First  Lieutenant  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Mr.  Sabin  has  been 
very  successful  in  life,  and  owns  a  neat  residence  where  he  and  his  family 
reside. 

HARVY  SABIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Suffield  Township, 
this  county,  September  21,  1834;  son  of  Ephraim  and  Jerusha  Sabin,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  a  native  of  New  York,  the  latter  of  Vermont.  They  settled 
in  this  county  at  a  very  early  day,  and  remained  until  their  death,  he  dying 
May  12,  1870,  and  his  widow  May  2,  1874.  Our  subject  was  married 
December  27,  1861,  to  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Moulton,  born  October  22,  1830,  daugh- 
ter of  Hiram  and  Sarah  Lane.  She  was  united  in  marriage  the  first  time, 
July  4,  1849,  with  Warren  Moulton,  who  was  born  April  13,  1827,  died  Jan- 
uary 23,  1854,  son  of  Augustus  and  Sarah  Moulton,  and  by  this  union  has  been 
born  one  child — Alice,  born  October  18,  1850,  now  the  wife  of  Loring  Hulbert. 
Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  and  owns  eighty-six 
acres  of  improved  land  with  comfortable  residence  and  good  out-buildings  on 
the  same. 

JACOB  SCHMIEDEL,  Jr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county,  July  28,  1845;  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  C. 
Schmiedel,  natives  of  Baden,  Germany.  They  came  to  America  in  1843,  and 
settled  and  remained  in  this  county.  The  mother  died  June  22,  1878;  the 
father  is  still  living,  aged  eighty-four  years.  Our  subject  was  married  March 
14.  1872,  to  Catharine  Haag,  born  in  Marlboro,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  June  8, 
1851,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Barbara  Haag.  They  were  natives  of  Germany 
and  immigrated  to  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death.  Mr.  Schmiedel  and  wife  are  the  parents  of  five  children:  Charlotte, 
Frank  E.,  Lucette  M.,  Albert  W.  and  Mary  E.  Our  subject  is  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  owns  forty-eight  acres  of  improved  land.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Town- 
ship Trustee  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  constituents. 

ADAM  SCHULZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany, 
June  25,  1819;  son  of  George  and  Margaret  Schulz,  who  immigrated  to  Amer- 
ica in  a  very  early  day  and  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  where 
they  remained  until  death.  Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  December  26, 
1846,  with  Margaret  Beisel,  who  was  born  in  Germany  June  24,  1822.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schulz  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing: Eve,  Adam,  Elizabeth,  Henry,  Albert,  William;  Peter  is  deceased.  Our 
subject  has  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life  and  has  been  successful,  now  own- 
ing 127  acres  of  good  land,  mostly  improved,  on  which  he  is  building  a  fine 
residence.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 
He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  Township  two  years. 

JOHN  SHEPLIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Germany,  August 
7,  1825;  son  of  Jacob  and  Fronie  ShepJin,  who  remained  in  Germany  until 
the  death  of  the  father  in  1846,  after  which  the  mother  immigrated  to  Ohio  and 
lived  in  Canton  for  a  few  years;  thence  moved  to  Indiana,  where  she  remained 
until  her  death.  Our  subject  was  married,  the  first  time,  in  November,  1859,  to 
Mary  M.  Hoover,  born  in  Ohio.  She  died  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  August  27, 
1862,  and  Mr.  Sheplin  then  married,  November  10,  1864,  Catharine  Hiser, 
born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  March  25,  1841,  daughter  of  George  and  Rebecca 
Hiser,  who  died  in  that  county.  Mr.  Sheplin  is  the  father  of  four  children: 
Lovina,  William,  Emma  and  Charles.      He  settled  in  this  county  in  1883;  has 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  805 

been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  and  owns  fifty  acres  of  improved  land 
whereon  he  and  his  family  reside.  They  are  among  the  best  citizens  of  the 
vicinity. 

LYDA  A.  SHURTLEFF,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  June 
7,  1804,  daughter  of  Thaddeus  and  Lyda  Andrews,  natives  of  Connecticut, 
who  came  to  this  county  when  our  subject  was  only  four  months  old,  and 
remained  here  till  their  death,  which  occurred  in  1845  and  1843  respectively. 
Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  October  3,  1822,  with  Harvy  Shurtleff, 
born  in  Massachusetts,  November  27,  1799,  son  of  Asa  and  Mary  Shurtleflf, 
natives  of  Massachusetts,  the  former  of  whom  died  in  1840,  the  latter  several 
years  afterward.  Of  the  eight  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harvy  Shurtleff 
only  three  are  now  living:  Angeline  M.,  Eveline  M.  and  Lyda.  Mr.  Shurtleff 
was  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  and  owned  about  fifty-one  acres  of  land 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  October  29,  1873.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church,  as  is  also  his  widow,  who  is  beloved  by  all  who 
know  her. 

A.  L.  SLABAUGH,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, December  16,  1822,  son  of  Christopher  and  Nancy  Slabaugh,  natives 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  removed  to  Ohio  and  located  in  Columbiana  County  in 
1827,  where  they  remained  seven  years,  settling  in  this  county  in  1834,  where 
they  resided  until  their  death.  The  former  died  April  10,  1848,  the  latter  in 
July,  1865.  On  March  18,  1853,  our  subject  was  married  to  J.  A.  France, 
born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  January  15,  1834,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Eliz- 
abeth France,  the  former  of  whom  died  some  years  ago,  his  widow  still  resid- 
ing in  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Slabaugh  have  six  children,  five  of  whom 
are  now  living:  Warren  H.,  Willard  W.,  Watson  E.,  Mary  E.  and  Frank  W. 
Ida  F.  is  deceased.  Our  subject  was  engaged  in  farming  early  in  life,  but  is 
now  retired.  He  owns  a  beautiful  residence,  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Slabaugh  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Pioneer  Association,  and  has  filled  the  ofiice  of  Trustee  of  this 
Township. 

SOLOMON  STALLSMITH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Spring- 
field, Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  November  26,  1823,  eon  of  John  and  Catharine 
StaJlsmith,  the  former  a  native  of  Adams  County,  and  the  latter  of  Hunting- 
don County,  Penn.  They  came  to  Ohio  and  settled  in  Columbiana  County,  in 
1819,  remaining  there  until  1832,  when  they  removed  to  Randolph  Township, 
this  county,  where  they  passed  the  balance  of  their  days,  she  dying  September 
27,  1846.  After  her  death  John  Stallsmith  married  Marguerite  Firestine, 
who  died  about  1874;  he  died  November  3,  1879.  Our  subject  was  married 
November  22,  1846,  to  Rachel  Cook,  born  in  Portage  County,  Ohio,  September 
23,  1824,  daughter  of  David  and  Chloe  Cook,  natives  of  Wallingford,  Conn., 
who  came  to  this  county  and  remained  until  their  death,  February  2,  1856, 
and  February  2,  1879,  respectively.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stallsmith  have  been 
born  five  children,  four  of  whom  survive:  Winfield  S.,  born  November  9, 
1847;  Chloe  L,  born  August  18,  1849;  Olive  L.,  born  August  16,  1851,  and 
Cora  L.,  born  March  13,  1865.  John  M.,  born  July  6,  1861,  died  July  20, 
1866.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns  thirty- 
nine  acres  of  good  land,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Board  for  a  number  of  years. 

ORSEMUS  STANFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Marietta, 
Ohio,  August  25,  1814,  son  of  Qliver  and  Olive  Stanford,  natives  of  Massa- 
chusetts, who  came  to  Marietta,  Ohio;  from  there  moved  to  Trumbull  County, 
thence  to    Stark  County,  where  they  remained  seven   years;  came  to  Portage 


806  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

County  in  !1832,  remaining  until  1850;  then  removed  to  Wisconsin,  whiere  the 
father  died  in  1874;  the  mother  died  in  Iowa  in  1878.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried April  14,  1836,  to  Sarah  Chittendon,  born  in  this  county,  in  November, 
1816,  daughter  of  Almon  and  Gertrude  Chittendon,  both  of  whom  died  in 
this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanford  were  parents  of  two  children,  one  now 
living — Frank,  who  resides  in  this  county.  Van  Vactor  B.  Stanford  who  was  in 
the  army  three  years,  was  killed  by  a  premature  discharge  of  his  own  gun 
in  1864.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  for  the  past  tweuty  years 
has  been  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  ninety-seven  acres  of  improved  land; 
has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  township. 

W.  C.  STANFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  April  11,  1849,  son  of  Chauncey  and  Keturah  B.  Stanford,  natives  of 
Connecticut,  and  residents  of  Ravenna,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, December  25,  1876,  with  Flora  C.  Carver,  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
December  18,  1856,  a  daughter  of  JohnF.  and  Lucinda  M.  Carver,  the  former 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  of  Ohio,  and  both  still  living.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Stanford  have  two  children:  Vernon  L.,  born  December  2,  1877.  and 
Blanche,  born  March  16,  1881.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  has 
engaged  in  farming  for  the  past  three  yeai's.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Disciples  Church.  Mr.  Stanford  has  met  with  good  success,  and  he  and  wife 
are  a  very  pleasant  couple,  highly  respected  in  the  community  in  which  they 
live. 

GEN.  WILLIAM  STEDMAN  (deceased)  was  born  in  Granville,  Ohio, 
November  26, 1815.  His  father's  family  emigrated  from  Granville,  Mass.,  to  Gran- 
ville, Ohio,  and  were  among  the  pioneers  who  founded  the  latter  town.  His 
early  life  was  passed  upon  his  father's  farm,  and  when  he  was  only  twelve 
years  old  his  father  died.  When  about  eighteen  he  entered  the  preparatory 
department  at  Hudson  College,  and  thence  went  to  Athens  College  for  a  regu- 
lar course,  but  was  compelled  to  relinquish  his  purpose  on  account  of  ill  health. 
In  May,  1837,  when  in  his  twenty-second  year,  he  married  Elizabeth  Elmore, 
of  Randolph,  and  here  he  settled  as  a  farmer.  He  also  had  an  interest  in  some 
mercantile  and  manufacturing  establishments.  Mr.  Stedman  was  among  the 
first  to  embrace  the  anti- slavery  sentiment  of  the  times,  and  upon  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Republican  party,  he  became  one  of  its  most  active  and  influential 
members.  In  1859  he  was  elected  a  Representative  to  the  State  Legislature, 
and  again  in  1865,  and  to  the  State  Senate  in  1868.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war,  he  volunteered  in  the  three  months'  service,  and  became  Captain  of 
Company  F,  Seventh  Ohio.  Returning  from  that  service,  he  took  a  recruiting 
commission  to  raise  men  for  the  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry.  On  October  21,  1861, 
he  was  commissioned  a  Major  in  that  regiment;  August  3,  1863,  he  was  com- 
missioned Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  January  10,  1864,  was  promoted  to  Colonel. 
During  his  service  with  the  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry,  Col.  Stedman  participated  in  the 
following  engagements:  Kelley's  Ford,  Va.,  Ely's  Ford,  Va.,  Stevensburg,  Aldie, 
Middleburg,  Upperville,  in  the  actions  of  Monterey,  Smithsburg,  Hagerstown  and 
Williamsport,  Boonsboro,  and  in  actions  at  Shepherdstown.  He  was  also  engaged 
in  battle  at  Barber's  Cross  Roads, Va.,  skirmishing  at  Rapidan  Station,  Va.,  and  at 
Auburn  Hills.  He  was  in  action  at  Howe's  Gap,  Va.,  St.  Mary's  Church.  Malvern 
Hill,  Va.,  Petersburg,  Boydtown  Road,  Va.,  and  in  all  the  marches  and  actions 
in  which  the  Second  Cavalry  Division  was  engaged  from  the  Rappahannock 
to  Westminster,  Md.  The  Colonel  was  also  in  other  engagements.  For  meri- 
torious services  he  was  commissioned  Brevet  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers, 
March  13,  1865.  Having  passed  through  forty  months  of  military  service, 
and  participated  in    numerous  engagements,  he  returned  home.     He  died  of 


RANDOLPH  TOWNSHIP.  807 

yellow  fever  at  SaBtiago  De  Cuba,  July  6,  1869,  to  which  place  he  had  been 
sent  as  Consul,  under  the  appointment  of  President  Grant,  received  in  April 
previous. 

ELSON  TICKNER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
May  26,  1804,  son  of  John  and  Ruth  Tickner,  the  former  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, the  latter  of  Germany.  They  removed  to  Ohio  in  October,  1810,  set- 
tled in  Portage  County  and  here  remained  until  their  death,  October  10,  1819, 
and  November  23,  1857,  respectively.  Our  subject,  who  has  engaged  in  farming 
all  his  life,  owns  about  eighty-nine  acres  of  good  land  in  Randolph  Township. 
He  never  attended  school  for  more  than  two  weeks  at  a  time,  but  has  been  a 
successful  business  man.  Mr.  Tickner  was  married,  April  11,  1835,  to  Mary 
Austin,  born  September  11,  1817,  daughter  of  Anthony  and  Marrena  Austin 
(both  deceased),  and  accompanied  her  parents  to  Ohio,  in  her  infancy.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tickner  have  three  children:  Elizabeth,  wife  of  William  Bowers  ;  San- 
ford,  who  is  married  :  and  Laura,  widow  of  William  France.  Our  subject  and 
wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

JOHN  TRAVES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Germany,  March 
17,  1825;  son  of  Matthias  and  Elizabeth  Traves,  who  settled  in  this  county  in 
1839,  where  they  lived  and  died,  the  former  in  April,  1883,  the  latter  in  1857.  Our 
subject  was  married  May  23,  1850,  to  Mary  Knapp,  born  in  Germany  May  13, 
1830,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Knapp,  the  former  still  living,  the  lat- 
ter deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Traves  are  the  parents  of  five  boys  and  two  girls: 
John,  Mary,  Henry,  Elizabeth  and  Peter,  now  living;  Frank  and  Lewis  died 
August  17,  1874.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life  and 
has  met  with  good  success,  owning  now  150  acres  of  improved  land.  He  has 
tilled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  Sufiield  Township  two  years.  He  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

S.  B.  TRESCOTT,  traveling  salesman,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  near 
Alliance,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  January  26,  1842;  son  of  Clark  and  Ann  Trescott, 
who  resided  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  until  Mrs.  Trescott's  death,  when  our  sub- 
ject was  quite  young.  Mr.  Trescott  then  married  Rachel  McConnell,  who 
also  is  deceased,  and  he  afterward  married  Eliza  Williamson,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trescott  reside  near  Alliance,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was 
married  September  15,  1864,  to  Elizabeth  Crawford,  born  in  Pennsylvania 
August  10,  1842,  daughter  of  John  and  Catherine  Crawford,  both  deceased. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trescott  have  been  born  six  children:  Blanche,  born  Septem- 
ber 6,  1865;  Josephine,  born  November  29,  1867;  Edward  O.,  born  April  12, 
1870;  Walter  S.  and  Grace,  born  May  14,  1873,  and  Bessie,  born  September 
22,  1880.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  commercial  business  all  his  life, 
and  has  been  a  traveling  salesman  for  twenty-three  years;  he  is  now  in  the 
line  of  boots  and  shoes.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trescott  are  members  of  the  Disciples 
Church.  Mr.  Trescott  acquired  a  good  common  school  education.  He  owns 
sixty  two  acres  of  land  and  a  fine  dwelling  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

JOHN  UNGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Atwater,  was  born  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  January  21,  1810;  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Unger,  who  departed  this  life 
a  great  many  years  ago  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  united 
in  marriage  November  1,  1832,  with  Elizabeth  Palmer,  the  daughter  of  Ste- 
phen and  Mary  Palmer,  who  died  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Unger  are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  four  survive:  Alpheus, 
Simeon,  Sylvanus  and  John  J.  The  deceased  are  Cyrus,  Eli,  Mary  A.  and 
Caroline.  Mr.  Unger  is  a  cooper  by  trade,  but  has  engaged  in  farming  for  a 
great  many  years.  Himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
He  owns  about  ninety-seven  and  one-third  acres  of  mostly  improved  land  in  Ran- 


808  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

dolph  Township,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Unger,  who 
are  among  the  early  settlers  of  Randolph  Township,  are  very  highly  respected 
by  the  community  in  which  they  live.  Mr.  Unger  has  met  svith  fair  success 
through  life. 

ALONZO  V.  AVHITE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  October  3,  1838,  a 
son  of  Horace  and  Caroline  M.  AVhite,  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  who  immi- 
grated to  Ohio  in  1834,  locating  in  this  county,  where  they  remained  until 
their  death.  The  father  died  in  December,  1881,  the  mother  in  December, 
1883.  Our  subject  was  married  January  9,  1862,  to  Susan  HoHbaugh,  born 
in  Pennsylvania  October  19,  1838,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  HoH- 
baugh, both  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
Hattie  E.,  born  September  30,  1801;  Albert  R.,  born  September  1,  1870;  and 
Stella  M. ,  boi'n  September  25,  1874.  Mrs.  White  is  a  member  of  the  Disci- 
ples Church.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  for  the  last  five  years.  He  owns  seventy  acres  of  improved  land  on 
which  there  is  a  beautiful  residence  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He 
served  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  in  Company  G,  Seventh  Ohio  Volun- 
teer Infantry.     Mr.  White  has  been  very  successful  through  life. 

DOMINICK  WISE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Europe,  Septem- 
ber 24,  1832,  son  of  Jacob  and  Magdalene  Wise,  who  came  to  America  and 
settled  in  Ohio,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried (the  first  time)  in  1856  to  Maria  Earhart,  who  died  October  12, 1870,  after 
which,  in  1872,  he  was  married  to  Clara  Winisheimer,  born  in  Germany,  Octo- 
ber 10,  1839,  daughter  of  Balser  and  Jacob  Winisheimer.  Our  subject 
is  the  father  of  eight  children:  John  C,  Louise  M.,  David  L.  and  Joseph  W. 
by  his  first  wife,  and  Mary  E.,  Dominick  A.,  Stephen  H.  and  Magdalene  by 
his  second  wife.  Mr.  Wise  is  a  cooper  by  trade,  but  has  engaged  in  farming 
for  several  years,  and  owns  sixty-five  acres  of  improved  land  on  which  he  and 
his  family  reside.  He  is  a  man  that  takes  great  interest  in  his  family,  and  his 
word  is  as  good  as  his  note.  Himself  and  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church.     Mr.  Wise's  second  wife  died  October  9,  1884. 

JOHN  J.  WISE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Germany  Septem- 
ber 12,  1837,  son  of  Jacob  and  Magdalene  Wise,  who  immigrated  to  Ohio  in 
1840,  settling  in  Lawrence  Township,  Stark  County,  thence  moving  to  Lake 
Township,  where  they  remained  until  the  father's  death  in  1865.  Three  years 
later  the  family  came  to  Sufiield  Township,  this  county,  where  the  mother  died 
in  1873.  Our  subject  was  married  January  25,  1862,  to  Mary  Knapp,  born  in 
Randolph  Township,  this  county,  September  8,  1842,  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Knapp,  latter  deceased  in  1871.  Mr.  Knapp  is  still  living,  aged 
about  eighty  three  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wise  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
six  of  whom  survive:  Clara,  Emma,  William,  John,  Bertha  and  Clamenc. 
The  deceased  are  Charlie,  Rosie  and  Charlie.  Our  subject,  who  has  been 
engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  owns  154  acres  of  improved  land.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Agricultural  Board  of  Randolph.  He  and  his  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church. 

JACOB  YARIAN,  Sr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  December  24,  1812,  son  of  Conrad  and  Eva  Yarian,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  of  Westmoreland  and  Lancaster  Counties,  respectively,  and  who 
settled  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  in  1803,  remaining  there  until  their 
death.  Our  subject  was  married  April  2,  1835,  to  Elizabeth  Switzer,  born  in 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  September  24,  1815,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary 
C.   Switzer,    natives  of    Pennsylvauia,    who   located    in   Columbiana  County,. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  ,         809 

where  they  died.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yarian  are  parents  of  eleven  children,  nine 
of  whom  are  now  living,  all  married  and  doing  for*themselves:  Susanna  (wife 
of  William  Walker),  Jonathan,  Eli,  Benjamin,  David,  Jacob,  Mary  C,  Eva 
and  Kebecca.  The  deceased  are  Rebecca  (twin  sister  of  Eebecca  living)  and 
Daniel  (an  infant).  Mr.  Yarian,  who  has  engaged  in  farming  all  his  life,  now 
owns  ninety-seven  acres  whereon  he  and  his  family  reside,  besides  forty-five 
acres  elsewhere.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Disciples  Church.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

WILLIAM  YOUNGMAN,  farmer  and  cooper,  P.  O.  Randolph,  was  born 
in  HoUis,  Hillsboro  Co.,  N.  H.,  February  23,  1821,  son  of  Ebenezer  and 
Thankful  Youngman,  natives  of  New  Hampshire,  who  came  to  this  county  in 
1835,  where  they  settled  and  remained  until  their  death.  On  April  2,  1844, 
our  subject  was  married  to  Sarah  J.  Dumars,  born  April  2,  1822,  a  daughter 
of  Timothy  and  Sarah  Dumars.  Mr.  Dumars  was  of  French  descent,  although 
born  in  Ireland,  while  Sarah,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Scotland.  They  located 
in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Youngman  have  been  born  three  children:  Francis  A.,  born  September  8,  1846; 
Helen  E. ,  born  November  19,  1852;  and  Forest  D.,  born  December  24,  1863. 
Our  subject  is  a  cooper  by  trade,  but  is  also  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  owns 
a  nice  little  farm  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  Himself  and  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  Church.     They  are  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  couple. 


RAVENNA    TOWNSHIP. 


DR.  A.  W.  ALCORN,  Ravenna,  was  born  on  the  23d  day  of  May,  A.  D. 
1835.  He  was  the  seventh  of  eight  children,  six  of  whom  were  boys.  His 
father  was  of  Scotch-Irish,  and  his  mother  of  English  and  German  descent. 
His  parents  were  farmers,  and  the  first  and  only  farm  they  owned  they  cleared 
up  from  wild  woods  in  Armstrong  County,  Penn.  The  trees,  saplings  and 
brush  had  to  be  cut  down  and  grubbed  out  to  make  room  for  the  first  log-cabin. 
His  parents  were  Old  School  Presbyterians,  and  were  one  of  three  families  who 
met  together  for  social  prayer,  from  which  grew  the  Concord  Presbyterian 
Church,  about  one  mile  from  his  father's  farm.  Before  the  church  building 
was  secured  his  father  and  mother  would  attend  church  at  Glade  Run,  a  dis- 
tance of  seven  miles,  and  most  of  this  distance  was  made  along  a  path 
through  the  woods;  but  any  difficulty  in  the  way  was  alleviated  by  their  going 
on  foot.  Sometimes  a  babe  was  carried  in  their  arms  so  that  the  distance  need 
not  be  made  in  haste.  On  this  farm  the  Doctor  began  his  education.  The 
school  year  in  his  boyhood  consisted  of  three  months  in  the  winter.  This  was 
improved.  At  this  school  his  second,  third  and  fourth  reader  was  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  fifth  and  sixth  reader  was  the  Bible  or  Old  Testament. 
When  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  an  older  brother. 
Dr.  J.  P.  Alcorn  (now  deceased),  who  had  left  the  farm  and  by  his  own  energy 
and  self-support  had  graduated  at  one  of  the  best  medical  colleges  in  the 
United  States,  he  left  home  for  the  first  time  to  enter  the  Glade  Run  (Penn.) 
Academy  in  1853;  the  next  year  he  entered  the  Eldersridge  (Indiana  County, 
Penn. )  Academy.  This  institution  was  the  creation  of  Rev.  Alexander  Don- 
aldson, D.  D.,  a  noted  educator  of  young  men  in  western  Pennsylvania,  who, 
at  an  old  age,  is  still  Principal  of  the  academy.     In  this  academy  the  Doctor 


810  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

was  fitted  for  the  junior  class  in  college.  At  this  time  his  health  broke  down 
and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  school.  After  a  few  months'  rest  he  entered  the 
office  of  his  brother,  who  had  built  up  a  large  practice  in  Ravenna,  Ohio,  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  medicine.  His  medical  education  was  secured  at  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  Penn. ,  and  the  Michigan  University, 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  He  had  the  benefit  of  the  private  and  practical  instruc- 
tions of  his  brother  for  five  years.  In  1SG4  he  served  four  months  in  the 
Union  Army,  was  a  "squirrel  hunter,"  and  volunteered  his  services  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  He  married  Miss 
Christina,  eldest  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Fletcher,  of  Eavenna,  Ohio, 
February  20,  1884.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He  first 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1852.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  and  has  served  as  such  for  nine  years.  He  is  in  hearty  sympa- 
thy with  all  reform  measures  that  tend  to  lift  men  up  to  a  sober  and  religious 
life.  His  chief  desire  is  to  be  worthy  the  name  of  physician  and  Christian. 
He  never  used  tobacco  in  any  form,  nor  alcoholic  drinks  as  a  beverage.  He 
considers  the  habitual  use  of  tobacco  and  ardent  spirits  as  the  chief  obstacles 
in  the  way  to  temporal  and  spiritual  prosperity. 

ANDKUS  T.  BALDWIN,  hardware  merchant,  Ravenna,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 10,  1820,  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  where  his  father,  Alva  Baldwin,  now 
resides.  He  commenced  traveling  at  eleven  years  of  age,  and  spent  about 
thirty-five  years  visiting  nearly  all  the  Southern  and  Western  States.  Novem- 
ber 5.  1839,  he  married  Miss  Samantba  Daniels,  a  native  of  Massachusetts. 
She  died  February  2,  1861.  Their  son,  Alva  V.,  was  a  graduate  of"  the  Med- 
ical College  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  practiced  his  chosen  profession,  medicine, 
in  that  city  six  years,  after  which  he  returned  to  Palmyra,  where  he  died  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1881.  He  married  Miss  Eliza  Merwin,  and  left  three  children:  Ida 
S.,  Gustave  W.  and  Clayton  R.  Our  subject,  June  17,  1873,  next  married 
Mrs.  Ella  Baldwin,  widow  of  Marquis  Baldwin  and  daughter  of  Bazaleel  01m- 
stead,  of  Palmyra,  this  county,  and  to  this  union  were  born  two  children:  John 
D.  and  Minnie  S.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  in 
Medina,  Ohio,  in  1873-74,  and  then  established  in  Ravenna.  In  addition  to 
his  business  he  owns  a  finely  improved  farm  of  138  acres  in  Palmyra  Town- 
ship, this  county. 

DARIUS  L.   BALDWIN,   manufacturer,   Ravenna,  was  born  Februaiy  6, 

1828,  in  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  where  his  parents,  Ransom  and 
Worthy  Baldwin,  now  reside.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  his  father's 
farm  and  began  working  at  the  carpenter's  trade  while  a  young  man,  and  this 
he  followed  continuously  until  1878.  He  was  married.  October  26,  1853,  to 
Miss  Letitia  Ferrell,  a  native  of  Monongahela  County,  Va.,  born  October  15, 

1829,  and  who  came  to  this  county  in  1850.  Our  subject  and  wife  settled  in 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  immediately  after  their  marriage.  Their  children  are  Charles 
R. ;  Aurelia  O.,  wife  of  H.  Eatinger;  Hattie  W. ;  and  Minnie  T.  In  March, 
1879,  Mr.  Baldwin  acd  his  son  purchased  the  planing-mill  which  they  now 
operate  under  the  firm  name  of  D.  L.  Baldwin  &  Son.  They  do  a  large  busi- 
ness as  a  custom  mill,  supplying  the  home  market  for  planing  and  general 
ornamental  work.  They  also  do  an  extensive  business  in  contracting  and 
building  houses  and  public  structures.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baldwin  are  adherents 
of  the  Disciples  Church.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Gen.  Winfield 
Scott  as  a  Whig,  and  has  ever  since  been  a  stanch  Republican. 

HARMON  BATTERSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  March  29,  1819, 
in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  William  Batterson,  of  Litch- 
field County,    Conn.,  married  Miss  Matilda  lies,   and  moved  to  this  county 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  811 

about  1816.  Soon  after  the  grandfather,  William  Batterson,  Sr. ,  came,  and  he 
and  his  wife  resided  here  until  their  death.  Harmon's  mother  died  when  he 
was  about  seven  years  of  age,  and  his  father  married  a  second  time  and  moved 
to  "Williams  County,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  the  remainder  of  his  days.  William 
Batterson,  our  subject's  father,  was  the  pioneer  cooper  of  Ravenna,  and 
people  came  far  and  near  to  him  for  barrels,  tubs,  pails,  well  buckets, 
and  gallon  bottles  for  carrying  water  and  whisky  in.  Whisky  stills  were 
numerous  at  that  time,  and  a  good  deal  of  cooper  work  was  needed.  Our  subject 
lived  for  a  time  with  a  Rev.  Ebenezer  Williams,  then  with  Perry  and  Ethan  A. 
Babcock,  near  Ravenna,  and  after  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age  he  worked  by 
the  month  summers,  and  did  chores  nights  and  mornings  for  his  board  win- 
ters, going  also  to  school;  in  fact,  Mr.  Batterson  avers,  he  always  found  plenty 
of  good  folks  to  take  him  into  their  families  to  live  in  return  for  what  they 
could  get  out  of  him.  At  twenty -two  years  of  age  he  learned  the  cooper's  trade, 
which  he  followed  for  many  years.  He  married,  October  6,  1847,  Miss  Mary 
Hull,  born  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county,  March  27,  1820.  Her  parents, 
Gilbert  and  Abigail  (Harris)  Hull,  of  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  came  to  this 
county  in  1819,  and  settled  in  Edinburg  Township  same  year,  where  they 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  December  16,  1880,  at  the  age  of 
eighty- six.  Mr.  Gilbert  was  a  skillful  mechanic.  He  erected  many  of  the 
buildings  in  that  township.  His  widow,  who  is  eighty-four  years  of  age, 
resides  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Batterson.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Batterson  have 
been  born  three  children:  Ellen  A.,  Mrs.  Emily  M.  Robinson  and  Clinton  R. 
Our  subject  and  wife  paid  about  a  ten  months'  visit  to  Williams  County,  Ohio, 
but  with  the  exception  of  that  trip  have  always  resided  in  Ravenna  Township. 
About  1853  they  purchased  the  place  where  they  now  live,  and  where  they 
own  a  fine  farm  of  seventy-four  and  a  half  acres,  besides  another  farm  of  forty 
acres  in  the  same  township.     Mr.  Batterson  is  a  life-long  Democrat. 

HORACE  Y.  BEEBE,  retired,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Middletown,  Conn., 
September  14,  1816;  son  of  Oliver  D.  and  Phebe  H.  (Holt)  Beebe.  Our  sub- 
ject came  to  Ohio  in  1834,  locating  at  Cuyahoga  Falls;  two  years  later  he 
removed  to  this  county,  and  for  some  two  years  he  was  Deputy  Clerk  under 
George  Kirkum,  and  for  seven  years  was  with  William  Coolman,  in  the  Clerk's 
office,  as  Deputy.  In  1845  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Courts  of  Common 
Pleas  and  Supreme  Com't,  serving  until  1852.  The  following  year  he 
accepted  the  position  of  Cashier  in  the  banking  house  of  Robinson,  King  &  Co., 
and  so  remained  until  succeeded  by  his  son,  William  H.,  present  Cashier  of  the 
Second  National  Bank.  In  1860  he  was  elected  a  Delegate  to  the  Republican 
Convention  which  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  in  1862  was  by  the  latter 
appointed  Assessor  of  the  Nineteenth  Congressional  District.  Later  he  was 
appointed  Provost-Marshal  of  this  county,  in  which  capacity  he  served  during 
the  war.  Our  subject  was  on  intimate  terms  with  President  Garfield  and 
other  distinguished  Republicans.  Upon  his  resignation  as  Cashier  and 
Bookkeeper  of  the  Diamond  Glass  Company  (which  position  he  held  some 
sixteen  years),  Mr.  Beebe  retired  permanently  from  active  business.  He 
was  twice  married,  first  in  April,  1838,  to  Augusta,  daughter  of  William  Cool- 
man,  who  died  June  15,  1879.  leaving  two  children:  Mary  B.  and  William 
H. ,  both  now  living.  Our  subject  then  married,  in  1881,  Mrs.  Hannah  D. 
Wells,  widow  of  Benjamin  J.  Wells,  of  Ravenna.  Mr.  Beebe  is  a  Republican 
in. politics.  Since  the  organization  of  the  Universalist  Church,  he  has  been 
connected  financially  with  its  growth.  In  June,  1883  he  was  appointed  by 
the  Commissioners  of  the  county  a  Director  of  the  County  Infirmary,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Capt.  F.  W.  Coffin,  and  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  he  was  elected  a  Director,  which  office  he  now  holds. 


812  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

HENRY  BEECHER  (deceased)  was  born  in  Shalersville  Township,  this 
county,  September  18,  1817;  son  of  the  well-known  pioneers,  Sylvester  and 
Betsey  Beecher,  and  the  eldest  of  their  twelve  children.  Our  subject  remained 
on  his  father's  farm  until  1842,  when  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business. 
He  was  in  partnership  with  A.  V.  Horr  until  1816,  in  which  year  he  established 
himself  in  Garrettsville,  this  county,  where  he  remained  nineteen  years,  hav- 
ing as  a  partner,  during  the  last  ten  years  of  that  period,  his  brother  Samuel  S. 
At  the  death  of  his  father  in  December,  1855,  our  subject  succeeded  him  as 
Director  of  the  Portage  County  branch  of  the  State  Bank  of  Ohio,  holding 
the  position  until  the  bank  was  closed.  He  was  prominent  in  the  management 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Ravenna  from  the  time  of  its  organization,  and 
was  mainly  influential  in  the  erection  of  the  Etna  Block  in  Ravenna.  He  was 
actively  identified  with  many  other  public  and  private  enterprises  which  have 
contributed  to  the  building  up  of  the  interests  of  Ravenna  City  and  Portage 
County  generally.  Mr.  Beecher  was  married,  September  21,  1857,  to  Miss 
Laura,  daughter  of  N.  D.  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Ravenna.  She  died  March  12, 1858, 
and  our  subject  was  afterward  united  in  marriage,  July  23,  1861,  with  Miss 
Rachel,  daughter  of  Maj.  John  and  Jane  (Wilson)  Shannon,  of  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  where  she  was  born  October  10,  1835.  She  completed  her  education 
with  a  three  years'  course  under  the  instruction  of  the  late  President  James  A. 
Garfield  at  Hiram  College.  Mrs.  Beecher  was  successfully  engaged  in  teach- 
ing in  the  Union  School  of  Ravenna  two  years  previous  to  her  marriage.  Mr. 
Beecher  departed  this  life  April  16,  1870.  His  loss  was  deeply  mourned  by  a 
large  circle  of  friends  won  by  his  generosity  and  uniform  kindness. 

C.  L.  BELDEN,  M.  D.,  Ravenna,  was  born  August  23.  1818,  in  West 
Farmington,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  where  his  parents,  Harvey  and  Martha  Belden, 
were  among  the  earliest  pioneers.  Our  subject  received  his  education  in  the 
academy  at  Farmington,  Ohio,  and  attended  medical  lectures  at  the  Eclectic 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  where  he  graduated  in  1859.  He  prac- 
ticed his  chosen  profession  at  West  Farmington  until  1 802,  at  Chardon,  Geauga 
Co.,  Ohio,  until  1871,  and  at  Braceville,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  until  1876,  and 
then  located  in  Ravenna.  Here  he  is  recognized  as  a  scientific  physician  and 
famed  for  his  uniform  success  in  combating  diseases.  September  2,  1839, 
Dr.  Belden  married  Sarah  L.  Brown,  of  Farmington,  Ohio,  born  in  Warren, 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  who  bore  him  four  children,  three  of  whom  survive  her: 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Pierce,  Mrs.  Emily  Skeels,  and  Mrs.  Abbie  W.  Thomas.  Little 
Corwin  met  his  death  by  accident  when  less  than  two  years  old.  Personally 
the  Doctor  is  rather  robust,  socially  a  genial  companion.  By  his  courteous 
bearing  and  skill  in  his  profession  he  has  succeeded  in  building  up  a  fine  prac- 
tice. In  matters  of  religion  our  subject  entertains  liberal  views;  in  politics 
he  is  a  Democrat.  Mrs.  Belden  died  March  13,  1885,  after  an  illness  of  fifty- 
one  days,  during  which  she  suffered  more  than  pen  can  write.  She  was  a 
whole-souled  worker  at  home  and  in  the  neighborhood,  and  was  a  great  bene- 
factress to  the  poor  and  needy.  She  had  a  singular  presentiment  of  her  demise, 
even  months  in  advance,  and  when  the  time  came  she  faced  death  with  cour- 
age and  left  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  her,  expressing  to  them  the  sentiment 
of  her  life,  "Kind  words  can  never  die." 

PHILO  BIERCE,  County  Recorder,  Ravenna,  son  of  Zenas  S.  and  Lucinda 
(Pinney)  Bierce,  was  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  in  1844.  His  father,  a 
native  of  Connecticvit,  was  a  pioneer  men^hant  of  Stark  County,  subsequently 
was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cheese  boxes,  and  at  the  close  of  his  life 
was  book-keeper  at  Windham  Center;  he  also  served  as  Township  Clerk  for 
many  years.    He  died  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age,  the  father  of  follow- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  813 

ing  children,  all  of  whom  are  living:  Ellen,  wife  of  M.  T.  Hill,  in  Nevada, 
Mo. ;  Alice,  widow  of  W.  Waters;  and  Myra,  wife  of  W.  S.  Brush,  in  Batavia, 
111.  Our  subject  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  in  1861  enlisted  in  Company 
A,  First  Ohio  Light  Ai'tillery.  He  was  struck  by  a  shell  at  the  siege  of  Knox- 
ville,  Tenn.,  which  carried  oflf  his  left  arm  near  the  elbow  and  his  left  leg 
below  the  knee.  He  was  taken  to  the  Field  Hospital,  and  in  November  trans- 
f  en-ed  to  Chattanooga  Hospital,  where  he  remained  uutil  able  to  journey  to  the 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  Hospital,  where  he  fully  recovered  and  received  an  honorable 
discharge  in  August,  1864  He  afterward  learned  and  followed  telegraphy 
until  his  hearing  failed,  when  he  turned  his  attention  to  obtaining  further  edu- 
cation. In  1872  he  joined  a  colony  of  ex-soldiei's  and  went  to  Nebraska,  tak- 
ing up  a  soldier's  homestead  claim  in  Hall  County,  which  he  still  owns.  After 
remaining  there  some  years  he  removed  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  conducted  a 
restaurant  until  1876,  when  he  returned  to  Ravenna,  this  county,  and  in  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  was  elected  County  Recorder.  He  is  now  serving  his 
third  term.  He  was  married  in  October,  1879,  to  Miss  Ellen,  daughter  of 
Miles  Whitney,  of  this  county,  and  has  one  child — Amber.  Mr.  Bierce  is  a 
member  of  Encampment  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  and  of  the 
Ravenna  Rifle  and  Shot-gun  Team. 

ENOS  P.  BRAINERI)  is  a  resident  of  Ravenna,  the  county  seat  of  Port- 
age County,  Ohio,  and  the  eldest  of  four  sons  of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Post) 
Brainerd,  born  in  Leyden,  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  November  25,  1814.  His  educa- 
tion was  acquired  in  the  common  schools  of  Lewis  County  and  the  Martins- 
burg  Academy.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  his  father  died,  and  it  was  the  wish  of 
his  widowed  mother  that  her  eldest  son  be  educated  in  some  profession,  but 
preferring  a  trade  he  served  an  apprenticeship  at  harness-making  and  carriage 
trimming.  In  the  spring  of  1834  he  came  to  Ohio  and  settled  at  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  then  in  Portage  County,  where  he  followed  his  trade  for  about  live 
years.  August  4,  1836,  he  married  IMiss  Margaret  Wells,  eldest  daughter  of 
John  F.  Wells,  of  Ravenna,  this  county.  In  1839  he  removed  to  Randolph, 
and  in  1843  be  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  at  the  October  election  in 
1845  he  was  elected  County  Treasurer.  In  the  spring  of  1846  he  removed  to 
Ravenna,  where  he  has  since  I'esided.  In  1849  he  entered  into  partnership 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Samuel  Mason,  under  the  firm  name  of  Mason  & 
Brainerd,  engaged  in  hardware,  stove  and  tinning  business,  which  partnership 
continued  until  Mr.  Mason's  death  in  August,  1852.  In  1853  Mr.  Brainerd 
was  appointed  Cashier  of  the  Franklin  Bank  of  Portage  County,  was  acting 
Treasurer  in  1854,  and  in  1855  he  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  Atlantic  & 
Great  Western  Railroad  Company,  and  re-elected  from  year  to  year  until  1864, 
when  he  resigned,  but  subsequently  served  in  the  same  position  one  year  more. 
On  the  12th  of  July,  1859,  he  was  appointed  acting  Secretary  of  this  railway 
company,  in  which  position  he  served  three  years.  In  December,  1864,  he  was 
appointed  Director  of  the  company  in  place  of  William  Reynolds,  Esq., 
resigned,  and  at  the  next  annual  meeting  in  July  he  was  elected  member  of  the 
Railway  Board  of  Directors,  which  position,  and  that  of  Inspector  of  Accounts, 
he  held  several  years.  His  official  connection  with  the  railway  company  in  the 
positions  named  covered  a  period  of  nearly  fourteen  years.  Mr.  Brainerd 
was  also  Director,  Treasurer  and  Financial  Officer  of  the  Silver  Creek  Mining 
&  Railway  Company  in  Wayne  and  Medina  Counties  seven  years,  from  1856 
to  1863.  For  many  years  he  was  Director  of  the  Portage  County  Branch  of 
the  State  Bank  of  Ohio,  and  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Seymour  in  November, 
1863,  he  was  elected  its  President.  After  the  organization  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Ravenna,  he  was  for  several  years  one  of  its  Directors.     He 

43 


814  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

was  also  Treasurer  of  the  Farmers  Insurance  Company  of  Portage  County  dur- 
ino-  all  the  years  of  its  business  transactions.  For  seven  years  be  was  Treas- 
urer, and  three  years  President,  of  the  Portage  County  Agricultural  Society, 
and  much  of  its  success  and  prosperity  is  due  to  his  efficient  action  and  untir- 
ing efforts  in  its  behalf.  Mr.  Brainerd  has  for  the  past  six  years  been  Director 
and  Historian  of  the  Portage  and  Summit  Counties  Pioneer  Association.  In 
1870  he  entered  into  partnership  with  his  son,  Charles  W.  Brainerd,  under  the 
firm  name  of  E.  P.  Brainerd  &  Son,  and  engaged  in  a  general  drug  business, 
which  continued  until  the  spring  of  1882.  Our  subject  is  of  the  fifth  generation 
from  Daniel  Brainerd,  the  common  progenitor  of  all  of  the  name  in  the  United 
States,  who  came  from  England  when  quite  young,  and  settled  in  Haddam, 
Conn.,  in  1862.  He  became  a  wealthy,  prominent,  and  influential  man;  was 
twice  married,  first  to  Miss  Hannah  Spencer,  of  Lynn,  Mass. ,  by  whom  he  was 
the  father  of  seven  sons  and  one  daughter.  No  children  by  his  second 
wife.  Mr.  Brainerd  has  in  his  possession  a  manuscript  200  years  old,  it 
being  the  original  record  of  a  town  meeting  in  Haddam,  Conn.,  at  which 
the  first  Brainerd  was  elected  to  a  township  office.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  a  direct  descendant  of  Revolutionary  stock,  he  inherited  the 
spirit  of  '76  and  great  devotion  to  the  stars  and  stripes.  In  politics  he 
beo-an  an  old-line  Whig,  voted  the  Free  Soil  ticket,  and  has  been  identified 
with  the  Republican  party  since  its  organization,  and  was  for  many  years 
Chairman  of  the  County  Central  Committee.  He  has  ever  been  a  warm  friend 
of  education.  For  rnany  years  before  the  union  school  system  was  adopted  he 
held  the  position  of  Director  of  Common  Schools,  and  later  for  some  years  he 
was  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Ravenna.  Heisthe  father  of  two 
children:  His  son,  Charles  \V. ,  is  a  druggist  in  Mantua;  his  daughter,  Mary 
Adelaide,  married  F.  W.  Hurlburt,  of  Utica,  N.  Y. — she  died  October  11, 
1878,  aged  twenty-eight  years,  leaving  a  daughter,  Florence  Adelaide,  born 
June  25,  1875.  His  wife  died  March  21,  1880,  aged  sixty-three  years. 
October  11,  1881,  Mr.  Brainerd  married  Augusta  L.,  the  only  surviving 
daughter  of  Ezra  and  Lydia  (Platts)  Jones,  of  Saybrook,  Conn.,  and  a 
graduate  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminaiy,  Mass.,  in  the  class  of  1859.  From  the 
early  period  at  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  became  identified  with  the 
interests  of  Portage  County,  he  has  occupied  a  conspicuous  position  in  busi- 
ness affairs,  in  educational  interests,  public  improvements  and  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  progress  and  advancement  of  his  town  and  county.  The  record  of 
his  life  will  live  in  the  memory  of  those  whose  rugged  Avays  he  smoothed  and  soft- 
ened, after  he  has  passed  away. 

ISAAC  BRAYTON  was  born  at  Nantucket,  Mass.,  in  1801.  Having  early 
lost  his  father,  he  entered  the  family  of  a  relative,  Hon.  Hezekiah  Barnard, 
then  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  where  superior  advantages  were 
given  him.  As  did  nearly  all  Nantucket  boys  at  that  period,  he  early  fol- 
lowed the  sea,  shipping  on  board  a  whaling  vessel  when  nineteen  years  of  age, 
where  his  activity  and  intelligence  led  to  rapid  promotion.  In  1825  he  mar- 
ried Love  Mitchell,  who  died  in  1869,  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  In  1827 
he  commanded  a  ship  which  conveyed  some  of  the  first  missionaries  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  upon  a  subsequent  visit  he  united  with  the  church  of 
Honolulu,  and  immediately  established  a  family  altar  and  Bible  class  on  ship 
board.  Capt.  Brayton  abandoned  the  sea  in  1833,  and  was  soon  elected  to  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  at  the  time  Horace  Mann  was  Superintendent  of 
Public  Schools.  Coming  to  Ravenna  in  1839,  greatly  interested  in  education, 
he  was  potent  in  the  establishment  of  a  high  school,  which  then  seemed  to 
many  unnecessary.     He   became  Associate    Judge    when  Hon.   Benjamin  F. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  815 

Wade  was  chief  upon  the  bench.  Judge  Brayton  removed  to  Newburg  (now 
a  ward  of  the  city  of  Cleveland)  in  1853,  where  he  was  elected  to  the  Ohi© 
Legislature  and  was  afterward  charged  with  important  duties  by  Gov.  Salmom 
P.  Chase.  He  labored  with  the  Sanitary  Commission  during  the  war,  being 
stationed  at  Nashville,  Teun.,  and  was  afterward  appointed  Superintendent  of 
the  National  Soldiers'  Home  while  it  was  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  before  cominof 
under  military  control.  He  returned  to  Ravenna  in  1873,  and  has  since  led  a 
quiet  home  life  in  the  family  of  his  son-in-law,  F.  W.  Woodbridge. 

JOHN  S.  BRIGHAM,  contractor  and  builder,  Ravenna,  was  born  June  9, 
1821,  in  St.  Albans,  Vt.  His  father,  Pierpont  Brigham,  a  native  of  Massa^ 
ehusetts,  came  to  Vermont,  where  he  married  Louisa  Conger,  who  died  Sep- 
tember 30,  1832;  he  moved  to  Bufi'alo,  N.  Y. ,  and  died  of  cholera  September 
21,  1852.  Our  subject  while  residing  in  Buffalo  married,  September  5.  1844 
Miss  Frances  H.  Barker,  of  Ravenna,  Ohio,  a  native  of  Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  bora 
March  24,  1828,  coming  to  this  place  at  two  years  of  age  with  her  paremtg^ 
James  F.  and  Henrietta  Barker.  Her  grandfather,  Ira  Shelby,  was  one  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  and  his  descendants  to-day 
remain  the  leading  and  most  influential  people  of  Portage  County,  Ohio.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brigham  have  been  born  four  children:  Henry;  Henrietta,  wife 
of  Mr.  Beckley;  Charles  J.  and  Willis  J.  After  residing  one  year  in  Buffalo 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brigham  settled  in  Ravenna,  this  county,  where  Mr.  Brigkam 
has  followed  his  business  as  builder  and  contractor.  He  erected  most  of  the 
public  buildings  and  the  leading  private  residences  which  gives  Ravenna  so  much 
renown  for  its  beauty.  Mrs.  Brigham  is  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Brigham  is  a  life-long  Republican;  he  has 
taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  city. 

HENRY  F.  CARIS,  brick  manufacturer,  Ravenna,  was  born  April  22,  J832, 
in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  and  is  descended  from  a  long  line  of  pio- 
neers of  this  county.  His  great-grandfather,  Frederick  Caris,  came  here  trom 
Maryland  in  very  early  times.  He  had  two  sons:  John,  who  was  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  war  of  1812,  and  B'rederick,  who  a  Captain  of  militia  in  the  same  war. 
The  latter  had  a  large  family,  of  whom  John  Caris,  second,  was  the  eldest  son. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  well-known  pioneer,  Henry  Sapp,  and 
of  their  seven  children  three  are  now  living:  Albert  and  Mary  in  Washington 
Territory,  and  Henry  F.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  and 
received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  home  district.  At  twenty  years  ol 
age  he  began  learning  the  ti-ade  of  brick-maker.  He  established  a  yard  of  laie 
own  in  1853  and  he  now  owns  the  only  brick-yard  in  Ravenna,  where  he  makoB 
from  half  a  million  to  a  million  bricks  per  annum.  Mr.  Caris  married,  June 
14,  1860,  Miss  Julia,  daughter  of  Sidney  S.  and  Julia  Allen,  of  Ravenna, 
born  at  Republic,  Seneca  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1836,  and  who  came  to  this  place  at 
eight  years  of  age  with  her  parents.  Mr.  Allen  was  a  mill-wright,  and  he  and 
his  wife  resided  here  until  their  death.  Of  the  five  children  born  to  our  sub- 
ject and  wife  two  are  now  living:  Edward  C.  and  Anna  A.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ca^k 
are  members  of  the  Universalist  Church.    In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

ERASTUS  CARTER  (deceased)  was  born  in  1775  in  Litchfield  CoKfity, 
Conn.;  married  Miss  Lois  Fuller,  oE  the  same  county.  They  moved  to  JohnsoE. 
Township,  Trumbull  Co. ,  Ohio,  in  1805,  and  settled  in  Ravenna  Township 
(then  a  part  of  the  same  county)  in  1806.  Here  he  purchased  700  acres  of 
wild  land  from  the  Connecticut  Land  Company.  They  then  went  to  work  to 
clear  their  domain  and  redeem  it  from  the  wilderness.  They  raised  a  family 
of  seven  children:  Howard,  now  living  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county; 
Mrs.  Tuthala  Judd,  who  died  November,  1878,  aged  seventy-seven;  Mrs.  Loie 


816  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Judd.  who  died  in  May,  1884,  aged  eighty;  Erastus;  Miles,  who  died  in  1861, 
aged  fifty-three;  M}'ron,  who  died  in  1836,  aged  twenty-one,  and  Ira  still  liv- 
ing in  Ravenna  Township.  Mrs.  Carter  died  in  1854,  aged  seventy-six.  Mr. 
Carter  followed  her  in  1867,  aged  ninety-two.  He  was  very  energetic  in  open- 
ing this  county  and  developing  its  resources.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity.  Being  originally  a  Whig,  he  supported  the  Democratic 
party  at  Jackson's  second  election  and  ever  afterward.  He  was  one  of  the 
honored  pioneers  whose  memory  will  be  handed  down  to  future  generations  in 
connection  with  the  services  they  have  rendered  in  reclaiming  a  vast  wilder- 
ness and  laying  the  foundation  for  a  broader  and  more  permanent  civilization. 

ERASTUS  CARTER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  son  of  Erastus,  Sr.,  and  Lois 
(Fuller)  Carter,  was  born  May  25,  1808,  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county. 
He  shared  the  usual  lot  of  pioneer  boys  and  attended  the  limited  schools  of  those 
early  days.  He  married,  in  January,  ]832,  Miss  Hannah  Skiff,  who  died  in 
May,  1837,  aged  twenty -five  years,  leaving  three  children  now  living  in  Iowa: 
Ira  R.,  Julius  E.  and  Marion  H,  wife  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Boyd.  Mr.  Carter  then 
married,  July  2,  1838,  his  deceased  wife's  sister.  Miss  Delia  Skiff,  born  in 
Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  August  20,  1816,  and  who  came  to  Shalersvi lie, this 
county,  in  1825,  with  her  parents,  Julius  and  Julia  Skiff,  of  whose  ten  chil- 
dren but  three  are  now  living:  Mrs.  Abbie  Beazell  in  Ravenna,  Frank  B.  in 
Iowa,  and  Mrs.  Erastus  Carter.  Mr.  Skiff  died  May  11,  1852,  aged  sixty-six; 
his  widow  April  10,  1855,  in  her  seventieth  year.  Since  their  marriage  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Carter  have  resided  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  Here  they 
own  a  fine  estate  of  about  500  acres  of  well -improved  land,  and  to  them  have 
been  born  the  following  children:  Myron  H.  and  Mrs.  Ellen  Gillett  in  Ravenna 
Township,  this  county,  and  Addison  S.  in  eastern  Iowa.  Mr.  Carter  is  a  life- 
long Democrat,  having  voted  for  Andrew  Jackson  in  1832  and  for  every  Demo- 
cratic nominee  for  President  since. 

WILLIAM  S.  CHURCHILL,  farmer  and  dairyman,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was 
born  June  21,  1841,  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Isaiah 
Churchill,  of  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y. ,  came  to  this  county  in  early  man- 
hood and  here  married  Miss  Eunice  A.,  daughter  of  Newton  and  Mollie  Mor- 
ris, of  Shalersville  Township.  Isaiah  Churchill  died  October  6,  1851,  leaving 
two  children:  William  S.  and  John  N.  in  Warren,  Ohio,  and  his  widow  after- 
ward married  William  L.  Russell.  She  died  March  1,  1884.  Our  subject 
enlisted,  August  11,  1862,  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Regiment, 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  attached  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
and  after  three  years  of  brave  and  faithful  service,  received  an  honorable  dis- 
charge, June  29,  1865,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  married,  January  1,  1868, 
Miss  Louisa  E.  Towns,  and  their  children  are  Harry  Almon  (deceased),  Edith 
I.,  Lulu  Pearl,  Orilla  Birdell,  Jessie  A.,  AVinnie  J.  and  Alta  B.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Churchill  now  own  the  homestead  farm  of  sixty-eight  acres  where  they  have 
resided  ever  since  their  marriage.  They  devote  their  farm  largely  to  the  dairy 
interests,  in  which  they  are  very  successful.  They  are  consistent  members  of 
ihe  Disciples  Church.     Mr.  Churchill  is  a  life-long  Republican. 

N.  D.  CLARK,  banker,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Tallmadge,  Summit  Co., 
Ohio,  December  14,  1814.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Ephraim  and  Ala 
Clark,  originally  from  Massachusetts,  but  who  settled  in  Tallmadge,  then  Por- 
tage County,  in  the  year  1802,  just  in  time  to  vote  for  the  first  Constitution  of 
Ohio.  Ephraim  was  one  of  the  leading  men  of  Tallmadge,  and  for  many 
years  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  died  March  4,  1858,  in  the  eightieth  year 
of  his  age.  He  had  seven  children:  Allen  I.,  James  A.,  Miletus  S.,  Newel  D., 
Martha  A.,  Mary  L.  and  Harriet  A.,  of  whom  three  only  are  now  living:  N. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  817 

D. ,  of  Ravenna;  Martha  Wait,  of  Iowa;  and  Harriet  A.  Clark,  of  Kansas. 
Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm.  In  1832,  after  serving  his  apprenticeship, 
he,  with  his  two  brothers,  James  A.  and  Miletus  S. ,  under  the  firm  name  of 
N.  D.  Clark  &  Co.,  started  a  carriage  and  buggy  manufactory  in  Ravenna,  and 
carried  the  same  on  successfully  for  thirty  years.  He  then  became  connected 
with  the  old  Portage  County  Branch  Bank,  which  was  in  1863  merged  into  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Ravenna,  of  which  he  was  elected  President  in  1867, 
which  office  he  has  continuously  filled  to  the  present  time,  being  again  re-elected 
in  January,  1885.  He  has  also  occupied  various  offices  of  public  and  private 
trust,  in  each  of  which  he  faithfully  discharged  his  every  duty.  He  was  mar- 
ried April  9,  1835,  to  Sarah  Rawson,  of  Ravenna,  by  whom  he  had  two  daugh- 
ters: Amelia,  the  eldest  (died  when  only  sixteen  months  old)  and  Laura  A., 
who  was  married  to  Henry  Beecher,  an  extensive  dry  goods  merchant  and 
Director  of  said  bank,  in  September,  1857,  both  of  whom  are  now  deceased- 
Mrs.  Ala  Clark,  the  mother  of  N.  D.,  died  in  Talimadge,  October  2,  1833. 
Mrs.  N.  D.  Clark  was  born  in  Ravenna,  August  13,  1816. 

HIRAM  T.  CLARK,  dentist,  Ravenna,  was  born  December  3,  1838,  in 
Ravenna.  His  father,  James  A.  Clark,  came  here  from  Talimadge  (now  in  Sum- 
mit County,  Ohio,)  and  married  Miss  Mary  Torrey.  He  carried  on  a  wagon 
and  carriage  shop  in  partnership  with  his  brothers,  Newell  D.  and  Miletas. 
James  A.  Clark  died  in  1852,  and  his  widow  afterward  married  a  Mr.  Gold- 
smith. She  is  now  residing  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Our  subject  resided  in  Belle- 
ville, Ontario,  from  1859  to  1867,  where  he  learned  the  profession  of  dentistry. 
He  remained  in  Wadsworth,  Ohio,  two  years,  and  then  located  permanently  in 
Ravenna,  this  county,  in  1869.  Here,  by  his  scieiitific  skill  in  his  profession, 
he  has  built  up  a  large  and  influential  and  lucrative  practice.  The  Doctor  was 
married  June  6,  1868,  to  Miss  Angeline  Gilbert,  of  Belleville,  Ontario.  They 
have  one  son — James  Gilbert.  Dr.  Clark  is  the  only  dentist  in  Ravenna,  hav- 
ing obtained  a  certificate  from  the  Ohio  State  Dental  Society.  He  is  one  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  profession  in  northeastern  Ohio. 

QUINCY  COOK,  proprietor  of  Ravenna  Mills,  Ravenna,  was  born  April 
28,  1833,  in  Elmore,  Lamoille  Co.,  Vt.  His  parents,  David  and  Betsey 
(Conant)  Cook,  were  natives  of  the  same  place,  where  the  former  died  and  the 
latter  now  resides.  Our  subject's  grandfather  Cook  was  a  soldier  in  the  war 
1812,  and  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six.  Our  subject  learned  the 
trade  of  stone-cutter  in  his  native  place.  At  twenty  years  of  age  he  came  to 
Ohio,  and  assisted  in  the  construction  of  the  Marietta  &  Cincinnati  Railroad 
for  one  year.  He  then  worked  three  years  in  the  construction  of  the  Cleve- 
land &  Mahoning  Railroad.  He  then  spent  one  year  in  Watertown,  "VVis.,  and 
eighteen  months  in  Rochester,  Minn.,  in  the  livery  business.  He  then  returne<2 
to  Ohio  and  married,  October  5,  1859,  Miss  Charlotte  R.  Battles,  of  "Weather- 
field,  Trumbull  County,  and  to  this  union  have  been  born  three  children:  Helea, 
Martha  B.  and  Edward  D.  He  remained  two  years  on  a  farm  in  Trumbul! 
County,  then  from  1862  till  1870  he  held  the  position  of  foreman  of  masonry 
on  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad.  In  1866  he  purchased  a  farm  in 
Ravenna  Township,  and  there  his  family  resided.  He  was  Inspector  of 
Masonry  for  the  city  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1870,  and  in  1871  foreman  of  & 
force  of  men  for  E.  W.  Ensign,  contractor  on  the  Lake  Shore  Road.  In  1872 
Mr.  Cook  formed  a  partnership  with  Wanzer  Holcomb,  in  taking  contracts  for 
various  railroads  and  city  corporations.  In  1881  he  built  the  Ravenna  Mills 
on  Main  Street,  and  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  and  he  now  devotes 
his  attention  principally  to  the  management  of  this  industry.  The  mill  is  for 
custom  woi'k,  complete  in  all  departments,  and  enjoying  a  very  extensive  patron- 
age in  the  surrounding  county.     Mr.  Cook  is  a  life- long  Republican. 


818  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

JOHN  CUTLER  (deceased)  a  native  of  Windham  County,  Conn.,  came 
lio  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  from  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.,  in 
1819.  Here  he  married,  October  6,  1825,  Miss  Sallie  G.  Sutliff,  daughter  of 
Giles  and  Betsey  Sutliff,  who  came  to  this  county  from  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.,  in  1817.  After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cutler  settled  on  their 
3arm  of  101  acres  of  well- improved  land,  situated  in  the  western  part  of 
Havenna  Township,  this  county,  where  they  have  ever  since  resided.  Their 
children  were  Mrs.  Almira  AMiite,  Florilla  J.,  Mrs.  Miranda  S.  Law,  John 
Warren  and  Mrs.  Lucyette  Braden,  all  now  living,  and  four  who  died  in  child- 
liood.  Mr.  Cutler  died  October  16,  1805,  in  his  sixty-sixth  year.  He  took  an 
active  interest  in  public  affairs,  having  held  the  positions  of  Township  Trustee 
and  Township  Assessor.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  Warren  Cutler  now 
lives  on  the  homestead  with  his  widowed  mother  and  his  sister  Florilla. 

LUTHER  DAY,  deceased,  ex-Judge  of  the  Supreme  Coui't  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  was  born  in  Granville,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  July  9,  1813.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Noah  Day,  was  of  the  Connecticut  family  of  Days,  and 
did  service  under  W^ashington  in  some  of  the  hardest  battles  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  Soon  after  the  war  he  moved  from  Killingly,  Conn,,  and  settled  on 
a  farm  in  Granville,  N.  Y.,  and,  being  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  carried  on  both 
Ihe  business  of  farming  and  blacksmithing.  He  reared  a  large  family,  who, 
}ike  himself,  were  Puritans  in  religion,  and  most  of  them  good  farmers  and 
mechanics.  David  Day,  the  father  of  Luther  Day,  was  a  skilled  millwright. 
On  June  1,  1812,  he  married  Rhoda  Wheelock,  of  Tyringham,  Berkshire  Co., 
Mas3.  Her  father  was  also  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Her  mother  was 
Hannah  Warren,  a  kinswoman  of  Maj.-Gen.  Warren,  who  fell  at  Bunker  Hill. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  attended  the  common  schools  until  twelve  years  old, 
when  he  began  an  academic  preparation  for  college,  which  he  pursued  for  a 
year,  when,  his  father  having  purchased  a  farm  and  saw-mill,  he  left  the 
academy  and  worked  at  home  on  the  farm  for  a  year.  He  then  returned  to 
school,  but  in  a  few  days  after  he  received  a  message  that  his  father  had  been 
killed  in  the  mill.  His  father  died  much  involved  in  debt,  and  it  was  thought 
&at  all  he  had  saved  would  be  sacriticed  in  the  settlement  of  his  estate.  But, 
ander  the  advice  of  an  uncle,  he  resolved  to  save  the  family  from  that  calamity. 
For  six  years — from  fourteen  to  twenty — he  labored  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
aaw-mill,  and  with  the  help  of  his  younger  brother,  the  debts  of  the  estate  were 
paid  and  a  home  was  saved  for  his  mother  and  the  younger  children.  Those 
are  six  valuable  years  to  a  young  man  desiring  to  obtain  a  liberal  education, 
and  the  loss  in  that  regard  could  never  be  regained,  but  great  as  the  loss  was 
to  him  and  hard  as  the  struggle  was,  he  never  looked  back  to  those  days  with 
icegret,  but  ever  recurred  to  them  as  associated  with  the  chief  success  of  his 
Isfe.  Having  at  twenty  years  of  age  accomplished  the  desire  of  his  friends 
and  the  ambition  of  his  boyhood  regarding  the  home  of  his  family,  his  desire 
for  an  education  returned,  and  working  his  way  by  teaching  school,  he  resumed 
his  preparatory  course  for  college,  and  in  1885  entered  Middlebury  College, 
Vermont.  During  the  junior  year  he  taught  the  grammar  school  of  Cambridge- 
port,  Mass.  At  the  close  of  the  school  year  in  September,  1838,  his  mother 
and  family  having  in  the  meantime  removed  to  Ravenna,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio, 
he  went  there  to  visit  them,  intending  to  return  and  complete  his  collegiate 
course,  but  owing  to  his  limited  pecuniary  circumstances,  he  abandoned  the 
idea,  and  began  the  study  of  law  under  the  tuition  of  Hon.  Rufus  P.  Spalding, 
then  a  resident  of  Ravenna,  whose  kindness  to  him  during  the  two  years  of 
his  preparatory  study  he  ever  gratefully  remembered.  On  October  8,  1840.  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.     It  was  his  good  fortune  to  have  a  partnership  offered 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  819 

him  by  Hon.  Darius  Lyman,  an  old  practitioner  of  high  standing  at  the  Ohio 
bar.  This  partnership  continued  three  years.  In  1843  he  was  elected  Prose- 
cuting Attorney  of  Portage  County  and  served  one  term.  While  reading  law 
he  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Emily  Swift  Spalding,  eldest  daughter 
of  Hon.  R.  P.  Spalding,  to  whom  he  was  married  July  24,  1845.  Her  mother 
was  Lucretia  Swift,  daughter  of  Hon.  Zephaniah  Swift,  late  Chief  Justice  of 
Connecticut.  Her  father  was  afterward  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Ohio,  and  for  three  terms  a  distinguished  member  of  Congress,  from  the  Cleve- 
land District,  Ohio.  Mr.  Spalding  having  in  1840  moved  to  Akron,  Mr.  Day 
went  there  after  his  marriage  and  formed  a  partnership  with  him,  remaining 
nearly  a  year,  when,  because  of  the  ill  health  of  his  wife  in  that  locality,  he 
returned  to  Ravenna,  where  he  resided  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In 
1848  our  subject  was  again  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  and  served  one  term. 
In  1850  he  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  as  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, but  the  district  having  a  large  Whig  majority,  he  was  defeated.  In  the 
fall  of  1851,  at  the  first  election  of  Judges  under  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
adopted  that  year,  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for 
the  district  composed  of  the  counties  of  Portage,  Trumbull  and  Mahoning. 
In  February,  1852,  while  on  a  visit  to  her  father,  Judge  R.  P.  Spalding, 
who  had  then  become  a  resident  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  his  wife  was  taken  sick. 
She  died  April  10,  following.  On  April  26,  1854,  Judge  Day  was  married  to 
Miss  Ellen  I.  Barnes,  of  Lanesboro,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  a  highly  educated 
and  estimable  lady,  and  the  union  was  most  fortunate,  both  on  his  own  account 
and  of  the  three  young  children  left  him  by  his  former  marriage,  by  whom 
she  has  ever  been  most  worthily  esteemed  and  loved.  Her  kindred  have  for 
several  generations  been  distinguished  for  their  culture  and  high  standing  in 
the  learned  professions.  Judge  Day,  at  the  expiration  of  his  judicial  term,  in 
1857,  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  had  a  large  and  lucrative 
business  in  the  counties  of  his  former  judicial  district  and  adjoining  counties. 
When  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  ceased  to  act  with  the  Democratic 
party,  and  at  once  identified  himself  with  the  Union  organization.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1862,  Gov.  David  Tod,  who  had  in  the  fall  before  been  elected  Governor 
of  Ohio  by  the  Union  party,  appointed  him  Judge  Advocate  General  on  his 
staff  with  the  rank  of  Colonel,  but  soon  after,  by  reason  of  previous  profes- 
sional engagements,  he  was  reluctantly  forced  to  resign  the  position.  In  the 
fall  of  1863  be  was  elected  by  the  Republican  party  to  the  Ohio  Senate,  from 
the  district  composed  of  Portage  and  Summit  Counties.  Having  been  in  the 
fall  of  1864  elected  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  for  the  term  of  five 
years,  he  resigned  his  position  as  Senator  after  one  year's  service.  In  1869  he 
was  elected  to  a  second  term  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1 874  he 
was  again  nominated  by  the  Republican  party  for  the  same  position,  but  the 
State  going  largely  Democratic  that  year,  he  was  defeated.  In  1875  the  Leg- 
islature created  a  commission  consisting  of  three  persons,  to  revise  the  statute 
laws  of  the  State.  In  April  of  that  year  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  William  Allen, 
who  had  been  elected  Governor  by  the  Democratic  party,  one  of  the  Revising 
Commissioners.  In  the  fall  of  1875  an  amendment  of  the  State  Constitution  was 
adopted,  creating  a  commission  in  aid  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  disposition 
of  the  large  number  of  cases  pending  in  that  court.  On  February  1,  1876, 
Gov.  R.  B.  Hayes  appointed  our  subject  a  member  of  that  commission. 
Accordingly,  he  resigned  his  membership  of  the  Revising  Commission  and 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  Supreme  Court  Commission,  where  he  remained 
three  years,  when  the  commission  expired  by  constitutional  limitation.  While 
on  the  Revising  Commission  he  aided  in  the  collation  of  the  statutes,  which 


820  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

were  fragmentary  and  scattered  through  many  volumes,  and  rewrote  a  portion 
of  them,  which  were  afterward  embodied  in  the  Revised  Code,  and  enacted  as 
part  of  the  laws  of  the  State.  While  connected  with  the  Supreme  Court  he 
was  four  years  Chief  Justice  and  one  year  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
Commission.  The  results  of  his  judicial  labors  appear  in  fifteen  volumes  of 
the  Ohio  State  Reports,  where  his  published  opinions,  measured  only  by  their 
real  merit,  will  remain  for  him  a  sufficient  memorial  of  his  judicial  ability. 
After  the  expiration  of  Judge  Day's  judicial  service,  he  returned  to  the  practice 
of  the  law. 

The  children  of  his  first  wife  were  Emily  L.,  William  R.  and  Edward  L. 
Of  these  Emily  L.  married  George  E.    Fairchild  and  is  settled   in  Ravenna. 
William  R..   who  is    a  graduate  of  Michigan  University,  resides  in  Canton, 
Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  and  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Stark  County  bar.     Edward 
L. ,  a  boy  of  bright  promise,  died  of  diphtheria  at  the  age  of  twelve.     By  his 
second  wife  he  had  sis  children:  Mary  E.,  the  eldest  of  these,  a  most  lovely 
child,  died  when  five  years  of  age;  Charles  F.  is  a  graduate  of  Williams  Col- 
lege, Massachusetts,  and  is  about   to  enter  the  legal  profession;  David  B.  is 
in  his  junior  year  in  Adelbert  College  of  the  Western  Reserve  University,  Ohio; 
Robert  H.  is  in  the  preparatory  department  of    the  same  institution,  and  Anna 
B.  at  home  attending  the  Union  School,  of  Ravenna;     John  L.,  the  youngest 
child,  died  in  his  infancy.     During  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
Judge  Day  took  an  active  part  in  the  recruiting  service,  and  few  civilians 
rendered  more  efficient  aid  to  the  Union  cause.     During  those  years  he  con- 
tracted a  slight  throat  trouble,  from  which  he  never  recovered,  occasioned  by 
too  much  out-door  speaking.     More  than  a  passing  mention  of  his  services  is 
due  to  this  memorable  period,  which  witnessed  the  most  active  portion  of  his 
whole  life.      A  life-long  Democrat  of  the  Jackson  school,  prominent  in   the 
councils  of  his  party,  and  a  fearless  and  judicious  leader,  he  ever  acted  with 
those  who  sustained  the  integrity  of  the  Union.     The  first  gun  that  was  fired 
on  Sumter  lifted  him  to  a  higher  arena.     Abandoning  party  affiliation  and, 
true  to  the  traditions  of  the  patriotic  ancestiy  from  which  he  sprung,  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  Union  cause  with  a  zeal  and  enthusiasm  that  knew  no  abatement 
until  the  Republic  won  its  imperishable  crown  at  Appomattox.     In  raising  and 
organizing    the     Ohio     Union    forces.   Govs.     Dennison,   Tod     and     Brough 
respectively  sought  his  co  operation,  and  he  entered  into  the  work  with  charac- 
teristic   ardor  and    devotion — day    after    day,    night    after    night,    speaking, 
encouraging  and  inspiring  those  that  took  their  lives  in  their  hands,  and  those 
who  sent  their  sons  to  the  scenes  of  conflict  and  danger.     Having  urged  the 
assignment  of  Gen.  Garfield,  the  President  of  Hiram  College,  to  the  command 
of  a  regiment,  he  joined  him  in  the  work  of  its  organization,  and  the  meeting 
in  the  church  of  Hiram,  addressed  by  Judge  Day,  was  a  memorable  occasion, 
when  the  young  men  of  the  college  and  vicinity  volunteered  to  form  the  first 
company  in  the  old  Forty-second  Regiment  of  Ohio,  whose  first  leader  was 
destined  to  a  transcendant  historic  fame.     Throughout  this  entire  period  the 
demands  on  Judge  Day  for  his  services  on  public  occasions  of  every  kind  were 
almost  unlimited,  and  the  fervor  of  his  public  addresses  roused  men  to  action 
at  home,  and  sent  encouragement  to  those  in  the  field.     For  himself,  permitting 
no  reward,  and  asking  no  honor,  he  devoted  the  whole  energies  of  his  being 
to  the  success  of  the  cause.      Born  among  th'e  hills  of  eastern  New  York,  and 
spending  his  academic  years  at  Castleton,  Bennington   and  Middlebury,  Vt, 
he  ever  had  an  enthusiasm  for  the  mountains  that  nearly  amounted  to  poetic 
inspiration,  and  when  worn  with  overwork  he  was  accustomed  to  resort  to  them 
for  rest  and  reinvigoration.       Judge    Day  was  a  member   of  the  Methodist 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  821 

Episcopal  Church,  to  which  he  was  much  attached.  But  in  religious  views 
he  was  tolerant  and  liberal,  regarding  the  life,  rather  than  the  creed,  the  best 
exponent  of  Christian  character.  In  all  religious,  benevolent  and  moral  enter- 
prises he  took  a  strong  interest,  giving  to  them  liberally  according  to  his 
means. 

Judge  Day  died  at  his  home,  after  an  illness  of  five  days,  March  8,  1885, 
aged  seventy-one  years,  eight  months.  His  sudden  and  unexpected  death  cast 
a  gloom  over  all  who  knew  him.  not  only  in  Ravenna,  but  throughout  the 
State.  His  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on 
the  11th,  and  were  largely  attended.  Members  of  the  bar  were  present  from 
Cleveland,  Akron,  Canton,  Massillon,  Youngstown,  Warren,  Ravenna  and  other 
places;  also  Judges  Mcllvain  and  Johnson,  of  the  Supreme  Court.  David 
Mcintosh  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  attended  in  a  body.  Thus  tex-minated  the  life-history 
of  cne  of  Ohio's  most  eminent  citizens  and  distinguished  jurists.  A  retrospect 
of  his  noble  character  and  eventful  life  recalls  to  mind  the  beautiful  words  of 
America's  poet  laureate: 

"Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime; 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time." 

ENSIGN  F.  DEMING,  merchant,  Ravenna,  was  born  September  25,  1823, 
in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Donald  Deming,  a  native  of 
West  Hartford,  Conn.,  came  to  this  county  in  1821,  and  married  Miss  Roxana 
Fitch,  April  1 1,  1822,  a  native  of  Tolland,  Conn.,  and  who  came  to  this  county 
in  1815,  at  eleven  years  of  age.  To  this  union  were  born  the  following  chil- 
dren: Ensign  F. ;  Alonzo  H.,  who  died  in  1849  at  Maysville,  Ky. ;  Mrs.  Char- 
lotte E.  Pinney;  Mrs.  Olive  A.  Monroe;  Mrs.  Adelaide  R.  Youngman;  Hen- 
rietta (deceased);  Mrs.  Henriettas.  Whitney;  and  Mrs.  LorenzaO.  Thompson. 
Mrs.  Deming  died  February  27,  1865.  Donald  Deming  moved  to  Iowa,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Muscatine,  August  14,  1870,  in 
his  seventy-fifth  year.  August  27,  1845,  our  subject  married  Miss  Pluma 
Terry,  who  bore  him  two  children:  Mrs.  Loretta  A.  Maris,  and  Charles  A.,  in 
Salineville,  Ohio.  They  resided  on  the  home  farm  for  several  years.  In  1861 
Mr.  Deming  commenced  business  as  a  grocery  and  provision  merchant  in 
Rootstown  Station,  this  county.  In  1867  he  removed  to  Ravenna,  where  he  has 
carried  on  the  same  business  ever  since.  Mrs.  Deming  is  a  pious  member  of 
the  Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Deming  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

DR.  JOSEPH  DE  WOLF  (deceased)  was  born  in  April,  1786,  in  Granby, 
Conn.  He  was  the  fifth  in  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  Samuel 
De  Wolf  (the  youngest)  is  the  only  survivor,  residing  in  Akron,  Ohio.  In  the 
spring  of  1800  Joseph  De  Wolf  came  out  to  Vernon,  Tnimbull  Co.,  Ohio,  and 
after  making  preparations  sent  for  his  family  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 
Young  Joseph  pursued  his  medical  studies  under  Dr.  Seeley,  of  Howland,  that 
county,  and  located  after  a  short  time  in  Rootstown,  this  county,  where  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Eunice  Goodrich,  the  only  child  of  Deacon  John  Goodrich,  and  they 
soon  after  located  permanently  in  Ravenna,  this  county.  Dr.  De  Wolf  early 
won  a  high  position  for  himself  in  his  chosen  profession,  having  a  practice  that 
extended  for  many  miles  around  to  the  towns  of  the  stUTounding  counties. 
He  retired  on  his  farm  just  west  of  Ravenna  in  1839,  still  keeping  up  a  prac- 
tice among  his  patients,  who  could  not  be  induced  to  leave  him.  His  worthy 
wife  proved  to  be  in  every  sense  a  helpmate  to  him  in  life.  Her  domestic 
virtues  made  her  the  center  of  the  home  life,  and  her  modest  merit  and  noble 
qualities   endeared  her  to  all  who  knew  her.     Their  children  were  Dr.  J.  G. 


822  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

De  Wolf,  of  Eureka  Springs,  Ark. ;  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Dewey,  of  Mount  Pleasant, 
Iowa;  Henry,  who  died  at  eleven  years  of  age;  and  Mrs.  Adeline  L.  Elkins. 
Dr.  De  Wolf  afterward  married  Mrs.  Betsey  AVetmore,  widow  of  Henry  Wet- 
more.  He  died  in  1869  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three  years,  retaining 
the  strength  and  vigor  of  his  faculties  almost  unimpaired  up  to  the  year  of 
his  death.     He  was  a  man  of  very  strong  mind  and  firm  convictions. 

R.  S.  ELKINS,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  a  native  of  Vermont,  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, January  30,  1818.  He  learned  the  printers'  trade  and  came  to  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  in  1837,  when  twenty  years  of  age.  Here  he  worked  two  years  in 
the  Herald  office.  In  1839  he  came  to  Ravenna  and  engaged  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Ohio  Star  until  1844,  when  he  went  to  Akron,  same  State,  where 
he  engaged  in  the  publication  of  the  Summit  County  Beacon.  In  1880  he 
returned  to  this  county  and  located  where  he  now  resides  on  the  old  Dr.  De 
Wolf  homestead.  Mr.  Elkins  married  Miss  Adeline  L.  De  Wolf,  February  9, 
1842.  She  was  born  in  Ravenna,  August  8,  1823.  They  have  one  daughter — 
Mrs.  Adelaide  E.,  wife  of  Rev.  W.  K.  Ingersoll,  a  Presbyterian  minister  in 
Milford,  Mich. 

CAPT.  ASHLEY  ELY  was  born  November  4,  1793,  in  West  Springfield, 
Hampden  Co.,  Mass.  He  visited  this  county  in  1818,  in  order  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  a  permanent  settlement,  and  returned  to  locate  in  Deerfield  Town- 
ship, the  following  year.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812  for  a 
period  of  eighteen  months,  being  stationed  at  Boston,  Mass.  His  father,  Capt. 
Darius  Ely,  a  soldier  of  distinction  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  married  Mar- 
garet Ashley.  They  came  out  to  this  county  and  resided  with  their  son  until 
their  death.  She  died  in  1838,  aged  seventy-five,  he  in  1844,  aged  eighty- 
three.  Capt.  Ely  married  Miss  Sarah  Lazarus,  a  native  of  Monroe  County, 
Penn.,  and  a  resident  of  Deerfield  Township,  this  county,  since  early  child- 
hood. In  1826  they  sold  their  farm  in  Deerfield,  and  located  one  mile  and  a 
half  north  of  Ravenna.  Here  they  cleared  up  their  second  farm,  and  spent 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Their  children  are  Linus  (in  Chicago),  Mrs. 
Alma  Carnahan  (died  in  1847,  aged  twenty-one),  Ralph  (residing  on  the  old 
homestead)  and  Mrs.  Julia  M.  Jillson,  in  Worcester,  Mass.  Mr.  Ely  died  Sep- 
tember 2,  1868,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  He  was  a  man  of  iron  constitution, 
and  had  sustained  a  wonderful  amount  of  toil  and  hardship  as  a  pioneer.  He 
was  an  earnest  Presbyterian,  and  very  firm  in  his  principles.  He  was  one  of 
the  early  members  of  the  Ravenna  Congregational  Church.  He  obtained  a 
substantial  education,  mainly  by  private  study,  and  taught  in  Deerfield  Town- 
ship and  Ravenna,  this  county.  His  known  integrity  and  excellent  judgment 
caused  his  services  to  be  frequently  required  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  town- 
ship. Mrs.  Ely  died  September  8,  1881,  aged  eighty-three,  retaining  active 
use  of  her  faculties  until  the  last.  She  was  widely  known  and  beloved  because 
of  her  skill  and  devotion  in  attending  the  sick. 

PETER  FLATH,  merchant  tailor  and  clothier,  Ravenna,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 17,  1829,  in  Hesse  Darmstadt,  Germany.  He  came  to  America  in  1849, 
and  here  followed  his  trade  for  several  years,  living  at  different  times  in  New 
Y^ork;  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Gallon,  Ohio;  Detroit;  Fremont;  Chicago,  111. ;  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y. ;  and  other  places,  finally  settling  in  Ravenna,  this  county,  April  2, 
1860.  Here,  after  working  as  cutter  for  about  five  years  and  eight  months  for  J. 
D.  Green,  he,  in  partnership  with  L.  W.  Reed,  purchased  Green's  establishment. 
In  course  of  two  years  W.  L.  Poe  purchased  Mr.  Reed's  interest,  and  after  carry- 
ing on  the  business  seven  years  under  the  new  firm  name,  Mr.  Fiath  purchased 
his  partner's  interest  and  has  since  conducted  the  establishment  alone.  In 
addition  to  general  merchant  tailoring,  Mr.  Flath  carries  an  extensive  stock  of 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  823 

clothing,  hats,  caps  and  gentlemen's  furnishing  goods,  and  by  strict  attention 
to  business  he  has  built  up  a  large  and  flourishing  trade.  Our  subject  married 
in  November,  1857,  Miss  Kate  Heimes,  of  Cleveland.  She  was  a  native  of 
Rhenish  Prussia,  and  has  been  a  resident  of  Cleveland  since  she  was  six  years 
of  age.  They  have  one  daughter — Mary  Charlotte.  Mr.  Flath  in  politics  is 
a  Democrat. 

COL.  WILLIAM  FRAZER,  who  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  the  oldest 
male  resident  of  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Lansingburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1794:.  His 
father  served  seven  years  in  the  Revolution,  and  lost  his  life  in  the  war  of 
1812.  Our  subject  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  which  he  served 
with  distinction.  He  came  from  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  to  Ravenna  in  1814,  and 
there  carried  on  a  jewelry  establishment,  and  a  saddlery,  in  turn.  In 
1819  he  married  Miss  Annie  A.  Campbell,  daughter  of  Gen.  John  and 
Sarah  Campbell.  Of  their  ten  children  the  following  are  now  living: 
Homer  C,  in  Ravenna,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Catherine  M.  Preston,  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio;  Mrs.  Martha  E.  Dodge,  in  Ravenna,  Ohio  ;  Mrs.  Eliza  Barnes, 
in  Grinnell,  Iowa,  and  William  A.,  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.  Mrs.  Har- 
riet M.  Taylor,  wife  of  Hon.  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  died  in  Warren,  Ohio  ; 
Mrs.  Amoretta  R.  Campbell  died  in  Chicago,  111.;  Mrs.  Sarah  Norton  died  at 
White  Water,  Wis. ;  and  two  others  died  in  infancy.  Col.  Frazer  served  for 
several  years  as  Deputy  Sheriff  of  this  county,  and  also  as  United  States  Mar- 
shal of  this  district.  In  1842  he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  this  county,  serving 
with  satisfaction  to  the  people  and  credit  to  himself.  For  many  years,  com- 
mencing in  1852,  he  was  one  of  the  Directors  of  the  Portage  County  branch 
of  the  State  Bank  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Frazer  died  in  March,  1875.  The  Colonel 
followed  her  in  April  of  the  same  year.  They  were  honored  and  esteemed  as 
upright  pioneers.  Our  subject  was  one  of  the  original  Republicans  of  the 
■county.  He  took  the  first  newspapers  published  in  the  county  from  their  com- 
mencement, and  kept  a  complete  tile,  which  his  son  still  continues.  This  is 
the  only  unbroken  tile  of  these  papers  in  existence. 

HOMER  C.  FRAZER,  hardware  dealer,  Ravenna,  was  born  September 
21,  1821,  in  Ravenna.  He  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  town 
and  at  Bissel  Institute,  Twinsburg,  Ohio.  In  Sej^ttember,  1848,  he  married 
Miss  Susannah  Dennis,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  but  a  native  of  Folkestone,  En- 
gland, and  they  have  one  son — Edward  W.  Oiu*  subject  succeeded  his  father 
in  the  business  he  now  carries  on — a  general  hardware  store.  Being  one  of 
the  earliest  opponents  of  slavery,  he  is  now  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  cause  of 
temperance.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frazer  are  active  workers  in  the  Congregational 
Church. 

STEPHEN  RICE  FREEMAN,  produce  dealer,  etc.,  Ravenna,  was  born 
July  26,  1839,  in  Palmyra,  this  county.  His  father,  bearing  the  same  name, 
a  native  of  Rutland,  Vt.,  moved  to  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y.,  while  a  young  man, 
and  there  married  Miss  Lucretia  A.  Seaton,  a  native  of  that  place.  In  1832 
he  went  on  a  prospecting  trip  on  horseback  to  Chicago,  looking  for  a  desirable 
location,  and  not  liking  that  place,  he  returned  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  his 
family  joined  him,  and  there  they  established  a  hotel.  After  following  that 
business  and  running  a  boat  on  the  canal  some  years,  Mr.  Freeman  came  to 
Palmyra,  this  county,  in  1838,  finally  settling  in  Ravenna  in  1846.  In  1861 
he  established  a  business  as  general  dealer  in  produce  in  this  city,  and  this  he 
carried  on  until  his  death,  which  occurred  August  29,  1872.  In  politics  he 
was  a  strong  Whig.  His  widow  still  survives  him.  Their  children  were  Mrs. 
Lilias  L.,  wife  of  J.  S.  Smith,  Ravenna;  Stephen  R. ;  Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Stein, 
wife  of  W.  F.  Stein,  photographer,  Cleveland.  Ohio;  Mrs.  Ida  F.  Britton,wife 


824  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

of  F.  H.  Britton,  Superintendent  Chicago  Division  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road; Garrett,  and  Ada  L.,who  died  in  1879  in  Cleveland, Ohio.  Our  subject's 
grandfather,  Capt.  Nathan  Freeman,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolution  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  a  Captain  in  the  Massachusetts  mili- 
tia, and  a  Captain  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  was  a  famous  wrestler,  'and  after 
risinor  to  the  position  of  champion  of  Massachusetts,  met  and  vanquished  the 
champion  of  New  York.  Our  subject  completed  his  education  under  James 
A.  Garfield,  Hiram  Institute,  Hiram,  Ohio.  He  enlisted  in  April,  1861,  in 
the  Seventh  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  in  September  of  the  same 
year  re-enlisted  in  the  Forty-second  Regiment  under  Col.  Garfield,  serving 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  left  the  army  with  an  honorable  record  as 
a  brave  and  faithful  soldier.  Returning  home  he  took  a  course  in  the  Iron 
City  Commercial  College,  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  and  settled  down  in  Ravenna. 
September  23,  1869, Mr.  Freeman  married  Miss  Lydia,  daughter  of  William 
A.  Holcomb,  and  to  this  union  were  born  six  children:  Paul,  Louis,  Maud, 
Alexis,  Edward  and  Ada.  In  1866  he  went  into  business  with  his  father,  and 
succeeded  him  at  the  death  of  the  latter.  In  1874  our  subject  took  as  part- 
ner, G.  L.  Horr.  They  make  a  specialty  of  dealing  in  cheese,  grass  seeds, 
maple  products,  etc.     Mr.  Freeman  is  a  member  of  the  I.  0.0.  F.  and  G.  A.  R. 

GEORGE  W.  FREEMAN,  merchant,  Ravenna,  was  born  December  10, 
1839,  in  Newark  Valley,  Tioga  Co.,  N.  Y.  His  father,  Bicknell  Freeman, was 
a  native  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  Pilgrims  of  the 
early  settlement  of  New  England.  The  line  of  descent  is  as  follows:  January 
2,  1637,  Edmund  Freeman  was  one  of  the  ten  who  settled  Sandwich,  Conn., 
and  was  for  six  years  assistant  to  Gov.  Bradford.  His  son  Edmund  (second) 
married  a  daughter  of  Gov.  William  Prince.  His  son  Edmund,  (third)  had  a 
son  Edmund  (fourth),  who  settled  at  Mansfield,  Conn.  His  son,  Edmund  (fifth), 
had  a  son,  Stephen,  who  was  the  father  of  Bicknell  Freeman,  the  father  of 
George  W.  This  family  is  well  known  for  the  distinguished  ability  and  integ- 
rity of  many  of  its  members.  Bicknell  Freeman  married  Miss  Nancy  Taylor. 
They  moved  to  Broome  County,  N.Y.,  and  soon  afterward  to  Tioga  County, but 
shortly  before  their  death  removed  to  Broome  County.  Our  subject,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  came  to  this  county,  and  remained  first  at  Shalersvil'e.  where 
he  was  engaged  several  years  as  clerk.  He  married,  March  17,  1872,  Miss 
Cornelia  A.,  daughter  of  Apollos  Reed,  of  Mantua,  this  county,  and  to  this 
union  have  been  born  three  children:  Anna  T.  (deceased),  Edmund  Reed  and 
Eva  Henry.  They  came  to  Ravenna  in  March  of  the  following  year,  and  here 
Mr.  Freeman  engaged  as  a  clerk  for  Smith  Bros,  two  yeai's,  for  J.  S.  Smith 
one  year,  for  N.  Converse  &  Co.  two  years,  and  for  Converse  &  Snyder  two 
years.  In  1880  he  bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr.  Converse  and  engaged  in 
partnership  with  P.  W.  Snyder.  They  carry  a  full  line  of  dry  goods,  carpets, 
notions,  etc.  Mr.  Freeman  rode  on  horseback  fifty  miles  to  cast  his  first  vote 
for  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  has  been  a  consistent  Democrat  ever  since.  While 
living  at  Shalersville  he  served  the  township  as  Treasurer  seven  terms.  He  is 
a  F.  &  A.  M.     Mrs.  Freeman  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

CHARLES  L.  FRENCH,  photographer,  Ravenna,  was  born  April  23,1853, 
in  Middlefield,  Geauga  Co.,  Ohio,  and  is  a  son  of  A.  M.  and  Margaret  R. 
French,  now  residing  at  Garrettsville,  this  county.  At  the  age  of  twenty  our 
subject  began  learning  the  art  of  photography  with  his  brother,  at  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio.  He  was  united  in  marriage,  April  28,  1880,  with  Miss  Emma  E. 
Wolf,  of  Windham  Township,  this  county,  born  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  February 
21,  1860.  They  have  one  daughter — Rena.  Mr.  French  resided  at  Garretts- 
ville some  time  after  his  marriage.     He  located  in  Ravenna,  this  county,  Feb- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  825 

ruary  1,  1882.  He  is  known  as  a  skillful  and  scientific  artist,  and  is  building 
up  an  extensive  custom. 

DE  WITT  CHAMPLIN  GAEDNER,  insurance  agent,  Kavenna,  was  born 
November  24,  1839,  in  Freedom,  this  county.  His  father,  Ira  Gardner,  born 
in  Vernon,  N.  Y.,  May  6,  1803,  at  the  death  of  his  parents  was  brought  up 
by  an  uncle  in  Black  Rock,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  learned  the  shoe-maker's 
trade,  and  in  1826  came  to  Middlebury,  Portage  (now  Summit)  County.  Here 
he  was  one  of  the  Superintendents  on  the  construction  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Chesapeake  Canal.  In  1828  he  married  Miss  Martha,  daughter  of  Judge 
Norton.  They  came  to  Ravenna  in  1830,  and  in  1838  located  on  a  farm  in 
Fi-eedom  Township,  where  Mrs.  Gardner  died  in  1838.  Two  of  their  children 
are  now  living:  Miles  Gardner,  in  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  and  Mrs.  D.  K. 
Wheeler,  in  Ravenna.  Mr.  Gardner  then  married  Miss  Olive  A.,  daughter  of 
Thaddeus  Curtiss,  of  Charlestown,  this  county,  and  their  children  are  De  Witt 
C. ;  Lafayette  C,  in  Kansas;  Mrs.  Esther  B.  Barber,  in  Lincoln,  Neb.;  Mrs. 
E.  Steadman,  in  Newton  Falls,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Mary  Burroughs,  in  Foui*  Mile, 
N.  Y. ;  Donn  H.,  in  Newton  Falls,  Ohio,  and  Charles  F.,  in  Wadsworth,  Ohio. 
Ira  Gardner  died  March  30,  1871.  He  was  elected  Sheriff  of  this  county  in 
1856.  In  politics  he  was  a  Republican.  Mrs.  Gardner  died  in  1876.  Our 
subject,  D.  C.  Gardner,  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  home  dis- 
trict and  at  Hiram  College.  He  enlisted  with  a  large  number  of  his  fellow 
students  in  the  famous  Forty-second  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
under  James  A.  Garfield,  September,  1861.  He  was  wounded  in  the  right 
shoulder  at  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson,  Miss.,  May  1,  1863,  and  received  his 
discharge  in  September  of  same  year.  After  taking  a  commercial  course  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  he  settled  on  the  farm  with  his  parents,  where  he  remained 
until  his  mother's  death  in  1876.  He  located  in  Ravenna,  in  1877,  and 
entered  into  partnership  with  H.  C.  Bedell,  as  agents  for  line  of  fire  and  life 
insurance  companies.  Mr.  Gardner  bought  out  his  partner's  interest  in  1883, 
and  now  carries  on  the  business  alone.  The  companies  represented  by  this 
agency  are  of  a  first-class  character,  numbering  about  twenty,  in  fire,  life, 
accident,  tornado  and  plate- glass.  Mr.  Gardner  married,  September  27,  1882, 
Miss  Cynthia  M. ,  daughter  of  Edward  G.  and  Alantha  Beckwith,  of  Dimon- 
dale,  Eaton  Co.,  Mich.  Mrs.  Gardner  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  Mr.  Gardner  is  a  life- long  Republican.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
G.  A.  R. 

W^ILLIAM  S.  GIBBONS,  police  ofiicer,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Salem, 
Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  August  23,  1843.  His  father,  Hugh  Gibbons,  came  to 
this  county  in  about  1853,  and  after  living  some  years  each  in  several  town- 
ships in  the  eastern  and  northeastern  parts  of  the  county,  finally  moved,  in 
about  1874,  to  Akron,  Ohio.  Our  subject  enlisted  in  April,  1861,  in  Company 
G,  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  re-enlisted  in  the  same  regiment  two 
months  later  for  three  years  service.  He  served  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  took  part  in  most  of  the  fierce  engagements  in  the  Virginia  campaigns. 
He  received  three  wounds  at  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  August  9,  1862, 
compelling  him  to  remain  in  hospital  eight  months.  He  also  received  several 
slight  wounds  at  other  times.  At  the  expiration  of  his  time  he  re  enlisted  in 
the  Eleventh  Ohio  Veteran  Volunteer  Infantry,  serving  till  the  close  of  the  war 
in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  In  the  famous  march  to  the  sea  he  had  com- 
mand of  a  foraging  company  with  the  rank  of  Sergeant.  He  made  an  hon- 
orable record  as  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier,  receiving  his  final  discharge  at 
Washington,  June  11,  1865-  Returning  to  Ravenna  our  subject  worked  here 
about  twelve   months    as    glass-blower,    also    in    Pittsburgh,  Penn.     He   was 


826  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Deputy  Sheriff  of  this  county  under  the   administration   of  O.  B.  Payne  and 

0.  C.  Kisdon.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  police  officer  and  elected  Marshal 
of  Ravenna,  and  since  then  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  police  system  of 
Ravenna  most  of  the  time.  He  is  a  faithful  and  fearless  officer,  discharging 
his  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.  Mr.  Gibbons  has  been  successful 
in  acquiring  property.  He  is  one  of  the  principal  stockholders  in  the  Crown 
Flint  Glass  Works,  of  which  he  has  held  the  position  of  Director  two  years. 
Mr.  Gibbons  married,  August  9,  1866,  Miss  Margaret  E.  Cline,  born  in 
Ravenna,  December  14,  1844.  Her  father,  William  Cline,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, married  Miss  Amanda  Sapp.  Mrs.  Cline  died  July  30,  1884.  Mr. 
Cline  still  resides  at  his  home  on  South  Walnut  Street,  Ravenna.  Our  sub- 
ject is  a  member  in  high  standing  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  also  a  member  of  the 
R.  A.  and  G.  A.  R. 

CHRISTOPHER  FREDERICK  GOEPPINGER,  tanner,  Ravenna,  was 
born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  September  3,  1841.  His  father,  Justus  J. 
Goeppinger,  came  to  America  in  1849,  and  sent  for  his  family  to  follow  in 
1850.  They  lived  four  years  at  Jackson,  Ohio,  two  years  at  Ellsworth,  Ohio, 
and  finally  settled  at  Newton  Falls,  Ohio,  where  they  now  reside.  Our  sub- 
ject learned  his  trade  with  his  father.  January  25,  1866,  he  married  Miss 
Mary  M.  Schauweker,  a  native  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  born  July  5, 
1841.  Their  children  now  living  are  Rudolph,  Eva,  Lizzie  and  Ada.  Those 
deceased  are  Delia  and  Mary.  In  1867  Mr.  Goeppinger  purchased  the  tan- 
nery of  Martin  Cretzinger,  at  Ravenna.  He  at  once  established  himself  here 
permanently  and  went  to  work  improving  and  building  up  the  business.  He 
now  carries  on  the  only  tannery  in  the  place.  He  makes  a  specialty  of  fine 
harness  leather,  for  which  this  establishment  has  a  wide  and  first-class  reputa- 
tion. The  products  of  this  tannery  are  in  great  demand  and  are  shipped  to 
the  far  West,  finding  as  well  a  ready  sale  in  the  Eastern  and  home  markets. 
Mrs.  Goeppinger  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Mr.  Goeppinger  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.     He  is  a  stanch  Democrat;  a  member  of  the 

1.  O.  O.  F.  and  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

ALEXANDER  B.  GRIFFIN  was  born  August  7,  1819,  in  Oneida  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  is  a  son  of  Richard  I.  and  Anna  (Buell)  Griffin.  He  located  in 
Ravenna  in  1838,  where  he  married  Miss  Elvira  J.  Stowe,  June  14,  1843. 
Her  parents,  Auren  and  Hannah  (Sheldon)  Stowe,  natives  of  New  Marlboro, 
Mass.,  came  to  this  county  in  1811.  The  Stowe  brothers  (Auren  and  Hiram) 
carried  the  United  States  express  from  Cleveland  to  Pittsburgh  during  the 
war  of  1812.  Our  subject  carried  on  a  cabinet  shop  until  1856,  when  he  took 
charge  of  the  hub  factory  purchased  by  the  Stowe  brothers.  In  1880  he 
purchased  the  hub  factory,  which  he  sold  out  in  1884.  Mr.  Griffin  has  some 
very  fine  and  intricate  cabinet  work  which  was  exhibited  with  high  honor  at 
the"^  Centennial  Exposition,  He  has  held  the  positions  of  Town  Clerk  and 
Treasurer,  Justi(!e  of  the  Peace  and  Mayor.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Griffin    were  George  (deceased),  Emilie  (deceased),  and  Mrs.  Carrie  G.  Esty. 

WILLIAM  GRINNELL,  Ravenna,  Ohio,  a  son  of  James  and  Julia 
(Luce)  Grinnell,  was  born  in  Allegany  County,  N.  Y.,  June  28,  1839.  The 
family  immigrated  to  Ohio,  and  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county, 
where  Mrs.  Grinnell  died.  James  Grinnell  is  a  resident  of  Summit  County. 
Our  subject  lived  on  a  farm  until  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  entered 
a  store  at  Kent,  Ohio,  as  salesman.  In  the  spring  of  1859  he  went  to  Hardin 
County,  Ky.,  working  on  a  farm  a  short  time;  then  entered  a  store  in  Eliza- 
bethtown,  same  county,  as  salesman.  During  the  winter  of  1860  and  18(31,  a 
military  company  being  organized,  our  subject  was  waited  upon  by  a  committee 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  827 

and  urged  to  join  for  drill,  but  declined  the  invitation.  This  act  rendered  his 
stay  in  that  locality  rather  unpleasant,  and  in  the  spring  of  1861  he  returned 
to  Kent,  Ohio;  re-entered  a  store,  where  he  remained  until  1862,  when  he 
enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hundi'ed  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  mustered  in  as  Fifth  Sergeant.  He  was  promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant; 
was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  Ky.,  November  29,  1863,  causing  con- 
finement to  hospital  until  April  1,  1864;  was  commissioned  Captain  of  Com- 
pany D  soon  after  his  return  home,  but  discharged  on  account  of  wounds. 
Mr.  Grinnell  was  united  in  marriage  in  1865,  with  Rachel  A.  Phillips,  a 
native  of  this  county.  He  was  acting  as  Deputy  at  the  time  of  his  election  as 
Auditor  of  this  county  in  1868,  which  position  he  occupied  twelve  years.  In 
1883  he  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  a  member  of  Tax  Commission,  to 
revise  tax  laws  of  State,  but  declining  health  necessitated  his  resignation. 
Our  subject  was  one  of  the  founders  and  builders  of  the  Flint  Glass  Works  at 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  and  its  Secretary  and  Treasurer  until  January,  1884.  He  was 
actively  identified  with  the  building  of  the  new  Court  House,  having  drafted 
the  original  bill  and  forwarded  the  same  to  the  Legislature,  by  which  author- 
ity was  given  the  Commissioners  to  issue  bonds  and  erect  said  Court  House,  and 
then,  by  appointment  of  Common  Pleas  Court,  was  made  one  of  the  Building 
Committee. 

ELIAS  HARMON,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Mantua,  was  a  descendant 
of  Francis  Harmon,  who  in  1635  settled  near  Boston,  Mass.  His  children 
were  John  and  Sarah  Harmon,  the  former  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Spring- 
field, Mass.  Nathaniel,  a  son  of  John  Harmon,  was,  with  the  exception  of  his 
two  brothers,  the  first  settler  of  Suffield,  Conn. ,  and  there  John  Harmon,  the 
great-grandfather  of  Elias  Harmon,  of  Mantua,  was  born.  He  was  the  first 
Deacon  of  the  first  church  at  Sufiield,  and  died  there  in  1786.  Elias  Harmon, 
father  of  the  Elias  Harmon  who  settled  in  Mantua  in  1799,  was  also  a  native 
of  Suffield,  Conn.,  and  in  that  village  resided  until  his  death.  In  the  history 
of  Mantua  will  be  found  a  record  of  Elias  Harmon's  settlement.  During  his 
residence  in  Portage  County  he  held  the  following  positions:  Supervisor  of 
Highways  in  1803;  Justice  of  the  Peace  from  1808  to  1815;  he  was  appointed 
Associate  Judge  in  1815,  and  i-eappointed  to  1836;  in  1808  was  County 
Treasurer,  reappointed  in  1809;  Assessor  in  1810;  Deputy  United  States  Mar- 
shal in  1810;  was  elected  Representative  1810-12,  receiving  148  votes  against 
John  Campbell's  seventy-three  and  Hezekiah  Burrough's  seventy-seven.  From 
1814  to  1835  he  was  engaged  as  Land  Agent  for  original  owners  of  Western 
Reserve  lands.  His  daughter,  Eunice,  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the 
township,  and  the  first  white  female  child  in  the  county.  In  1802  Zacheas 
Harmon  settled  at  Mantua,  and  four  years  later  came  Seth,  Enos,  John  and 
Daniel  Harmon,  three  of  whom  served  in  the  war  of  1812  and  were  taken 
prisoners  by  the  British  at  Maiden,  Canada.  Elias  Harmon  died  in  Septem- 
ber, 1851  (vide  Mantua  and  county  history).  Orrin  Harmon,  son  of  Judge 
Elias  Harmon,  was  born  in  Mantua  Township,  February  22,  1805,  and  was 
educated  in  the  schools  of  that  township.  His  wife,  Mi's.  Camilla  (King) 
Harmon  (daughter  of  Dr.  Robert  King,  who  settled  in  Charlestown  Township, 
this  county,  in  1826),  was  born  at  Sandisfield,  Mass.,  November  14,  1802; 
came  to  Portage  County  with  her  father  and  was  married  to  Mr.  Harmon,  at 
Ravenna,  September  26,  1832.  This  lady  died  June  17,  1878.  Of  their  chil- 
dren, Julian  C.  Harmon,  born  February  17,  3835,  is  now  a  resident  of  Ravenna, 
and  owner  of  a  large  farm  near  the  city;  Sabrina  C,  born  January  27,  1842, 
died  October  10,  1856.  Mr.  Harmon,  now  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age, 
can  look  back  seventy  years  to  the  beginning  of  the  county,  and  relate  with 


828  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

remarkable  precision  events  connected  with  the  county's  progress  and  settle- 
ment. His  long  sex'vice  as  County  Surveyor  is  referred  to  in  the  general  his- 
tory of  the  county. 

SAMUEL  D.  HAKRIS,  editor  Democratic  Press,  Ravenna,  was  born  in 
Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  May  17,  1816;  son  of  Samuel  D.  Harris, 
born  in  Bozrah,  Conn.,  and  Lucy  S.  Harris,  a  daughter  of  Zenas  Kent,  also  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  In  1812  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Sr.,  moved  to  Stowe  Town- 
ship, now  in  Summit  County,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  then 
moved  to  Ravenna,  where  he  established  a  home  and  reared  a  family.  Of  his 
children  there  are  three  living:  Samuel  D.,  A.  A.,  and  Mary  M.,  widow  of  Dr. 
Cane,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.  He  was  for  years  engaged  in  teaching  school; 
served  the  county  as  Auditor  from  1823  to  1831;  was  Surveyor  from  1833  to 
1845;  again  elected  and  served  till  1857.  Samuel  D.  Harris,  Jr.,  served  in 
the  County  Clerk's  office,  where  he  acted  as  Assistant  from  1838  to  1855.  He 
took  a  just  pride  in  surveying  and  followed  it  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  this  county  August  2,  1865.  Our  subject,  after  receiving  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  the  county  and  Ravenna  Academy,  taught  school.  In 
1836  he  entered  the  Western  Courier  office,  then  controlled  by  Selby  &  Rob- 
bins,  and  in  1837  took  a  position  at  the  case  in  the  Buckeye  Democrat,  then 
published  by  John  B.  King  &  Co.,  and  edited  by  Le  Grand  Byington.  After 
the  collapse  of  this  journal  in  1837,  and  early  in  1838,  he  was  employed  as 
Assistant  Clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  filled  this 
position  until  1844.  In  June,  1845,  he  and  Boswell  Batterson  published  the 
Portage  Sentinel,  a  Democratic  journal.  Mr.  Batterson  sold  his  interest  to 
Mr.  Harris,  who  became  sole  proprietor  about  185L  In  August,  1855,  he  sold 
the  Sentinel  to  Alphonso  Hart  and  a  Mr.  Craig,  of  New  Lisbon.  From  Au- 
gust, 1855,  to  1857,  he  studied  law  with  N.  L.  Jeffrys  at  Ravenna,  and  was 
admitted  by  the  District  Court  in  1857.  Subsequently  he  was  employed  in 
the  offices  of  Judge  Day  and  H.  C.  Ranney.  In  1860  he  was  Delegate  to  the 
Democratic  National  Convention  at  Cbarlestown,  in  company  with  Samuel 
Lamb,  of  Canton  (Eighteenth  Ohio  District)  both  being  firm  supporters  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  1861  he  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  supporters  of 
the  Union  movement,  and  in  the  fall  of  1861  was  nominated  by  Republicans 
and  Democrats  on  the  Union  ticket  as  County  Treasurer;  was  elected,  and 
re-elected  in  1863.  From  1861  to  1866  he  was  a  member  of  the  County  Mil- 
itary Committee.  In  August,  1868,  he  organized  the  Press  office,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 3,  that  year,  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Democratic  Press,  a  thor- 
ough Democratic  weekly  journal,  which  he  has  edited  continuously  up  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Harris  was  married  April  28,  1844,  to  Miss  Joannah  Doty, 
daughter  of  David  Doty,  of  Ravenna.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren, viz.:  Lucy  M.,  married  to  A.  T.  Smith,  of  Ravenna;  George  D. ,  now 
part  owner  of  the  Pi-ess;  and  Miss  Kate  Harris,  residing  with  her  parents. 

ANSEL  M.  HINMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  October  20,  1826, 
in  Atwater  Township,  this  county.  His  grandfather,  Edward  Hinman,  and  his 
father,  Elizur  Hinman,  were  among  the  pioneers  of  Ravenna  Township,  this 
county.  Our  subject  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  home  district 
and  at  the  Atwater  Academy,  and  at  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  moved  to 
Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  and  married  Miss  Helen  M.  Reed,  born  in 
Worthington,  Mass.,  and  who  came  to  Ravenna  Township  at  seven  years  of 
age,  in  1833,  with  her  parents,  Lathrop  and  Chloe  Reed,  who  settled  on  and 
cleared  up  a  farm  on  the  road  north  of  Ravenna,  where  Mr.  Reed  died  in  1842. 
Mrs.  Reed  still  resides  at  this  place  at  the  advanced  age  ol  ninety  years.  Their 
children  were  Mrs.  Harriet  Miller,  deceased;  Mrs.  Susan  M.  Dewey,  in  Well- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  829 

iogtoD,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Hinman,  deceased,  and  Latbrop  E.  Reed,  banker, 
St.  Paul,  Minn.  After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hinman  located  here  on 
the  homestead  farm.  Their  children  are  Edward  L.,  Mrs.  Hattie  Peck,  Har- 
lan E.  and  Henry  D.  (twins),  who  are  still  at  home.  Mrs.  Hinman  died  in 
October  30,  1877.  She  was  a  lady  of  exalted  Christian  character,  beloved  by 
all  who  knew  her.  Mr.  Hinman  afterward  married  Miss  Jennie  Sackett,  of 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.  He  and  his  worthy  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church. 

WANZER  HOLCOMB,  capitalist,  Ravenna,  was  born  September  9,  1827,  in 
this  county,  son  of  "William  A.  Holcomb.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
schools  of  the  home  district  and  at  Marlboro  Academy,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio. 
In  early  life  he  learned  the  trade  of  stone  and  brick  mason  with  his  father.  On 
September  25,  1851,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sophronia  C.  Stough,  of  Ravenna, 
daughter  of  the  well  known  pioneer,  Jacob  Stough,  and  was  brought  up  in  the 
city.  Their  children  are  Margaret  (now  Mrs.  Smith),  William  W.  and  Harry 
S.  After  living  in  Edinburg  two  years  and  in  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  five  years 
our  subject  and  family  finally  settled  in  Ravenna.  Mr.  Holcomb  was  appointed 
in  1857  Superintendent  of  Masonry  on  the  A.  &  G.  W.  (now  theN.  Y.,  P.  &  O.) 
R.  R.,  which  position  he  held  until  1868.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  engaged 
as  contractor,  taking  extensive  contracts  for  corporations  and  railroad  com- 
panies. Since  1870  he  has  been  connected  with  the  Diamond  Glass  Works  of 
this  city  and  now  owns  a  one-half  interest  in  the  concern.  Mr.  Holcomb  is  a 
member  of  the  Disciples  Church.     He  is  a  life-long  Republican. 

SAMUEL  J.  HOPKINS  (deceased)  was  born  in  Nelson,  this  county,  in 
1822.  He  married,  October  11,  1852,  Miss  Harriet  W.Prentiss,  whose  father, 
Cyrus  Prentiss,  of  Francestown,  N.  H.,  established  a  store  in  Ravenna,  this 
county,  in  1822,  in  which  he  retained  an  interest  until  his  death,  and  married 
Miss  Clarissa  Wetmore,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Ohio,  in  1827.  Mr.  Prentiss 
devoted  himself  with  wonderful  energy  and  zeal  to  the  building  of  the  Cleve- 
land &  Pittsburgh  Railroad.  It  is  said  that  without  his  eiforts  the  road  would 
never  have  been  constructed.  When  he  fell  into  delicate  health  and  the  road  was 
in  good  working  and  running  order  he  became  its  President,  and  this  position 
he  retained  as  long  as  his  health  permitted.  He  died  July  31,  1859.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hopkins  were  born  three  children:  C.  P.,  Clara  S.  and  Arthur  P. 
Mr.  Hopkins  was  engaged  in  the  dry  goods  business  until  1860,  and  after  that 
in  the  wholesale  produce  and  cheese  business,  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
April  25,  1882. 

ADAM  V.  HORR  (deceased),  son  of  AbnerHorr,  was  born  in  Lewis  County, 
N.  Y.,  December  26,  1819,  and  came  to  Shalersville,  this  county,  at  eighteen 
years  of  age  with  his  parents.  He  first  engaged  in  merchandising  with  his 
father,  and  as  the  latter's  health  was  very  much  impaired,  the  main  responsi- 
bility of  the  business  devolved  upon  our  subject.  In  1842  he  and  Henry 
Beecher  purchased  the  store,  which  they  carried  on  jointly  until  1845,  when 
Mr.  Beecher  retired  from  the  firm  and  Mr.  Horr  took  possession  of  the  entire 
business.  He  was  united  in  marriage  September  8,  1846,  with  Miss  Rosella 
Beecher,  born  in  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  November  24,  1825,  and 
daughter  of  Sylvester  and  Betsey  (Bushnell)  Beecher,  and  to  this  union  have 
been  born  five  children:  Mrs.  Irene  R.  Seymour,  one  son  who  died  in  infancy, 
Mrs.  Isodene  E.  Oakley,  William  A.  and  Mrs.  Adah  V.  Stough.  Mr.  Horr 
departed  this  life  January  10,  1856.  He  was  a  man  of  rare  business  talents, 
and  a  very  active  citizen  in  the  support  of  all  worthy  enterprises.  He  took 
an  active  interest  in  public  affairs  and  held  the  position  of  Postmaster  at  Sha- 
lersville, this  county,  upward  of  foui-teen  years.     In  politics  he  was  an  ardent 


830  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Republican.  He  was  personally  a  genial  companion,  a  true  friend  to  the 
needy  and  a  man  of  generous  and  noble  impulses.  He  will  long  be  remem- 
bered with  tender  respect  by  the  citizens  of  Shalersville  and  vicinity.  In 
April,  1861,  Mrs.  Horr  removed  to  Ravenna,  this  county,  where  she  still 
resides.  Here  she  has  devoted  herself  faithfully  to  the  duty  of  bringing  up 
and  educating  her  family.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
and  is  everywhere  respected  as  a  lady  of  estimable  character. 

GURDON  L.  HORR,  produce  merchant.  Ravenna,  was  born  July  6,  1842, 
in  Shalersville,  this  county.  His  father,  Abner  Horr,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  first 
married  Miss  Sarah  Vedder,  and  after  residing  about  eighteen  years  in  Den- 
mark, Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  they  came  in  1835  to  Shalersville,  this  county.  There 
Mrs.  Horr  died  in  1837,  leaving  three  children:  Warren,  in  Sterling,  Kan., 
Adam  V.  (deceased),  and  Mrs.  Nancy  Tyler  (deceased),  wife  of  Judge  Joel  W. 
Tyler,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Mr.  Horr  then  married,  in  1838,  Miss  Lydia 
Horr,  of  Leyden,  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  their  children  are  Gurdon  L.  and 
Mrs.  Sarah  Bedell,  late  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  latter  of  whom  died  February  9, 
1885.  Abner  Horr  carried  on  a  general  merchandising  business  in  Shalersville, 
and  had  an  interest  in  stores  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  and  at  Newton  Falls. 
In  1843  he  sold  out,  retired  to  his  farm  in  that  township,  and  there  resided 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  August  15,  1865.  His  widow  resides  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  with  her  son-in-law.  Our  subject  received  his  education  in  his 
native  town.  He  engaged  in  merchandising  in  partnei'ship  with  the  widow  of 
Adam  V.  Horr,  at  Shalersville,  this  county,  in  1862.  He  sold  out  his  interest 
in  1872,  and  in  1874  located  in  Ravenna,  in  partnership  with  S.  R.  Freeman, 
in  the  produce  business.  Mr.  Horr  married,  September  8,  1869,  Miss  Sarah 
Babcock,  of  Shalersville  Township,  daughter  of  the  well-known  pioneer,  Edwin 
Babcock,  and  born  August  2,  1847,  in  that  township.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horr 
have  been  born  one  daughter,  Minnie,  and  one  son,  Burt.  Our  subject  is  a 
life-long  Republican. 

HON.  JOSEPH  DEMPSTER  HORTON  (deceased)  was  born  January  3, 
1833,  in  Randolph,  this  county.  His  father,  Rev.  Peter  D.  Horton,  was  born 
in  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1796,  and  was  of  the  eighth  generation  from  Bar- 
nabas Horton,  who  settled  in  Long  Island,  in  1633.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
Methodist  ministers  of  northeastern  Ohio,  and  his  memory  is  revei'ed  by  many 
who  enjoyed  his  ministrations.  His  wife  was  Miss  Hannah  Couch,  of  Nelson, 
this  county,  born  in  1802,  in  Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.  Our  subject,  who  was 
the  eldest  of  their  children,  received  his  education  principally  in  the  academy 
at  Nelson,  and  began  teaching  at  sixteen  years  of  age.  Having  completed  his 
law  studies  in  the  office  of  Ranney  &  Taylor,  of  this  city,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1855,  and  he  at  once  formed  a  partnership  with  his  cousin  and  pre- 
ceptor, Hon.  Ezra  B.  Taylor,  which  continued  during  his  life,  except  the 
period  during  which  Judge  Taylor  served  on  the  bench.  Judge  Luther  Day 
was  a  member  of  the  firm  for  many  years.  Mr.  Horton  was  a  man  of  active 
public  spirit,  and  was  constantly  solicited  to  accept  offices  of  honor  and  trust, 
which  he  did  as  often  as  his  professional  duties  would  allow.  He  held  the 
positions  of  Military  Commissioner  during  the  Rebellion,  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney several  times,  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  many  local  offices.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  1873,  and  was  an  influential  member  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee.  He  was  known  as  possessing  one  of  the  finest  legal 
minds  at  the  bar.  He  was  also  a  fluent  writer,  and  a  brilliant  orator,  his  pro- 
ductions exhibiting  rare  literary  ability.  His  death  occurred  September  14, 
1882.  Mr.  Horton  married,  December  25.  1858,  Miss  Fannie  Finley  of 
Detroit,  Mich.,  born  March  4,  1837,  in  Montreal,  Canada.  In  1841  she  moved 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  831 

with  her  parents,  Richard  and  Anna  Finley,  to  Detroit,  where  the  latter 
resided  until  their  death.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horton  were  born  five  children: 
Mary  H.,  Jessie  A.,  Peter  D.,  Fannie  and  Jennie  F.  They  have  been  members 
of  the  Congregational  Church  since  1866.  Mr.  Horton  was  a  prominent  officer 
in  that  church,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  had  nearly  completed  a  history 
of  the  church  in  Ravenna. 

ANDREW  JACKSON,  attorney-at-law  of  Ravenna,  is  a  grandson  of 
John  Jackson,  of  Plymovath  Rock,  Mass.,  and  son  of  Col.  John  E.  Jackson,  a 
native  of  Chester,  Mass..  who  immigrated  to  the  "West  in  1812,  and  settled  in 
this  county,  clearing  a  farm  in  Aurora  Township,  and  owning  and  operating 
there  a  woolen-mill  and  saw-mill.  At  Garrettsville  he  met  and  married  Clara, 
daughter  of  John  Tinker,  of  Granville,  Mass.,  whose  family  settled  in  Nelson 
Township,  this  county,  in  1804.  His  place  of  residence  was  called  the  "  Cen- 
terville  Mills,"  in  the  north  part  of  Aurora  Township.  Having  been  elected, 
and  served  one  term,  as  County  Surveyor,  he  disposed  of  his  factory  and  saw- 
mill in  1839,  and  continued  the  business  of  surveying,  and  began  preaching  the 
Gospel,  having  been  ordained  a  Baptist  Elder.  He  was  elected  State  Senator  from 
this  district  in  1841,  serving  in  that  position  two  terms,  and  in  1845  was 
appointed  Appraiser  of  Lands  of  this  county.  While  delivering  a  discourse  in 
1868,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and  died  in  April.  1869.  Our  subject 
was  born  in  Aurora  Township,  October  4,  1824,  and  worked  in  the  factory 
until  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  Avas  sent  to  Granville  College,  Licking 
Co.,  Ohio,  the  only  Baptist  College  in  the  State.  He  began  the  study  of  law 
in  1846,  under  Gen.  Knox,  of  Chagrin  Falls,  Ohio,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  Canton,  Ohio,  in  1848,  commencing  practice  in  Ravenna  soon  after. 
Subsequently  he  was  appointed  Examiner  of  School  Teachers,  and  in  1852 
elected  County  Recorder,  serving  three  years,  and  was  three  times  elected  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  for  Ravenna  Township.  He  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army, 
August  12,  1862,  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry;  was  subsequently  appointed  Ordnance  Sergeant;  was  at  the  front 
from  the  time  he  entered  the  service  till  close  of  the  war,  and  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Fort  Mitchel,  Ky.,  siege  of  Knoxville,  Gen.  Sherman's  Atlanta 
campaign,  and  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Columbia,  Wil- 
mington and  Fort  Fisher,  being  mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Cleveland,  in  July, 
1865.  In  1866  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court,  occupying 
the  position  six  years.  In  1875  he  secured  a  charter  for  the  "  People's  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  which  he  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Directors.  Mr.  Jackson  has  since  conducted  an  extensive  insur- 
ance business,  and  ceased  the  practice  of  law.  He  was  married  in  1848  to 
Mabel,  daughter  of  Guy  Doolittle,  of  this  county,  and  to  this  union  has  been 
born  one  child — Frances  J.,  wife  of  L.  P.  Seymour,  of  Ravenna,  Ohio.  Mr. 
Jackson  is,  and  has  been  for  twenty-tive  years,  an  active  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  also  an  ardent  Mason;  became  a  member  of  Unity 
Lodge,  No.  12,  in  1853,  of  which  he  is  a  Past  Master,  a  member  of  Tyran 
Royal  Arch  Chapter,  and  a  frater  of  Commandery  No.  25,  Knights  Templar 
and  Malta. 

DAVID  JENNINGS  (deceased)  was  born  January  1,  1771,  in  Bradford, 
Mass.  He  married  Miss  Hannah  Wellman,  who  was  born  in  Lyndeboro,Hillsboro, 
Co.,  N.  H.,  September  13,  1769,  and  they  came  to  this  county  in  1802,  purchas- 
ing in  October,  of  Benjamin  Tappan,  115  acres  of  wild  land.  This  part  of 
the  country  was  then  entirely  in  the  wilderness.  They  had  to  go  to  George- 
town, Penn.,  to  market,  paying  $7  to  bring  home  a  barrel  of  flour  that  cost  $3. 
Their  children    were  Solomon,  who  died  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county. 


832  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

April  6,  1840,  aged  forty-three;  David,  Jr.,  who  died  in  Ravenna  Township, 
this  county,  January  25,  1862,  aged  sixty-three;  Daniel  W.,  who  died  in 
Shalersville,  September  17,  1874,  aged  seventy-four,  (the  day  of  his  death  was 
just  seventy  two  years  from  the  time  he  reached  this  county);  Mrs.  Hannah 
H.  Cutler,  died  June  10,  1835,  aged  thirty -one;  Squire  L. ,  now  living  in 
Ravenna;  and  Lewis  E.  Mrs.  Jennings  died  April  3,  1840,  aged  seventy.  Mr. 
Jennings  died  January  10,  1856,  aged  eighty-five.  He  was  an  honest,  upright 
man,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Daniel  W.  Jerinings  held  many  public 
positions,  including  that  of  Sheriff  of  Portage  County,  Superintendent  of 
County  Infirmary  and  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Henry  C  (son  of  Solomon  Jen- 
nings), a  Lieatenant  in  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
served  as  Sheriff  of  the  county  two  terms,  during  which  he  executed  the  mur- 
derer Jack  Cooper. 

SQUIRE  L.  JENNINGS,  retired,  Ravenna,  was  born  December  28,  1807, 
in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  being  the  second  oldest  white  boy  born  in 
the  township  now  living.  On  October  22,  1833,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy 
A.  Sapp,  born  in  Maryland  in  1810,  daughter  of  Jacob  Sapp,  of  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county.  To  this  union  were  born  Sylvester  F.  and  Mrs. 
Anginette  Bosworth  (latter  deceased).  They  lived  on  a  farm  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship until  1845,  when  they  sold  out  and  have  resided  in  Ravenna  since.  From 
that  time  Mr.  Jennings  has  followed  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner.  He 
has  been  very  active  in  public  affairs,  and  has  held  the  positions  of  Deputy 
Sheriff,  Constable  and  Trustee  at  different  times. 

LEWIS  E.  JENNINGS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  July  14,  1811, 
on  the  farm  which  he  now  occupies.  He  shared  the  usual  lot  of  pioneer  boys 
and  attended  school  in  the  old  log-schoolhouse  of  the  home  district.  He  was 
married,  January  22,  1833,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Knowlton,  born  in  New  Sharon, 
Kennebec  Co.,  Maine,  January  14,  1813,  and  came  to  Ravenna,  this  county, 
in  1832.  To  this  union  have  been  born  twelve  children,  seven  now  living: 
Mrs.  Hanna  H.  Wain,  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Elizabeth  Amelia;  George  W.  and 
Mrs.  Martha  W.  Gledhill  (twins,  and  being  born  February  22,  they  were  named 
for  Gen.  Washington  and  his  wife  respectively);  Helen  M. ;  Ai-minta  L.  and 
Albert  B.  The  five  deceased  died  in  early  life.  Since  their  marriage  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jennings  have  resided  on  the  homestead  farm.  Here  they  own  a  comfort- 
able home  of  189  acres  of  well-improved  land.  Mr.  Jennings  has  held  the 
office  of  Trustee,  and  has  been  School  Director  thirty  years.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Democrat. 

DAVID  JENNINGS  (deceased)  was  born  September  18,  1798,  in  Hartford, 
Me.,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1802  with  his  parents.  He  married, 
November  13, 1825,  Miss  Hannah  Rawson,  born  in  Warwick,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass., 
December  16,  1808,  and  came  to  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  in  1815, 
with  her  parents,  Elliott  and  Sarah  (Williams)  Rawson.  Mr.  Rawson  purchased 
a  tract  of  400  acres  of  land,  adjoining  the  western  corporation  line  of  Ravenna. 
He  died  in  1825,  leaving  six  children  :  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Price(now  deceased),  Mrs. 
Hannah  Jennings,  Ebenezer  (deceased),  Mrs.  Sarah  Clark,  Mrs.  Czarina  Harper, 
and  Elliott  (latter  deceased).  After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jennings 
settled  on  their  property  in  Ravenna  Township,  three  miles  north  of  Ravenna. 
Here  Mr.  Jennings  died,  January  25,  1862.  He  was  a  man  of  upright  integ- 
rity, and  exerted  a  good  influence  in  the  community.  He  was  a  life-long  and  con- 
sistent Democrat.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  public  affairs  in  the  township  ; 
held  the  office  of  Township  Trustee  and  other  township  offices.  Mrs.  Jennings 
still  resides  with  one  of  her  two  sons,  on  the  family  homestead. 

ANDREW^  JACKSON  JENNINGS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born 
January  15,  1827,  in  Ravenna,  this  county.     October  11,  1849,  he  was  married 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  833 

to  Miss  Sophia  P.  Trowbridge,  born  in  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  March  14,  1825. 
Her  parents,  Daniel  and  Sallie  (Blakely)  Trowbridge,  former  a  native  of  Frank- 
lin County,  Mass.,  came  to  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  in  October,  1833. 
They  moved  to  Hudson,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1852,  where  Mr.  Trowbridge 
died  in  February,  1881,  and  where  his  widow  still  resides.  After  his  father's 
death  our  subject  purchased  the  heirs'  interest  in  the  estate,  and  now  owns  the 
homestead.  He  is  proprietor  hereof  a  farm  of  100  acres  of  well-improved  land. 
He  takes  a  deep  interest  in  progressive  and  scientific  farming,  and  has  taken 
a  leading  part  in  the  Portage  County  Agricultural  Society. 

DR.  DAVID  RAWSON  JENNINGS,  of  Cleveland,'  Ohio,  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  H.  Monroe,  of  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  a  native  of  Nan- 
tucket, Mass.  He  took  a  thorough  course  in  dentistry  and  after  practicing  his 
profession  fourteen  years  in  Ravenna,  this  county,  he  located  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  in  1873.  He  is  a  skillful  and  scientific  deatist  and  has  a  large  and 
increasing  practice. 

HARLOW  S.  JOHNSON,  Health  Officer,  Ravenna,  was  born  February  1, 
1821,  in  Nelson,  this  county.  His  father,  Alanson  Johnson,  a  native  of 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  was  a  great-grandson  of  the  famous  Sir  William  Johnson, 
who  took  great  part  in  settling  a  colony  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  N.  Y.  The 
town  of  Whitehall,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  was  built  on  an  estate  of  the 
family.  Alanson  Johnson  was  a  cousin  to  Richai'd  M.  Johnson,  late  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  also  to  Mrs.  I^artin  Van  Buren,  and 
was  second  cousin  to  President  Andrew  Johnson.  He  married  Miss  Betsey 
Northrop,  of  Cornwall,  Conn.,  a  descendant  through  her  grandmother  of  the 
family  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  one  of  the  oldest  Puritan  families  of  New 
England.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  in  1816  they  came  to  this 
county,  and  settled  in  Nelson.  Of  their  five  children  Mrs.  Elizabeth  S.  Spen- 
cer now  lives  in  Windham,  this  county;  Mrs.  Antoinette  Couch,  of  Nelson, 
died  July  6,  1884,  aged  seventy;  Mrs.  Julia  Hunt,  of  Nelson,  died  April  6, 
1884,  aged  sixty-six,  and  one  daughter  died  in  childhood.  The  father  and 
mother  lived  the  lives  of  useful  pioneers  and  were  honored  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends.  She  died  March  6,  1877,  aged  eighty-three.  He  died  January  2, 
1880,  aged  eighty-eight.  Our  subject  was  their  only  son.  He  married  Miss 
Emily  Baldwin,  of  Nelson,  'August  22,  1844.  She  was  born  October  19,  1827, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Baldwin,  who  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
that  township,  having  come  from  Granville,  Mass.,  in  1803.  Her  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Hannah  Clark,  a  native  of  Cornwall,  Conn.  To  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Johnson  have  been  born  four  children :  Loren  Alanson,  Auditor  of  the 
freight  department  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Railroad,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  Andrew  J.,  in  Warren,  Ohio,  inventor  of  a  successful  fire-escape 
and  Superintendent  of  the  Warren  Fire  Escape  Company;  Frank  H.  (deceased), 
late  journalist.  Bay  City,  Mich.,  and  an  infant  (deceased).  After  their  mar- 
riage Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  resided  on  their  farm  until  1872,  when  they  sold 
out  and  located  in  Ravenna.  Our  subject  has  held  the  position  of  Health 
Officer  of  the  city  since  1880.  He  is  discharging  his  duties  faithfully  and 
efficiently  and  has  put  the  city  in  first-class  sanitary  condition.  'Mr.  Johnson 
is  a  life  loDg  Democrat.  Mrs.  Johnson  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church. 

R.  B.  JOHNSON,  physician,  Ravenna,  is  a  native  of  Stark  County,  Ohio, 
born  November  14,  1839.  His  grandfather,  Joseph  Johnson,  was  a  pioneer  of 
Stark  County,  settling  in  the  woods  in  1822,  and  clearing  a  farm  where  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  years.  John  Johnson,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
who  was  born  in  Fayette  County,   Penn.,   in   1815,  married  Esther  Holloway 


834  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

and  resides  on  the  farm  where  he  first  settled.  Oi  their  children,  three  are 
now  living:  R.  B.,  Nathan  W.  and  Sarah,  wife  of  Isaac  Scott,  of  Kosciusko 
County,  Ind.  Our  subject  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  received  the  advan- 
tages of  a  common  school  education,  attending  also  the  high  school  of  Alliance, 
Ohio.  He  taught  school  for  four  successive  winters,  commencing  when  nine- 
teen years  old.  He  studied  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  G.  Heaton 
(deceased),  in  Alliance,  and  graduated  at  the  Cleveland  Homoeopathic  College 
in  1869.  The  same  year  he  began  practice  in  Ravenna,  where  he  has  since 
remained.  He  was  married,  in  Washington  County,  Penn.,  in  November, 
1861,  to  Elizabeth  Lilley,  by  whom  he  had  six  children,  three  now  living: 
Nellie  L.,  Thaddeus  L.  and  George  D.  The  Doctor  has  won  popularity  both 
as  a  physician  and  as  a  citizen,  and  has  given  successful  advancement  to 
Charles  D.  Painter,  of  Alliance,  and  M.  G.  McBride,  of  Ravenna,  both  of 
whom  are  practicing  physicians.  He  united  with  the  Disciples  Church  in  1860, 
and  has  held  some  official  position  for  the  last  iifteen  years,  and  is  now  an 
Eider  in  said  church.     He  is  an  honored  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

DAVID  O.  KELLOGG,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  December  2, 
1809,  in  Hampden  County,  Mass.  He  came  to  Freedom  Township,  this 
county,  in  1828,  with  his  parents,  David  and  Ruth  (Lambson)  Kellogg,  who 
afterward  moved  to  South  Shenango  Township,  Crawford  Co.,  Penn.,  where 
they  resided  until  their  death.  Our  subject  married  Miss  Mary  Ann  Hoskin 
in  1837.  She  died  May  2,  1840,  leaving  one  daughter — Mrs.  Mary  Ann 
Brown  (now  deceased).  Mr.  Kellogg  afterward  married  Miss  Harriet  Hoskin, 
December  9,  1840.  They  had  two  daughters:  Mrs.  Jeanette  McClintock  and 
Lovisa,  the  latter  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kellogg  located  in  1866  in 
Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  and  purchased  a  farm,  their  present  home,  near 
the  city,  and  this  they  have  improved.  They  are  pious  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  our  subject  belonged  for  over  fifty 
years,  and  Mrs.  Kellogg  for  over  forty  years.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is 
one  of  the  leading  pioneer  citizens  of  this  county,  and  is  highly  respected  by 
the  entire  community. 

WILLIAM  KING  (deceased).  Among  the  early  settlers,  and  the  first  of 
this  family  who  located  in  this  county,  was  William  King,  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Blandford,  Mass.,  of  Irish  descent.  He  moved  with  his  wife  and  two 
children,  Robert  and  John  B. ,  and  arrived  in  Charlestown,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio, 
in  1811,  where  he  located,  bought  a  farm  and  resided  for  several  years.  Sub- 
sequently he  removed  to  Ravenna,  and  commenced  keeping  the  Exchange 
Hotel  on  the  south  side  of  the  Square,  east  of  Court  House  (now  used  for  busi- 
ness purposes).  Afterward  he  kept  hotel  in  another  building,  and  remained  in 
that  line  of  business  mitil  he  retired  from  active  life.  He  died  June  20,  1842, 
leaving  a  family  of  four  children:  Robert,  John  B.,  Eli  P.,  Mary  A.,  now  the 
vfife  of  Dr.  A.  B.  Woodworth,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.  His  widow,  Betsey  (Black) 
King,  died  in  1853.  Mr.  King  was  exceedingly  energetic  and  pushing  in 
business  affairs,  and  left  a  comfortable  property. 

GEN.  JOHN  B.  KING  (deceased),  son  of  William  King,  whose  sketch 
appears  above,  was  born  in  Blandford,  Mass. ,  March  30,  1807,  and  was  about  four 
years  of  age  when  his  father  settled  in  this  county.  During  his  youth  he 
attended  the  public  schools  of  Ravenna  and  there  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
good  education.  Subsequently  he  took  a  classical  course  in  the  Western 
Reserve  College.  He  entertained  a  desire  to  become  a  lawyer,  and  for  some 
time  be  was  engaged  in  the  study  of  that  pi-ofession  at  Ravenna,  though  never 
admitted  to  the  bar.  When  twenty-three  years  of  age,  February  7,  1830,  Mr. 
King  was  married  to  Miss  Caroline  M.  Selby,  a  native  of  Palmyra,  N.  Y. ,  and 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  835 

a  daughter  of  Judge  Ira  Selby,  from  that  State.  Judge  Selby  at  this  time 
kept  the  Globe  Hotel  at  Raveuna,  and  as  Gen.  King  and  his  young  wife's  par- 
ents were  both  hotel -keepers,  it  was  that  business  our  subject  adopted,  and  he 
soon  after  became  proprietor  of  the  Exchange  Hotel,  which  he  carried  on  for 
six  or  seven  years.  He  then  purchased  a  farm  adjoining  the  village  of 
Ravenna  and  followed  agricviltural  pursuits,  buying  and  selling  stock  in  con- 
nection the  remainder  of  his  life.  Gen.  King  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
he  took  an  active  part  in  all  public  affairs.  He  served  the  township  in  some 
local  offices,  and  was  always  an  earnest  advocate  and  supporter  of  the  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  county.  In  religious  convictions  he  was  a  XJniversalist, 
and  he  assisted  largely  in  the  organization  of  the  society  in  Ravenna,  contrib- 
uting liberally  toward  it,  and  furnishing  most  of  the  timber  used  in  erecting 
the  present  church  building  at  Ravenna.  On  the  construction  of  the  Cleveland 
&  Pittsburgh  Railroad  he  was  one  of  the  incorporators,  a  large  stockholder  and 
a  Director.  In  his  younger  days  he  was  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  State 
militia,  serving  in  the  ranks,  and  rose  subsequently  through  every  official 
grade  to  that  of  Major-General.  During  the  civil  war,  at  the  time  of  Mor- 
gan's raid,  he  organized  a  company  of  volunteers  called  the  "  Squirrel 
Hunters,"  which  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  but  the  emergency  having  passed 
over  they  were  disbanded  and  returned  home.  This  company  was  made  up  of 
men  of  over  forty-five  years  of  age,  and  each  of  them  received  a  lithographed 
"Squirrel  Hunter's"  discharge,  embellished  with  the  portrait  and  charac- 
teristic autograph  of  His  Excellency,  Gov.  Tod,  one  of  which  is  now  in  pos- 
session of  J.  D.  King.  His  first  wife  dying  in  1852,  Mr.  King  was  married 
the  second  time,  September  .18,  1855,  to  Phebe  Warner,  daughter  of  Jiidge 
Jonathan  Warner,  of  Jefferson,  Ashtabula  County,  who  bore  him  one  child — 
Flora  L.  Gen.  John  B.  King  died  April  2,  1864,  leaving  seven  children  in 
all:  William  L.,  Ira  S. ,  Joseph  D.,  Henrietta  L.  (now  Mrs.  Clinton  C.  Can- 
field,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio),  Frances  B.,  John  B.  and  Flora  L.  The  widow  now 
resides  in  Cleveland. 

*•  CAPT.  JOSEPH  D.  KING,  a  son  of  Gen.  John  B.  King,  was  born  March 
21,  1836,  at  Ravenna,  this  county,  and  passed  his  youth  on  his  father's  farm 
adjoining  Ravenna,  daring  which  period  he  attended  the  village  schools,  grad- 
uating at  the  Union  Schools  of  that  place.  Subsequently  he  attended  Tappan 
Seminary.  He  read  law  in  the  office  of  John  L.  Ranney,  intending  to  teach 
school  at  intervals  in  order  to  obtain  the  money  wherewithal  to  continue  his 
studies,  but  his  health  having  failed  he  was  obliged  to  discontinue  his  legal 
studies,  and  shortly  afterward  made  a  visit  South  for  his  health,  extending 
over  a  period  of  eighteen  months.  Returning  from  Texas  in  June,  the  follow- 
ing September  he  went  to  Vassal boro  Township,  Kennebec  Co.,  Me.,  where, 
September  19,  1860,  he  was  married  to  a  former  schoolmate  at  Tappan  Sem- 
inary, Miss  Lvicy  L.,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  Homans,  of  that 
place,  and  returned  with  his  bride  to  Portage  County.  Two  children  were  the 
result  of  this  union:  Stephen  G.  O.,  born  December  26,  1867,  and  Frederick 
B.,  bom  March  5,  1872.  He  engaged  in  farming  near  Campbellsport.  The 
war  breaking  out  in  1861,  our  subject  was  among  the  first  to  offer  his  services 
in  defense  of  the  Union,  and  organized  a  company  of  artillery,  which  was 
afterward  consolidated  with  Company  I,  First  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Light 
Artillery,  of  which  he  was  elected  First  Lieutenant.  They  reported  soon 
afterward  for  service  at  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  on  the  Kanawha  River.  In  June, 
1862,  while  convalescent  at  hospital,  and  some  eighty  miles  inside  the  Union 
lines,  he  and  his  cousin,  William  King,  were  taken  prisoner  by  a  detachment 
of  Ashby's  Rebel  cavalry.     They  were  kept  prisoners  at  Lynchburg,  Staunton, 


836  BIOGRArHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Va.,  Salisbury,  and  from  Salisbury  were  moved  to  Libby  Prison,  at  which 
place  they  were  confined  ten  days,  when  they  were  fortunate  in  being  paroled 
and  thus  escaped  the  horrors  of  that  prison.  Mr.  Kinor  was  then  ordered  to 
Columbus,  Ohio,  and  was  put  in  command  of  the  paroled  prisoners'  camp, 
where  he  remained  until  his  resignation  in  November,  1862.  He  then 
returned  home  and  embarked  in  the  milling  business  at  Campbellsport,  this 
county,  also  in  company  with  his  brother  built  the  Atlantic  Mills  at  Ravenna, 
and  was  engaged  in  this  industry  two  years,  since  when  he  has  given  his  entire 
attention  to  farming.  He  owns  100  acres  partly  in  and  partly  adjoining  the 
village  corporation,  where  he  resides.  In  politics  Capt.  King  is  Democratic. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church. 

PETER  KING,  grocer  and  provision  dealer,  Ravenna,  was  born  June  29, 
1813,  in  County  Clare,  Ireland,  where  his  parents,  Michael  and  Ellen  King, 
resided  until  their  death.  Our  subject  there  married,  February  15,  1835, 
Ellen  Reidy.  In  1848  he  came  to  America  to  make  preparations  for  his  family, 
then  sent  for  them  to  join  him  fifteen  months  thereafter.  After  spending 
some  time  in  Chittenden  County,  Vt.,  they  came  to  Earlville,  Ohio,  in  1851, 
and  finally  located  in  Ravenna,  November  9,  1854.  Here  Mr.  King  worked 
about  seven  years  on  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  and  was  about 
three  years  engaged  in  draying.  He  then  established  his  present  business, 
which  he  has  ever  since  carried  on.  Of  the  eleven  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  King,  two  died  in  the  mother  country,  and  four  in  America.  Those  now 
living  are  Mrs.  Mary  Carny,  Mrs.  Bridget  Donahue,  Mrs.  Ellen  Gallagher, 
Mrs.  Maggie  Hopper,  and  Elizabeth,  a  graduate  of  St.  Mary's  Academy,  Notre 
Dame,  Ind.,  and  who  has  been  for  several  years  successfully  engaged  in  teach- 
ing. Their  son,  Michael,  was  killed  in  an  explosion  on  the  Cleveland  &  Pitts- 
burgh Railroad,  at  Hanover,  Ohio,  March  11,  1862.  He  was  an  upright  and 
promising  young  man,  and  left  many  friends.  Mr.  King  and  his  entire  family 
are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  pillars,  and 
was  largely  influential  in  establishing  and  building  it  up  at  Ravenna. 

BERNARD  KINNEY,  capitalist,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Corracloona, 
County  Leitrim,  Ireland,  June  24,  1830,  and  there  married  Miss  Mary  Gil- 
bride.  They  immigrated  to  America  in  1855,  came  at  once  to  Ohio  and  settled 
in  Ravenna  in  about  two  years  thereafter.  Here  our  subject  acted  as  Section 
Boss  on  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  for  about  fifteen  years.  He 
opened  a  grocery  and  provision  store  in  Ravenna,  which  was  carried  on  by  his 
family  for  about  four  years  previous  to  his  retirement  from  the  railroad.  He 
has  also  been  engaged  in  several  successful  real  estate  dealings,  purchasing 
tracts  of  timber  land  and  developing  and  improving  them.  B^e  purchased  in 
1866  what  was  known  as  the  old  State  Bank  Building,  which  he  still  occupies; 
besides  this  he  has  built  and  established  a  grocery  store  for  his  son,  and  he 
owns  several  other  valuable  pieces  of  property  in  various  parts  of  the  city. 
He  is  agent  for  three  Atlantic  Ocean  steamship  companies,  viz.:  the  Cunard, 
the  Williams  &  Guion  and  the  Anchor  lines.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kinney  have 
been  born  ten  children:  James,  Mary  Ann  (now  Sister  Cammillus  in  the  Ursu- 
line  Convent,  Toledo,  Ohio),  John,  Catherine  (deceased).  Rose  (a  teacher  in 
the  Catholic  school,  and  organist  in  the  church  at  this  place),  Sarah  (died  Sep- 
tember 10,  1883),  Bernard,  Thomas,  Agnes  and  Charley.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kin- 
ney and  their  entire  family  are  consistent  members  of  the  Catholic  Clmrch. 
Onr  subject  was  the  leading  spirit  in  establishing  and  building  up  the  church 
at  Ravenna. 

EDWARD  KNAPP,  manufacturer,  Ravenna,  was  born  January  23,  1820, 
in  Charlestown,  this  county.     His  father,   Junia  Knapp,  a  native  of  Connec- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  837 

ticut,  went  to  Northampton,  Mass.,  in  early  boyhood  with  his  pai'ents.  There 
he  married  Miss  Martha  Edwards,  and  the  entire  family  then  came  to  this 
county  and  settled  in  Charlestown  Township,  in  1815.  The  family  of  Junia 
and  Martha  (Edwards)  Knapp  consisted  of  six  girls,  of  whom  three  now  live, 
and  six  boys,  of  whom  live  are  now  living.  Edward,  Robert,  Dwight,  and  Mrs. 
Sallie  M.  Palmer  all  reside  in  Ravenna.  The  parents  moved  to  Ravenna  in 
1865,  Mr.  Knapp,  dying  October  2  of  the  same  year,  and  his  widow  April 
30,  1867.  Our  subject  remained  with  his  parents  and  assisted  them  in  con- 
ducting the  farm.  He  married,  September  15,  1857,  Mrs.  Charlotte  C.  Parker, 
of  Chester,  Conn.,  where  her  father,  Ely  Dickenson,  resided  until  his  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knapp  moved  to  Ravenna  in  1860.  Here  our  subject  carried  on 
a  foundry  on  Main  Street,  in  partnership  with  his  brothers,  Robert,  Dwight 
and  Henry,  until  their  establishment  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  August,  1876. 
Our  subject  then  built  the  foundry  near  Pittsburgh  depot,  which  he  carried  on 
nntil  October,  1875.  He  now  rents  it  to  the  Haley  Bros.  He  established 
a  pump  factory  in  partnership  with  his  brother  Robert  in  1875,  and  they  have 
since  carried  on  the  only  pump  factory  in  Ravenna.  They  manufacture  a  com- 
plete line  of  suction,  force  and  rubber  bucket  pumps.  Their  goods  have  an 
excellent  reputation,  and  are  sold  throughout  Ohio,  New  York,  Pennsylvania 
and  other  Eastern  and  Southern  States.  Mrs.  Knapp  is  an  adherent  of  the 
Baptist  faith.  Mr.  Knapp  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  Robert  Knapp  was  born  April  8, 
1828.  He  married  Elizabeth  Carson,  October  4,  1854.  Their  children  are 
Mrs.  Clara  A.  Linton  and  Arthur  D. 

W.  S.  KRAKE,  Postmaster,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Jefferson  County,  N. 
Y. ,  in  1840,  son  of  James  and  Sally  (Wadsworth)  Krake,  natives  of  New  York 
State  (both  deceased.)  James  Krake,  who  was  a  manufacturer  of  fanning- 
mills  in  Jefferson  County,  was  prominently  identified  with  and  was  an  officer  in 
the  State  militia.  Our  subject  was  but  twelve  years  of  age  when  his  father 
died.  He  enlisted  in  186'2  in  the  Fifth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  receiv- 
ing promotion  to  Second  Lieutenant,  in  which  rank  he  was  discharged  at  the 
close  of  three  years'  service.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Shenandoah 
Valley,  at  Winchester,  and  in  the  general  skirmishes,  serving  most  of  the 
time,  however,  on  detailed  duty.  He  carae  to  this  county  soon  after  the  war 
and  engaged  as  salesman  in  a  dry  goods  and  clothing  business.  In  May, 
1869,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Postmaster  at  Ravenna,  and  in  April,  1873, 
was  promoted  to  be  Postmaster  by  President  Grant,  occupying  the  position  to 
the  present  time.  Mr.  Krake  was  married  in  Lewis  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1861, 
to  Amelia  U.  Mitchel,  who  bore  him  one  child — Florence  M.,  an  active  assist- 
ant to  her  father.  Mr.  Krake  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 
and  R.  A. 

JAMES  LIKENS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  October  17,  1816,  in 
Brighton,  Beaver  Co.,  Penn.  His  parents,  Thomas  and  Juda  Likens,  came  to 
this  county  in  April,  1888,  and  after  living  three  years  in  Rootstown  Town- 
ship finally  settled  across  the  line  in  Ravenna  Township.  Thomas  Likens  was 
a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  followed  the  occupation  of  iron  molder 
before  locating  here.  He  was  one  of  the  old- time  Democrats,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  public  affairs.  He  served  the  township  as  Trustee  one  term.  He 
died  February  12,  1872,  aged  eighty-four  years.  His  widow  followed  him  May 
20,  1880,  in  her  ninety-fifth  year.  They  were  pious  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Of  their  nine  children,  six  are  now  living:  James,  Lewis,  Thomas 
and  Mrs.  Alvira  Hartle,  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county;  Mrs.  Emma  J. 
Hartle,  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  and  Josiah,  in  Iowa.  Our  subject 
married,  March  6,  1851,  Miss  Mary  M.  Caris,  born  July  15,  1828,  and  daugh- 


838  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

ter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Cauis,  of  Rootstown  Township  (now  decieased).  To 
this  union  have  been  born  three  children  now  living:  Ellery  O. ,  James  Calvin 
and  Hattie  Minerva.  John  W.  died  in  infancy,  and  Mettie  M.  died  at  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Since  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Likens  have  resided  on 
the  farm  which  they  now  own.  Here  they  have  a  line  property  of  eighty  acres 
of  well-improved  land.  Mr.  Likens  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.      In  politics  he  is  a  life-long  Democrat. 

ISAIAH  LINTON,  civil  engineer,  Ravenna,  was  born  September  29,  1817, 
in  Washington  County,  Penn.,  whei'e  his  parents,  Mahlon  and  Ann  (Hillis) 
Linton,  resided  until  their  death.  At  eighteen  years  of  age  our  subject 
entered  the  engineer  service  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  on  which  he 
was  engaged  for  four  years.  He  was  then  employed  on  the  Pittsburgh  &  Con- 
nellsville  Railroad  until  1847,  when  he  came  to  Ohio  and  entered  the  service 
of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Road  as  Assistant  Engineer,  on  which  he  has 
since  remained.  In  1840  Mr.  Linton  married  Miss  Victoria  Dutton,  of  "Wash- 
ington County,  Penn.  She  died  in  1844,  leaving  one  daughter — Mrs.  Ellen 
Galway,  of  West  Virginia.  Mr.  Linton  afterward  married,  in  1849,  Miss  Mary 
Riley,  of  Brownsville,  Penn.,  and  in  1852  they  settled  in  Ravenna,  where  they 
have  since  resided.  Their  children  are  William  H.,  Luther  (deceased)  and 
Edith.  William  H.  married  Miss  Clara  Knapp,  of  this  place.  He  has  also 
adopted  the  profession  of  civil  engineer,  and  is  engaged  on  the  Cleveland  & 
Pittsburgh  Railroad  with  his  father.  Mr.  Linton  has  held  the  position  of 
Trustee  of  Ravenna  about  four  years;  has  been  on  the  Board  of  Education 
two  years;  has  held  the  office  of  County  Surveyor  from  1862  to  1864,  and  was 
mainly  influential  in  the  establishment  of  the  Ravenna  Gas  Light  &  Coke 
Company,  of  which  he  has  been  President  since  it  organization  in  1873.  In 
politics  our  subject  is  a  Republican. 

SQUIRE  ELEAZER  LORD,  dealer  in  real  estate,  Ravenna,  was  born 
December  17,  1823,  in  Norwich,  Conn.  His  parents,  Lynds  and  Priscilla 
(Potter)  Lord,  natives  of  the  same  place,  lived  in  Fairview,  Erie  Co., Penn., 
from  1829  to  1836,  and  in  Ellsworth,  Trumbull  (now  Mahoning)  Co.,  Ohio, 
from  1836  to  1858.  Lynds  Lord  died  in  April,  1856,  and  in  1858  his  widow 
and  the  family  came  to  Ravenna.  Here  the  mother  died  in  March,  1876. 
They  raised  a  family  of  nine  children:  Mary  A.,  died  in  1871;  Rev.  Nathan 
L.,  was  a  graduate  of  Hudson  College  and  a  missionary  to  the  East  Indies  (he 
died  in  New  York  City  in  January,  1868);  Mrs.  Carrie  P.  Bingham,  in  Santa 
Barbara,  Cal. ;  Rufus,  in  Durand,  111.;  Charles  F.,  in  Chicago,  111.;  David  H., 
was  born  December  5,  1827,  married  Henrietta  F.  Bingham  September  29, 
1853  (their  children  are  Mrs.  Laura  A.  Sanford,  in  Le  Sueur,  Minn.;  Helen  H., 
Ginevra  J. ;  Frank  L. ;  Mary  B. ,  and  Hattie  G.  Mr.  Lord  settled  in  Ravenna  in 
1873,where  he  has  been  chiefly  engaged  in  dealing  in  real  estate);  Eleazer;  Laura; 
A.,  died  in  Ellsworth  in  1851;  William  Thomas,  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1859. 
Our  subject  received  his  education  in  the  academies  at  Ellsworth,  Ohio,  and 
Fredonia,  N.  Y.  He  married,  April  8,  1865,  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  Lewis,  of  Palmyra,  Ohio.  They  have  one  daughter,  Lydia  C,  and 
one  son,  Louis  E.  Squire  Lord  has  been  for  sixteen  years  a  very  successful 
dealer  in  real  estate.  He  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  July,  1872,  and 
again  in  April,  1876.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  Mrs.  Lord  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  Church. 

BYRON  B.  LOUGHEAD,  A.  B.,  M.  D.,  Ravenna,  was  born  January  29, 
1847,  in  Charlestown  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Richard  W.  Longh- 
ead, a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  and  here 
married  Miss  Maria   Foster,  daughter  of  the  pioneers,  Eliakim  and  Wealthy 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  839 

Poster,  of  Mantua  Township,  this  county,  and  who  came  from  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  to  this  county,  in  about  1835,  residing  in  Mantua  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Our  subject's  parents  resided  in  Charlestown  Township,  this  county, 
about  thirteen  years,  finally  settling  in  Windham  Township  in  February,  1858. 
The  mother  died  January  28,  1884;  the  father  still  resides  in  Windham  Cen- 
ter. Our  subject,  after  receiving  instruction  in  the  schools  of  the  home  dis- 
trict and  the  academy  in  Windham  and  attending  two  years  at  Hiram  College, 
entered  upon  a  course  of  study  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  graduated  from  that 
institution  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1875.  He  supported  himself  entirely 
by  teaching  between  the  sessions.  He  held  the  position  of  Principal  of  the 
high  school  at  Tallmadge,  Ohio,  two  winters.  After  his  graduation  he  at 
once  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  T.  C.  Miller,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Wooster,  Ohio,  at  which  institution  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  February  28, 
1877.  He  then  located  in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  in  Windham, 
this  county.  In  January  and  February  of  1883  he  took  a  post-graduate  course 
in  the  New  York  Polyclinic.  In  September,  1884,  the  Doctor  established  in 
Ravenna,  where  he  has  rapidly  built  up  an  influential  practice.  He  is  genial 
and  courteous  in  manner,  and  is  recognized  as  a  skillful  and  scientific  physi- 
cian. Dr.  Loughead  married,  October  31,  1878,  Miss  Mary  Alvord,  of  Bolton, 
Conn.,  and  they  have  two  children:  Charles  Foster  and  Mary  Alvord.  Mrs. 
Loughead  graduated  in  the  ladies'  course  at  Oberlin  College  in  1874.  Our  sub- 
ject and  wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  the  Doctor  having 
joined  at  Windham  when  but  eighteen  years  of  age. 

DARIUS  LYMAN  (deceased),  born  at  Goshen,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  July 
19,  1789,  died  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  December  13,  1867,  aged  seventy-six  years, 
five  months.  He  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  the  class  of  1810.  Soon 
after  he  entered  the  law  school  at  Litchfield,  then  under  the  charge  of  Judge 
Gould,  where  by  diligent  application  to  his  studies  he  soon  won  the  respect  of 
his  distinguished  teacher  and  all  those  who  were  associated  with  him.  After 
leaving  the  Litchfield  Law  School  he  went  to  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  and  in  order 
to  more  fully  perfect  his  legal  studies  he  spent  several  months  in  the  law  office 
of  Hon.  Henry  Baldwin,  subsequently  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  In  the  spring  of  1814  he  came  to  this  county, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  established  himself  permanently  in  his  profession 
in  Ravenna.  He  was  soon  appointed  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  county,  and 
in  1816  was  elected  to  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature  for  two  years.  In 
1828  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  where  he  served  two  terms  ending  in 
1832.  In  the  fall  of  the  latter  year  he  was  the  anti-Masonic  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  was  defeated  by  Robert  Lucas  by  a  small  majority.  Judge  Lyman 
has  ever  been  regarded  *  one  of  the  pioneer  lawyers  of  Portage  County. 
Although  not  a  brilliant  advocate,  his  thorough  knowledge  of  legal  principles, 
his  unswerving  integrity  and  love  of  justice  gave  him  great  influence  with 
both  court  and  jury,  which  made  him  a  formidable  competitor.  For  some 
years  he  was  in  partnership  with  the  late  Hon.  Luther  Day.  Judge  Lyman 
acquired  an  extensive  practice  in  Portage  and  adjoining  counties.  His  well- 
balanced,  clear  and  discriminating  mind,  inflexible  uprightness  and  unsullied 
purity  of  heart  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  was 
an  ardent  friend  of  education,  and  for  many  years  an  efficient  member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Western  Reserve  College.  He  early  identified  him- 
self with  the  Free  Soil  party,  and  in  1850  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  on 
that  ticket.  This  was  his  last  service  as  legislator.  In  1855  he  was  elected 
Probate  Judge  of  Portage  County,  was  re-elected  and  occupied   the  position 


840  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

until  1864.  After  retiring  from  the  Judgeship  he  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  lived  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Our  subject  was  twice  married.  He 
was  the  father  of  six  children,  some  of  them  dying  young.  His  eldest  son, 
Prof.  Darius  Lyman,  for  nearly  twenty  years  has  held  an  important  position 
in  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  D.  C.  Henry  D.  Lyman,  his 
grandson,  is  now  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General.  His  daughter,  Laura, 
is  the  widow  of  the  late  Hon.  William  S.  C.  Otis,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The 
other  surviving  children  are  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Hood,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  and 
Mrs.  Anna  L.  Wood  worth,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  all  his  relations  as  a  citizen 
Judge  Lyman  was  a  worthy  exemplar;  opposed  to  all  forms  of  oppression,  he 
was  ever  guided  by  the  highest  principles  of  honor  and  rectitude;  his  heart 
and  hands  wero  ever  ready  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  preserve  peace  and  order 
in  the  community  and  to  improve  and  elevate  society. 

JOHN  S.  MARVIN,  dealer  in  lumber,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
Niagara  (now  Erie)  Co.,  N.  Y.,  May  30,  1831.  The  family  are  descended 
from  the  well-known  Marvins,  fii-st  settlers  at  Saybrook,  Conn.  His  immediate 
ancestors  for  four  generations  were  residents  of  Litchfield  County,  Conn.  His 
great-grandparents  died  of  small-pox  contracted  from  Burgoyne's  Army,  then 
passing  through  the  country.  His  mother  died  in  Lancaster,  N.  Y. ,  when  he 
was  four  years  of  age,  and  his  father  returned  to  Connecticut,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  Our  subject  learned  the  shoe-maker's  trade  under  the  old 
apprentice  system,  in  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  and  came  to  Ravenna,  Ohio, 
June  25,  1855.  After  spending  two  years  in  traveling  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee, he  finally' settled  here  in  1857,  and  was  in  the  boot,  shoe  and  leather 
business  until  1867.  Here  he  married,  November  20,  1859,  Miss  Sarah  M. 
W^oodruff,  daughter  of  Chancy  and  Perlina  Woodruff,  who  came  in  1830  from 
Hartford,  Conn.,  to  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  where  Mrs.  Marvin  was 
born  April  30,  1837.  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  eight  children: 
Anna  L.,  Fannie  C.  (deceased),  Charles  L.,  Lydia  Perlina,  John  C,  Edward 
W.,  Rollie  Hutchuson,  William  Bray.  Our  subject  and  wife  have  resided  in 
Ravenna  since  their  marriage,  with  the  exception  of  fifteen  years  (1867  to 
1882)  spent  on  a  farm  in  the  western  part  of  the  township.  Mr.  Marvin  pur- 
chased an  interest  in  the  lumber  yard  with  Robert  Smith  in  1874.  Our  sub- 
ject, wife  and  eldest  daughter  are  members  of  the  Universalist  Church.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Marvin  were  kindly  remembered  by  their  numerous  friends  on  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  their  wedding,  November  20,  1884,  on  which  occa- 
sion they  received  many  beautiful  and  valuable  presents. 

JOHN  MEHARG,  attorney,  Ravenna,  is  a  native  of  County  Down,  Ire- 
land, where  he  was  born  in  1839;  son  of  James  and  Margaret  (Bingham) 
Meharg  (both  now  deceased)  who  immigrated  to  this  country  in  1852,  and 
located  on  a  farm  at  Cantield,  Ohio.  Here  our  subject  was  brought  up  and 
his  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  Mahoning  Academy  at  Canfield,  where 
he  began  the  study  of  law,  but  in  1862  he  entered  the  army  as  Sergeant  in 
Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  serving  to  the 
close  of  the  war.  He  shared  the  fortunes  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
joining  the  forces  of  Sherman  in  his  memorable  march  to  the  sea,  and  after 
passing  through  the  grand  review  at  Washington,  D.  C. ,  was  mustered  out. 
He  resumed  the  study  of  law  with  S.  W.  Gilson,  of  Canfield;  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1865,  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Ta}  lor  and  Horton  that  was 
continued  until  1872,  when  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Courts,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  nine  years.  His  relations  with  the  same  firm  were  renewed 
and  continued  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Horton  in  September,  1882,  since  when 
he  has  been  associated  with  Judge  Taylor,  of  Warren,  Ohio.     Mr.  Meharg  was 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  841 

appointed  Prosecuting  Attorney  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Mr.  Horton; 
served  as  Mayor  five  years;  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
some  years  Justice  of  the  Peace,  He  became  interested  in  the  Ravenna  Repub- 
lican in  1882,  and  now  owns  that  publication.  He  is  an  adherent  of  the  Dis- 
ciples Cliurch;  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  G,  A.  R.     He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

A.  MOSLEY  (see  history  of  press,  page  368.) 

S.  D.  NORTON,  attorney,  Ravenna.  The  name  Norton,  a  contraction  of 
North-town  or  North-ville,  is  of  English  origin.  It  is  properly  Norville,  and 
the  first  known  to  bear  it  in  this  country  were  two  brothers,  Richard  and 
Thomas,  the  former  landing  in  America  in  1620,  the  latter  in  1635;  one  set- 
tling in  Massachusetts,  the  other  at  Martha's  Vineyard.  The  great-grand- 
father of  our  subject,  Bethuel,  was  an  explorer,  employed  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. He  served  in  the  French-English  and  the  Revolutionary  wars,  and 
was  one  of  the  soldiers  who  scaled  the  Heights  of  Abraham.  Our  subject  was 
born  in  Springfield,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1825;  son  of  Thuel  and  Harriet 
(Harrington)  Norton,  the  former  of  whom,  with  his  father,  Peter,  immigrated 
to  this  State  in  1807,  and  settled  in  Summit  County,  thence  removing  to 
Hiram  Township,  this  county,  in  1832,  where  he  died.  He  was  a  carpenter  by 
trade,  and  raised  a  family  of  nine  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living.  Our 
subject  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  which  he 
abandoned  for  the  law,  the  study  of  which  he  pursued  after  having  received  a 
common  school  education,  and  was  associated  with  Charles  "W.  O'Neil,  one  of 
the  best  lawyers  of  the  State,  his  practice  being  largely  in  Allen  and  Hancock 
Counties.  He  located  in  Garrettsville  in  1858,  and  five  years  later  removed  to 
Ravenna,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  married,  in  1845,  to  Miss  Maria 
Wetherell,  a  native  of  New  York,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  the  following 
children:  Adelaide,  wife  of  George  Nichols;  Julia  M.,  wife  of  S.  R.  Poe; 
Lilia,  wife  of  N.  P.  Catlin;  and  Emma.  He  has  served  two  terms  as  Mayor 
of  Ravenna;  is  at  present  Justice  of  the  Peace;  has  been  twice  run  for  Pro- 
bate Judge  and  came  near  being  elected,  though  his  party  is  largely  in  the 
minority,  and  is  a  man  well  known  and  highly  respected. 

J.  H.  OAKLEY,  photographer,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Charlestown  Township, 
this  county,  December  9,  1842.  His  father,  Abram  Oakley,  was  a  native -of 
England,  but  left  that  country  while  yet  a  mere  boy  and  located  for  a  number 
of  years  in  Canada,  going  thence  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  finally  remov- 
ing to  Portage  County,  being  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Charlestown  Town- 
ship. In  1844  he  removed  to  this  township,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  some  time  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  Minerva  (Beach)  Oakley,  which 
occurred  in  1860.  In  1865  he  went  to  Indiana,  having  a  daughter  residing  at 
Elkhart,  at  whose  home  he  died  in  1867.  Their  children,  four  in  number,  are 
all  living,  viz.:  Maria  J.,  Julia  A.,  John  H.  and  Mary  C.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Rebellion  our  subject  was  among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  call  for  volun- 
teers, and  enlisted  for  the  three  mouths'  service  in  Company  G,  Seventh  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry.  In  October,  1861,  he  re-enlisted  for  three  years  in  Bat- 
tery I,  First  Ohio  Volunteer  Light  Artillery,  and  served  therein  until  Decem- 
ber 9,  1864,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged  by  reason  of  expiration  of 
term  of  service.  He  participated  in  many  of  the  important  battles  of  the  war, 
among  them  being  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  the  engagements  at 
McDowell,  Cross  Keys,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Mission  Ridge  and  all  the 
battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign.  In  January,  1865,  he  took  up  the  study  of 
his  profession,  and  in  July  of  that  year  formed  a  partnership  with  his  precep- 
tor, Mr.  Ford,  whom  he  succeeded  the  following  year,  and  has  since  carried 
on  the  business  alone.      In  September,  1884,  he  occupied  Room  No.  4  in  the 


842  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Opera  House  Block  on  the  ground  floor,  having  a  depth  of  120  feet,  with  new 
skylight  and  operating  room.  In  addition  to  his  regular  photographic  work, 
which  ranks  among  the  very  best  in  the  State,  he  is  a  large  dealer  in  pictures, 
frames,  art  goods,  etc.  Mr.  Oakley  was  married  in  1872  to  Miss  Isodene  E. 
Horr,  a  native  of  Shalersville,  this  county,  and  has  two  sons:  Harry  B.  and 
Warren  B.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  Encampment,  Royal  Arcanum 
and  G.  A.  R. 

LE  GRAND  A.  OLIN,  County  Auditor,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Streets- 
boro  Township,  this  county,  August  17,  1844,  grandson  of  Arvin  Olin,  and 
son  of  Ransom  and  Clarissa  M.  (Clark)  Olin.  The  family  settled  in  Franklin 
Township,  where  Arvin  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  some  years  and  lived 
to  the  close  of  his  life.  Ransom  Olin  filled  township  offices  of  trust.  He 
reared  a  family  of  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living:  Le  Grand 
A.,  Lemuel  V.  (of  Fairview,  Kan.),  Letta  L.  (wife  of  H.  L.  Kallenbaugh,  of 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.),  Leverett  W.  (of  Elmdale,  Ind.),  Leora  B.  (wife  of  C.  D. 
Banks,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn.),  Lester  R.  (of  Kent),  Lena  R.  (Pittsburgh, 
Penn.),  Leila  C.  (wife  of  W.  D.  Logan,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn.)  and  Levanche 
A.  (wife  of  Charles  Gressard,  of  Kent).  Leroy  C.  and  Leantine  N.  died 
in  childhood.  Our  subject  lived  on  the  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
when  he  learned  the  carpenter  and  joiner's  trade,  at  which  he  worked 
until  crippled  by  a  fall  at  Moscow,  Livingston  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  the  autumn  of 
1868.  This  accident  caused  paralysis  of  the  limbs,  of  which  he  has  but  little 
use.  Subsequently  he  learned  telegraphing,  which  he  followed  until  elected 
to  the  position  of  Auditor  of  this  county  in  the  fall  of  1880,  and  is  now  serv- 
ing his  second  term.  Our  subject  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss  Laura  A. , 
daughter  of  William  R.  Allen,  of  Livingston  County,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  SHAW  CHANDLER  OTIS  (deceased),  son  of  William  Otis, 
was  born  in  Cummington,  Mass.,  August  24,  1807.  In  1825  his  father  immi- 
grated to  Ohio,  leaving  his  son  to  make  his  way  through  college.  After  grad- 
uating he  accepted  the  position  of  Principal  of  Gates  Academy,  Marlboro, 
Mass.,  where  he  remained  one  year.  In  the  fall  of  1831  he  removed  to  Ohio, 
where  he  read  law  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Whittlesey  &  Newton,  in  Canfield. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  September,  1833,  and  commenced  the  practice 
of  law  in  Ravenna.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Akron,  in  the  adjoining 
county  of  Summit;  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  that  county  for  two  years, 
and  in  1850  and  1851  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  formed  the  pres- 
ent Constitution  of  Ohio.  He  was  President  of  the  Akron  branch  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Ohio  from  its  organization  in  1847  until  January,  1854,  and,  during 
most  of  that  period,  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  the  State  Bank 
of  Ohio.  In  January,  1854,  Mr.  Otis  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Cleve- 
land &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company,  and  removed  to  Cleveland  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  of  that  office.  At  the  expiration  of  the  year  be  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Cleveland,  where  he  resided  till  the  date  of  his 
death.  He  was  soon  appointed  Attorney  and  Counsellor  of  the  Cleveland  & 
Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company,  which  position  he  tilled  for  more  than  fourteen 
years  with  distinguished  ability.  Mr.  Otis  was  first  married  January  1,  1836, 
to  Miss  Hannah  Mvgatt,  daughter  of  the  late  Comfort  Mygatt,  Esq.,  of  Can- 
field,  Ohio.  Mrs.  Otis  died  April  11,  1840,  without  children.  Mr.  Otis  was 
again  married  November  1,  1842,  to  Miss  Laura  Lyman,  daughter  of  Hon. 
Darius  Lyman,  of  Ravenna.  He  had  six  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing. Mr.  Otis  died  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  July  31.  1879.  As  a  brilliant  advocate, 
able  counsellor  and  sagacious  manager,  Mr.  Otis  occupied  the  front  rank  in 
his  profession. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  843 

SYLVESTER  J.  PARMELEE,  sou  of  Leonard  and  Harriet  (Day)  Par- 
melee,  was  born  in  West  Springfield,  Mass.,  January  31,  1826,  and  came  to 
Ravenna  in  November,  1840.  He  was  in  early  life  a  teacher,  and  was  for  six 
years  a  member  of  the  firm  of  L.  Parmelee  &  Sons,  steam  flouring-mill.  He 
married,  July  17,  1855,  Miss  C.  Lorane  Hall,  born  in  Charlestown,  this 
county,  October  6,  1827,  and  daughter  of  Giles  and  Louisa  Hall.  She  came 
to  Ravenna  in  1836.  In  1845  she  went  South  and  was  engaged  for  eight  years 
teaching  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  She  did  very  noble  and  useful  work 
in  her  profession,  and  endeared  herself  to  the  hearts  of  the  young  ladies  under 
her  charge,  and  the  people  among  whom  she  labored.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parmelee 
now  reside  at  Oakwood,  their  farm  of  twenty  acres  adjoining  the  city  limits. 
They  are  earnest  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

ROBERT  S.  PEACOCK,  pi-oduce,  grain  and  coal  merchant,  Ravenna,  was 
born  February  13,  1827,  in  Camden  County,  N.  J.,  where  he  was  brought  up 
on  his  father's  farm,  and  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  home 
district.  His  parents,  William  and  Margaret  Peacock,  of  Scotch  and  English 
descent,  but  natives  of  New  Jersey  through  several  generations,  resided  on 
their  farm  in  that  State  until  their  death.  Our  subject  learned  the  trade  of 
glass  cutter,  and  came  to  Kent  (Franklin  Mills),  this  county,  when  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  He  married,  June  23,  1853,  Miss  Mary  Jane,  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Rachel  Phillips,  and  to  this  union  have  been  born  four  children: 
Addie  (deceased),  Robert  G.,  May  and  James  W.  After  working  several  years 
at  his  trade  he  went  on  a  farm,  and  in  six  years  returned  to  Kent,  finally 
locating  in  Ravenna  in  1808.  Here  Benjamin  Phillips  died  in  1876,  aged 
about  seventy-two.  After  working  some  years  at  his  trade  in  the  Diamond 
Glass  Factory,  Mr.  Peacock  engaged  in  the  wholesale  produce  business  in  1875. 
He  handles  a  general  line  of  farmers'  products,  but  now  devotes  himself  prin- 
cipally to  cheese.  In  1882  he  added  a  coal  yard  and  grain  office  to  his  bus- 
iness, making  his  eldest  son  a  partner  in  that  branch  of  the  industry.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Peacock  and  two  youngest  children  are  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

ISAAC  PHELPS,  retired,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass., 
September  12,  1809;  son  of  Zacheus  and  Rebecca  Pbelps,  both  of  Puritan 
stock.  Lewis  Phelps,  brother  of  our  subject,  located  in  Freedom  Township, 
this  county,  in  1830,  the  latter  in  same  township,  in  1837.  Our  subject  began 
dealing  in  stock  and  has  made  thirty- seven  trips  overland,  generally  by  way  of 
Buflfalo,  with  stock  which  he  sold  in  the  land  of  his  nativity.  He  subsequently 
engaged  in  the  dairy  business  and  since  his  retirement  has  erected  sixteen 
houses  on  the  west  side  of  Ravenna,  thereby  adding  to  its  growth  and  improve- 
ment. His  marriage  with  Lucinda  Sage,  of  Berkshire,  Mass.,  occurred  in 
1832.  She  died  in  1875,  in  the  sixty -sixth  year  of  her  age,  the  mother  of  ten 
children,  four  of  whom  survive:  Simeon  S.,  Isaac  H.,  Rodney  L.  and  Mark 
W.  An  infant  son,  George  Y.,  died  July  24.  1842,  aged  six  weeks;  Charles 
T.  died  February  12,  1867,  aged  twelve  years;  H.  Dwight  died  July  2,  1869, 
aged  thirty-three  years;  Hattie  S.  died  February  9,  1872,  aged  twenty-three 
years;  Darwin  E.  died  December  1,  1874,  aged  forty-one  years,  and  Mary  H. 
died  March  24,  1878,  aged  thirty-nine  years.  Mr.  Phelps  married  on  second 
occasion,  February  11,  1877,  Mrs.  Mary  J.,  widow  of  Jerome  Hinckley.  The 
family  is  among  the  oldest  and  most  respected  in  this  locality. 

THOMAS  G.  PHILLIPS,  life  insurance  agent,  Ravenna,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 3,  1822,  in  Plaseyrhendy,  Clydeu  Parish,  Pembrokeshire,  South  Wales. 
His  parents — Caleb  and  Sarah  Phillips — brought  their  family  to  America  and 
settled  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  in  1837.     They  spent  the  latter  years  of  their 


844  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

lives  in  Paris  Township,  this  county,  where  they  died,  the  mother  January  7, 
1866,  ag^ed  seventy,  the  father  March  23,  1869,  aged  seventy-seven.  Of  their 
nine  children,  two  died  in  Wales;  two  died  in  this  county:  John,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Morgan;  five  are  now  liv- 
ing: William,  in  Newport  Station,  Ohio;  Evan,  in  Detroit,  Mich. ;  Anna,  in  New- 
port Station,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Mary  Jenkins,  in  Summit  County,  Ohio,  and  Thomas 
G.  Our  subject  came  to  Ravenna  in  1838  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  where  he 
learned  the  cabinet-maker's  trade.  He  carried  on  an  establishment  at  Freedom 
from  1843  to  1846.  There  he  married,  May  1,  1844,  Miss  Delia  M..  daughter 
of  Rev.  John  Hill,  born  in  Monroe,  Ashtabula  Co.,  Ohio,  and  located  in  Free- 
dom in  1843.  To  this  union  have  been  born  live  children:  George  Myron, 
Cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Northfield,  Minn,  (he  was  a  Lieuten- 
ant in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion);  Morton  H,  in  Philadelphia  (he  was  a 
private  in  the  first  Ohio  regiment  formed);  Mrs.  Laura  Beers,  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio;  Mrs.  Lucy  L.  Smith,  in  Ravenna,  Ohio,  and  one  that  died  in  infancy. 
Mr.  Phillips  carried  on  the  furniture  business  from  1846  to  1872,  with  the 
exception  of  three  years — 1859  to  1862.  He  also  dealt  extensively  in  real 
estate,  purchasing  lots,  putting  suitable  buildings  and  making  improvements 
on  them  and  then  selling.  In  1872  he  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Equitable 
Life  Assurance  Society  of  New  York  for  Portage  and  Trumbull  Counties.  He 
rapidly  built  up  the  company's  business  in  this  locality,  and  received  the 
appointment  of  general  agent  for  the  State  of  Ohio  July  1,  187-4,  which  posi- 
tion he  still  holds.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phillips  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

DEACON  ADAM  POE  (deceased)  was  a  son  of  the  famous  Indian  tighter, 
Andrew  Poe,  and  a  cousin  of  the  poet  Edgar  Allan  Poe.  He  was  born  in 
Beaver  County,  Penn.,  April  4,  1791;  came  to  this  county  in  1819,  and  pur- 
chased 200  acres  of  land  two  miles  west  of  Ravenna.  He  returned  to  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  married  Miss  Eliza  Laughlin,  in  1825,  and  again  came  to 
this  county  in  1828.  Here  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Janu- 
ary 5,  1859.  He  was  a  professor  of  religion  when  thirteen  years  of  age; 
joined  the  Congregational  Church  in  1829,  and  was  a  Deacon  from  1831  till 
the  day  of  his  death. 

JOHN  PORTER,  Clerk  of  Courts,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland, 
March  1,  1849,  and  was  brought  to  this  country  by  his  parents  when  an  infant. 
At  the  age  of  eleven  years  he  was  adopted  by  the  Children's  Aid  Society  of 
New  York  City,  and  with  others  sent  to  this  county,  where  he  found  a  home  in 
the  family  of  James  H.  Porter,  of  Freedom  Township,  with  whom  he  remained 
about  three  years,  when  he  began  the  struggle  of  life  for  himself,  securing 
employment  mostly  on  farms.  In  1865  he  visited  the  oil  regions  of  Pennsylva- 
nia and  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  returning  to  Portage  County  in  1867.  He 
made  his  home  with  William  Hine,  of  Shalersville,  and  attended  college  at 
Hiram  and  Mt.  Union.  In  1870  he  engaged  in  teaching,  subsequently  accept- 
ing a  position  as  Principal  of  the  school  at  Uniontown,  Stark  County.  In  1872 
he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hart  &  Reed,  in  Ravenna,  and  in 
1874  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  accepted  a  position  as  traveling  salesman 
until  1878,  when  he  opened  a  law-office  at  Mantua  Station.  In  the  fall  of  1881  he 
was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Courts,  and  this  position  he  has  very  acceptably  tilled. 
Mr.  Porter  was  married  January  1,  1877,  to  Miss  Anna  E.  Hine,  of  Shalers- 
ville, this  county,  by  whom  he  has  one  daughter — Hester  E. 

JOHN  L.  RANNEY,  deceased,  Avas  born  in  Blandford,  Mass.,  November 
14,  1815.     His  parents,  Rufus  and  Dolly  Ranney,  moved  to  Freedom   Town- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  845 

ship,  this  county,  in  1824,  where  they  resided  until  their  death.  Of  their 
family  but  two  are  now  living:  Judge  R.  P.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Marc}',  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio.  Our  subject  was  a  close  student  and 
in  boyhood  was  often  engaged  until  late  at  nights  studying  by  the  light  of  a 
hickory-wood  tire.  He  attended  school  one  year  in  Ravenna,  and  studied  the 
profession  of  law  in  the  offices  of  Judge  Ranney  and  Ben  Wade,  of  Ashtabula, 
Ohio.  He  married,  February  26,  1836,  Miss  Eliza  E.  Remington.  She  was 
a  native  of  Tolland,  Mass.,  and  in  1835  came  to  Freedom  Township,  this 
county,  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  with  her  parents,  Josiah  and  Sallie  Remington. 
To  this  union  were  born  six  children:  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Hotchkiss  (deceased), 
Joseph  N.  (deceased),  Lewis  R.  (deceased — he  was  a  soldier  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  at  the  close  of  the  war),  Mrs. 
Sarah  C.  McDonald  (in  Cleveland,  Ohio),  Flora  Adelaide  and  Rufus  H. 
(deceased).  Mr.  Ranney  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839,  and  in  1840  located 
in  Ravenna  in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  prof ession.  Mr.  Ranney  died  Febru- 
ary 22,  1866.  He  was  a  lawyer  of  rare  ability,  and  a  citizen  of  wide  influence. 
He  was  for  many  yeai's  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Ravenna.  His 
memory  will  long  be  revered  by  his  surviving  associates  and  the  citizens  of 
Portage  County.  Mrs.  Ranney  afterward  married,  November  25,  1874,  D.  C. 
Day,  and  they  now  reside  at  the  family  homestead. 

C.  A.  REED,  Probate  Judge,  Ravenna,  comes  of  Connecticut  stock,  a 
grandson  of  Abraham  Reed,  who  settled  in  this  county  in  1804  and  died  in 
1859.  Horace,  eldest  son  of  Abraham  Reed  and  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Rootstown  in  1805,  and  at  this  writing  is  residing  on  the  homestead 
where  he  was  born.  He  married  Lois  E.  Baldwin,  daughter  of  John  Bald- 
win, who  came  from  Massachusetts  and  settled  in  Charlestown,  this  county,  in 
1811,  and  by  her  were  born  seven  children,  all  now  living:  Melissa  E.,  wife 
of  E.  E.  Chapman,  of  Rootstown;  Aryanett  E.,  wife  of  A.  Baldwin,  of  Akron, 
Ohio;  John-H. ,  of  Columbus,  Neb.;  Edward  A.,  Poplar  Creek,  Tenn. ;  Cor- 
nelius A.;  Horace  L.,  of  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  Julia  A.  Our  subject  was  born 
in  Rootstown,  this  county,  July  3,  1838.  He  worked  on  the  farm  and  attended 
school  until  his  twentieth  year,  when  he  entered  the  Normal  School  at 
Lebanon.  In  1861  he  began  the  study  of  law  under  Col.  B.  Burns  and  Judge 
Dickey  at  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  July,  1863.  In 
September,  1863,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  A.  Hart  in  the  practice  of  the 
profession  at  Ravenna.  This  lasted  about  twelve  years,  after  which  Mr.  Reed 
continued  the  practice  alone  until  he  was  elected  to  his  present  position  in 
1881.  He  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  in  1869,  occupying  the  office  four 
years.  Our  subject  was  married  February  1,  1865,  to  Miss  PhebeF. ,  daughter 
of  Capt.  Albert  Ray,  of  Nantucket,  Mass.  Two  children  were  born  to  this 
union,  both  now  living:  Lorena  B.  and  Julia  May.  The  family  is  connected 
with  the  Congregational  Church,  and  Judge  Reed  is  at  present  Superintendent 
of  the  Sabbath-school.     He  is  a  Knight  Templar. 

JAMES  REYNOLDS,  Road-master  of  the  Cleveland,  Lorain  &  Wheeling 
Railroad,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  May  12,  1822,  in  County  Antrim.  Ireland, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Bridget  Reynolds.  He  early  adopted  the  life  of 
a  railroad  man  and  was  engaged  on  the  Carlisle  &  Lancaster  Road,  England, 
the  Edinburgh  &  Berwick,  the  Hawick  &  Edinburgh  and  the  Kircaldie  &  Dundee 
Roads,  in  Scotland,  and  the  Londonderry  &  Strabane  Road,  Ireland.  Coming 
to  America  October  16,  1849,  he  was  engaged  on  the  Cleveland,  Columbus, 
Cincinnati  &  Indianapolis  Road  ten  months,  and  on  the  Cleveland  &  Pitts- 
burgh Road  from  1850  to  1861.  He  then  served  tsvelve  years  on  the  Atlantic 
&  Great  Westei-n,  and  after  being  ten  months  on  the  Pittsburgh,   Cincinnati 

45 


846  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

&  St.  Louis  Road,  he  accepted  the  position  which  he  now  holds.  He  has  been 
a  very  successful  railroad  manager,  having  held  important  positions.  In  1883 
he  was  presented  with  a  handsome  gold  watch  and  chain  by  the  officers  and 
employes  of  the  Cleveland,  Lorain  &  Wheeling  Road,  as  a  mark  of  esteem. 
Mr.  Reynolds  married  Miss  Almira  O'Brien,  of  Stowe,  Summit  Co. ,  Ohio,  in 
1853.  She  died  in  1854,  leaving  one  daughter — Almira  (now  deceased). 
Our  subject  then  married,  in  1860,  Miss  Susan  Clark,  a  native  of  Canada,  who 
bore  him  five  sons:  James,  Jr.  (an  engineer  on  the  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cin- 
cinnati &  Indianapolis  Road),  R.  Emmett  and  William  J.  (twins),  Francis  D. 
and  Henry.  In  1870  Mr.  Reynolds  purchased  and  located  on  his  present  farm 
of  115  acres  near  Ravenna.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  assisted  liberally  in  building  the  church  in  Ravenna.  He  is  a 
F.  &  A.  M.,  32°. 

WILLIAM  RICHARDSON,  Supervisor  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh 
Railroad.  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  1830  in  Dalkeith  on  the  River  Esk, 
Scotland,  where  his  parents,  John  and  Jeanette  Richardson,  have  since  resided. 
Our  subject  received  his  education  in  his  mother  countrj'  and  there  married 
Miss  Agnes  Downie.  They  left  Glasgow  for  America  June  1,  1851,  and  after 
living  one  year  in  Pomeroy,  Ohio,  they  located  at  Ravenna,  this  county,  where 
they  have  ever  since  resided.  Their  children  are  John,  Alexander,  William, 
James,  Jeanette  and  George.  On  July  1,  1852,  Mr.  Richardson  began  working 
for  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company,  with  whom  he  has  been 
employed  ever  since.  He  has  held  his  present  position  since  1870.  He  dis- 
charges his  duties  faithfully  and  enjoys  the  entire  confidence  of  the  company 
with  which  he  is  employed.  In  1876  Mr.  Richardson  purchased  a  farm  of 
sixty-two  and  one-half  acres  of  well -improved  land  two  miles  north  of  Ravenna, 
to  which  he  and  his  family  moved  in  1877.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a 
man  of  large  and  powerful  physique.  He  is  a  citizen  of  upright  character, 
highly  respected  by  the  entire  community. 

GEORGE  ROBINSON  (deceased),  late  civil  engineer,  banker  and  capital- 
ist, was  born  November  21,  1801,  in  Washington  County,  Penn.,  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent.  When  eighteen  years  of  age  he  lost  his  father,  so  he  com- 
menced obtaining  an  education,  at  the  same  time  supporting  himself  by  his  own 
work.  He  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  but  met  with  an  accident  which  con- 
fined him  to  his  bed  two  years  with  a  broken  leg.  During  this  time  he  per- 
fected himself  in  the  study  of  mathematics.  He  then  devoted  several  years  to 
teaching  school  and  preparing  for  his  chosen  profession,  that  of  civil  engineer. 
In  1830  he  became  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Ohio  Canal,  and  at  its  comple- 
tion, in  1835,  he  engaged  on  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Canal,  locating  perma- 
nently at  Ravenna,  being  soon  made  Chief  Engineer.  He  retained  that  posi- 
tion until  his  retirement  from  the  canal  in  1845.  He  was  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  and  its  first  Superintendent.  In  1856 
he  engaged  on  the  Cleveland  &  Mahoning  Railroad,  remaining  its  Chief 
Engineer  and  Superintendent  until  1865.  In  1854  he  became  the  head  of  the 
banking  house  of  Robinson,  King  &  Co.,  and  in  1864  the  first  President  of  the 
Second  National  Bank  of  Ravenna,  from  which  position  he  retired  in  1878, 
remaining  a  Director  until  his  death.  He  also  established,  in  1868,  in  com- 
pany with  D.  C.  Coolman,  the  Diamond  Glass  Works,  in  which  he  remained 
until  his  retirement  from  business  in  1879.  His  death  occurred  July  12,1882. 
He  was  a  man  of  firmness,  integrity  and  perseverance,  and  made  a  success  of 
everything  he  undertook.  Mr.  Robinson  married,  July  26,  1831,  Miss  Maria 
Louisa  Johnson,  at  Lancaster,  Ohio.  She  was  born  in  Mifflin,  Penn.,  in  1810, 
and  came  to  Ohio  at  ten  years  of  age  with  her  parents.      To  this  union  were 


RAVENNA  TOAVNSHIP.  847 

born  the  following  children:  Capt.  A.  K.  Robinson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Wildes, 
Miss  Frances  H.  Robinson,  Lieut.  W.  Henry  Robinson  (deceased),  Mrs.  Emily 
H.  Riddle,  Capt.  George  F.  Robinson  and  Mrs.  M.  Adelaide  Hermann.  The 
sons  were  all  in  the  Union  Army  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  Henry 
was  the  first  soldier  from  Ravenna  to  lose  his  life  in  his  country's  cause. 

RECELLUS  ROOT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  May  25,  1816,  in 
Denmark,  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  his  parents,  Alpheus  and  Electa  (Bardwell) 
Root,  resided  until  their  death.  Our  subject  came  to  Ohio  in  1837,  and  after 
spending  a  few  months  in  Cuyahoga  County,  finally  located  in  this  county  in 
the  autumn  of  that  year.  Here  he  married,  January  1,  1845,  Miss  Adeline 
Howard,  born  in  Sistersville,  Tyler  Co..  Va.  (now  AY  est  Virginia),  September 
12,  1821,  and  brought  to  this  place  when  a  year  and  a  half  old  by  her  parents, 
Salmon  and  Ruth  (Taylor)  Howard,  and  here  Mr.  Howard  cleared  and  devel- 
oped a  farm,  where  the  parents  resided  until  their  death.  Mr.  Root  bought  of 
Mr.  Howard  the  homestead  place,  and  has  here  I'esided  since  1847.  The  chil- 
dren born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Root  are  Mrs.  Eliza  H.  King;  Edwin  R.,  attorney 
at  law.  New  Y''ork  City;  Mrs  Ollie  J.  Phelps;  John  H.,  agent  of  the  Wheeling 
&  Lake  Erie  Railroad,  Medina,  Ohio;  Arthur  W.,  in  the  office  of  the  Cleveland, 
Colitmbus,  Cincinnati  &  Indianapolis  Railroad,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Fred  and  J. 
Wesley.  Mr.  Root  is  an  ardent  Republican.  He  and  his  family  adhere  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

ALBERT  G.  RUSSELL,  carpenter  and  joiner,  Ravenna,  was  born  in 
1822,  in  Nantucket,  Mass.,  son  of  Capt.  Reuben  and  Maria  (Gardner)  Russell, 
natives  of  Nantucket,  and  who  came  to  Rootstown,  this  county,  in  1847.  They 
are  descendants  of  the  renowned  Tristam  Coffin,  the  heroic  pioneer  of  Nan- 
tucket. They  purchased  a  farm  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  where 
they  resided  until  1873,  when  they  located  in  Ravenna.  Capt.  Russell,  who 
had  been  a  Captain  of  whaling  vessels  since  about  1817,  died  July  2,  1875, 
aged  seventy-five  years.  His  widow  survives  him  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty - 
four,  and  is  still  in  full  possession  of  her  faculties.  Our  subject  learned  his 
trade  at  Nantucket,  and  came  to  this  county  with  his  parents  at  twenty  five  years 
of  age.  He  married,  October  2,  1853,  Yliss  Caroline  Russell,  also  a  native  of 
Nantucket,  who  came  to  Ravenna  in  September,  1839,  with  her  parents,  Capt. 
George  G.  and  Louisa  W.  (Wyer)  Russell,  who  resided  in  Ravenna  until  their 
death.  She  died  in  1863,  and  he  in  1865.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  have  been 
born  two  children:  Maria  Louis  (deceased  at  nine  years  of  age)  and  Fred  A., 
an  architect,  now  residing  in  Boston,  Mass.  Since  their  marriage  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Russell  have  resided  in  Ravenna.  In  1853  he  established  a  sash,  door 
and  blind  factoiy,  in  partnership  with  his  brother  Reuben  and  Timothy  Chase, 
retaining  his  connection  with  the  establishment  until  1853,  since  which  time 
he  has  followed  his  trade.  Mrs.  Russell  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church.  Mr.  Russell  is  a  life-long  Republican,  and  takes  a  deep 
interest  in  public  affairs;  one  of  the  most  active  and  earnest  workers  on  the 
Board  of  Health  in  this  city. 

HENRY  SAPP  (deceased)  was  born  August  2,  1768,  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, and  married  Miss  Matilda  Boosinger,  of  Oldtown,  Va.,  October  7,  1796. 
He  came  to  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  in  1802,  and,  after  making  prep- 
arations for  a  home,  returned  and  brought  his  family  out  in  1803.  The  prop- 
erty of  100  acres  which  he  settled  near  Ravenna  Village,  he  bought  of  Benja- 
min Tappan  for  $150.  Their  children  who  are  now  living  are  Henry;  Mrs. 
Hannah  Hall;  Conrad;  Jacob,  in  Y^andalia,  111.;  Asa  and  Daniel  F.  They 
were  among  the  early  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  this 
place.     Mr.  Sapp  died  September  18,  1856.     Mrs.  Sapp  died  in  April,  1876, 


848  BIOGRArHICAL  SKETCHES: 

at  the  advanced  age  of  one  hundred  and  one  years.  On  the  occasion  of  her 
one  hundreth  birthday  there  was  a  gathering  of  her  descendants  at  the  home- 
stead. At  that  time  the  entire  number  of  descendants  was  ninety-eight,  of 
whom  seventy-five  were  living. 

CONRAD  SAPP,  retired,  Ravenna,  was  born  December  1,  1812,  in 
Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Henry  and  Matilda  (Boosinger)  Sapp, 
former  a  native  of  Maryland,  latter  of  an  adjoining  county  in  Virginia. 
Henry  Sapp  came  in  the  fall  of  1802,  to  this  county,  made  preparations 
to  locate  his  family,  and  brought  them  out  in  1803,  settling  near  the  cen- 
ter of  Ravenna  Township,  adjoining  the  city.  Of  their  eleven  children, 
six  are  now  living:  Henry,  Mrs.  Hannah  Hall,  Conrad,  Jacob  (in  Mt.  Vernon, 
111.),  Asa  and  Daniel.  The  father  died  in  1856,  far  advanced  in  years.  He 
was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  pioneer,  being  large,  muscular  and  active,  a 
man  of  temperate  habits  and  sterling  integrity.  The  mother  was  a  woman  of 
wonderful  energy  and  endurance.  At  the  age  of  ninety,  she  spun  flax  enough 
to  make  forty  yards  of  cloth.  Her  death  occurred  April  4,  1876,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  one  hundred  and  one  years,  and  one  month.  Their  memory  will  long 
be  revered  by  a  large  circle  of  descendants,  and  honored  by  all  who  knew  them. 
Our  subject,  when  a  boy,  helped  to  set  the  type  for  the  first  copy  of  the  first 
paper  printed  in  Ravenna.  At  the  age  of  twenty  one  he  commenced  learning 
tool-making,  followed  it  for  ten  years,  and  then  entered  upon  the  trade 
of  carpenter  and  joiner,  which  he  made  his  principal  life-work.  He  was  known 
as  a  skillful  mechanic,  and  had  erected  a  large  number  of  the  farm  buildings 
and  private  residences  in  Ravenna  and  vicinity.  He  married,  December  8,  1841, 
Miss  Clarissa  E.  Chapman,  She  died  September  12,  1881,  and  Mr.  Sapp 
then  married,  December  5,  1883,  Mrs.  Maline  L.  Phelps,  daughter  of  Charles 
Jones,  of  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  This  family  came  from  England  in  1834, 
where  Mrs.  Sapp  was  born,  in  1845.  She  married  on  first  occasion  James 
Phelps,  of  this  county,  and  then  resided  in  Ravenna  eight  years,  and  in  Roots- 
town  until  his  death  in  1879.  Their  children  were  Walter  N.,  who  died  in 
1871,  aged  sixteen  ;  Mrs.  Alexine  J.  Moulton,  of  this  county,  who  died  in 
1877,  and  Wykes  Phelps,  now  in  Rootstown.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sapp  are  now 
living  at  their  residence  on  the  corner  of  Prospect  and  Van  Buren  Streets. 
They  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Sapp  and  his  sister 
are  the  oldest  members  of  the  church  in  Ravenna. 

DANIEL  F.  SAPP,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  September  28,  1821, 
in  Ravenna,  this  county.  He  was  brought  up  here  on  his  father's  faz'm,  and 
attended  the  schools  of  the  home  district,  and  of  Ravenna,  and  worked  at  the 
blacksmith's  trade  from  1839  to  1842.  He  married,  June  13,  1849,  MissLydia 
Hudson,  daughter  of  Isaac  Hudson,  and  they  located  on  the  family  homestead, 
where  they  have  ever  since  resided.  Their  children  are  Hiram,  in  Nebraska; 
Charles  H. ;  Isaac  Hudson,  and  Mrs.  Anna  M.  Rawlings.  Mr.  Sapp  now  owns 
the  entire  home  farm  of  103  acres,  besides  twelve  acres  which  he  has  added  to 
it.  The  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  passes  along  the  north- 
ern border  of  the  farm. 

GIDEON  SEYMOUR,  attorney,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  East  Granville, 
Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  February  23, 1836,  son  of  Gideon  D.  and  Corintha  (Gib- 
bons) Seymour,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1841  and 
settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  where  Gideon  D.  was  a 
man  of  influence.  Our  subject  was  raised  on  a  farm,  receiving  his  edu- 
cation at  the  common  schools  of  Rootstown  Township,  and  employing  the 
earlier  years  of  his  life  in  teaching.  He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Hart  & 
Reed,  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  nine  years,  and  for  the  same  period  as 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  849 

Probate  Judge,  to  which  he  was  first  elected  in  1872.  He  was  Clerk,  Treasurer 
and  Assessor  (1858)  of  Fiootstown  Township,  and  made  the  assessment  of  real 
estate  for  1870,  in  that  township.  On  September  15,  1859,  he  was  married  in 
Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  to  Lucy  J.,  born  in  Ellsworth,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Fred- 
erick A.  Parker,  now  of  Newton  Falls,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seymour  are  the 
parents  of  the  following  children  now  living:  Corintha  M.  and  Fred  P.  Our 
subject  and  wife  have  been  connected  with  the  Congregational  Church  for  years. 
The  family  are  highly  esteemed. 

JOHN  E.  SHARP,  agent  of  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
Ravenna,  was  born  January  25,  1830,  in  Sharon,  Schoharie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where 
his  parents,  John  and  Elizabeth  (Bodine)  Sharp,  resided  until  their  death. 
Our  subject  came  to  Shalersville,  this  county,  in  about  1850,  where  he  com- 
pleted learning  the  trade  of  mason.  After  remaining  there  abovit  six  years, 
he  located  in  Ravenna.  Here  he  married  Miss  Lavinna  S.  Kellogg,  November 
11,  1856.  Her  parents,  Alanson  and  Caroline  (Bishop)  Kellogg,  were  natives 
of  this  county,  and  very  useful  in  building  up  the  young  village  of  Ravenna. 
Mrs.  Sharp  died  August  1,  1877,  aged  thirty-seven  years,  leaving  three  sons: 
Alfred  L.,  in  Jewett,  Leon  Co.,  Tex.,  holding  the  positions  of  Postmaster, 
express  agent,  and  agent  of  the  International  &  Great  Northern  Railroad; 
Dwight  E.,  married  to  Miss  Eva  G.  Jones  (he  is  in  the  employ  of  the  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  at  Ravenna);  and  Harry  S.  September  26, 
1878,  Mr.  Sharp  married  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Cope,  widow  of  Homer  Cope,  and 
daughter  of  C.  D.  Thompson,  of  this  place.  They  have  one  son— Charles  R. 
C.  D.  Thompson,  of  Vermont,  came  to  Ravenna  while  a  young  lad  with  his 
father— Jonathan  Thompson.  He  married  Mrs.  Abi  Sweet,  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, widow  of  Franklin  Sweet.  Their  sons,  Denison  C.  and  W.  Wallace, 
died  of  typhoid  fever,  former  December  25,  1864,  latter  February  10,  1865. 
Mrs.  Thompson  died  in  1863.  D.  C.  Thompson,  brother  of  Mrs.  John  E. 
Sharp,  had  one  son,  named  Dennison  C,  now  twenty-one  years  of  age,  unusu- 
ally active  in  business  for  one  of  his  age.  He  went  into  the  hardware  business 
in  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  alone,  when  but  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  he  is  now  a 
partner  in  the  Pierce  Manufacturing  Company,  in  Warren,  Ohio.  John  E. 
Sharp  has  been  connected  with  the  service  of  the  New  Y'ork,  Pennsylvania  & 
Ohio  Railroad  at  this  place  since  about  1865,  and  was  appointed  the  agent  of 
the  company  in  1874,  In  religious  belief  he  is  a  Universalist.  He  is  a  F.  & 
A.  M.      In  politics  a  Democrat. 

I.  T.  SIDDALL,  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Ravenna,  is  a  son  of  Mahlon  and 
Elizabeth  (Gould)  Siddall,  of  Puritan  and  Virginia  stock,  the  former  a  pio- 
neer of  Mahoning  and  Columbiana  Counties,  Ohio,  and  who  died  while  a  res- 
ident of  Atwater  Township.  Our  subject,  the  youngest  of  nine  children,  was 
born  in  Atwater,  and,  left  fatherless  when  an  infant,  early  began  the  struggle 
of  life.  When  but  twelve  years  of  age  he  purchased  lands,  employed  a  large 
force  of  men,  and  cut  and  delivered  timber  to  the  railroads.  He  also  owned 
one-half  interest  in  the  home  farm,  in  which  he  succeeded  in  buying  the  inter- 
est of  the  other  heirs.  Receiving  a  primary  education  in  Atwater  TownsMp, 
he  in  1870  entered  Mt.  Union  College,  where  he  graduated  in  August,  1874, 
and  began  the  study  of  law  under  the  direction  of  W.  B.  Thomas,  of  Ravenna. 
He  was' admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  District  Court  of  this  county  in  1876,  and 
opened  an  office  at  Springfield,  Ohio,  but  his  mother's  illness  necessitated  his 
return,  and  he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  this  town  in  November, 
1877.  His  mother  died  January  14,  1878,  aged  seventy-four  years,  an  estima- 
ble lady,  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  Mr.  Siddall  was  chosen  Prosecuting 
Attornev  in   1883,  the  only  Democrat  elected  to  county  office  in   the  county 


850  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

since  the  Republican  party  came  into  power.  He  is  Chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee;  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  Blue  Lodge  and  Chap- 
ter; also  of  the  Commandery  of  Akron,  Ohio,  and  of  the  Consistory  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.     He  is  now  Master  of  Unity  Lodge,  No.  12,  F.  &  A.  M. 

SOLOMON  SLAUGHTER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  August  31, 
1805,  in  Kent  County,  Del.  He  started  West  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years 
and  finally  came  to  Ravenna  December  10,  1828.  He  worked  three  years  in 
the  hotel  for  Salmon  Carter.  He  then  married  Miss  Ruth  Burdick,  August, 
1831.  Purchasing  a  small  claim,  which  he  has  ever  since  occupied,  and  rely- 
ing entirely  upon  his  physical  resources,  he  has  acquired  100  acres  of  well- 
improved  land  through  which  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh,  and  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroads  pass.  He  still  owns  a  flock  of  sheep,  descend- 
ants of  the  first  sheep  brought  to  the  place,  over  fifty  years  ago.  Mrs. 
Slaughter  died  October,  1841,  leaving  four  children:  John  B. ,  of  Goshen, 
Ind. ;  Andrew;  Lucy;  and  Betsey  (deceased).  Mr.  Slaughter  afterward  married 
his  deceased  wife's  sister — Lucy  Burdick,  who  died  three  years  afterward.  He 
then  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Smith,  who  bore  him  four  children:  Mrs.  E.  B. 
Caris,  of  Akron,  Ohio;  Charles  W.,  of  Pullman,  111.;  Martha  D.  (deceased) 
and  Solomon  E.,  of  Ravenna.  Mr.  Slaughter  is  now  living  on  the  homestead, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years.  He  still  retains  his  faculties,  and  does 
his  own  work.  He  is  the  only  pioneer  now  living  in  his  part  of  the  township, 
and  on©  of  the  original  Republicans  of  the  county,  and  was  deeply  interested 
in  the  anti-slavery  movements.  He  has  led  an  active  and  a  very  useful  life, 
and  is  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 

WILLIAM  SMITH  (deceased),  son  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Smith,  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  war,  was  born  at  Mount  Holly,  N.  J.,  February  8,  1809, 
and  when  nine  years  of  age  he  came,  with  his  parents,  to  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
and  there  married,  November  29,  1832,  Miss  Jane  Trotter,  by  whom  he  had 
the  following  children:  Jonathan  S. ,  Mary  (Mrs.  Day),  Alvin  T.,  Isaac  W. 
and  Frank,  residing  in  this  county;  Judson,  Chester  and  Edgar  H.  in  Pea- 
body,  Kan. ;  Charles  M.,  killed  in  Kansas  in  1877  by  a  boiler  explosion, 
Zenas  K. ,  died  in  this  city,  January  27,  1878,  and  William,  died  in  infancy. 
Four  of  the  sons  fought  in  their  country's  defense  during  the  late  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  making  an  aggregate  of  twelve  years'  service,  and  all  returned 
home  safe.  Charles  M.  served  four  years  in  an  Illinois  regiment;  Alvin  T. ,  a 
member  of  the  Nineteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  also  a  veteran,  served 
four  years  and  three  months,  and  was  mustered  out  as  Sergeant;  Zenas  K.,  of 
the  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  served  over  three  years,  and  Judson 
served  three  years  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. 
In  1843  Mr.  Smith  and  family  came  to  Deerfield  Township,  this  county.  Our 
subject,  while  in  the  midst  of  preparations  for  voting  for  Garfield,  November 
4,  1880,  was  stricken  by  the  hand  of  death  on  the  morning  of  that  day.  His 
widow  survived  him  until  November  16,  1884.  They  were  a  worthy  couple, 
highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  them.  Jonathan  S.  Smith  in  1857  located 
in  Ravenna,  where  he  married  Miss  Lillian  L.  I'reeman,  October  31,  1861. 
He  engaged  in  the  dry  goods  business  with  H.  L.  Day  in  1864,  and  in  1865 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  Zenas  K.,  which  lasted  until  1871, 
and  Jonathan  S.  then  carried  on  the  business  until  1878.  He  established  his 
present  grocery  and  provision  store  in  1880,  having  as  partner  his  only  son — 
Henry  F.  Alvin  T.  Smith  married,  September  12,  1867,  Miss  Lucy  H.  Har- 
ris, daughter  of  S.  D.  Harris,  and  they  have  one  daughter — Nellie.  He  estab- 
lished in  1878  a  dry  goods  and  carpet  store,  which  he  still  carries  on. 

ROBERT  SMITH,  lumber  dealer,  Ravenna,  was  born  June  19,  1833,  in 
Ravenna  Township,  this  county.     His  father,  Moses  D.  Smith,  of  the  neigh- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  851 

borhood  of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.,  a  miller  by  trade,  came  to  Ohio  in  very  early 
times  and  married  Miss  Mary  Reed  at  Parkman,  Geauga  County.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  served  with  distinction  to  the  close  of  the 
struggle.  One  year  after  their  marriage  our  subject's  parents  came  to  Ravenna 
Township,  this  county,  where  the  father  carried  on  for  several  years  the  mill 
on  Mahoning  Creek  east  of  Ravenna,  and  after  about  two  years'  residence  in 
Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  they  finally  located  permanently  in  Ravenna. 
Moses  D.  Smith  had  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  while  in  his  native  State, 
which  trade  he  followed  here.  He  was  an  excellent  mechanic,  and  many 
buildings  now  standing  testify  to  his  superior  skill.  He  died  here  in  Novem- 
ber, 1853.  His  widow  survived  him  until  February,  1867.  Of  their  six  chil- 
dren, Robert  is  the  second.  Our  subject  married,  May  2,  1855,  Miss  Elvira  B. 
McMannus,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Harriet  McMannus,  who  came  here  from 
Erie  County,  Penn.,  when  she  was  but  seven  years  of  age.  They  were  well- 
known  and  highly  respected  residents  of  Ravenna,  where  they  died,  the 
mother  December  8,  1863,  and  the  father  June  24,  1872.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smith  have  been  born  three  children:  Frank  F.,  Mrs.  Addie  E.  Swain  and 
Harriet  E.  Our  subject  learned  his  father's  trade,  that  of  carpenter,  which 
he  has  followed  about  twenty  years.  He  established  a  lumber  yard  in  the 
place  in  1873,  and  had  as  a  partner,  for  about  eight  months,  his  brother-in- 
law,  Edwin  Smith,  who  sold  his  interest  to  J.  S.  Marvin  in  July,  1874.  The 
firm  is  now  known  as  R.  Smith  &  Co.  They  do  a  general  trade  in  lumber, 
and  manufacture  the  "Common-sense  Wooden  Bed  Spring."  Mr.  Smith  served 
seven  months  in  1865  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-sixth  Regiment  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry.  He  is  a  Master  Mason;  a  member  of  the  A.  L.  of  H., 
the  R.  A.  and  G.  A.  R. 

P.  W.  SNYDER,  merchant,  Ravenna,  was  born  May  22,  1845,  in  Roots- 
town,  this  county,  son  of  Peter  and  Henrietta  (Wagner)  Snyder,  former  a 
native  of  Allentown,  Penn.  They  came  to  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in 
1840,  and  in  1843  located  in  the  southwest  part  of  Rootstown  Township,  where 
they  resided  until  his  decease,  which  occurred  June  23,  1845.  The  cause  of 
his  death  was  erysipelas,  which  was  then  raging  as  an  epidemic  in  the  county. 
Mrs.  Snyder  lived  to  bring  up  her  family  of  four  boys  and  four  girls,  and  died 
in  the  same  township  January  6,  1873.  She  was  a  lady  of  fine  business  capa- 
bilities, and  of  most  estimable  character.  Our  subject  has  taken  care  of  him- 
self almost  ever  since  he  was  nine  years  of  age,  making  his  home  with  his  sis- 
ter, Mrs.  William  P.  Collins.  At  eighteen  years  of  age  he  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guards,  April  27,  1864,  and  was  in 
the  service  four  months,  part  of  which  time  he  was  confined  in  the  hospital  at 
Covington,  Ky.,  suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever.  Returning 
home  he  spent  three  years  clerking  in  Rootstown  and  Randolph,  this  county, 
Mr.  Snyder  married,  April  18,  1869,  Miss  Emma  E.  Rowe,  of  Ravenna.  They 
moved  to  Lyons,  Iowa,  where  Mrs.  Snyder  died  March  1 5, 1870.  In  the  following 
autumn  Mr.  Snyder  returned  and  located  permanently  in  Ravenna.  Here  he 
clerked  two  years  with  N.  Converse,  and  five  years  with  Smith  Bros.  On  April 
1,  1878,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  N.  Converse,  which  was  continued 
until  1880,  when  Mr.  Freeman  purchased  Mr.  Converse's  interest.  The  firm 
is  now  known  as  Snyder  &  Freeman.  Mr.  Snyder  married,  October  19,  1873, 
Miss  Orpha  A.  Brobst,  of  Brimfield  Township,  this  county.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  Disciples  Church. 

WILLIS  STRICKLAND,  retired  farmer,  was  born  June  10, 1801,  in  San- 
disfield,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  went  with  his  father's 
family  to  the  township  of  Otis,  Berkshire  County,  where  he  lived  till  he  came 


852  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

to  Ohio.  In  1827  he  married  Miss  Lucy  Hawley,  and  in  June,  1839,  came  to 
Windham  Township,  this  county,  where  Mrs.  Strickland  died  in  January, 
1841,  leaving  three  children:  Seth,  in  Minnesota;  Selah,  in  Wisconsin;  and 
Lucy  H.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  Our  subject  next  married,  in 
June,  1841,  Mi's.  Caroline  Gardner,  of  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  and  came  at  once 
to  his  home  in  this  county.  To  this  union  were  born  three  children:  George 
(a  farmer  in  Ravenna),  John  (died,  aged  sixteen),  Willis  (killed  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  by  a  kick  from  a  hoi'se  in  1875).  This  wife  dying  in  January,  1866, 
Mr.  Strickland  married,  November  27,  1866,  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Richards,  who  had 
at  that  time  one  daughter — Alice — now  the  wife  of  Milton  R.  Furry,  of 
Ravenna.  Mr.  Strickland  moved  to  Ravenna  in  April,  1855.  Mr.  Strickland 
has  been  very  successful  as  a  farmer  and  business  man,  devoting  himself  prin- 
cipally to  live  stock.  He  was  active  in  public  afifairs  up  to  1855,  and  while  in 
Massachusetts  was  called  to  various  public  offices,  including  Postmaster  and 
Representative  in  the  Legislature.  In  July,  1875,  he,  in  company  with  N.  D. 
Clark,  went  to  Dakota,  taking  $125,000  in  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  bonds 
owned  by  themselves  and  other  citizens  of  Portage  County,  where  they  were 
exchanged  for  land  in  Cass  County,  which  has  proved  to  be  a  good  investment 
for  the  bond-holders  in  Windham  Township,  this  county.  He  was  twice 
elected  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  now  and  has  been  for  the  last  twenty 
years  a  stockholder  and  one  of  the  Directors  in  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Ravenna,  Ohio.     Mrs.  Strickland  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 

DR.  ISAAC  SWIFT  (deceased)  was  born  in  Cornwall,  Litchfield  Co., 
Conn.,  January  30,  1790,  the  youngest  son  and  fourth  child  in  a  line  of  five 
children  of  Dr.  Isaac  Swift.  His  father  was  a  Revolutionary  patriot.  When 
the  British  opeoed  the  war  at  Lexington,  Dr.  Swift,  with  a  company  of  his  neigh- 
bors, at  once  proceeded  to  Boston  and  entered  the  ranks  of  the  patriot  army. 
Dr.  Swift  was  assigned  the  position  of  surgeon,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
during  the  war.  He  died  in  1802,  when  his  son,  the  subject  of  this  biography, 
was  twelve  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Swift,  a  most  estimable  woman,  followed  her 
husband  to  the  grave  in  about  six  years,  her  son  Isaac  then  being  in  his  eight- 
eenth year.  Young  Swift  entered  upon  a  course  of  study,  attending  medical 
lectures  in  New  York  City,  and  after  completing  his  studies,  was  admitted  or 
licensed  to  practice  in  New  Jersey.  In  the  spring  of  1815  he  set  out  west- 
ward, with  a  view  to  select  a  desirable  point  at  which  to  establish  himself  in 
the  practice  of  medicine.  Mounted  upon  horseback,  with  all  his  worldly 
effects  in  a  portmanteau  attached  to  the  saddle,  he  commenced  his  pilgrimage, 
and  after  rough  riding,  reached  Cleveland  City,  as  the  natives  called  it,  though 
its  population  was  the  mere  handful  of  a  hundred  or  two.  After  halting  here 
for  a  short  time,  the  young  doctor  resumed  his  journey,  and  in  the  month  of 
June,  1815,  drew  rein  upon  his  steed  in  the  village  of  Ravenna,  having  then 
ridden  over  1,000  miles.  His  horse,  in  swimming  Grand  River,  at  Paines- 
ville,  took  cold,  and  upon  arriving  at  Ravenna  was  too  sick  to  proceed  farther. 
This  obliged  the  Doctor  to  remain  in  Ravenna,  riolens  volens;  thus  the  ti'ifling 
matter  of  the  sickness  of  a  horse  located  him  for  life;  his  search  after  "a 
home  in  the  West"  ceased,  and  for  over  half  a  century  he  was  a  prominent 
resident  of  Ravenna.  In  1816  Dr.  Swift  formed  a  partnership  with  the  late 
Seth  Day,  for  a  term  of  five  years.  The  firm  bought  out  a  store  kept  by  a 
man  named  Hazlipp,  adding  to  it  a  stock  of  medicines,  Day  carrying  on  the 
store  and  Swift  continuing  his  practice.  In  1817  Mr.  Day  was  appointed  Clerk 
of  the  Court  and  Recorder  of  the  county.  In  1820  the  partnership  was  dis- 
solved, and  the  store  eventually  passed  back  to  Hazlipp,  the  Doctor  retaining 
the  stock  of  medicines.      January  15,  1818,  he  was  married  to  Eliza  Thomp- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  853 

son,  and  immediately  after  marriage  the  newly  married  couple  commenced 
housekeeping  in  a  dwelling  then  standing  upon  the  ground  now  occupied  by 
the  Etna  Block.  In  1823  the  erection  of  the  Swift  homestead,  on  Chestnut 
Street,  was  commenced,  the  building  being  completed  in  1824,  since  which 
time  it  has  been  the  residence  of  the  family.  After  the  dissolution  of  Day 
&  Swift  in  1820,  the  drug  store  was  continued  by  the  Doctor  for  a  time  in  the 
Hazlipp  store,  and  afterward,  from  1822  to  1825,  in  the  store  of  Cyrus  Pren- 
tiss (that  place  of  business  being  upon  the  corner  now  occupied  by  the  First 
National  Bank),  in  connection  with  which  his  medical  practice  was  retained. 
In  1824  Dr.  Swift  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  county,  and  held  the  office 
until  1831.  In  1825  he  built  a  drug  store  upon  the  east  corner  of  his  lot  on 
Chestnut  Street,  and  established  his  business  there.  In  1828,  after  a  practice 
of  thirteen  years,  he  retired  permanently  fi-om  the  practice  of  medicine,  devot- 
ing his  time  exclusively  to  the  Treasurership  and  drug  store.  In  1842  the  drug 
store  was  moved  to  the  brick  building  on  Main  Street,  known  as  Swift's  Block 
or  building.  A  brief  partnership  with  the  late  Curtiss  Hatch  ensued,  aud  the 
drug  business  was  continued  vintil  1859,  when  Dr.  Swift  disposed  of  it  to  his  son. 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Swift,  and  retired  from  active  business.  In  1846  the  State 
Legislature  conferred  the  appointment  of  Associate  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  of  this  county,  upon  Dr.  Swaft.  He  occupied  the  position 
with  usefulness  and  dignity  for  five  years,  at  which  time  the  office  was  abol- 
ished by  the  adoption  of  the  new  State  Constitution.  Mrs.  Swift  united  with 
the  church  in  1826,  but  her  husband  was  not  led  to  such  a  step  until  Septem- 
ber 11,  1831,  a  conviction  then  coming  upon  him  from  attending  a  protracted 
meeting  held  by  Rev.  Charles  B.  Storrs,  at  Hudson.  At  this  time  Rev.  Alvan 
Nash  was  pastor  of  the  Ravenna  Church.  Dr.  Swift  took  an  active  interest  in 
the  church,  and  became  a  leader  in  its  affairs  and  counsels,  and  so  remained 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death.  For  over  forty  years  he  was  the  church  Treasurer, 
and  he  tilled  various  positions  within  the  scope  of  the  church  organization. 
Dr.  Swift  died  at  his  residence  on  Chestnut  Street,  Ravenna,  on  Tuesday 
evening,  July  14,  1874,  in  the  eighty- fifth  year  of  his  age. 

W.  B.  THOMAS,  attorney,  Ravenna,  is  a  son  of  William  D.  Thomas,  who 
was  born  in  South  Wales,  February  18,  1810,  and  married  Miss  Ann  Davis,  of 
Llandowey,  Carmarthenshire,  South  Wales,  June  10,  1832,  and  April  14, 
1836,  with  his  wife  and  two  small  children — Sarah  and  David — left  a  large 
number  of  relatives  and  emigrated  to  America.  They  were  forty  days  on  the 
ocean.  Arriving  at  New  York  they  took  passage  up  the  Hudson  River,  through 
the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  thence  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  by  boat,  and 
thence,  with  others  who  settled  in  Palmyra,  this  county,  to  Ravenna  on  foot 
(having  a  wagon  to  carry  their  baggage),  arriving  at  the  old  Exchange  Hotel 
June  10,  1836,  unable  to  speak  a  word  in  English,  and  $30  in  debt.  He  was 
a  very  industrious  man.  For  years  he  worked  for  Zenas  Kent  as  a  farm 
laborer  in  summer,  and  threshed  with  the  old  hickory  flail  in  the  winter.  He 
was  ever  grateful  to  David  Jennings  and  others  who  aided  him  when  in  need. 
In  April,  1846,  he  removed  to  Paris  Township,  and  after  some  years  of  con- 
stant labor  and  economy  on  the  part  of  himself  and  wife,  who  is  a  good 
financier,  became  the  owner  of  a  large  farm  and  pleasant  home,  where  he 
lived  to  the  close  of  his  life,  April  10,  1881.  He  was  a  man  of  sympathetic 
nature,  conscientious  and  honest.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  D.  Thomas  were  the 
parents  of  sis  children:  Sarah  A.,  David  W.,  Mary  A.,  John  R.,  William  B. 
and  Amelia  (the  first  and  last  named  are  deceased).  Our  subject,  W.  B.,  was 
born  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  about  three  miles  west  of  Ravenna 
Village,  on  the  Kent  farm,  May  1,  1845.     He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm, 


854  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

and  knew  what  it  was  to  milk  ten  cows  night  and  morning,  and  to  mow  his 
own  swath.  He  first  acquired  a  common  school  education,  then  attended  the 
academy  at  Newton  Falls,  Ohio,  then  taught  district  and  select  school,  saving 
from  his  earnings  enough  to  complete  his  education.  In  1863  he  attended 
Hiram  College,  this  county,  at  which  time  political  proscription  and  intoler- 
ance was  indulged  in  by  the  Faculty  to  such  an  extent  that  he  and  seven  oth- 
ers refused  to  submit  and  withdrew  from  the  college.  This  subsequently 
caused  the  removal  of  the  President  of  the  college,  J.  H.  Rhodes.  Young 
W.  B.  then  attended  college  at  West  Farmington  until  the  fall  of  1864, 
when  he  entered  the  law  school  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  where  he  graduated  on 
March  22,  1866;  was  admitted  to  practice  in  Michigan,  intending  to  remain 
at  Ann  Arbor,  but  was  called  home  by  his  parents.  He  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  Ohio  September  12,  1866.  at  Canfield,  Ohio.  Again  he  taught  school 
and  aided  his  parents  upon  the  farm  until  April  23,  1868,  when  he  hung  out 
his  shingle  as  a  lawyer  in  the  Empire  Building,  Ravenna  Village,  and  has 
ever  since  occupied  the  same  rooms  as  his  office.  He  is  earnestly  devoted  to 
his  clients  and  is  in  every  sense  a  successful  lawyer  and  an  enterprising  cit- 
izen. On  June  22,  1870,  at  Chardon,  Ohio,  he  was  married  to  Willia  Abbie 
Belden,  born  in  Farmington,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  July  22,  1850,  and  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  C.  L.  Belden,  now  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  and  by  her  he  has  the 
following  children,  all  living:  Winnie  B.,  born  in  1874;  Ida  T.,  born  in 
1876,  and  Charlie  B.,  born  in  1881;  and  of  his  children  our  subject  is  very 
fond. 

RICHARD  J.  THOMPSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  January 
13,  1809,  in  Stockbridge,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.  His  parents,  Isaac  and  Polly 
(Campbell)  Thompson,  came  to  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  in  1814,  driv- 
ing from  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  one  wagon  drawn  by  one 
horse  and  another  wagon  drawn  by  two  horses.  They  had  seven  children  with 
them  and  the  journey  occupied  forty-two  days.  At  that  time  Isaac  Thompson 
was  offered  land  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  anywhere  east  of  the  square,  on  Euclid 
Avenue,  for  $10  per  acre.  Their  children  were  Mrs.  Eliza  Swift,  who  died  in 
Ravenna,  Ohio,  in  December,  1884,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five;  Harry 
C,  deceased;  Charles  B.,  deceased;  Rev.  Orrin  C,  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  who  has 
been  a  Congregational  minister  for  over  fifty  years;  Richard  J.  and  his  twin 
brother  Robert  W.,  latter  deceased;  Mrs.  MaryH.  Sabin,  and  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Carnahan,  deceased.  The  mother  died  about  1844,  aged  seventy;  the  father 
followed  her  in  about  1859,  aged  eighty  five  years.  They  were  upright  pioneer 
people  and  won  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  them.  Our  subject 
married,  November  16,  1834,  Miss  Adelia  Benton,  of  Guilford,  Conn.,  and  to 
this  union  were  born  four  daughters:  Mrs.  Julia  B.  Hall,  of  Euclid  Avenue, 
Cleveland,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Hattie  L.  Hanna,  of  the  same  place;  Mrs.  Helen  C. 
McLain,  deceased,  and  Mrs.  Frances  D.  Smith,  deceased.  Mrs.  Thompson 
died  January  11,  1883.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and 
a  lady  of  estimable  Christian  character.  Mr.  Thompson  is  one  of  the  original 
Republicans  of  Portage  County.  In  early  days  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
movement  against  the  cause  of  slavery.  He  is  one  of  those  devoted  men  who 
will  be  honored  by  future  generations  as  the  sustainers  of  the  famous  "  Under- 
ground Railroad."  His  present  i^esidence,  where  he  has  lived  over  seventy 
years,  was  the  building  in  which  the  first  court  of  Portage  County  was  held. 
He  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  continuous  residents  of  the  township.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son bought  and  used  the  first  mowing  machine  brought  into  the  Western 
Reserve,  one  of  the  old  Ketchum  patent.  People  used  to  come  from  all  points 
to  see  it  work.     This  would  be  about  the  year  1855,  or  perhaps  earlier. 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  855 

JULIAETTE  THOMSON  was  born  in  Shalersville  March  3,  1823,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Sina  (Crane)  Thomson,  former  of  whom  died  October  3, 
1852,  latter  August  26,  1853,  in  Shalersville,  and  grand- daughter  of  Abiah 
Crane.  William  Thomson  and  Sina  Crane  were  married  in  Surry,  Cheshire 
Co.,  N.  H.,  in  1810,  and  in  the  winter  of  1812-13  came  to  Ohio,  and  when 
they  arrived  in  Shalersville  they  found  but  twelve  families  in  the  town.  Her 
father  removed  to  Ohio  in  1812  and  settled  in  Shalersville  Township,  this 
county,  where  he  encountered  the  trials  incident  to  the  life  of  a  pioneer,  and 
established  a  home.  Our  svibject  was  there  raised  and  educated,  and  contri- 
buted by  her  efforts  and  association  to  the  progress  and  development  of  that 
township.  She  was  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  January  1,  1845,  to  Levi 
L.  Colton,  of  Freedom  Township,  this  county,  and  who  died  April  27,  1860. 
Her  second  marriage,  December  8,  1862,  was  with  Mr.  Whitney,  who  died 
May  19,  1882.  The  widow  now  resides  in  Ravenna,  and,  though  she  has  no 
children  of  her  own,  delights  in  doing  for  others,  and  is  beloved  by  all  who 
know  her. 

WILLIAM  F.  TOWNS,  dealer  in  boots  and  shoes,  Ravenna,  was  born 
May  8,  1844,  in  Paris  Township,  Stai-k  Co.,  Ohio.  His  parents,  Joseph  and 
Harriet  Towns,  former  a  native  of  Maine,  latter  of  Maryland,  settled  in  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  in  early  life,  and  moved  to  Ravenna  Township,  this  county,  in 
1864.  Here  Mr.  Towns  departed  this  life  March  5,  1871.  Of  their  ten  chil- 
dren five  are  now  living:  T.  H.  (in  Pomeroy,  Ohio),  William  F.,  Mrs.  W.  S. 
Churchill  (in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county),  M.  N.  (in  Brookville,  Kan.), 
and  L.  J.  (in  this  city).  Mrs.  Towns  is  now  living  in  Ravenna.  Our  subject 
received  his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  the  home  district  and  in  attend- 
ing college  at  Alliance,  Ohio.  He  established  and  carried  on  the  Salem  Busi- 
ness College,  Salem,  Ohio,  during  the  winter  of  1869-70.  Mr.  Towns  was 
united  in  marriage  October  24,  1870,  with  Miss  Hattie  M.,  daughter  of  W.  D. 
Durham,  of  this  city,  and  they  have  two  children:  Florence  I.  and  Nellie  A. 
In  1882  Mr.  Towns  established  a  boot  and  shoe  business  on  Main  Street,  in 
Ravenna,  and  by  courtesy  to  his  customers  and  strict  business  principles  he 
has  built  up  an  extensive  trade  in  the  city  and  vicinity.  He  is  quite  a  church 
worker,  a  member  of  the  official  board  of  officei's  of  one  of  the  leading  churches 
of  the  city,  and  does  a  good  portion  of  its  financial  work;  he  is  at  present 
Church  Treasurer,  which  position  he  has  held  several  years. 

WILLIAM  WADSWORTH,  deceased,  was  born  December  16,  1820,  in 
Canfield,  Ohio,  son  of  Edward  and  Pamelia  Wadsworth,  natives  of  New 
England,  and  who  moved  to  Ohio  from  Litchfield,  Conn.  At  fourteen  years  of 
age  our  subject  came  to  Ravenna,  where  he  learned  the  printer's  trade  in  the 
office  of  the  Ohio  Star.  He  then  embarked  actively  in  the  profession  of  jour- 
nalism, for  which  he  was  especially  fitted.  He  acted  as  foreman  of  the  Cabinet 
and  Visitor  three  years  and  then  became  joint  proprietor  with  Mr.  Dewey  of 
the  Ohio  Star.  He  afterward  purchased  his  partner's  interest  and  conducted 
the  paper  alone  until  1848.  He  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hall,  Herrick 
&  Wadsworth,  proprietors  of  the  Portage  County  Democrat  in  1854,  relinquish- 
ing his  position  in  1856,  to  assume  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the  banking  house 
of  Robinson,  King  &  Co.  He  held  the  position  of  Treasurer  of  the  Cleveland 
&  Pittsburgh  Railroad  during  the  time  the  office  of  the  company  was  located 
in  Ravenna.  Mr.  Wadsworth  married.  May  8,  1844,  Miss  Elizabeth  R.  King, 
born  in  Ravenna,  January  10,  1819,  and  daughter  of  the  well-known  pioneers, 
John  and  Polly  King,  who  came  here  from  Blandford,  Mass.,  in  1814,  having 
lived  four  years  previously  in  Charlestown  Township,  this  county.  Mr.  Wads- 
worth. died  April  22,  1860,  leaving  a  widow  and  four  children:  Mrs.  Francelia 


856  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

E.  Dewey,  Edward  W.  (deceased),  Charles  B.  and  Coi'a  B.  Mrs.  Wadsworth 
now  resides  at  the  family  homestead.  Mr.  Wadsworth  was  a  business  man  of 
wonderful  energy  and  sound  integrity,  of  firm  Christian  character,  and  as  a 
citizen  of  liberality  and  enterprise,  one  who  was  respected  and  esteemed  by  all 
classes.  Their  son,  Charles  B.,  adopted  the  profession  of  civil  engineering, 
and  has  been  engaged  on  the  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie,  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh 
and  Alliance,  Niles  &  Ashtabula  Railroads,  and  for  several  months  on  the  Den- 
ver &  Rio  Grande  Railroad.  He  was  elected  Surveyor  of  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  at  the  general  election  in  October,  18S4:. 

JOSEPH  WAGGONER,  physician  and  surgeon,  Ravenna,  was  born  near 
Richmond,  Jefferson  Co.,  Ohio,  December  30,  1821.  His  father,  William 
Waggoner,  of  German-Irish  parentage,  residing  in  northeastern  Maryland, 
married  Miss  Sarah  Jackson,  of  northwestern  Delaware,  and  of  Scotch  English 
descent.  Loading  their  household  goods  into  a  wagon,  they  began  the  tedious 
journey  over  the  mountains  to  the  wilderness  of  Ohio,  landing  in  Jeflferson 
County,  in  1805,  and  locating  on  a  quarter-section  near  Richmond.  Here  they 
built  a  log-cabin,  began  their  pioneer  labor,  and  spent  their  useful  and  honored 
lives,  raising  a  family  of  eight  boys  and  four  girls.  Our  subject,  the  tenth  in 
the  family,  grew  up  on  the  farm,  working  during  the  summer  and  attend- 
ing the  district  school  in  the  winter.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  began  teach- 
ing during  the  winters  and  attending  a  select  school  at  Richmond  during  the 
summers.  On  attaining  his  majority  he  entered  the  Steubenville  Academy,  to 
prepare  for  entering  college,  but  his  health  failing,  a  further  classical  course 
was  by  his  friends  deemed  inadvisable.  After  resting  and  recruiting  his  health 
for  nearly  a  year  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  Drs.  Johnson 
and  Henning.  of  Steubenville,  in  the  spring  of  1843,  continuing  until  the  fall 
of  1846.  During  the  winter  of  1846-47  he  attended  medical  lectures  at  the 
Cleveland  Medical  College,  and  subsequently  had  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Med 
icine  conferred  on  him  by  that  institution.  In  the  spring  of  1847  he  located 
at  Deerfield,  this  county,  in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession,  where  for  six- 
teen years  he  was  engaged  in  its  duties  and  responsibilities.  In  the  spring  of 
1863  he  removed  to  Ravenna,  where  he  at  once  entered  upon  an  enlarged  and 
constantly  increasing  practice.  During  the  year  1864  he  visited  Washington, 
D.  C,  tendering  his  services  to  the  Government,  which  were  accepted.  He 
entered  the  army  as  Assistant  Surgeon,  and  was  placed  on  duty  at  Lincoln 
Hospital,  but  his  stay  there  was  shoi't.  His  wife's  health  became  precarious, 
and  he  was  induced  to  resign  his  position  and  return  home.  Since  that  time 
he  has  been  continually  and  assiduously  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine, 
his  life  work,  allowing  nothing  to  interfere  with  its  duties.     The  Doctor  is  a 

F.  &  A.  M.,  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Ohio 
State  Medical  Society,  the  Northeastern  Ohio  Medical  Society,  and  the  Portage 
County  Medical  Society.  His  literature  consists  of  society  papers  and  an 
occasional  political  article.  He  is  very  liberal  in  his  professional  views,  and 
willing  to  fraternize,  when  humanity  calls,  with  medical  gentlemen  of  the  so- 
called  different  schools.  In  theology  he  is  also  very  tolerant  of  the  views  of 
the  different  sects,  gladly  welcoming  the  day  when  those  differences  will  disap- 
pear. He  supports  the  different  churches  liberally,  believing  in  the  doctrine  of 
Christianity  and  its  ennobling  influences  on  mankind.  Politically  in  early  life 
the  Doctor  was  a  Whig,  and  a  great  admirer  of  Henry  Clay,  for  whom  he  cast 
his  first  Presidential  vote.  When  the  Republican  party  was  organized,  he  joined 
it,  and  has  ever  since  been  battling  for  its  political  ascendancy,  voting  for  its 
nominees,  Fremont,  Lincoln,  Grant,  Hayes,  Garheld  and  Blaine.  Dr.  Wag- 
goner is  known  as  a  straightforward,  honest  man.    He  is  courteous  and  gentle- 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  857 

manly  in  manner,  genial  in  disposition,  and  liberal  in  spirit  and  action.  He 
enjoys  the  esteem  of  all  those  with  whom  he  is  acquainted  professionally  or 
socially.  As  a  general  practitioner  and  family  physician,  he  has  few  equals, 
always  endeavoring  to  keep  his  patients  well,  as  much  as  to  cure  them.  In 
June,  1862,  our  subject  married  Miss  Mary  M.  Regal,  of  Deertield,  this  county, 
who  by  her  domestic  virtues  has  proved  a  life  helpmate.  Four  children  were 
born  to  them:  George  Joseph,  Arthur  Judson,  William  Wallace,  and  Mary 
Josephine,  the  first  and  last  of  whom  are  living.  Arthur  and  William,  two 
lovely  and  promising  boys,  aged  eleven  and  eight,  respectively,  died  of  that 
dread  disease,  diphtheria,  in  January,  1880,  and  were  buried  on  the  same  day, 
January  18.  This  is  the  one  great  sorrow  of  his  life,  and  is  the  only  shadow 
that  hangs  over  an  otherwise  happy  home. 

EDWIN  R.  WAIT,  jeweler  and  watch-maker,  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Aurora, 
this  county,  July  4,  1830.  His  parents,  Jonathan  and  Abigail  Wait,  of  Ches- 
ter, Mass.,  settled  in  this  county  about  1825.  They  lived  the  lives  of  useful 
pioneers,  and  raised  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  but  three  are  now  liv- 
ing in  this  county.  The  mother  died  February  23, 1877;  the  faiher  January  17, 
1881,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  Our  subject  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  began 
learning  the  trade  of  jeweler  and  watch-maker,  with  R.  A.  Baird,  of  Ravenna, 
and  was  for  many  years  engaged  with  him,  finally  purchasing  the  entire  busi- 
ness. He  carried  on  the  enterprise  alone  for  many  years,  taking  in  as  a  part- 
ner his  brother,  Alva  F.,  in  1871.  The  firm  is  now  known  as  Wait  Bros. 
They  enjoy  an  extensive  custom  as  manufacturing  jewelers,  watch-makers  and 
dealers  in  a  complete  line  of  jewelers'  goods.  Theirs  is  the  oldest  business 
house  (with  one  exception)  in  Ravenna.  Mr.  Wait  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Swift, 
November  18,  1858.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Isaac  Swift,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  this  city,  and  for  many  years  prominently  identified  with  the  medi- 
cal profession.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wait  have  been  born  one  son — Henry  M. 
and  one  daughter — Emily  M.  Our  subject  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church.  Mr.  Wait  is  a  life- long  Republican,  casting  his  first  vote 
for  Fremont.  He  takes  a  deep  interest  in  public  affairs.  Has  been  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  for  fifteen  years. 

WALLACE  WILLIAMSON  (deceased)  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Penn.,  December  15,  1817,  but  was  brought  up  principally  in  Bethlehem, 
Stark  Co. ,  Ohio.  At  sixteen  years  of  age  he  started  on  foot  to  the  Maumee 
Swamps,  Ohio,  where  his  uncle,  George  Robinson,  was  acting  as  a  civil  engi- 
neer on  the  Ohio  Canal.  He  learned  that  profession  under  his  uncle,  and  fol- 
lowed it  for  about  twenty-five  years  on  that  and  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania 
Canals.  He  married,  January  4,  1842,  Miss  Alvira  S.  Judd,  born  May  5,1822, 
in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  Her  father,  Charles  Judd,  of  Hamilton, 
County,  N.  Y.,  came,  when  a  young  man,  in  1818,  to  this  county,  where  he  mar 
ried  Miss  Lucina,  daughter  of  the  pioneers,  Moses  and  Marj^  (Abels)  Smith, 
who  settled  here  from  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  in  1805.  Mr.  Judd  died 
November  17,  1864.  His  widow  still  survives  him  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty  five  years,  being  the  oldest  continuous  resident  of  Ravenna  Township 
now  living.  Mrs,  Williamson  is  their  only  child.  Seven  years  after  their 
marriage  Mr.  Williamson  purchased  the  old  Judd  family  homestead  of  126 
acres  near  the  corporation  line  of  Ravenna.  He  devoted  his  time  partly  to 
this,  and  partly  to  canal  and  railroad  engineering.  He  had  an  accidental  fall 
on  his  premises  on  Februarj'  12,  1881,  which  resulted  in  his  death  on  the  21st 
of  that  month.  He  was  an  active  man  in  agricultural  affairs,  taking  a  very 
prominent  part  in  the  Portage  Agricultural  Society.  He  was  a  leading 
member    of   the   P.    of    H.,  being  an   influential  member  of   the  State    and 


858  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

National  Granges.  His  widow  and  their  only  son — Marshall — survive  him» 
and  reside  at  the  family  homestead.  Mrs.  Williamson  is  a  pious  member  of 
the  Disciples  Church,  the  faith  of  her  father  and  mother. 

ANDREW  WILLYARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  March  27, 
1830,  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Benjamin  Willyard, 
came  from  Maryland  to  this  county  in  1808  with  his  parents,  and  here  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Eatinger,  daughter  of  John  and  Christiana  Eatinger.  They 
had  a  family  of  live  children:  Mrs.  Julia  Ann  Caris,  Andrew,  Phylena 
(deceased),  John  and  Charles  (latter  deceased).  The  father  died  April  6,1868, 
and  the  mother  January  12,  1878.  They  were  upright  pioneer  citizens,  pious 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  enjoying  the  respect  of  all  who  knew  them. 
Our  subject  married  Miss  Susan  Welk,  of  Mahoning  Couuty,  Ohio,  January 
25^,  1859,  and  they  then  settled  where  they  now  reside.  They  own  a  fine  farm 
of  150  acres  in  Ravenna  and  Rootstown  Townships.  Their  children  now  liv- 
ing are  Charles  H.;  Judson  C,  in  Dakota;  Clara  E.;  Calvin  B.  and  Kate  E. 
Two  died  in  infancy.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  worthy  descendant  of 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  influential  pioneer  families  of  Portage  County. 

GEORGE  WISMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  March  23,  1823,  in 
Beaver  County,  Penn. ;  son  of  William  and  Hester  Wisman,  natives  of  same 
county,  and  who  came  to  this  county  in  1824,  settling  in  Rootstown  Township. 
(Mrs.  Wisman  was  a  daughter  of  the  famous  scout  and  Indian  hunter,  Andrew 
Poe).  Here  Mr.  Wisman  met  his  death  in  1826  by  being  accidentally  shot 
while  out  hunting  wild  hogs  with  a  friend,  Mr.  Carl.  Mrs.  Wisman  then 
returned  with  her  family  to  her  native  county,  where  she  resided  until  1839, 
when  they  located  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  The  children  were  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  R.  Hall,  of  Rootstown;  Andrew  Poe,  in  Van  Wert  County,  Ohio, 
(deceased);  George  and  Sarah  (latter  deceased).  Mrs.  Wisman  died  in  1873, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Our  subject  married,  in  1848,  Miss  Sarah 
Jane,  daughter  of  Daniel  Clark,  of  Rootstown.  She  died  in  1854,  leaving 
one  daughter — Mrs.  Mary  Merrill,  of  Meadville,  Penn.  Mr.  Wisman  after- 
ward married,  March  22,  1855,  Miss  Eliza  Uncapher,  of  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio.  They  have  five  children:  Samantha,  George,  Eliza  Eldora,  John  Poe 
and  William.  Mr.  Wisman  purchased  his  present  place  south  of  Ravenna,  to 
which  he  has  added  until  he  now  owns  an  excellent  farm  of  160  acres  of  well- 
improved  land.  He  has  recently  erected  a  fine  residence  thereon.  He  and  his 
wife  are  consistent  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  Wisman  is  a  man 
who  has  begun  upon  his  own  resources  and  risen  to  his  present  prosperity  by 
his  own  industry  and  good  management.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

ROBERT  B.  WITTER,  proprietor  of  livery,  etc.,  Ravenna,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 29,  1829,  in  Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  where  his  father,  Ezra  Witter,  died  about 
1848.  Our  subject  came  to  this  county  about  1849,  settling  in  Ravenna  in 
1854.  His  mother,  Margaret  Witter,  came  to  this  county  in  1850  and  died  in 
Rootstown  September  5,  1853;  his  sisters,  Mrs.  Isabella  Butler  and  Mrs.  Mary 
A.  Day,  and  his  brother  Charles  now  live  in  Ravenna,  Ohio.  Our  subject  fol- 
lowed his  trade  as  harness-maker  until  1863,  and  has  conducted  a  livery  stable 
since  1875.  He  married,  in  October,  1872,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Steadman,  widow 
of  Dr.  Charles  E.  Steadman,  and  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary  Ann  Hamil- 
ton, of  New  Baltimore,  Ohio.  Mrs.  Witter  died  May  30,  1879,  leaving  one 
daughter — Mary  A.  Witter. 

FREDERICK  WELLS  WOODBRIDGE,  Ravenna,  was  born  at  Manches- 
ter, Conn.,  in  1824.  His  father,  who  had  been  wealthy,  lost  his  all  in  the 
financial  panic  of  1837,  and  came  to  Ohio  with  his  son  in  1839,  In  1841  the 
boy  began  to  clerk  for  Clapp  &  Spellman,  at  Akron,  and  soon  after  for  Zenas 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  85D 

Kent,  of  Ravenna,  wbo  had  noticed  his  character  and  ability.  With  charac- 
teristic unselfishness,  young  Woodbridge  gave  his  father  his  wages  to  help 
him  buy  a  farm,  denying  himself  many  comforts  for  that  purpose.  Too  poor 
to  venture  into  society,  he  was  yet  too  rich  in  self-respect  and  principle  to 
indulge  in  bad  habits.  He  went  into  business  for  himself  in  1846.  Mr. 
Woodbridge's  head,  heart  and  life  all  testify  that  the  clock  of  his  fortune  struck 
twelve  in  1847,  when  he  married  Mary  A.  Bi-ayton,  of  Ravenna.  He  engaged 
in  business  soon  after  with  his  father-in-law;  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in 
1853,  where  with  others  he  built  the  Cleveland  Powder  Mills,  which  he  opera- 
ted successfully  for  several  years,  when  he  again  entered  a  mercantile  life  and 
prosecuted  an  extensive  business  in  connection  with  the  Cleveland  Rolling  MilJ 
Company.  He  returned  to  Ravenna  in  1873,  where  he  still  lives,  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  glass.  He  is  emphatically  a  Christian  business  man, 
enterprising,  energetic,  sagacious,  successful,  and  of  invulnerable  integrity. 
He  is  domestic  in  his  tastes,  and  more  than  beautiful  in  his  home  life.  A 
patient  and  dutiful  son,  a  kind  and  wise  father,  a  genial  friend,  the  idol  of 
his  children,  the  king  of  his  wife's  affection,  as  she  is  the  queen  of  his  heart. 
He  is  as  tenderly  devoted  as  the  most  ardent  young  lover,  aiding  her  enthu- 
siastically in  all  her  reform  work. — Rev.  A.  M.  Hills. 

MRS.  MARY  A.  WOODBRIDGE.  —  Mary  A.  Brayton  was  a  Nan- 
tucket girl,  which  explains  much  in  her  brave  career  and  character.  Left 
to  themselves  during  the  long  and  dangerous  voyages  of  men  who  sought 
the  northern  seas  for  "light,  more  light"  (in  the  halcyon  days  of  sper- 
maceti, before  Col.  Drake  struck  oil  from  Pennsylvania's  bosom),  the  women 
of  Nantucket  were  by  nature  and  nurture  hardy,  strong  and  self-reliant 
But  with  these  qualities  not  sufficiently  emphasized  in  the  "regulation  pat- 
tern "  of  the  softer  sex,  these  unique  islanders  combined  great  tenderness  and 
depth  of  head  and  conscience.  How  could  it  fail  to  be  so,  when  they  fer- 
vently prayed  for  the  safe  home-coming  of  their  best-beloved,  and  kept  their 
memory  green  by  constant  recitals  to  their  children  of  the  virtues  of  their 
absent  sons  and  sires  ?  From  the  same  lineage  that  has  given  us  Prof.  Maria 
Mitchell,  of  Vassar  College,  and  Phcsbe  Hanaford,  the  preacher  and  poet, 
comes  their  cousin,  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  whose  name  has  already  lent  to  tem- 
perance annals  one  of  the  brightest  pages  this  century  can  show.  Her  father, 
Capt.  Isaac  Brayton  (see  page  814),  a  man  of  character  and  substance,  repeats 
his  noblest  traits  in  his  most  gifted  child,  but  more  than  all  we  trace  the  gen- 
tle, tender  spirit  which  makes  more  firm  her  stand  for  truth,  and  the  unfailing 
trust  in  God  which  were  the  gift  and  teaching  of  a  devoted  mother  to  a  ten- 
derly loved  daughter,  and  see  in  her  those  rare  qualities  possessed  by  that 
mother  (Love  Mitchell  Brayton)  and  her  brother.  Prof.  William  Mitchell,  the 
brilliant  astronomer,  of  whom  it  is  said  "none  knew  them  but  to  love."  Her 
sunny  years  of  childhood  were  sedulously  turned  to  account  under  the  guid- 
ance of  wise  parental  counsel  and  able  teachers.  Little  Mary  was  the  prodigy 
of  the  school-room,  especially  in  mathematics.  That  most  progressive  educa- 
tor, Horace  Mann,  on  witnessing  some  of  her  exploits  at  six  years  of  age, 
said:  "  Persevere,  my  child,  you  will  yet  make  a  notable  woman."  At  eigh- 
teen our  heroine  was  both  wife  and  mother,  having  married  Frederick  Wells 
W^oodbridge,  Esq.,  a  successful  young  merchant,  who  made  her  acquaintance 
in  the  pleasant  town  of  Ravenna,  for  some  years  her  father's  home.  A 
residence  in  Cleveland  followed  her  marriage,  where  two  daughters  are  now 
living.  One  son,  though  of  the  stature  of  manhood,  is  the  joy  of  his  parents, 
while  the  elder  awaits  their  coming  to  the  home  beyond.  Home  cares  did  noi 
prevent  Mrs.  Woodbridge's  constant  growth  in   mental   acquisitions  and  acu- 


860  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

men.  Books  have  always  been  her  "next  of  kin,"  and  of  few  can  it  be  said 
with  greater  truth,  that  "she  lived  on  her  ideas.'-'  She  was  Secretary  of  a  lit- 
erary club,  over  which  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield  presided  (in  his  frequent  visits 
to  Cleveland),  and  all  unconsciously  she  was  preparing  for  the  great  work 
awaiting  the  Christian  women  of  her  native  land.  Finally  the  clock  of  God 
struck  the  hour  of  the  crusade,  and  among  the  leaders  which,  in  the  sacred 
exclusion  of  their  homes  and  manifold  activities  of  their  church  life,  had  been 
serving  their  novitiate,  forth  came  Mary  A.  VVoodbridge  into  the  peaceful  war 
for  God,  and  home,  and  native  land.  Of  the  three-fold  call — "  opportunity, 
adaptation  and  success" — by  which  she  was  ushered  into  gospel  temperance 
work,  let  her  own  pastor,  Rev.  A.  M.  Hills,  tell  in  the  fitting  words  that  follow: 
"The  crusade  came  with  the  suddenness  and  the  power  of  Pentecost,  bringing, 
also,  like  it,  a  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  common  with  thousands  of  oth- 
ers of  her  Ohio  sisters,  she  felt  the  movings  of  the  Spirit.  Her  eyes  were 
opened  to  see  in  a  new  light  the  woes  caused  by  intemperance.  She  went  to 
her  closet,  and  there,  when  alone  with  her  God,  heard  the  Divine  voice  asking, 
'Whom  shall  I  send?'  She  had  the  grace  given  her  to  lay  hex'self  upon  the 
altar  in  consecration,  with  the  prayer,  'Here  am  I;  I  will  be  or  do  whatever 
pleaseth  Thee.'  But  she  did  not  yet  understand  the  vision,  nor  realize  that  a 
live  coal  had  touched  her  lips.  She  had  been  a  professing  Christian  for  thirty 
years,  but  had  never  spoken  a  word  in  public  or  offered  an  audible  prayer. 
Soon  she  attended  a  great  union  meeting  which  had  come  together  in  the 
excitement  of  the  hour  without  anyone  haviog  been  appointed  to  preside  when 
gathered.  It  was  thought  best  that  this  should  be  done  by  a  woman.  Who 
should  it  be?  Oue  after  another  thought  of  her,  and  she  was  asked  to  take 
the  place.  She  was  utterly  overcome  with  fear  and  a  sense  of  inability,  and 
pleaded  to  be  excused.  Her  aged  father  came  to  her  side  and  tenderly  reminded 
her  of  her  consecration  vow,  and  then  left  her.  Her  pastor  came  a  second 
time,  when,  with  a  struggle,  she  said  to  one  standing  by,  'Doctor,  ask  the  audi- 
ence to  rise  and  sing  Coronation;  I  never  can  walk  up  the  aisle  with  these  peo- 
ple looking  at  me.'  As  they  sang,  she  went  forward,  trembling  with  weakness 
and  praying  every  step  'Lord,  help  me!  Lord,  help  me!'  She  called  upon  a 
brother  to  pray:  then  she  read  a  verse  of  Scripture,  and  began  to  say — she 
knew  not  what.  But  God  put  his  own  message  into  her  anointed  lips.  The 
deeps  of  her  woman's  heart  were  moved ;  self  was  forgotten  in  her  message. 
She  pleaded  for  the  degraded  victims  of  drink;  for  their  heartbroken  wives 
and  mothers,  and  for  their  suffering  and  degraded  children.  Her  words  poured 
forth  in  tender  and  resistless  eloquence,  till  the  multitude  were  moved  as  one 
man.  The  strong  were  melted  to  tears.  Christians  wept  and  prayed  together. 
A  cool-headed  Judge  arose  and  solemnly  declared  that  he  had  never  been  in 
an  audience  so  manifestly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  that  one  sacred  houi" 
she  was  lifted  by  the  providence  of  God  into  a  new  life.  Her  mission  had 
come.  Like  St.  Paul,  she  had  had  a  revelation,  and  she  has  not  since  that  time 
been  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision."  Ever  since  then  the  histoiy  of  Mrs. 
Woodbridge  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
"that  sober,  second  thought  of  the  crusade."  She  has  risen  to  her  present 
eminence  by  sure  and  regular  gradation,  being  at  first  President  of  the  local 
union  of  her  own  home  town  at  Ravenna,  then  for  years  President  of  her 
State,  and  in  1878  she  was  chosen  Recording  Secretary  of  the  National 
W^omen's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  a  position  which  she  tills  with  unrivalled 
ability,  her  minutes  being  almost  never  susceptible  of  improvement  by  even 
the  slightest  verbal  change.  This  is,  indeed,  a  fact  ''significant  of  much,"  for 
only  the  quickest  ear,  keenest  perception  and  readiest    hand  could  so   "  keep 


RAVENNA  TOWNSHIP.  '  861 

the  run  "  of  proceedings  to  the  last  degree  intricate,  rapid  and  changeful. 
Upon  the  resignation  of  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster  (at  the  St.  Louis  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  in  October,  1884,)  Mrs.  Woodbridge  was  unanimously 
chosen  National  Superintendent  of  the  Department  of  Legislation  and  Peti- 
tions. She  is  now  in  the  field  addressing  large  audiences  at  leading  centers 
of  influence,  and  is  received  with  the  consideration  due  to  her  character,  tal- 
ents and  influence.  But  the  crowning  work  of  Mrs.AVoodbridge  thus  far,  was 
her  consummate  conduct  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment  campaign,  espec- 
ially when  the  stage  of  submitting  the  prohibitory  clause  had  been  successfully 
passed.  Her  wonderful  alertness  of  mind,  facility  of  leadership,  patience  and 
far-reaching  wisdom,  had  here  a  splendid  field.  Political  leaders  in  Ohio  said 
"they  were  out- worked,  outwitted  and  out-generaled. "  Almost  unaided  by 
the  partisan  press,  with  faithlessness  in  camp  and  field,  the  parties  making  a 
promise  to  the  ear  only  to  break  it  to  the  hope,  this  steadfast  nature  still  held 
on  its  way,  trusted  by  the  people  of  Ohio  and  devoutly  trusting  them.  But 
in  God  were  the  hidings  of  her  power.  Whether  she  edited  the  Amendment 
Herald,  which  under  her  leadership  attained  a  weekly  circulation  of  100,000 
copies,  or  directed  the  appointments  of  the  temperance  workers  who  were  "out 
campaigning,  stirred  the  zeal  of  her  local  workers  by  letter  and  telegram,  or 
pleaded  for  the  sinews  of  war,  her  faith  failed  not,"  and  words  of  prayer  were 
ever  on  her  lips,  or  promises  of  God  from  the  Book  with  which  she  has  so  great 
familiarity.  What  wonder  that  more  than  300,000  voters  responded  by  "Yes" 
ballots  to  such  earnest  workers  as  the  White  Ribbon  women  of  Ohio,  under 
such  splendid  leadership.  Later  on,  when  the  amendment  was  counted  out, 
Mrs.  Woodbridge  has  taken  positions  so  far  advanced  as  to  the  safe  conduct  of 
prohibition  movements,  that  many  good  people  have  been  unable  "  to  see  light 
in  her  light,"  but  she  goes  bravely  forward,  undaunted,  undeterred,  "with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  her  to  see  the  right,"  exhibiting  in  this  the 
choicest  quality  of  her  noble  character,  viz. :  fidelity  to  her  convictions  at  cost 
of  comfort  and  of  praise.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  unspeakably  dear  to  Mrs.  Wood- 
bridge,  but  the  temperance  reform  is  dearer  still,  and  what  she  believes  to  be 
for  its  best  interests,  she  will  steadily  pursue,  "with  malice  toward  none  and 
charity  for  all."  Happily  for  this  gifted  woman,  '•  her  husband's  heart  doth 
safely  trust  in  her."  Her  noble  son,  now  up  to  man's  estate,  is  so  truly  "moth- 
er's boy,"  that  he  drinks  in  of  her  spirit  and  appreciates  her  work.  Out  of 
gratitude  to  God  for  the  immunity  of  her  own  family  circle,  Mary  A.  Wood- 
bridge  works — not  out  of  grief  or  desperation.  Her  home  furnishes  salient 
refutation  to  the  foolish  fallacy  that  women  of  brains,  enterprise  and  public 
spirit  are  not  good  house-keepex's.  Mrs.  Woodbridge  is  a  rare  florist;  many 
varieties  of  roses  embellish  her  garden.  Rare  exotics  flourish  in  her  sunny 
house:  viands  prepared  by  her  own  skilled  and  industrious  hands  render 
attractive  her  hospitable  board.  "  These  things  ought  ye  to  have  done  and  not 
left  the  other  undone,"  seems  to  have  been  her  motto.  A  model  wife  and 
mother,  a  royal  friend,  an  earnest  Christian,  long  may  she  live  and  labor  for 
a  sacred  cause.  — Frances  E.   Willard. 

46 


862  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP. 

R.  N.  ANDREWS,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in 
Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  July  9,  1808;  son  of  Thaddeus  and  Lydia 
Andrews,  natives  of  Connecticut,  and  who  came  to  this  county  in  1804,  being 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Rootstown  Township,  and  here  died,  the  former  in 
1845,  the  latter  in  1843.  Our  subject  was  married,  September  20,  1830,  to 
Emily  Norton,  born  in  Guilford,  Chenango  Co.,  N.  Y.,  February  22,  1812, 
daughter  of  Ancil  and  Lucy  Norton,  Eastern  people,  who  settled  in  this  county 
in  1822,  and  remained  here  all  their  lives.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrews  have 
been  born  three  children,  one  now  living — Seth  N.  The  deceased  were  both 
named  Emma  J.  Mr.  Andrews,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  130 
acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  wife  reside. 

J.  F.  AUSFAHL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Ger- 
many, March  14,  1821;  son  of  John  G.  and  Christiana  Ausfahl,  who  immi- 
grated to  Marlboro,  Stark  Co. ,  Ohio,  there  remaining  until  the  death  of  the 
mother  in  1838.  The  father  then  moved  to  this  county  and  here  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  days,  dying  in  1848.  Our  subject  was  married,  December 
13,  1842,  to  Sophia  Smith,  born  in  Bedford  County,  Penn.,  May  4,  1824, 
daughter  of  David  and  Susan  Smith,  both  now  deceased.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs, 
Ausfahl  were  born  three  children,  two  now  living:  Rosie  and  Mary.  John  G. 
is  deceased.  Mrs.  Ausfahl  died  October  10,  1883,  after  living  a  long  and  use- 
ful life.  Our  subject  is  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade  but  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  for  several  years. 

JAMES  S.  AUSTIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Arkansas,  May 
13,  1810;  son  of  Horace  and  Peaceable  Austin,  the  former  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania,  who  settled  in  Arkansas,  where  they 
remained  until  the  father's  death  in  1818,  when  the  mother  and  family  moved 
to  Natchez,  Miss.,  thence  to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  where  she  died  in  1845. 
Our  subject  was  married,  May  13,  1834,  to  Mary  E.  Reed,  born  in  this  town- 
ship in  1812,  daughter  of  Abram  and  Siley  Reed  (both  now  deceased).  To 
this  union  have  been  bora  six  children,  three  now  living:  Olive  (wife  of  Caleb 
Elye),  Mary  and  Horace.  The  deceased  are  Rebecca.  Dayton  H.  and  James 
M.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  at  which  he  worked  about  forty  years, 
since  when  he  has  been  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  forty-nine  acres  whereon 
he  and  his  family  reside.  He  has  filled  several  offices  of  trust  in  the  town- 
ship. Mr.  Austin,  wife  and  daughter  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church. 

ALBERT  BABCOCK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Ravenna  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  12,  1824;  son  of  Almon  and  Mary  Babcock.  The 
former,  born  in  Granville,  Mass.,  November  9,  1788,  came  to  this  county  in 
1810;  the  latter,  born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  August  15,  1789,  came  to  this 
county  in  1812.  They  were  married  December  25,  1814,  and  remained  here 
until  their  death,  May  4,  1850,  and  May  28,  1859,  respectively.  Our  subject 
was  married,  April  26,  1854,  to  Betsey  E.  Avery,  born  in  Portage  County, 
Ohio,  May  30,  1831,  daughter  of  Reuben  and  Corinne  Avery,  the  former  born 
in  Hoosenick  Colony  of  Connecticut,  March  2,  1772;  the  latter  in  Farmington, 
Hartford  Co.,  Conn.,  December  23,   1789.     Mr.  Avery  was  married  the  first 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  863 

time  in  1804,  to  Rachel  Baldwin,  of  his  native  State,  and  they  resided  in  New 
York  until  181(3,  when  they  moved  to  Aurora,  this  county,  where  she  died  in 
1822,  and  he  then  married  Corrinne  Faxon  February  9,  1823,  the  widow  of  Isaac 
Faxon.  Mr.  Avery  died  May  25,  1873,  his  widow  June  9,  1878.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Babcock  have  had  six  children:  John  F.,  Adalaide  A.  (wife  of  Kelsey  S. 
Wing),  Mary  C.  (wife  of  Charles  D.  Hughs),  Martha  M.,  Nettie  M.  and  Josephine 
B.  Mr.  Babcock  has  been  engaged  in  farming  through  life,  and  owns  190 
acres  where  he  has  resided  since  1840.     He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

A.  H.  BAELOW,  retired,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  New  York  State 
January  3,  1815;  son  of  John  and  Mary  Barlow,  natives  of  Connecticut,  the 
former  of  whom  died  in  New  York,  his  widow  coming  to  this  county  and 
remaining  with  our  subject  until  her  death.      Our  subject  was  married,  JanuarA'^ 

3,  1837,  to  Clara  Sanford.  born  in  Connecticut  in  November,  1813,  daughter  of 
Robert  W.  and  Mabel  Sanford,  both  deceased.  Mr.  Barlow  settled  in  this 
county  in  1836,  has  lived  here  ever  since  and  is  a  member  of  the  Pioneer  Associa- 
tion. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barlow  have  had  five  children,  two  now  living:  Laura  M. 
(wife  of  J.  H.  Bradshaw)  and  Addison  M.  The  deceased  are  Sarah  E.,  Fred- 
erick W.  and  Robert  L.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  the  boot  and  shoe 
business  most  of  his  life.  He  is  the  present  County  Coroner,  has  tilled  nearly 
all  the  oflSces  of  trust  in  the  township,  and  has  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  eighteen  years.  He  is  now  I'etired  from  business.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bar- 
low are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

JOSEPH  BASEL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  born  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
in  June,  1840,  is  of  German  descent,  son  of  Adam  and  Lena  Basel.  He  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  this  county  and  married,  August  26,  1872,  Mary  A. 
Kline,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  June,  1851,  of  Ger- 
man descent,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Margaret  Kline.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Basel 
are  the  parents  of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Sophronia  and 
Emma.  The  deceased  was  an  infant.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all 
his  life,  owns  seventy- nine  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.  He  served  his  country  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  in  Company 
H,  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

DANIEL  BOGUE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Connecticut. 
December  1,  1815,  son  of  Henry  and  Sarah  Bogue,  natives  of  Connecticut, 
who  came  to  Medina  County  in  1816,  and  remained  the  balance  of  their  lives. 
Our  subject  was  married  in  1839  to  Hitty  Lewis,  born  in  Massachusetts  in 
1817,  daughter  of  "William  and  Sarah  Lewis,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who 
came  to  this  county,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bogue  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living:  Ellen, 
Henry  L. ,  Newell  E.,  Byron  J.,  Milo,  Augustus  H.,  Emma  A.,  Edwin  L.  and 
Charles  D.  Our  subject  owns  140  acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.  They  are  among  the  early  settlera  of  the  county,  and  the  name  Bogue 
is  familiar  to  every  citizen,  ' 

GEORGE  W.  BOW,  merchant,  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Rootstown,  this 
county,  December  24,  1843,  son  of  Oliver  and  Maria  Bow,  natives  of  the  East, 
the  former  born  in  Berkshire  County.  Mass.,  and  the  latter  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  •  They  weie  married  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  where 
they  remained  until  1882,  when  they  moved  to  GarrettsviHe,  this  county,  where 
they  I'eside  at  present.  Our  subject  was  married  December  27,  1865,  to  Ellen 
E.  Chapman,  born  in  Brimfield  Township,  this  county,  October  27,  1844, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Chapman  (both  deceased,  the  former  March 

4,  1878,  and  the  latter  October  1, 1880).  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bow  have  two  children: 


864  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Charlie  M.  and  Stephen  W.  Our  subject  engaged  in  farming  until  1880, 
when  he  and  his  father  purchased  the  store  at  the  Center,  formerly  owned  by 
S.  L.  Burget,  and  after  one  year  he  bought  his  father's  interest,  since  when  he 
has  conducted  the  business  alone,  the  only  general  store  at  the  Center.  Mr. 
Bow  is  Postmaster,  and  has  jSlled  other  offices  of  trust  in  the  township.  He 
owns  113  acres  of  improved  land.  He  and  his  wife  and  children  are  members 
of  the  Congregational  Church,  in  which  he  was  leader  of  the  choir  for  ten 
years,  and  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school  eleven  years. 

WASHINGTON  L.  BUKT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kootstown,  was  born  in  Brim- 
tield  Township,  this  county,  March  26,  1825,  son  of  Abel  and  Prudence  Burt, 
native  of  Brimtield,  Mass.,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1822,  locating  in  this  county, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death,  the  father  dying  October  25,  1867,  the 
mother  August  20,  1870.  Our  subject  was  married  in  1846  to  Electra  D.  Bab- 
cock,  born  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  October  15,  1828,  daughter  of 
Sylvester  and  Electra  A.  Babcock,  the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  the  lat- 
ter of  Vermont,  and  who  came  to  this  county,  where  the  mother  died  Novem- 
ber 3,  1827,  after  which  the  father  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  died  March  27, 
1868.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bui't  have  had  eleven  children,  live  of  whom  survive: 
Caroline,  wife  of  Henry  Shumway;  Julia,  wife  of  Henry  Spellman;  John  W. ; 
Daniel  V.  and  Henry  B.  The  deceased  are  Charles  B.,  Eliza  E.,  two  infants. 
Flora  E.  and  Charles.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his 
life,  owns  fifty  acres  of  land  and  other  property.  He  is  one  of  Portage  Coun- 
ty's oldest  pioneers. 

L.  F.  BUTLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Atwater,  this 
county,  August  21,  1836,  ,son  of  Luther  and  Eliza  Butler,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  Connecticut  October  8,  1801;  the  latter  in  Atwater  Town- 
ship, Ohio,  in  1808.  Both  are  now  living  in  Atwatei*.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried July  9,  1862,  to  Elvira  R.  Huffman,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this 
county,  June  6,  1843,  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Jane  Huffman,  who  reside  in 
Atwater  Township,  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butler  have  two  children:  M. 
Lillian,  born  September  29,  1863,  and  Clarence  M.,  born  April  19,  1870.  Our 
subject  engaged  in  farming  for  several  years;  then  for  eight  years  in  merchan- 
dizing at  Atwater.  He  sold  out  and  moved  to  Rootstown  Township,  this 
county,  where  he  has  a  farm  consisting  of  150  acres.  Mr.  Butler  is  a  good 
citizen. 

GEORGE  A.  CALE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  May  18,  1857;  son  of  Stephen  and  Adaline  Cale,  natives  of  Windham, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio;  former  of  whom  died  in  Shalersville,  Ohio,  in  1860.  The 
latter  subsequently  married  Willet  Prosser,  and  they  reside  in  Ravenna,  Ohio. 
Our  subject  was  married  November  8,  1876,  to  Ibbie  E.  Colton,  born  in 
Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  May  26,  1857,  daughter  of  Alva  and  Mary 
M.  Colton,  natives  of  Ohio,  and  who  settled  in  this  county.  The  father  died 
in  1881.  The  mother  resides  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cale  have  had  two  children:  Alva  H.,  and  Bertha  V.  (deceased).  Our 
subject  has  been  a  farmer  all  through  life.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Disciples  Church. 

SAMUEL  CARIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Rootstown  Town- 
ship, this  county,  December  27,  1823;  son  of  John  and  Betsey  E.  Caris, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  this  county  and  settled,  and  here  died. 
Our  subject  was  married  July  7,  1849,  to  Rachel  Ward,  born  in  Ravenna 
Township,  June  20,  1824;  daughter  of  William  and  Betsey  E.  Ward,  now 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Caris  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  two  of  whom 
are  now  living:    Belle  E.,  wife  of  Ira  L.  Heriff,  and  William  I.     Frank  D.  is 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  865 

deceased.  Mr.  Caris,  like  liis  brother  (whose  sketch  appears  below),  is  a 
farmer  and  brick-maker.  He  owns  forty-live  acres  of  improved  land.  He  is  a 
pleasant,  agreeable  citizen. 

HENRY  C.  CARIS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  May  23,  1832;  son  of  John  and  Betsey  E.  Caris, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Rootstown  Township  in  a  very  early 
day,  and  here  remained  until  their  death.  Our  subject  married,  March  17, 
1861,  Flora  E.  Ward,  born  in  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1834,  daughter  of 
William  and  Betsey  E.  Ward,  early  settlers  of  Rootstown  Township,  where 
they  remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Caris  have  three  children: 
Frank  L.,  James  H.  and  Arlie  L.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  and 
brick-maker  all  his  life,  owns  seventy-three  acres  of  good  land  where  he  and 
his  family  reside.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  township.  He 
and  his  family  are  descended  from  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  this  county. 

JULIA  C.  CASE,  widow  of  Gad  Case,  who  was  born  in  Canton,  Hartford 
Co.,  Conn.,  May  5,  1796,  son  of  Silas  and  Mary  Case.  The  boyhood  of  Gad 
Case  was  passed  on  a  farm  and  his  educational  advantages  were  limited  to  the 
common  schools.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  learned  the  edge-tool  and 
blacksmith  trade,  which  he  followed  until  1836,  In  1833  he  moved  to  New 
York,  and  in  1838  to  Ohio.  In  this  year,  also,  he  married  Mrs.  Tirzah  Gib- 
bons, widow  of  Alpheus  Gibbons.  She  was  born  April  18, 1796,  at  Granville, 
Mass.:  came  to  Ohio  and  located  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  about 
the  year  1821.  She  went  to  Colorado  May  5,  1873,  and  died  on  the  8th  of 
the  same  month,  while  visiting  friends  thei'e,  after  a  long  and  useful  Christian 
life,  aged  seventy-seven  years.  Mr.  Case  then  married,  December  31,  1874, 
Julia  C.  Porter,  born  in  Hinsdale,  Mass.,  April  11,  1829,  daughter  of  James 
and  Lourinda  Porter  (deceased).  Mr.  Case  was  Deacon  of  the  Congregational 
Church  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  served  the  people  in  many  township 
offices  of  trust.  He  died  June  20,  1883,  leaving  his  widow  in  comfortable 
circumstances. 

FRANCIS  CHAPMAN  (deceased)  was  born  in  Connecticut  June  30,  1799; 
son  of  Nathan  Chapman,  also  deceased.  He  was  married  January  29,  1829, 
to  Margaret  Morey,  born  in  Connecticut  January  3,  1809,  daughter  of  Tilling- 
hast  and  Elizabeth  Morey,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  emigrated  to  Ohio  in 
1810,  settling  first  at  Milton,  thence  moving  to  Rootstown  Township,  this 
county,  in  1835,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  Morey  died  Jan- 
uary 30,  1844;  his  widow  June  5,  1874.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  were 
born  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living:  James  E.,  Virgil  M.,  Char- 
lotte S.,  Mary  E.,  Albert  and  Julia  A.  Orville  died  soon  after  his  marriage. 
Our  subject,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  April  17,  1877,  owned  100  acres  of 
improved  land  where  his  widow  now  resides.  He  was  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     Mrs.  Chapman  is  a  member  of  that  church. 

LEWIS  B.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Campbells- 
port,  this  county,  November  25,  1806;  son  of  Beamon  and  Sarah  Chapman, 
natives  of  Vermont,  who  were  united  in  marriage  there  and  came  to  Ohio  in 
1805,  where  they  remained  until  their  death,  Mr.  Chapman  dying  June  15, 
1864,  and  his  wife  about  1844.  Our  subject  was  first  married,  March  1,  1836, 
to  Mary  S.  Loveland,  born  in  Aurora,  this  county,  September  22,  1814,  daugh- 
ter of  Ephraditus  and  Anna  Loveland,  both  of  whom  died  in  Aurora.  Mrs. 
Chapman  died  April  24,  1863,  the  mother  of  three  children,  one  now  living — 
Wilbert.  Mr.  Chapman,  June  29,  1863,  next  married  Catharine  A.,  widow  of 
Urich  Ackley,  and  born  in  Pennsylvania  October  15,  1832,  daughter  of  Elisha 
and  Ruth  Weaver.      The  latter  died  in  Pennsylvania  in  1836,  and  Mr.  Weaver 


S66  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

afterward  removed  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  died  in  1859.  Our  subject  and 
wife  raised  a  child  named  Susie  A.  Mr.  Chapman  is  a  farmer,  and  owns  100 
acres  of  land,  whei'e  he  has  lived  fifty- four  years.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  is  one  of  the  present 
Trustees  of  this  township. 

PLIMPTON  O.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in 
Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  May  6,  1822;  son  of  Stephen  and  Barbara 
Chapman,  natives  of  Connecticut,  the  former  of  whom  came  to  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  in  iSO-i,  and  the  latter  in  1820.  They  were  married  in 
1821,  and  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death.  Stephen  Chapman  died  in  1872,  his  wife  in  1861.  They  were  worthy 
pioneers  of  this  township,  and  the  parents  of  two  children:  Plimpton  O.,  born 
May  6,  1822;  and  Daniel  V.,  born  in  1825.  Our  subject  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, December  12,  1854,  with  Sarah  A.  Huffman,  born  in  Mahoning  County, 
Ohio,  October  11,  1831,  daughter  of  Adam  and  Margaret  Huffman,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  in  a  very  early  day,  and 
from  there  to  this  county  in  1833,  where  the  mother  died  in  1846,  after  which 
Mr.  Huffman  married  Cyntha  French,  who  died  in  1878.  He  died  in  1883. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  have  had  ten  children,  eight  now  living:  Wilber  O. ; 
Ida  M.  (wife  of  Joshua  Ely,  a  resident  of  Rootstown);  Clifton  G. ;  Elwin  V.; 
Corry  G. ;  Howard  I. ;  Stella  Z.  and  Erzula  G.  The  deceased  are  Ella  and 
Floyd.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  through  life,  owns  seventy-six 
acres  of  land,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  has  tilled  the  oflSces  of 
Trustee  of  his  township,  and  has  been  member  of  the  School  Board  for  a  great 
many  years. 

D.  V.  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  near  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  November  1,  1825;  son  of  Stephen  and  Barbara  Chap- 
man, of  whom  the  former,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  came  to  Rootstown,  this 
county,  in  1804;  the  latter,  born  in  Connecticut,  came  here  in  1820.  They 
were  among  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  township.  They  were  married  in 
1821,  and  remained  in  Rootstown  Township  until  their  death,  the  mother 
dying  in  1861,  the  father  in  1872.  They  were  the  parents  of  two  children: 
Plimpton  O.  and  D.  V.  Our  subject  was  married,  October  30,  1856,  to  Lucy 
A.  Case,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  September  16,  1836, 
daughter  of  Erastus  and  Minewell  Case,  the  latter  of  whom  is  deceased. 
Mrs.  Chapman  died  July  16,  1860.  Mr.  Chapman  is  now  engaged  in  farming, 
and  owns  ninety- four  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  resides.  He  is  a  very 
sociable  and  genial  old  gentleman. 

HOMER  CHAPMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  November  19,  1831;  son  of  Nathan  and  Mary  Chap- 
man, natives  of  Connecticut,  the  former  born  February  5,  1783,  coming  to  this 
county  in  1805;  the  latter,  born  October  2,  1787,  came  to  this  county  in  1806. 
They  were  married  in  1806,  and  remained  here  until  the  death  of  the  father 
in  1881.  The  mother  still  survives.  Our  subject,  the  youngest  in  their 
family,  was  married,  February  2,  1857,  to  Zeviah  E.  Buttles,  born  in  Bristol, 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  March  18,  1832,  daughter  of  Friend  and  Electa  Buttles, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  and  who  after  marriage  settled  in  Trumbull  County;  they 
died  in  West  Farmington.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  have  four  children:  Leora 
E.  (wife  of  F.  P.  Rood);  Carrie  M.  (wife  of  W.  W.  Phelps);  Eda  M.;  and 
Charles  H.  Our  subject  is  a  farmer  and  owns  thirty-seven  acres  of  good  land 
where  he  and  his  family  reside,  and  are  respected  by  all  who  know  them. 

JAMES  F.  CLARK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown.  was  born  in  this  county 
August  20,  1817;  son  of  Daniel  and  Mary  P.   Clark,  natives  of  Connecticut, 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  867 

where  they  were  married.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1817,  and  remained 
until  the  death  of  Mrs.  Clark  in  1829.  After  this  event  Daniel  Clark  married 
Lucy  Norton,  widow  of  Ancil  Norton,  and  they  resided  in  Kootstown  Town- 
ship until  their  death,  the  former  dying  December  30,  1847,  and  the  latter  in 
1863.  Our  subject  was  married,  December  15,  1839,  to  Catharine  E.  Norton, 
born  in  New  York  February  15,  1815,  daughter  of  Ancil  and  Lucy  Norton,  the 
father  a  native  of  Connecticut,  the  mother  of  New  York.  They  settled  in  this 
county  in  1822,  where  they  both  died.  Mr.  Norton  died  in  1831,  and  his 
widow  subsequently  married  Daniel  Clark,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been 
made  in  this  sketch.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  F.  Clark  have  been  born  two 
children,  one  now  living:  James  P.,  married  to  Emma  Sadler;  they  have  a  son 
— Clarence.  Our  subject  has  been  a  farmer,  and  owns  100  acres  of  improved 
land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

L.  COE,  agent  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  also  Postmaster  and 
express  agent,  New  Milford,  was  born  in  Edinburg  Township,  this  county, 
Febniary  23,  1838;  son  of  Samuel  A.  and  Jane  Coe,  former  born  in  Massachu- 
setts in  1806,  latter  in  Connecticut  in  1805,  and  who  were  married  in  Roots- 
town  Township,  this  county,  in  1829,  settling  in  Edinburg  in  1830,  where 
they  remained  for  several  years,  then  moved  to  Rootstown,  where  they  resided 
until  the  father's  death,  November  21,  1878.  The  mother  now  resides  with  her 
children.  Our  subject  was  married,  March  12,  1868,  to  Electa  Decker,  born 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  August  16,  1842,  daughter  of  Rev.  Nelson  and  Anna 
Decker,  the  former  born  in  New  York,  June  15,  1810;  the  latter  in  Carlisle, 
England.  December  14,  1812.  They  were  married  in  New  York,  in  1828.  Mrs. 
Decker  died  December  28,  1878;  Mr.  Decker  March  26,  1880.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Coe,  have  one  son — Howard  D. ,  born  December  21,  1868.  Our  subject  was 
reared  on  a  farm  and  learned  harness  and  shoe-making,  but  since  1866  has 
been  agent  for  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad,  also  Postmaster  and 
express  agent  at  New  Milford.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church. 

WILLIAM  P.  COLLINS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna, was  born  on  the  farm  where 
he  and  his  family  reside,  February  5,  1831;  son  of  Daniel  and  Nancy  Collins, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  settled  in  this  county  in  1811,  and  here  remained 
until  their  death.  The  father  died  in  May,  1884,  the  mother  in  1878.  Our 
subject  was  married,  June  11,  1856,  to  Harriet  Snyder,  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
April  21,  1836,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Henrietta  Snyder,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  came  to  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  about  1837,  where  they 
remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Collins  have  had  six  children:  Irv- 
ing L.,  Charles  W.,  Wilford  E.,  Ella  H.,  Judd  D.  and  Clayton  R.  Mr.  Col- 
lins was  reared  on  his  present  farm,  which  consists  of  ninety-seven  acres,  and 
his  family  are  among  the  leading  citizens  of  the  county. 

JAMES  COX,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Devonshire,  England, 
December,  1837;  son  of  Edmund  and  Jane  Cox,  natives  of  England,  where  the 
former  died  in  1869,  and  where  his  widow  is  still  residing.  Our  subject  was 
married  the  first  time  in  England,  in  1858,  to  Willmot  Randle,  a  native  of 
England,  where  she  died  in  1868.  He  immigrated  to  America  April  9,  1870, 
and  married,  February  9,  1872,  Mary  Curten,  born  in  Ireland,  July  28,  1845, 
daughter  of  Timothy  and  Mary  Curten,  who  reside  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cox  are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  seven  now  living:  James, 
William  J.,  Samuel  E.,  Ernest  C,  Frank  H.,  Anna  W.  and  Mary  J.  Willmot 
is  deceased.  Our  subject  is  a  carriage  and  wagon-maker  by  trade,  but  of  late 
years  has  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  125  acres  of  land,  where  he  and  his 
family  reside.     He  has  been  a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  this  township. 


868  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

S.  CRAIG,  farmer  and  horse-dealer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Trumbull 
County,  Ohio,  March  10,  1881;  son  of  Andrew  and  Sarah  Craig,  natives  of 
Virginia  and  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  respectively,  and  who  immigrated  to  this 
county  in  1845,  remaining  nine  years,  then  moved  to  Sandusky  County,  Ohio, 
where  they  are  now  residing.  Our  subject  was  mai'ried,  March  26,  1854, 
to  Mary  D.  Colton,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  June  16,  1835, 
daughter  of  Roswell  and  Ibbey  Colton,  former  born  in  Tolland,  Conn.,  latter 
in  Deerfield,  this  county,  who  came  from  Massachusetts  to  this  county,  where 
they  remained  until  their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Craig  have  had  four  children, 
one  now  living — Nellie  L.  The  deceased  are  Jutson,  Ernest,  and  an  infant. 
Our  subject,  who  is  a  farmer  and  horse-dealer,  owns  forty-eight  acres  of 
improved  land,  on  which  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  is  also  a  veterinary 
surgeon  and  has  practiced  for  twenty-five  years  with  good  success. 

H.  T.  CUSHING,  farmer  and  contractor,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Knox 
County,  Me.,  April  11,  1839;  son  of  Thaxter  and  Sarah  Cushing,  'former  of 
whom  was  a  resident  of  Maine  until  his  death,  in  1839,  at  sea.  His  widow  still 
remains  in  Maine.  Our  subject  was  married,  December  3,  1866,  to  Sarah  A. 
Bumpus,  born  in  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  August  8,  1843,  daughter  of 
Joshua  G.  and  Mary  A.  Bumpus,  who  died  in  New  York,  former  in  October, 
1874,  latter  in  May,  1873.  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  three  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Minnie  M.  and  Henry  P.  Thaxter  R.  is 
deceased.  Mr.  Cushing  followed  the  sea  until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  He 
then  went  West,  engaged  in  stone-cutting,  and  is  now  a  contractor  and  builder. 
He  owns  118  acres  of  improved  land.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  and  is 
a  F.  &  A.  M. 

HENRY  A.  DEMING.  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  February  23,  1841;  son  of  Gideon  Y.  and  Lucia  Dem- 
ing.  The  former,  a  native  of  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  came  to  this  county  about 
1828;  the  latter,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  came  to  Hudson  in  1820.  They  were 
married  in  Rootsto^yn  Township,  this  county,  where  they  remained  until  their 
death,  Mr.  Deming  dying  October  25,  1877,  his  widow  January  16,  1884. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  of  whom  only  Henry  A.  survives.  Our 
subject  was  married,  August  28,  1865,  to  Cordelia  M.  Collins,  born  in  Roots- 
town  Township,  this  county,  February  21,  1846,  daughter  of  Leverett  W.  and 
Sarah  Collins  (both  deceased);  the  former,  born  in  Connecticut  in  1811,  died 
in  1867;  the  latter,  a  native  of  New  York,  died  in  1863.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Deming  have  been  born  three  children:  Minnie  C,  Bertha  L.  and  Vernon  H. 
The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Deming,  dur- 
ing the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  served  his  country  in  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  from  August  4,  1862,  until 
Julv  8,  1865. 

ELIAS  DRONBERGER  (deceased)  was  born  March  3,  1813,  in  Bedford, 
Pean. ;  son  of  Henry  and  Esther  Dronberger,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  where 
they  lived  until  the  latter's  death.  Henry  Dronberger  was  again  united  in 
marriage  in  Pennsylvania,  where  his  second  wife  died,  and  he  then  came  to 
this  county,  was  married  the  third  time,  and  here  died.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried the  first  time  to  Charlotta  Chapman,  who  died  in  this  county;  then,  on 
August  1,  1848,  he  married  Isabella  L.  McCain,  born  in  Mahoning  County, 
Ohio,  December  4,  1820,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary  McCain,  who  died  in 
that  county.  Mr.  Dronberger  and  his  second  wife  had  three  children:  Will- 
iam R. ,  Melissa  J.,  and  Henrietta  J.,  wife  of  Oliver  Apple.  Mr.  Dronberger 
was  a  farmer  through  life,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  June  28,  1880,  owned 
eighty-seven  acres  of  land  where  his  widow  resides.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  869 

THOMAS  DUNDON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kootstown,  was  born  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  November  12,  1825;  son  of  Thomas  and  Martha  Dun- 
don,  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland  and  w^ho  immigrated  to  this  county  about 
1812;  the  latter  born  in  Lancaster,  Penn.,  and  came  with  her  parents  to  this 
couoty.  They  were  here  married,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in 
this  county.  Mr.  Dundon  died  in  1831  and  his  widow,  who  subsequently  mar- 
ried Jacob  Miller  (since  deceased),  died  in  1864.  Our  subject  was  married, 
March  27,  1852,  to  Almira  Terry,  born  in  Randolph  Township,  March  13, 1833, 
daughter  of  Timothy  and  Almira  Terry,  natives  of  Connecticut,  but  who  set- 
tled in  Randolph  Township  in  1822,  where  they  remained  until  their  death, 
May  6,  1880,  and  December  17,  1878,  respectively.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dundon 
were  born  seven  children,  six  now  living:  James  W.,  Curtis  A.,  Alice  L,  Har- 
riet A.,  Charlie  and  Clarence  E.  Frank  is  deceased.  Our  subject  is  a  painter 
by  trade,  which  he  followed  for  thirty- eight  years.  Since  that  time  he  has 
been  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  forty-seven  acres  of  good  land  where  he 
and  his  family  reside. 

ALMON  S.  DUNNING,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  April  12,  1827,  a  son  of  Amasa  and  Polly  Dunning, 
natives  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1820  and  settled  on 
the  farm  where  our  subject  now  resides,  and  here  died  in  1838  and  1866 
respectively.  Our  subject  was  married  December  29,  1847,  to  Edith  A.  Hol- 
comb,  born  April  19,  1829,  daughter  of  William  A.  and  Lydia  A,  Holcomb, 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  settled  in  this  county  about  1825,  where  they 
remained  until  the  latter's  death  in  1884.  Mr.  Holcomb  resides  in  Ravenna. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dunning  have  two  children:  Anna  E.,  wife  of  W.  D.  Gardner, 
and  Frank  A.,  married  to  Mattie  Alexander.  Our  subject  dealt  in  iron  and 
steel  for  several  years,  but  engaged  in  farming  in  1880.  He  owns  164  acres 
of  land  of  the  old  home  farm,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

ALEXANDER  J.  ELY  (deceased)  was  born  in  Ireland,  May,  1811,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Ely,  who  died  in  the  old  country.  Our  subject  was 
married  July  16,  1832,  to  Jane  Highland,  born  in  Ireland,  April,  1813,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Ann  Highland,  who  remained  in  the  old  country  until 
their  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ely  have  had  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Elizabeth  (wife  of  Samuel  Hatrick),  John  T.,  Caleb  S.,  Mary  A.  (wife 
of  John  Fenton),  Alexander  G.  and  Joshua  A.  William  H.  is  deceased.  Our 
subject  was  engaged  in  farming  through  life,  and  at  his  death,  June  18,  1883, 
left  214  acres  of  good  land  in  this  county,  and  $12,000  in  cash.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Chux'ch,  as  is  also  his  widow,  who  resides 
on  the  old  homestead,  consisting  of  fifty  acres  of  land. 

ELI  FIFER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Butler  Township, 
Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio,  December  25,  1833,  son  of  John  and  Polly  Fifer,  the 
former  born  in  Virginia,  the  latter  in  Pennsylvania.  They  were  married  in  Ohio, 
and  settled  in  Cohimbiana  County,  but  moved  to  this  county  about  1854,  and 
here  remained  until  the  death  of  the  father,  August  14,  1877.  The  mother  is 
now  residing  in  Edinburg  Township.  Our  subject  was  married  February  13, 1855, 
to  Sarah  Shook,  born  in  Canton,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  August  3,  1837,  daughter  of 
Philip  and  Sarah  Shook,  who  first  settled  in  Stark  County,  but  moved  to  this 
county  about  1838,  where  they  remained  until  their  death  He  died  April  12, 
1872,  and  his  widow  June  24, 1883.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fifer  have  had  four  children, 
three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Mary  C.  (wife  of  J.  C.  McManus),  Cora  E. 
(wife  of  Charles  W.  Evert)  and  Mason  G.  Judson  A.  is  deceased.  Our  sub- 
ject is  a  shoe-maker  by  trade,  at  which  he  worked  twelve  years,  since  when 


870  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

he  has  been  engaged  in  farming.  He  owns  seventy- five  acres  of  good  land, 
where  he  and  his  family  reside.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

JOSEPH  FRAZER  (deceased)  was  born  in  Washington  County,  Peun.,  in 
1792.  In  1823  he  was  married  to  Susana  Poe,  daughter  of  Andrew  Poe,  of  Beaver 
County,  Penn.,  and  they  moved  to  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  where  they  remained 
some  years;  then  moved  to  Tuscarawas  County  and  thence  to  this  county  in 
1832,  settling  in  Rootstown  Township  on  the  farm  where  they  both  died,  Mr, 
Frazer  August  29,  1872,  and  his  widow  January  4,  1881.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living:  Elizabeth  R.  (widow  of 
Harrison  Sanford),  Rusillus  P.,  Rebecca  (widow  of  George  Bosworth),  Joseph 
S.,  Harriet  M.  and  Erastus;  the  deceased  are  Thomas,  Mathew  H.  and  Maria 
(widow  of  Amos  Anderson).  Our  subject  was  a  farmer  and  followed  agricult- 
ural pursuits  all  his  life,  owning  nearly  200  acres  of  improved  land.  He  and 
his  wife  were  both  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

W.  J.  GARDNER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  April  20,  1812,  in 
Nantucket,  Mass.,  son  of  Isaac  and  Debra  Gardner,  the  former  of  whom  was 
lost  at  sea  in  1813.  His  widow  remained  in  Massachusetts  for  a  great  many 
years,  and  died  in  Ohio,  April  20,  1858,  while  on  a  visit  to  her  son.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  June  29,  1834,  to  Lydia  C.  Ray,  born  in  Nantucket,  Mass., 
October  22,  1812,  daughter  of  Paul  and  Lois  Ray,  both  of  whom  died  in 
Massachusetts,  the  former  December  6,  1846,  the  latter  September  19,  1857. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gardner  have  been  born  three  children,  two  of  whom  now 
survive:  Annie  L.,  wife  of  Reuben  Russell  (deceased),  and  Isaac  W.,  married 
to  Annie  Huber  (they  reside  in  Kentucky).  George  R.  is  deceased.  Our  sub- 
ject  followed  a  sea-faring  life  for  twenty-two  years;  then  came  to  Ohio,  locat- 
ing in  Rootstown,  this  county,  on  the  farm  where  he  and  his  family  now  reside. 
He  owns  fifty  acres  of  improved  land.  With  his  family  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 

IRVING  W.  HALLOCK,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  MilEord,  was  born  in  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  January  28,  1840,  son  of  William  R.  and  Julia  Hallock,  the 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut,  the  latter  of  Massachusetts,  and  who  came  to 
this  county  when  they  were  mere  children  and  where  the  father  died  in  Octo- 
ber, 1864.  His  widow  resides  in  this  township.  Oar  subject  was  married 
December  26,  1867,  to  Eva  F.  Hewins,  born  in  this  county  August  4,  1842, 
daughter  of  Seth  and  Elizabeth  Hewins,  both  residing  with  our  subject.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Halloc-k  have  two  children:  Maretta  E.  and  Louis  M.  Our  subject 
has  engaged  in  farming  most  of  his  life.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion 
he  enlisted  September  22,  1861,  in  Company  I,  First  Regiment  Ohio  Artil- 
lery. He  participated  in  several  battles,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  honorably 
discharged  January  27,  1865.  Mr.  Hallock  has  filled  the  offices  of  Trustee 
and  Assessor  of  his  township  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  constituents. 

RUCILLUS  R.  HARTLE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  near  his 
present  home,  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  May  19,  1825,  son  of 
Samuel  and  Polly  Hartle,  natives  of  Beaver  County,  Penn.,  where  they  were 
married  and  whence  they  moved  to  this  county  about  1812,  and  here  remained 
until  their  death.  Mr.  Hartle  died  in  1850,  and  his  widow  in  1866.  Our 
subject  was  married  March  6,  1851,  to  Emma  J.  Likens,  born  in  Mahoning 
County,  Ohio,  June  17,  1828,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Judy  Likens,  who  set- 
tled in  this  county,  and  here  died.  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born 
seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  living:  Alice,  wife  of  Davis  Smith;  Emma 
A.,  wife  of  Marvin  Madole;  Eva  R.,  wife  of  Frank  Hackman;   Grant   and 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  871 

Oeorce  T.  Helen  C.  and  Willie  E.  are  deceased.  Our  subject,  who  has  been  a 
farmer  through  life,  owns  100  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family 
reside. 

SAMUEL  HATRICK,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in  England, 
July  12,  1828,  son  of  James  and  Jane  Hatrick,  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
where  the  former  died  in  1856.  Subsequently  the  widow  and  her  son  immi- 
grated to  Portage  County,  Ohio,  where  she  died  in  1872.  Our  subject  was 
married  in  1863  to.  Elfzabeth  Ely,  born  in  Ireland  in  1834,  daughter  of 
Alexander  J.  and  Jane  Ely,  the  former  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hatrick  have 
had  four  children,  one  of  whom  is  living — Alexander.  Our  subject  is  a  tan- 
ner and  currier  by  trade,  but  for  the  last  twenty  years  has  engaged  in  farming. 
He  owns  sixty-six  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 

SAMUEL  HERRIFF,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Rootstown  Township, 
this  county,  December  19,  1818,  son  of  John  and  Susan  Herri ff,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Ohio  about  1805,  and  here  died.  Our  subject  was 
married  June  5,  1844,  to  Lydia  Hartleroad,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  February 
17,  1820,  daughter  of  Laurance  and  Elizabeth  Hartleroad,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  immigrated  to  Ohio,  remaining  in  this  county  until  their  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herriif  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  three  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Ira  L.,  Ezra  and  Everet.  The  deceased  are  Emma,  John  E.  and 
Celia  E.,  wife  of  Ed.  Atchison,  who  was  instantly  killed  by  lightning.  Our 
subject,  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  sixty  acres  of  improved  land  and 
with  the  family  has  lived  on  his  present  farm  forty-four  years.  They  are 
among  the  early  pioneers  of  the  county. 

JOHN  HERRIFF,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Rootstown  Township, 
this  county,  November  18,  1827,  son  of  Jacob  and  Catharine  Herriff,  the  former 
a  native  of  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  the  latter  of  Lancaster,  Penn.  They 
were  married  in  this  county,  where  they  settled  about  1826,  and  remained  until 
his  death,  July  28,  1871.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Our  subject  is  the  oldest 
of  the  family,  consisting  of  fourteen  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living: 
John,  Andrew,  Susan,  Julius,  William,  Viola,  Henrietta  and  Amelia.  Mr. 
Herriff  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  of  late  years  has  engaged  in  farming.  He 
owns  nearly  fifty-eight  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  resides.  He  is  a 
descendant  of  one  of  the  old  pioneer  families,  and  a  pleasant  and  agreeable 
gentleman. 

GEORGE  HIPP,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Europe,  March  10, 
1818,  son  of  John  G.  and  Anna  Hipp,  natives  of  Europe,  who  came  to  America 
in  1832  and  first  settled  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  then  moved  to  this  county, 
where  the  former  died  May  10,  1852.  His  widow  moved  to  this  township,  and 
resided  with  our  subject  until  her  death  in  1875.  George  Hipp  was  married 
the  first  time,  in  1839,  to  Christina  Ausf  ahl,  born  in  Europe,  and  who  came  with 
her  parents  to  this  country.  She  died  in  1874,  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
Church.  By  this  union  was  one  child— John  G.,  who  died  in  1853.  In  1876 
Mr.  Hipp  married  Jacobina  Loesch,  a  widow  with  two  children:  Cettie,  wife 
of  Benjamin  Fox,  and  Philip  Loesch.  (She  was  born  in  Germany  March  20, 
1832).  Our  subject  owns  seventy-seven  acres  of  good  land.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

■  JOSEPH  HOLDEN  (deceased)  was  born  in  Massachusetts  December  14, 
1801,  son  of  Levi  and  Mary  Holden,  who  died  in  Massachusetts.  Our  subject 
came  to  this  county  in  1830,  and  in  September  of  that  year  was  married  to 
Electa  Witherell,  born  in  Massachusetts  March  23,  1806,  daughter  of  John 
and  Hannah  Witherell,  who  remained  in  Massachusetts  until  the  former's  death 
in  1814,  when  his  widow  came  to  this  county  and  remained  with  Mr.  and  Mrs, 


872  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Holden  until  her  death,  March  22,  1856.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holden  have  had  ten 
children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living:  Charles  H.,  John  A.,  Edwin, 
George  W.,  tVilliam  A..,  Francis,  Emma  B.  and  Gilbert  L.  The  deceased  are 
Joseph  D.  and  Anna  E,  Our  subject  was  a  farmer,  and  at  one  time  owned 
1,000  acres  of  land  in  this  county,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death  only  the 
farm  where  his  widow  and  daughter  reside.  He  died  in  Rootstown  Town- 
ship August  16,  1879,  leaving  his  family  and  numerous  friends  to  mourn  his 
loss. 

SILAS  A.  HUNGERFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in 
Independence  Township,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  November  1,  1846,  son  of 
Horace  and  Caroline  Hungerford,  natives  of  Ohio  and  Connecticut  respect- 
ively, and  who  married  in  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  where  they  lived  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  then  moved  to  this  county  in  1866,  where  they  remained  until 
Mrs.  Hungerford's  death,  which  occurred  May  4,  1876,  after  which  Mr.  Hun- 
gerford married  Mrs.  Lorinda  Wilcox,  and  now  resides  in  Stowe,  Summit  Co., 
Ohio.  Our  subject  was  married  August  9,  1883,  to  Mrs.  Belle  Chapman,  born 
in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  December  7,  1853,  daughter  of  Jefferson  and  Sarah  J. 
Finch,  and  the  widow  of  Beman  Chapman,  by  whom  she  had  one  son — Clyde 
I.  Chapman.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hungerford  have  one  child — Frederic,  born  June 
24,  1884.  Our  subject  has  been  engaged  in  farming  through  life,  and  owns 
seventy-seven  acres,  mostly  improved  land.  He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.  His  wife  is 
an  adherent  of  the  United  Brethren  Church. 

ADAM  KLINE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Germany  Septem- 
ber 18,  1818,  son  of  Peter  and  Barbara  Kline,  natives  of  Germany,  and  who 
immigrated  to  America  in  1839,  settling  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county, 
where  they  remained  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Mr.  Kline  died  in  1867;  his  wife 
in  1849.  Our  subject  was  married  April  6,  1844,  to  Barbara  Knapp,  born  in 
Germany  in  1824,  daughter  of  Peter  Knapp,  deceased.  To  this  union  have 
been  born  the  following  children:  Elizabeth,  Barbara,  Margaret,  Mary, 
Henry,  John  and  George,  living,  and  Adam  and  an  infant,  deceased.  Our 
subject  worked  on  the  canal  for  fifteen  years,  after  which  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, an  occupation  he  has  since  followed.  He  settled  in  Rootstown  Township, 
this  county,  in  1844,  and  owns  173  acres  of  improved  land,  where  he  and  his 
family  reside. 

JOHN  A.  KLINE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Germany  July  3, 
1824,  son  of  Peter  and  Barbara  Kline,  natives  of  Germany,  and  who  emigrated 
to  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  1839,  where  they  lived  and  died,  latter 
in  1849,  former  in  1867.  Our  subject  was  married  in  February,  1849,  to  Bar- 
bara Trares,  born  in  Germany  June  16,  1828,  daughter  of  Matthias  and 
Elizabeth  Trares,  both  now  deceased.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kline  were  born 
nine  children,  four  now  living:  John,  Henry,  Charley  and  Elizabeth.  The 
deceased  are  Barbara,  Mary,  Frank  and  two  infants.  Mr.  Kline  has  farmed 
all  his  life,  and  owns  134  acres  of  good  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 
He  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  in  1849,  and  has  filled  the 
office  of  Trustee  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constitii- 
ents.      The  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

ROBERT  A.  MoMANUS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  this 
county  January  20,  1837,  son  of  Jacob  and  Fidelia  McManus,  natives  of  Ohio, 
who  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  where  they  lived  several  years,  then  moved 
to  Indiana,  and  there  they  have  resided  twenty  years.  Our  subject  was  married 
May  29,  1864,  to  Mary  J.  Bogue,  born  in  this  county  July  13,  1842,  daughter 
of  Newell  and  Sallie  Bogue,  now  of  Medina  County,  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McManus   are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Henry  J.,  born  January  8,  1866, 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  ,  873 

and  Nellie   J.,  born  February  10,  1868.     Mr.  McMauus,  who  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  now  owns  forty  acres  of  good  land  in  Kootstown  Township. 

SAMUEL  R.  MIX,  farmer,'  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
February  23,  1807,  son  of  Josiah  and  Keziah  Mix,  natives  of  Connecticut, 
where  they  were  married,  and  whence  they  came  to  this  county,  in  1816, 
remaining  until  their  death.  Josiah  Mix  was  born  March  7,  1754,  and  died 
May  13,  1845.  Mrs.  Keziah  Mix  was  born  March  25,  1768,  died  August  8, 
1850.  She  was  second  wife  of  Mr.  Mix;  his  first  wife,  who  died  in  1802, 
being  Mindwell  Rice,  sister  of  his  second  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Keziah 
Rice.  Our  subject  was  married  February  23,  1830,  to  Jane  Case,  born  in 
Massachusetts,  July  29,  1812,  daughter  of  Gideon  and  Persis  Case,  both 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mix  have  had  six  children,  three  of  whom  are  living: 
Ellen,  Newell  and  Miles.  The  deceased  are  Persis,  Asenath  and  Phebe. 
Mrs.  Jane  Mix  died  December  19,  1862,  andj  Mr.  Mix  was  married  Septem- 
ber 29,  1863,  to  Tryphena  Chapman,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county, 
December  29,  1812'  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Fannie  Chapman,  both  deceased. 
She  died  in  November,  1880.  Our  subject  owns  fifty  acres  of  land  where  he 
lives;  he  has  filled  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Rootstown  Township 
for  three  years. 

JAMES  S.  MOXJLTON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Massachu- 
setts, February  10,  .1815,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Martha  Moulton,  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1817,  and  remained  in  this  county  until 
their  death.  They  were  forty -two  days  on  the  way  from  Massachusetts  to 
Ohio,  and  came  in  a  wagon  covered  with  clapboards,  drawn  by  a  team  of  oxen, 
arriving  in  Brimfield  November  17,  1817.  Jeremiah  Moulton  died  in  1851, 
his  wife  in  1845.  Our  subject  married,  July  4,  1838,  Ann  Varnormer,  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Ann  Varnormer,  who  remained  in 
Pennsylvania,  where  they  died.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moulton  had  five  children,  three 
now  living:  Mary  J.  (wife  of  Samuel  Stine),  Lafayette  and  Hamer.  The 
deceased  are  Adelaide  (wife  of  Nelson  McManus)  and  Helen.  Mrs.  Moulton 
died  June  6,  1884.  Mr.  Moulton,  who  has  been  engaged  in  farming  all  his 
life,  owns  100  acres  of  land.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Trustee  of  his  town- 
ship. 

GEORGE  NEWMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  September  1,  1843,  son  of  George  and  Caroline  Newman,  natives  of 
England,  and  who  immigrated  to  Cleveland  in  1842,  where  they  have  remained 
ever  since.  Our  subject  was  married  October  1,  1864,  to  Tryphena  Gee,  born 
in  Sandusky,  Ohio,  July  26,  1851,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Lydia  Gee,  natives 
of  England  and  Sandusky,  Ohio,  respectively,  and  who  now  reside  m  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newman  have  three  children:  Frank,  Clara  B.  and 
Laura  M.  Our  subject  is  a  molder  by  trade,  but  of  late  years  has  engaged  in 
farming,  and  owns  106  acres  of  improved  land  where  he  and  his  family  reside. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  council  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  moved  to  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  to  remain,  in  May,  1879,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  his  township. 

STEPHEN  B.  PARSONS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  in  Rootstown  Township,  February  12,  1851;  son  of  John 
S.  and  Lucy  S.  Parsons,  natives  of  Massachusetts;  the  former  born  in  North- 
ampton, April  6,  1809,  the  latter  in  Southampton,  January  5,  1810.  They 
were  manned  in  Massachusetts  April  26,  1832,  and  the  same  year  came  to  this 
county,  where  they  remained.  Their  family  numbered  four  children,  two  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Lucy  W.,  wife  of  Wells  Seymour,  and  Stephen  B.  The 
deceased  are  John  S.  and  Mary  T.,  the  first  wife  of  J.  H.  Ray  (whose  sketch 


874  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

appears  in  this  volume).  John  S.  Parsons  died  February  12,  1878,  and  hi& 
widow  is  now  residing  on  the  home  farm  with  our  subject  and  wife.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  September  27,  1871,  to  Ellen  M.  Keed,  born  in  Rootstown 
Township,  this  county,  January  22,  1853,  daughter  of  Otis  and  Melissa  Reed 
(former  deceased).  To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  four  children: 
Fannie  R.,  John  S.,  Arthur  O.  and  Charlie  H.  Mr.  Parsons  has  been  engaged 
in  farming  all  his  life,  and  owns  considerable  real  estate.  He  and  his  wife  and 
mother  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  are  among  the  first 
families  of  the  county. 

A.  M.  POWERS,  physician,  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Trumbull,  now  Mahon- 
ing County,  Ohio,  January  28,  1837;  son  of  James  and  Rebecca  Powers,  natives 
of  Trumbull  County.  After  Mahoning  County  was  laid  off,  it  took  in  that 
part  of  Trumbull  County  where  James  Powers  and  family  resided,  and  he  was 
elected  the  first  Sheriff  of  the  new  county.  In  April,  1873,  they  moved  to 
Rootstown  Township,  where  Mrs.  Powers  died  Avigust  21,  1882.  Mr.  Pow- 
ers is  still  a  resident  of  this  township.  The  subject  of  our  sketch  was  mar- 
ried the  first  time  in  1858  to  Miss  Cynthia  A.  Sherwin,  who  was  born  May  3, 
1839,  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  The  Doctor,  with  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, came  to  Rootstown  November  10,  1868,  where  Mrs.  Powers  died  Septem- 
ber 11,  1874.  He  subsequently  married.  May  10,  1876,  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Bar- 
low, of  Rootstown,  who  was  born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  March  1,  1843. 
Our  subject  is  the  father  of  four  childi'en,  three  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Frank  R.,  Harry  W.  and  Jessie  A.  John  E.  died  June  25,  1875.  The  Doc- 
tor is  a  graduate  of  the  Eclectic  Medical  Institute,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Has 
been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  since  March  1,  1861,  and  has  won 
for  himself  a  large  share  of  public  patronage.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.  and  Royal  Arcanum;  has  been  Treasurer  of  Rootstown  Township  two 
years.  He  has  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
since  September,  1855.  His  first  wife  was  a  worthy  member  of  the  same 
church  for  many  years  previous  to  her  death.  His  present  wife  is  an  adher- 
ent of  the  Congregational  Church. 

GEORGE  W.  PRINDLE,  farmer,  P.  O.  New  Milford,  was  born  on  the 
farm  where  he  and  his  family  reside,  February  23,  1832;  son  of  Gideon  Hiram 
R.  and  Mary  (Williams)  Prindle,  the  former  a  native  of  Vermont,  born  April 
18,  1803,  and  brought  to  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  in  1807;  the  lat- 
ter a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  December  28,  1798,  and  came  to  Rootstown 
Township  in  1818.  They  were  married  December  16,  1825,  ands  ettled  in  Roots- 
town  Township  in  a  very  early  day,  remaining  until  the  father's  death,  January 
28,  1865.  The  mother  now  resides  with  her  son,  George  W.  They  had  two 
children:  Robert  R.,  born  October  2,  1826,  died  September  23,  1838,  and 
George  W.  Our  subject  was  married,  January  2,  1860,  to  Caroline  E.  Gur- 
ley,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  October  15,  1837,  daughter  of 
Asher  D.  and  Pamelia  Gurley,  who  settled  in  this  county  and  remained  till 
her  death  in  July,  1864.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prindle  have  been  born  five  children: 
Hiram  A.,  Belle  E.,  William  G.,  Blanche  F.  and  Robert  G.  Mr.  Prindle,  who 
has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  owns  290  acres.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.,  and  has  filled  the  ofiice  of  Trustee  of  his  Township. 

JAMES  H.  RAY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Nantucket,  Mass., 
September  6,  1839;  son  of  Albert  and  Mary  Ray,  natives  of  Massachusetts, 
who  came  to  Ohio  in  1850,  settling  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  where 
the  father  died  July  18,  1883;  the  mother  still  resides  at  Rootstown  Center. 
Our  subject  was  married  the  first  time  November  27,  1862,  to  Mary  T.  Par- 
sons, born  in  Rootstown,  December  23,  1840,  daughter  of  John  S.  and  Lucy 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  875 

S.  Parsons,  natives  of  Massachusetts.  She  died  September  19,  1869,  and 
January  4,  1870,  Mr.  Ray  married  Phebe  A.,  widow  of  John  S.  Parsons,  by 
whom  she  had  one  child— Jennie  S.,  wife  of  L.  A.  Reed,  and  daughter  of 
Levi  and  May  Beans,  who  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  a 
very  early  day,  and  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  By  this  union 
has  been  one  child— Mary  P.,  born  August  25,  1872.  Mrs.  Ray  is  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church.     Mr.  Ray  owns  180  acres  of  land. 

HORACE  REED,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  the  first  white 
male  child  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  was  born  near  his  pres- 
ent home,  October  8,  1805,  son  of  Abraham  and  Silie  Reed,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, who  immigrated  to  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  November,  1804. 
This  was  then  called  the  Western  Reserve  and  there  we're  only  two  little 
shanties  in  the  place.  Abraham  Reed  died  January  6,  1849,  his  wife  in  1834. 
Our  subject  was  married  May  24,  1826,  to  Lois  E.  Baldwin,  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts February  7,  1803,  daughter  of  John  and  Esther  Baldwin,  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1811,  and  remained  until  their 
death.  Former  died  April  18,  1845,  and  latter  September  17,  1848.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reed  are  the  parents  of  seven  children:  Melissa  E.,  wife  of  Edward  E. 
Chapman;  Anjanette,  wife  of  Alfred  Baldwin;  John  H.,  in  Nebraska;  Edward 
A.,  in  Tennessee;  Cornelius  A.,  present  Probate  Judge  of  this  county;  Horace 
L.,  of  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  Julia  A.  Our  subject  has  engaged  in  farming  all 
his  life,  and  for  about  twenty  years  dealt  in  stock.  He  now  owns  200  acres  of 
land,  but  has  been  possessor  of  as  much  as  500  acres  at  one  time.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reed  are  a  worthy  couple  and  command  the  love  and  respect  of  all  who 
know  them.  They  celebrated  their  fiftieth  wedding  anniversary  nine  years 
ago,  and  are  now  the  only  couple  living  together  in  town  that  were  alive  at  the 
time  of  their  marriage. 

HARVEY  O.  REED,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Rootstown, 
this  county,  June  3,  1856,  son  of  Otis  and  Laura  M.  Reed,  who  were  also  born 
in  Rootstown  Township,  the  former  January  10,  1810,  the  latter  April  17, 
1813,  They  were  married  September  18,  1832,  and  settled  where  our  subject 
resides,  and  here  they  remained  until  the  father's  death,  January  18,  1881. 
The  mother  resides  on  the  old  homestead.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  four  now  living.  Our  subject,  who  is  the  youngest,  was  married 
October  1,  1879,  to  Emma  J.  Deming,  born  in  this  township  October  2,  1855, 
daughter  of  Gideon  Y.  and  Lucia  Deming,  who  died  October  25,  1877,  and 
January  16,  1884,  respectively.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed  had  one  child — Elsie, 
born  December  23,  1883,  died  September  28,  1884.  Mrs.  Reed  died  December 
25,  1883.  She  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Our 
subject  is  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church. 

MOSES  SAPP,  fax-mer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Cumberland,  Md.,. 
September  3,  1823,  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Sapp,  natives  of  Maryland,  who 
came  to  this  county  in  1828,  remaining  until  their  death.  The  mother  died 
April  9,  1852,  the  father  January  13,  1868.  Our  subject  was  married  Septem- 
ber 12,  1850,  to  Fannie  Y^oder,  born  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  October  3,  1829, 
and  to  this  union  has  been  born  one  son — Horton  J.,  born  January  18,  1852, 
and  married  September  30,  1874,  to  Laura  E.  Caris,  a  native  of  Franklin 
Township,  this  county,  born  August  12,  1850,  daughter  of  Michael  and  Julia 
A.  Caris,  residing  in  Ravenna  Township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horton  J.  Sapp  had 
twins,  born  July  30,  1875,  one  now  living  named  Merton;  the  other  died  when 
four  weeks  old.  Moses  Sapp,  our  subject,  who  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
owns  140  acres  of  land.     He  has  lived  in  Rootstown  Township  fifty-five  years. 


876  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

L.  C.  SMITH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  ^vas  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
this  county,  March  30,  1S34,  son  of  Nahum  and  Julia  Smith,  natives  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  came  to  this  county  in  1818  and  here  remained  until  their  death, 
the  mother  dying  in  1851,  the  father  in  1863.  Our  subject  was  married  August 
23,  1871,  to  Adaline  Betts,  born  in  Deerfiold  Township,  this  county,  July  8, 
1848.  daughter  of  Matthew  Betts.  To  this  union  have  been  born  two  children: 
Clyde  C,  born  June  18,  1872,  and  Ray  L.,  born  August  24,  1874.  Mr. 
Smith  was  engaged  in  farming  until  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  when  he  enlisted, 
August,  1862,  in  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served 
till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  participated  in  several  severe  engagements. 
After  the  war  he  embarked  in  mercantile  business  at  New  Milford,  Ohio,  then 
again  engaged  in  farming.  He  now  owns  sixty-six  acres  of  land,  where  he 
and  his  family  reside. 

MARCUS  F.  SPELMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Granville, 
Mass.,  May  31,  1809;  son  of  Festus  and  Hannah  (Dickason)  Spelman,  who 
settled  in  this  county  October,  1816,  and  remained  through  life.  Festus  Spel- 
man died  October  8,  1818,  and  his  widow  subsequently  married  Dr.  Belding, 
and  died  in^l826,  after  which  Dr.  Belding  married  the  Widow  Umphrie  (both 
are  now  deceased).  Our  subject  was  married  October  6,  1831,  to  Mary  A. 
Reed,  born  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  October  2,  1811,  daughter  of 
Abraham  and  Siley  Reed,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  immigrated  to  this  town- 
ship in  1804,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  Mrs.  Reed  died  June  27, 
1834,  and  Mr.  Reed  then  married  Drusilla  Underwood,  who  died  February 
14,  1846,  when  he  married  Mrs.  Fidelia  Goss,  who  survived  him.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Spelman  have  had  six  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Comfort 
A.  C,  Asa  M.  and  Henry  L.  The  deceased  are  Henry,  Joel  R.  and  Olive  A. 
Our  subject  first  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  this  county,  in  1819,  but 
subsequently  moved  to  Edinburg  Township,  where  he  remained  till  1854,  when 
h«  I'eturned  to  Rootstown,  and  here  he  and  his  family  now  reside.  His  life  work 
has  been  teaching,  traveling  as  agent  and  farming,  and  by  industry  and  fru- 
gality himself  and  wife  have  secured  a  competence  for  old  age.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  in  which  he  has  officiated 
since  1860  as  Deacon,  also  serving  for  many  years  as  Sabbath-school  Superin- 
tendent in  Edinburg  and  Rootstown,  and  holding  various  civil  offices. 

NATHAN  TERRY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Randolph  Town- 
ship, this  county.  May  3,  1837,  son  of  Timothy  and  Almira  Terry,  natives  of 
Connecticut,  who  settled  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county,  in  1822,  where 
they  died,  the  father  May  6, 1880,  the  mother  December  17,  1878.  Our  subject 
was  married  July  25,  1858,  to  Elvira  A.  Woolf,  born  in  Columbiana  County, 
Ohio,  May  16,  1840,  daughter  of  Samuel  Woolf,  deceased,  and  to  this  union 
has  been  born  one  child — Florence  A.,  wife  of  Lucius  A.  Deming,  born  Sep- 
tember 19,  1860.  Our  subject,  who  was  reared  on  a  farm,  owns  fifty  acres  of 
improved  land,  where  he  and  his  family  reside.  They  are  members  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 

MARTIN  T.  WEENINK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Rootstown,  was  born  in  Holland, 
November  lO,  1834;  son  of  John  H.  and  Jennie  Weenink,  who  remained  there 
until  their  death.  Our  subject  was  married,  April  14,  1859,  to  Jennie  C.  Sam- 
burg,  born  in  Holland,  February  25,  1837,  daughter  of  George  and  Jennie 
Samburg;  the  former  of  whom  died  in  Holland  in  1847,  and  his  widow  then 
married  John  D.  Deuink,  and  with  him  immigrated  to  New  York  State,  where 
they  have  since  resided.  To  this  union  were  born  seven  children,  live  of  whom 
survive:  Henry  J.,  Anna  C,  May,  George  W.  and  Ida  L.  Jennie  and  Lizzie 
are  deceased.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weenink   immigrated  to  America  the  year  they 


ROOTSTOWN  TOWNSHIP.  877 

were  married,  and  after  remaining  fifteen  years  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  came  to 
this  county.  Our  subject  is  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade,  also  a  farmer,  and 
owns  seventy-eight  acres  of  land  where  he  and  his  family  live.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Weenink  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

S.  C.  WHIPPY  was  born  in  Nantucket.  Mass.,  May  18,  1826;  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Green,  who  died  in  Massachusetts  in  1877  and  1875 
respectively.  Our  subject  was  married  in  Massachusetts  June  15,  1851,  to 
William  S.  Whippy,  born  in  Nantucket,  Mass.,  March  28,  1815;  son  of  Josiah 
B.  and  Eliza  W^hippy,  natives  of  same  State,  the  former  of  whom  died  at 
■ea  in  1854.  His  widow  then  accompanied  her  son  and  his  wife  to  this  county, 
remaining  with  them  until  her  death  in  1865.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whippy  were 
born  four  children,  two  now  living:  William  F.  and  Clarence  E.  The  deceased 
are  Susie  E.  and  Eugene.  William  S.  Whippy,  like  his  father,  was  a  ship 
Captain,  and  sailed  the  sea  for  twenty-five  years.  After  he  and  his  wife  came 
to  this  county  in  1855,  he  engaged  in  farming,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
February  10,  1881,  was  living  a  retired  life.  He  was- a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  as  is  also  his  widow. 

JOHN  WIEDEMANN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Germany, 
October  5,  1818,  son  of  Barney  and  Elizabeth  Wiedemann,  who  remained  in 
Germany,  where  the  former  died  in  1832,  the  latter  in  1856.  Our  subject  was 
married  March  18,  1841,  to  Mary  M.  Speallman,  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany,  May  27,  1817,  daughter  of  Anthony  and  Margaret  Speallman,  who 
died  there  in  1847  and  1858  respectively.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wiedemann  have  had 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living:  Emmeline,  Margaret,  John.  Bar- 
ney and  Charles.  The  deceased  ai'e  Elizabeth,  Abbie  and  John  J.  Mr. 
Wiedemann  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  came  to  Randolph  Township,  this 
county,  in  1840.  He  has  been  engaged  in  farming  for  several  years  and  owns 
seventy  acres  of  good  land  in  Rootstown  Township,  where  he  and  his  family 
reside.      They  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

ASA  WOOD,  farmer,  P.  O.  NewMilford,  was  born  in  Independence  Town- 
ship, Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  August  13,  1821,  son  of  Silas  and  Phila  Wood, 
natives  of  New  York  State  and  Massachusetts  respectively.  Silas  Wood's  par- 
ents emigrated  from  the  State  of  New  Y''ork  about  the  year  1809,  and  settled 
in  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  coming  all  the  way  from  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  by 
water  in  a  small  boat,  following  the  rivers  and  lakes  to  Buffalo,  on  Lake  Erie. 
They  traveled  by  water  as  far  as  rivers  and  lakes  would  permit,  and  then 
would  take  their  boat  out  of  the  water  and  hire  it  carried  by  team  over  land  to 
the  next  river  or  lake  that  lay  in  their  route,  and  so  on  until  they  reached  Buf- 
falo; then  they  came  by  Lake  Erie  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  keeping  close  to  shore 
all  the  way,  running  on  shore  at  night  and  camping  on  dry  ground;  then  came 
up  Cuyahoga  River  by  boat  to  the  mouth  of  Tinker's  Creek,  in  Independence 
Township,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio.  Here  they  settled'and  commenced  to  clear 
off  the  heavy  timber,  so  that  they  might  have  farms  to  cultivate.  At  this  time 
the  country  was  full  of  Indians,  and  men  when  they  went  out  to  work  took 
their  guns  with  them  to  be  ready  against  sudden  surprise  on  part  of  the 
Indians,  which  might  happen  any  moment.  Phila  W^ood's  parents  came  from 
Franklin  County,  Mass.,  soon  after  the  war  of  1812,  traveling  all  the  way 
with  horses  and  wagon.  They  settled  in  Independence  Township,  Cuyahoga 
Co.,  Ohio.  Silas  and  Phila  Wood  (the  parents  of  Asa  Wood)  were  married 
and  lived  in  Independence  Township,  Cuyahoga  County,  until  the  death  of 
Silas  Wood,  which  occurred  January  20,  1825.  His  widow  afterward  married 
George  Leach,  of  Northfield  Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  and  lived  there 
until  her  death,  which  occurred  July  15,  1881.     George  Leach  died  February 


878  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

17,  1870.  Asa  Wood,  our  subject,  was  married  June  8, 1841,  to  Ruby  E.  Rose, 
born  in  the  town  of  Canton,  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y.,  August  5,  1822.  Her 
parents,  Daniel  and  Polly  Rose  (long  since  deceased),  moved  from  Canton,  St. 
Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  settled  in  Bedford  Township,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio, 
in  the  year  1833,  coming  all  the  way  with  horses  and  a  covered  wagon.  Asa 
and  Ruby  Wood,  after  they  were  married,  lived  in  Little  York,  Northfield 
Township,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  until  April,  1872,  when  they  moved  to  Roots- 
town  Township,"  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  purchasing  of  Rolland  Hough  the  old  Will- 
iam Holcomb  farm,  containing  124  acres,  where  they  still  reside.  Asa  Wood 
went  to  California  in  1853  gold  digging,  and  returned  in  1856,  since  when  he 
has  followed  farming  ever  since.  To  Asa  and  Ruby  Wood  were  born  four 
children:  Josiah,  Maria,  Marilla  and  Frank,  all  living  except  Maria,  who  mar- 
ried Cassius  Chamberlin,  moved  to  Cass  County,  Mo.,  in  1872,  and  died  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1873,  aged  twenty-eight  years.  Marilla  W^ood  married  Francis 
Loughery,  and  at  present  resides  at  Marshalltown,  Iowa.  Frank  Wood  mar- 
ried Miss  Maggie  Bohloer,  of  New  Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio,  and 
at  present  lives  in  South  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Josiah  Wood  lives  in  Rootstown, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio.  Asa  Wood  and  wife  are  members  of  the  United  Brethren 
Church  at  New  Milford. 


SHALERSVILLE   TOWNSHIP. 


EDWIN  B.   BABCOCK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  March  2,  1811, 
the  first  white  child  born  in  Hiram  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Simon  and 
Sabina  (Tilden)  Babcock,    and    grandson  of    Simon   Babcock,    Sr.,    and  Col. 
Daniel  Tilden  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine, 
the  latter  of  whom  named   the  township  of  Hiram,  giving  a  gallon  of  whisky 
for  the  privilege,  and    being  a  Freemason  he  named  it  after  Hiram  Abift,  the 
founder  of  Masonry.     He  was  one  of  the  proprietors  of   the  same.     He   also 
christened  the  stream,  Silver  Creek,  after  quenching  his  thirst  and  that  of  his 
horse  in  its  clear  waters.      Col.  Daniel  Tilden  was  an  uncle  of  Samuel  J.  Til- 
den, of  New  York,  and  Hon.   Daniel  R.  Tilden,   of  Cleveland,   Ohio,  is   his 
grandson.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Simon  Babcock,  Jr.,  came  to  this  county  in  1809  to 
occupy  lands  owned  by  the  latter's  father,  Col.  Tilden,  who  did  not  settle  here 
till  several  years  later,  though  he  owned  several  hundred  acres  of   land   here. 
Simon  Babcock,  Jr.,  subsequently  went  South  and  was  never  more  heard  from. 
His  son,   Edwin  B.,  resided   with  his   grandfather,  Col.  Tilden,  in   New  York 
for  four  years,  then  returned  to  this  county  in  the  fall  of  1820  and,  purchasing 
fifty  acres  of  land,  began  its  cultivation.     In  1821  he  went  to  live  in  Shalers- 
ville  with  his  mother,  remaining  with  her  till  her  death.      She  married  Elijah 
Burroughs,  and  died  at  Garrettsville  February  23,  1836,  aged  fifty-two  years. 
March  26,  1835,  he  married  Alma,  daughter  of  John  Hoskins,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Shalersville.      She  was  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  twelve  children. 
To  our  subject  and  wife  were  born  Helen,  wife  of    William  Walker,  of  Michi- 
gan; Christopher  G.,  a  prominent  resident  of   Branch  County,  Mich,  (he  was 
twelve  successive  years  a  Supervisor   in  his   county);    George  W.,  a  bridge- 
builder,  who  was  killed  by  falling  from  a  bridge  he  was  constructing  in  Shelby 
County,  Mo.,  December  18,1882,  aged  forty  three  (left  a  widow  and  four  chil- 
dren); Horace  C,  of  Shalersville  Township,  this  county;  Amelia  S.  was  married 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  879 

to  J.  W.  Gray,  died  October  11, 1879,  aged  thirty-six,  leaving  four  children,  and 
Jaynes  N.,  a  model  farmer  of  La  Grange  County,  Ind.,  holds  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  literary  circles,  serves  his  township  in  an  official  capacity.  Mrs.  Alma 
Babcock  died  February  11,  1846,  aged  thirty  two  years,  and  October  22,  1846, 
our  subject  married  Amelia  B.,  youngest  of  the  nine  children  of  Asa  Crane, 
and  by  her  he  has  two  children:  Sarah,  wife  of  G.  L.  Horr,  and  William  A., 
a  lawyer  of  much  promise  in  Cleveland.  Mr.  Babcock  has  a  fine,  well -regulated 
farm  of  500  acres,  and  also  a  cultivated  farm  of  over  500  acres  in  Branch 
County,  Mich.  He  has  conducted  a  dairy  for  fifty  years.  He  has  served  this 
county  several  years  in  the  capacity  of  Coroner,  Trustee  and  Infirmary 
Director,  and  was  one  of  the  Directors  and  President  of  the  Eavenna  Savings 
Bank  for  several  years.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  was 
appointed  by  the  Government  to  enroll  the  township,  and  was  afterward  chosen 
by  the  citizens  to  fill  the  quota  called  for  to  relieve  the  township  from  draft, 
paid  out  about  $17,000  for  substitutes  in  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  and  not  a 
man  went  into  the  service  by  draft.  Our  subject  has  been  a  resident  of 
Shalersville  Township  nearly  sixty-three  years,  and  at  this  date  (1885)  there  is 
but  one  person  alive  who  was  married  when  Mr.  Babcock  arrived  in  Shalers- 
ville, and  that  person  is  Alanson  Lord,  now  in  his  ninety-first  year. 

COLUMBUS  BEARDSLEY  was  born  in  Nelson  Township,  this  county, 
August  1,  1830,  son  of  Clark  and  Sarah  (Sherwood)  Beardsley;  was  united  in 
marriage  February  10,  1857,  with  Miss  Eleanor  Peirce,  daughter  of  Samuel 
E.  and  Betsy  Hopkins.  By  this  union  there  is  one  son — Willie — a  farmer  by 
occupation. 

JOHN  BONNEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  February  24,  1806, 
in  Cornwall,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  son  of  John  and  Orilla  (Sherwood)  Bon- 
ney,  who,  in  1813,  were  included  with  their  family  in  a  party  of  venturesome 
pioneers,  consisting  of  Deacon  B.  Sherwood.  Wells  Clark,  David  Beardsley 
and  some  few  others,  who  immigrated  to  Ohio.  The  journey  in  those  days 
was  one  of  privation  and  exposure,  the  experience  of  our  subject's  parents 
being  augmented  by  the  presence  of  a  family  of  seven  children.  They  came 
via  Pittsburgh  through  Trumbull  County,  and  on  the  last  day  out  they  were 
overtaken  by  a  rain  storm,  which  compelled  them  to  camp  in  the  woods.  John 
Bonney,  Sr.,  purchased  a  piece  of  land,  about  200  acres,  in  Nelson  Township, 
containing  a  small  clearing,  fenced  with  logs,  and  a  log-house  and  barn 
(there  was  a  cranberry  marsh  west  of  these  premises,  which,  in  the  dry  season, 
caught  fire  and  destroyed  everything  in  the  vicinity,  save  the  buildings),  and 
the  following  year  he  died,  leaving  his  widow  with  eight  children  to  provide 
for.  Upon  one  occasion  the  family  existed  for  three  days  and  nights  on  the 
milk  of  one  cow  and  a  quantity  of  soft  maple  sap,  when  they  were  relieved  by 
some  lady  residents  of  Windham  Township.  About  this  time  Bufi"alo  was 
burned  by  the  British,  and  our  subject  remembers  hearing  the  cannonading  on 
the  lake.  Bears,  wolves  and  other  wild  game  were  plentiful,  and  at  a  hunt 
participated  in  by  the  inhabitants,  twenty-five  bears,  six  wolves  and  smali 
game  in  abundance  were  bagged.  When  our  subject  was  eighteen  years  old 
he  assisted  his  brother  in  clearing  and  fencing  five  acres  of  the  old  farm,  and 
that  year  raised  twenty-six  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  Our  subject  has  been 
twice  married,  first  May  10,  1826,  to  Anna  Brown,  who  bore  him  seven  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Orpha  (wife  of  O.  Brown),  Lydia  (wife 
of  E.  Smith)  and  Eliza  (wife  of  C.  Fish).  Mrs.  Bonney  died  in  1873,  and  in 
January,  1876,  Mr.  Bonney  married  Mrs.  Melona  Haight  {nee  Hurd),  a  widow, 
who  had  two  children  living:  Emeline  (wife  of  L  Williams)  and  Addeu  Haight. 
Mr.  Bonney  has  been  identified  with  religious  endeavors  for  fifty  years,  beinc 


880  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

the  greater  part  of  the  time  a  leader  in  the  Discii:)les  Church,  while  living  in 
Freedom,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio. 

HARLAND  P.  BRADFORD  (deceased)  was  born  February  28,  1837,  at 
Newburg,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  son  of  Grafton  and  Sharlane  (Rice)  Brad- 
ford, natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1832  or  1833,  settling  near 
Cleveland.  Their  family  consisted  of  five  children,  one  son  and  two  daugh- 
ters now  living.  Our  subject  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
enlisting  in  1861,  in  Battery  I,  First  Ohio  Volunteer  Artillery,  and  serving  until 
1864,  when  he  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Atlanta  and  larought  home.  He 
was  married  June  11,  1865,  to  Eliza  C. ,  daughter  of  Cyrus  and  Clarissa  (Wet- 
more)  Prentiss,  by  whom  he  had  the  following  children,  all  now  living:  Clifford 
P.,  Nellie  W.,  William  H.  and  Edith  A.  Mr.  Bradford,  for  a  time,  was  partner 
with  B.  F.  King  in  the  management  of  the  Atlantic  Mills.  He  subsequently 
disposed  of  his  interest,  however,  and  moved  to  his  farm,  where  he  died  in 
September,  1881.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen,  and  a  social,  genial  gentleman. 
His  widow  is  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Ravenna,  and 
is  an  amiable,  Christian  lady.     She  occupies  the  homestead  farm. 

C.  P.  COE  (deceased)  was  born  May  18,  1801,  at  East  Granville,  Mass., 
son  of  James  and  Nancy  (Pratt)  Coe.  His  father's  family  had  its  origin  in 
England,  and  mention  is  made  of  it  in  the  third  volume  of  Fox's  Book  of 
Martyrs,  wherein  is  related  the  burning  at  the  stake  of  Roger  Coe,  of  Milford, 
Suffolk,  by  order  of  Queen  Mary  in  1555.  Later  it  was  ascertained  that  a 
Robert  Coe  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  emigrate  to  America,  coming  in  the 
ship  "Francis,"  John  Cutting,  Master,  in  the  fall  of  1634.  He  landed  in 
Boston,  April  10,  1635,  somewhat  later  than  the  Massachusetts  colony,  and 
settled  at  Watertown.  From  the  New  England  records  our  subject  could  trace 
back  his  pedigree  through  nine  generations.  C.  P.  Coe  was  twice  married,  on 
first  occasion  February  11,  1823,  to  Lucinda  Cutler,  who  bore  him  the  follow- 
ing children:  Nancy  O.,  Orpha  A.,  Celina  E.,  Eben  S.,  Henry  B.  and  Amy  A. 
Of  these  Nancy  O.  married  J.  W.  Gay  lord  (had  four  children:  Amy  M. ;  C.  C, 
born  February  22,  1851,  died  December  11,  1853;  Charles  C,  married  to  Lelia 
Garfield,  who  has  one  child — Mary;  and  Lillian  I.);  Mr.  Gaylord  died  August 
9,  1883.  Ori^ha  A.  married  Dr.  E.  L.  Munger,  and  died  May  21,  1877;  Dr. 
E.  L.  Munger  died  in  December,  1884;  they  left  one  son — Charles  A. 
Celina  E.  married  Malcome  McCartey,  and  died  January  5,  1875,  leaving  one 
daughter — Cora  L.,  wife  of  F.  W.  Fitz.  Eben  S.  married  Helen  Davis  (have 
four  children:  Harry  L.,  Frederick  E.,  Florence  H.  and  Clara  L.)  Henry  B., 
who  occupies  the  home  place  in  this  township,  was  married  September  14, 
1863,  to  Annette,  daughter  of  Samuel  Goodell,  an  early  settler  of  this  county; 
(they  have  no  children).  Amy  A.  married  John  R.  See  (had  one  child — Nettie 
B.,  born  October  24,  1862,  died  April  21,  1864).  Our  subject  married  for  his 
second  wife,  INIrs.  Laura  Cunningham,  who  died  May  5,  1884.  C.  P.  Coe  died 
January  31,  1885. 

E.  M.  CRANE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  June  14,  1810,  in 
Shalersville,  this  county,  son  of  Simeon  and  Rachel  (Catlin)  Crane,  natives  of 
Salisbury,  Conn.,  and  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1801,  first  settling  at  Canfield, 
Trumbull  County,  having  purchased  land,  and  there  lived  until  1809,  when 
they  sold  out  and  came  to  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  where  they 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  days.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  children, 
three  sons  and  one  daughter,  two  of  whom  are  now  living:  Angenetta,  widow 
of  Sheldon  Farnham,  of  Trumbull,  Ohio,  and  E.  M.,  our  subject.  Simeon 
Crane,  previous  to  coming  here,  was  Overseer  of  the  Connecticut  Iron  Works, 
but  after  his  arrival  in  Ohio  he  became  a  farmer.     He  was  a  son  of  Ezra  Crane, 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  881 

who  came  to  Ohio  in  a  very  early  day,  and  whose  family  consisted  of  James, 
Jeremiah,  Martin,  Ezra,  Belden,  Dency,  Simeon,  Asa,  Aaron  and  Calvin.  Our 
subject  has  been  twice  married,  on  the  first  occasion  July  1,  1835,  to  Lucinda 
A.,  daughter  of  Charles  Streeter,  who  bore  him  three  sons:  Frank  C,  Auditor 
of  the  Lake  Shore  Kailroad  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  married  to  Elena  M.  Bur- 
nett; Charles  S.,  tin  and  copper-smith  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county, 
married  to  Laura  Sanford;  and  Seneca  L.,  a  resident  of  Kansas  City,  married 
to  Addie  M.  McGowan.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  in  1842,  and  in 
December,  1843,  Mr.  Crane  married  Sylvinia,  daughter  of  Jason  Streatoi',  by 
whom  he  has  had  sis  children:  Cassius  M.,  married  to  Marcella  Bennet; 
Arthur  E.,  married  to  Ella  M.  Beardsley ;  Frederick  J.,  married  to  Ella  J.  Pratt; 
Ann  Jewett,  wife  of  Col.  O.  C.  Risdon,  a  soldier  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion; Clarice  L.,  married  to  J.  S.  Tilden,  Cashier  of  First  National  Bank 
of  Garrettsville,  and  Elton  P.  His  sons  are  all  merchants.  Our  subject  was 
Trustee  of  the  first  bank  established  in  Garrettsville,  and  influenced  its  rechar- 
ter  as  a  national  bank  on  the  suggestion  of  President  Garfield.  He  has  held 
various  towuship  offices;  was  Jifstice  of  the  Peace  for  fifteen  years.  Trustee, 
Assessor,  etc.,  and  is  looked  up  to  as  a  citizen  whose  judgment  and  opinion 
should  be  received  with  consideration. 

SILAS  CROCKER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  April  3,  1799,  in 
Chelsea,  Vt,  His  father,  David  Crocker,  was  born  in  Norwich,  New  London 
Co.,  Conn.,  March  23,  1760,  and  came  to  Ohio  in  1828.  He  was  married  to 
Sarah  Jones,  in  New  Hampshire,  where  she  died,  having  blessed  him  with 
seven  children:  Charles,  Jesse,  Candace,  David,  Jabez,  Silas  and  James  H. 
Silas  Crocker  received  his  education  in  the  country  schools.  In  the  spring  of 
1805  his  father's  family  moved  to  Lebanon,  N.  H. ,  and  in  1808  his  mother 
died,  the  family  moved  back  from  New  Hampshire  to  Chelsea,  Vt.,  in  1809, 
and  in  1811  our  subject  joined  the  Thompson  family  at  Williamstown,  Vt.  In 
the  month  of  February,  1814,  the  Thompsons  started  for  Ohio,  young  Silas 
going  with  them,  and  March  18,  1814,  they  arrived  at  Shalersville.  They 
came  via  Buffalo,  which  at  that  time  had  but  one  house,  the  city  having  been 
destroyed  by  fire  by  the  British.  There  were  sixteen  families  in  Shalersville 
when  they  arrived,  and  were  all  living  in  log-cabins.  Streetsboro  was  yet 
unknown  to  settlers,  and,  together  with  Freedom  Township,  served  for  hunting 
grounds  for  a  number  of  years.  Mr.  Crocker  remembers  having  seen,  as  a 
result  of  a  pioneer  hunt  in  Freedom  Township,  twenty-five  dead  bears  and 
nine  wolves.  He  remained  with  the  Thompson  family  until  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  when  he  began  life  for  himself.  He  applied  himself  to  his  books 
during  evenings,  and  obtained  a  practical  knowledge  of  surveying.  As  the 
county  became  settled,  he  did  considerable  business  in  dividing  lands  and  sur- 
veying roads.  He  also  worked  at  the  carpenter  and  joiner's  trade  for  many 
years.  He  learned  the  distilling  business,  and  followed  it  for  three  years.  In 
the  fall  of  1824  Mr.  Crocker  returned  to  his  native  country  to  visit  his  rela- 
tives, and  his  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  Western  country  induced  them  to 
locate  here  later.  February  4,  1827,  our  subject  was  married  to  Cynthia, 
daughter  of  Jonas  and  Eleanor  Goodell,  natives  of  Massachusetts  and  Ver- 
mont respectively,  and  the  parents,  of  Dianthia.  Linda,  Carlton,  Polly,  Cyn- 
thia, Samuel,  Sophia,  George  and  Frinda.  To  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Crocker  were 
born  two  children:  Homer,  born  February  4,  1828,  killed  by  the  kick  of  a 
horse  April  13,  1839,  and  Sylvia,  born  August  10,  1835,  married  December  6, 
1857,  to  Lyman  T.  Hine,  and  died  of  consumption  June  28,  1860.  Mr.  Hine 
has  one  son,  Horace  L. ,  born  February  26,  1859,  who  has  lived  with  his 
grandfather,  our  subject,  since  he  was  three  years  old.     He  is  an  energetic 


882  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

young  man,  full  of  pluck  and  lionesty,  and  ere  long  will  be  the  possessor  of  a 
fair  estate,  the  result  of  Mr.  Crocker's  labors.  It  is  for  him  that  our  subject 
has  inserted  a  portrait  of  himself  and  wife  in  the  History  of  Portage  County, 
and  he  will  assuredly  appreciate  it  as  a  gift  "more  precious  than  gold."  Mr. 
Crocker  voted  lirst  for  Monroe,  in  1820,  for  President,  and  has  cast  seventeen 
Presidential  votes.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  Republican.  He  is  an  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 
In  1881  he  built  a  barn,  doing  the  carpentering  himself,  and  in  1883  he  did 
the  carpentering  on  a  sugar  house.  He  has  been  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
First  National  Bank  in  Ravenna  since  its  organization  in  1864.  He  never 
used  tobacco  in  any  form,  and  drinks  no  intoxicating  liquor.  Silas  Crocker's 
connection  with  Portage  County  has  been  one  of  lionor  and  integrity,  and 
coming  generations  will  review  his  worthy  career  with  sincere  gratification. 

STODDARD  DICKINSON  (deceased)  was  born  May  6,  1799,  in  Southing- 
ton,  Conn,,  son  of  Levi  and  Levina  Dickinson.  In  1821  he  removed  to  Ohio, 
making  the  journey  on  foot,  and  settled  in  Aurora  Township,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  piece  of  land.  Having  established  a  home,  he  was  married  January 
28,  1823,  to  Lucy  A.,  daughter  of  Abel  and  Frelove  Hine,  who  bore  him  eight 
children:  Emma  (born  December  26,  1823;  married  December  31,  1840,  to 
S.  A.  Sutliff,  of  Connecticut;  died  September  22,  1864;  was  mother  of  nine 
children,  five  of  whom  are  still  living:  Altha,  Alice,  Mary,  Seth  and  Frank); 
Janet  (born  June  29,  1826;  died  January  28,  1830);  Adelaide  (born  February 
10,  1830;  married  March  17,  1856,  to  L.  H.  Colton,  of  Michigan,  where  they 
still  reside;  have  two  children:  Allen  L.  and  Mary);  Ursula  (born  October  18, 
1831;  married  March  17,  1856,  to  M.  D.  Holcomb,  of  Shalersville,  Ohio;  died 
September  26,  1869;  was  mother  of  six  children,  two  of  whom  are  still  living: 
Inez  M.  and  Pearl  M.);  Allen  (born  March  26,  1834;  enlisted  in  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion  in  the  autumn  of  1861;  was  a  member  of  Company  F,  Forty- 
second  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry;  died  July  17,  1863);  Truman  B. 
(born  June  14,  1837;  married  January  24,  1859,  to  Jane  P.  Tuttle,  of  Free- 
dom, Ohio;  have  two  children:  Mertilla  C.  and  Clifford  T.  He  served  six 
years  as  Overseer  of  the  Portage  County  Poor,  and  has  acted  as  agent  of  the 
Ohio  Farmers'  Insurance  Company  for  the  past  four  years,  residing  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  in  Shalersville  Township);  Ansel  E.  (born  May  21,  1845; 
married  March  5,  1873,  to  Ella  Arnold,  of  Kansas,  where  they  now  reside; 
have  three  children:  Eda  A.,  Walter  E.  and  an  infant);  George  W.  (born  Febru- 
ary 22,  1847;  married  February  22,  1876,  to  Delia  Spencer,  of  Shalersville, 
Ohio).  The  subject  of  this  sketch  moved  to  Shalersville  Township,  this 
county,  in  the  spring  of  1826,  where  he  resided  with  Abel  Hine  one  year. 
He  then  purchased  a  piece  of  land  two  miles  south  of  Shalersville  Center, 
which  he  cleared  and  made  his  home  until  the  spring  of  1859,  when  he  moved 
to  a  farm  one  mile  south  of  Shalersville  Center,  where  he  died  March  15, 
1872,  and  where  his  widow  now  resides  with  her  son,  George  W. 

ADAM  DIETZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  July  20,  1820,  in 
Germany;  son  of  Ferdinand  Dietz,  a  vineyard  proprietor  and  experienced 
horticulturist  in  that  country.  Our  subject  emigrated  to  America  in  1842.  and 
in  October,  1844,  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Yale.  By  this  union  there 
are  three  children:  Frederick,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  J.  Rosa  (have  three  children: 
Elmer,  John  and  James),  and  Louisa,  wife  of  L.  Peck,  all  being  among  the 
leading  families  of  Shalersville  Township.  Our  subject  is  a  careful  farmer, 
and  from  his  abundance  enjoys  the  life  of  a  retired  gentleman.  His  farm  is 
located  in  the  western  part  of  the  township,  and  is  under  lease. 

GEORGE  GOODELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  Ohio,  was  born 
March   31,   1815,    in   Warwick,    Mass.;    son  of    Jonas   and  Eleanor  Goodell. 


SHALERSVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  883 

Jonas  was  born  in  Warwick,  Mass. ,  married  to  Eleanor  Ayer  in  Vei-mont,  and 
emigrated  to  Ohio  in  1815,  with  a  family  of  eight  children,  Mr.  Goodell 
having  visited  this  State  one  year  previous^and  purchased  a  farm.  He  then 
returned  to  Massachusetts  after  contracting  for  the  erection  of  a  cabin,  for 
which  the  consideration  was  $60.  One  child  was  born  to  Jonas  and  Eleanor 
Goodell  after  their  advent  here,  and  of  their  family  of  nine  children,  but 
three  are  now  living:  Cynthia,  wife  of  Silas  Crocker;  Frinda,  wife  of  T.  J. 
Newcomb;  and  George.  Our  subject  was  married  August  21,  1840,  to  Julia 
A.,  daughter  of  AVinthrop  Dodge,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children:  Ellen  S., 
married  August  27,  1861,  to  Charles  K.  Pierce,  of  Massachusetts,  and  who 
came  to  Ohio  in  1857  (had  three  children:  Louisa  A.,  Hattie  L.,  deceased, 
and  Cora  E.);  George  N.,  married  to  Jennie  Spray;  Julia  A.,  wife  of  Eber  N. 
Stocking;  Harriet;  Lucy,  wife  of  William  M.  Dudley;  Linda  C. ;  Bion;  Jonas 
L.  (deceased);  Samuel  C.  (deceased);  and  Ezra  B.  (deceased).  Mrs.  Goodell 
died  in  February,  1879.  Our  subject,  having  divided  the  farm  among  his  chil- 
dren, resides  with  Mr.  Pierce,  and  is  esteemed  as  a  public- spirited  citizen. 

PETER  KIMES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  March  17,  1818,  in 
Harmony,  Butler  Co.,  Penn.,  son  of  John  and  Polly  (Blair)  Kimes,  the  latter 
of  whom  was  a  daughter  of  John  Blair,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  Kimes  came  to  Ohio,  with  a  family  of  eight  children,  in  1833,  and  pur- 
chased land  in  Shalersville  Township.  They  were  the  parents  of  the  follow- 
ing children:  Henry,  Martha  (wife  of  Mr.  Southers),  Amos  (deceased),  John 
(deceased),  Elizabeth  (deceased  wife  of  Mr.  Lowery),  Peter,  David  and  Thomas. 
Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  in  18-49,  with  Sophia,  youngest  of  the 
three  children  born  to  Mrs.  Doty,  now  a  widow  and  a  native  of  New  Jersey. 
By  this  union  there  are  four  children:  Amy  (wife  of  F.  D.  Gray),  Emerson 
B.,  Estella  and  Ada  (wife  of  F.  E.  Armstrong.  Mr.  Kimes  owns  nearly  500 
acres  of  land,  well  improved,  watered  and  with  fine  barns,  etc.,  etc.  He  is 
one  of  the  substantial,  enterprising  farmers  of  this  township. 

AMOS  J.  KIMES,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  March  28,  1853, 
in  Shalersville,  this  county,  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Doughty)  Kimes.  natives 
of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  respectively,  whose  parents  were  of  English 
origin.  They  came  to  Ohio  in  1830,  and  settled  upon  a  tract  of  land  in  Sha- 
lersville Township,  now  occupied  by  our  subject,  descending  to  him  from  John 
Kimes,  his  grandfather,  the  original  purchaser.  John  and  Mary  Kimes  were 
the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Cornelia  E.,  Alma  L.,  Lucy,  Mary  and 
Amos  J.  Cornelia  E.  married,  in  1868,  Henry  Hentz,  who  was  born  May  16, 
1845.  in  Messina,  N.  Y.,  son  of  Peter  and  Mary  Hentz,  and  came  to  this 
county  when  but  twelve  years  of  age,  and  lived  with  Mr.  S.  S.  Coller.  In 
1861,  though  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  responded  to  his  country's  call,  and 
enlisted  in  the  Forty-second  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  under  Gen. 
Garfield,  who,  upon  one  occasion,  during  a  long  march,  rested  the  boy  by  car- 
rying his  knapsack.  He  was  through  all  the  skirmishes  and  battles  from  Mid- 
dle Creek,  Ky.,  to  Jackson,  Miss.,  and  returned  home  an  honored  soldier.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hentz  have  three  children:  John  H.,  Birdie  M.,  and  Emerson  K. 
Alma  L.  was  first  married  to  W.  H.  Whartield,  by  whom  she  had  one  son — 
Willie  R.  Her  husband  died  in  1876,  and  she  married  in  1879  Mr.  Drum- 
monds.  Lucy  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Lowery.  IMary  is  the  wife  of  H.  Swal- 
low, and  resides  in  Peoria,  111.;  they  have  one  child — Nettie.  Mrs.  John  Kimes 
died  February  10,  1858,  and  John  Kimes  died  December  20,  1876,  leaving  to 
their  children  a  fine  estate  in  this  county,  lying  along  the  Cuyahoga  River. 
Amos  J.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  married  November  26,  1879,  to  Hattie 
L.,  daughter  of  Sawyer  Irish,  and  by  this  union  has  been  born  one  son — John  S. 


884  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

JOHN  W.  McCOMB,  Superintendent  of  the  Poor,  P.  O.  Eavenna,  was 
born  Mai'cb  26,  1833,  in  Ohio,  son  of  John  and  Nancy  (Dawson)  McComb, 
natives  of  Lancaster,  Penn.,  who  were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  now  living:  John  W.,  William,  Nancy  (wife  of  H.  Tuttle),  N.  N. 
(who  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  during  the  war  of  the  Kebellion,  remained 
till  the  close,  and  came  out  without  a  scratch),  Wilbur,  Anna  (married  to  A. 
B.  Christie,  Principal  of  Convoy  College,  Van  "Wert  Co.,  Ohio,  whei'e  she  is 
also  Assistant),  and  Sarah  (wife  of  B.  Godard,  a  silver-plater  in  Charlestown, 
this  county).  Our  subject's  parents  immigrated  to  this  county  in  18-11,  and 
settled  in  Edinburg  Township,  where  the  father  died.  Their  previous  home 
stood  on  the  State  line  between  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  when  our  subject 
was  born  (in  Ohio),  his  father,  though  not  away  from  home,  was  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. John  W.  McComb  was  married  January  24,  1861,  to  Emily  L.,  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Hira  (Kneelan)  Crane.  By  this  union  is  born  one  child — 
Ray  W.,  a  young  man  at  present  attending  Ravenna  High  School.  Mrs, 
McComb  died  March  8,  1885.  March  1,  1878,  our  subject  was  appointed  Super- 
intendent of  the  Poor  by  the  County  Infirmary  Directors,  and  still  retains  that 
position.  He  has  been  proprietor  of  a  saw-mill.  At  the  time  of  the  breaking- 
out  of  the  war,  his  brother  William  was  a  resident  of  the  South,  whei'e  his 
effects  were  confiscated,  and  he  himself  impressed  into  the  Rebel  Army.  While 
at  Fort  Scott  he  deserted  to  the  Union  lines,  where  he  was  identified  by  Ash- 
ley Crane,  a  cousin  of  our  subject's  late  wife,  and  who  was  then  in  the  North- 
ern Army,  and  sent  to  this  county. 

BURTON  PECK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  September  13, 
1831,  in  Ellsworth,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  son  of  Elmer  and  Alma  (Stone)  Peck, 
and  grandson  of  Bennoni  Peck,  who  was  killed  in  after  years  by  a  threshing 
machine.  Elmer  Peck  came  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  accompanying  his  par- 
ents, but  became  discouraged  and  returned  to  Connecticut,  assuming  the  charge 
of  the  home  farm  there.  Subsequently,  however,  he  returned  to  Ohio,  where 
he  purchased  lands.  Our  subject,  the  only  child  of  his  parents  now  living, 
was  married  May  28,  1854,  to  Rilla,  daughter  of  Edwin  and  Nancy  Chapin. 
By  this  union  there  are  two  children:  Charles  W.  (married  to  Hattie  Hinmon) 
and  Nellie  M.  P.  Mr.  Peck  resides  on  the  home  farm,  which  is  under  a  high 
degree  of  cultivation  and  improvement. 

MRS.  M.  H.  PECK,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  in  Streetsboro,  this  county, 
October  17,  1842,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Clarice  Hurlburt,  natives  of  New 
Jersey  and  Connecticut,  respectively,  and  who  came  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day 
and  settled  in  Streetsboro  Township.  Our  subject  was  married  February  12, 
1862,  to  W.  Peck,  by  whom  she  had  two  children:  Hurlburt  (born  April  25, 
1868,  and  who  assists  his  mother  in  the  charge  of  the  farm)  and  Avis  (born 
November  8,  1866,  a  teacher,  and  who  is  a  young  lady  of  rare  promise  and  a 
comfort  to  her  mother).  Mrs.  Peck  resides  with  her  family  on  a  farm  of  sixty 
acres  in  Shalersville  Township,  which  is  well  regulated,  managed  and  improved. 

CHARLES  R.  SAGE,  general  merchant,  P.  O.  Mantua  Station,  was  born 
June  9,  1836,  in  Freedom  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Roswell  and  Minerva 
(Hawley)  Sage,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  who  emigrated  to  Ohio  in  1829  and 
settled  in  Freedom  Township,  where  the  former  still  resides.  Roswell  Sage 
was  twice  married,  the  first  occasion  in  Freedom,  this  county,  to  Miss  Minerva 
Hawley,  who  bore  him  seven  children,  six  of  whom  still  survive:  Harriet, 
widow  of  S.  S.  Hurlbut;  Harvey  H.,  of  Collinwood.  Cuyahoga  Co.,  who  is  in 
the  hardware  business;  Charles  R. ;  Olivia,  wife  of  Eli  Tuttle,  of  Freedom, 
this  county;  R.  G.,  in  the  grocery  business  in  Canton,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio;  Clar- 
ence H. ,  proprietor  of  the  Mantua  House,  Mantua  Station,  Ohio;  Dwight,  who 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  885 

died  in  Berrien  Springs,  Berrien  Co.,  Mich.,  in  1875,  leaving  a  wife  and  two 
children.  Mrs.  Sage  dying  in  1850,  Roswell  Sage  subsequently  married  Mrs. 
Waittie  Parshall,  by  whom  he  has  three  children:  George,  Theodocia  and 
Florence.  Our  subject  was  married,  January  10,  1877,  to  Mrs.  Cornelia  A. 
Beecher,  daughter  of  Reuben  Center.  He  owns  a  beautiful  farm  and  resi- 
dence at  the  Center  of  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  where  he  now 
resides;  also  a  flourishing  store  at  Mantua  Station,  which  he  has  successfully 
conducted  since  the  spring  of  1884.  He  has  no  children.  Mr.  Sage  is  a  suc- 
cessful, quiet,  unassuming  gentleman,  and  a  pleasant  one  with  whom  to  do 
business. 

B.  S.  SKIFF,  farmer,  P.  O.  Shalersville,  was  born  December  30,  1820,  in 
Sheffield  Township,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Martha  (Brown) 
Skiff,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1833.  They  settled  in  Freedom  Township,  two 
miles  northwest  of  the  Center,  where  they  resided  until  the  death  of  the  mother, 
after  which  the  father  made  his  home  with  his  only  son  living,  in  Hiram, 
where  he  died.  Our  subject  has  been  twice  married;  on  first  occasion  to  Miss 
Louise  Fuller,  who  died  without  issue;  and  on  second  occasion  to  Mrs.  Sarah 
H.  (Wolcott)  Everett.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  Mrs.  Skiff  (then  Mrs. 
Everett)  was  a  resident  of  Missouri,  where  her  husband  enlisted,  in  1861,  and 
died  in  the  service.  She  then  removed  to  Ohio  with  her  two  children,  Francis 
and  Zuella  (deceased  September  13,  1884),  settled  in  Shalersville  Township, 
this  county,  and  married  as  above  stated.  Our  subject,  who  is  an  enterprising 
farmer,  is  the  owner  of  a  well-improved  farm  here,  which  he  carries  on  with 
the  help  of  his  step- son.     He  is  a  F.  &  A.  M. 

A.  L.  TOMSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Ravenna,  was  born  August  80,  1839,  on 
the  farm  he  now  occupies  in  Shalersville  Township,  this  county,  son  of  James 
C.  and  Eliza  (Marvin)  Tomson,  natives  of  Williamstown,  Vt.,  and  who  were 
the  parents  of  five  children:  Martin  L.,  married  to  Mary  Edget;  Almon  L., 
our  subject;  James  A.,  married  to  Lucy  Leonard;  Phineas  B.,  unmarried; 
and  Emma  E. ,  wife  of  Charles  Leete.  James  C.  Tomson  came  to  Ohio  in 
1813,  and  after  remaining  one  year  in  Cuyahoga  County,  removed  to  Shalers- 
ville Township,  this  county,  where  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1866. 
Eliza,  wife  of  James  C.  Tomson,  was  born  in  Shalersville,  September  12, 
1816,  daughter  of  Leelon  Marvin,  and  died  February  28,  1885.  Our  subject 
was  married,  June  6,  1865,  to  Sarah  M.,  daughter  of  Ephraim  J.  Proctor,  by 
whom  he  has  three  children:  James  C,  Almon  L.,  Jr.,  and  Arthur.  Mr. 
Tomson  has  filled  the  offices  of  Trustee  and  Assessor  several  years,  and  Justice 
of  the  Peace  five  years.     He  is  a  leading  citizen,  occupying  the  old  home  farm. 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP. 


ALANSON  G.  AVERY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  December  14, 1810,  son  of  Reuben  and  Rachel  (Baldwin)  Avery,  natives  of 
Greenwich  and  Danbury,  Conn.,  respectively,  and  who  settled  in  Aurora 
Township,  this  county,  in  1815.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  Samuel  Bald- 
win, one  of  the  pioneers  of  Aurora.  Reuben  Avery  first  settled  at  what  is 
now  known  as  Union  Station,  but  subsequently  removed  to  the  farm  now  occu- 
pied by  his  son  Reuben,  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  he  lived 
until  his  death.     He  was  twice  married,  first  to  Rachel  Baldwin,  who  bore  him 


886  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES : 

six  children:  Malvina,  wife  of  E.  S.  Harmon;  Alanson  G. ;  Caroline;  Eebecca, 
wife  of  Newman  Squires  (deceased);  James  (deceased)  and  Orlando  (deceased). 
His  second  marriage  was  with  Mrs.  Corinne  (Lewis)  Faxon,  widow  of  Isaac  D. 
Faxon.  By  this  union  there  were  six  children:  Amelia,  wife  of  M.  Stanton; 
Minerva  (deceased)  wife  of  Julius  Olds;  Henry;  Augustus;  Eeuben;  and  Bet- 
sey, wife  of  A.  Babcock.  Our  subject  was  reared  and  lived  in  Aurora  Town- 
ship, this  county,  until  1839,  when  he  settled  on  his  present  farm,  all  of  which 
he  has  cleared  and  improved  himself.  He  has  been  thrice  married.  His  first 
marriage,  in  1836,  was  with  Deborah,  daughter  of  Elijah  Blair,  of  Mantua 
Township,  this  county.  He  next  married,  in  1846,  Jane,  daughter  of  Daniel 
Leonard,  of  Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.,  and  by  this  union  there  were  three  chil- 
dren: Floyd  (deceased),  Itta  (deceased)  and  Jane.  His  last  marriage,  in 
1854,  was  with  Melissa  Kich,  daughter  of  a  pioneer  of  Streetsboro,  and  to  this 
union  were  born  two  children:  Anna  and  George.  Mr.  Avery  is  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  Streetsboro  Township.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Town 
ship  Trustee  several  terms.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat. 

HOWAllD  BURROUGHS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Sha- 
lersville,  this  county,  December  13,  1830,  son  of  Simon  and  Lucy  (Green)  Bur- 
roughs, the  former,  a  native  of  Alsted,  N.  H. ,  latter  of  Bethel,  Vt.  They  were 
parents  of  the  following  children:  Alamanda,  wife  of  Albert  Doolittle;  Dudley; 
Annice,  wife  of  Elias  Musser;  Howard;  George  and  Henry,  twins.  Simon 
Burroughs  settled  in  Shalersville  in  1818,  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  on 
which  he  resided  seventeen  years,  when  he  removed  to  Streetsboro  and  settled 
on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Horace  Doolittle,  which  he  also  cleared  and 
improved  and  where  he  liv^ed  and  died  in  1864,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year,  and 
his  widow  in  1873  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  Both  were  active  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject 
was  Joel  Burroughs,  a  farmer  of  Alsted,  N.  H. ,  and  his  maternal  grandfather 
was  Araasa  Green,  a  farmer  of  Bethel,  Vt.  Howard  Burroughs  was  reared  in 
Streetsboro,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  From  the  time  he  was 
twenty- one  years  until  twenty-nine  he  worked  at  the  carpenter  and  joiner's 
trade,  and  then  engaged  in  farming,  which  he  has  followed  ever  since.  He 
was  married  March  10,  1859,  to  Sophronia,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Matilda 
(Morse)  Bliss,  of  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  five  childi'en:  Harry,  Cora,  Lura, 
Rilla  and  Fred.  Mr.  Burroughs  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  has  served  his  township  as  Trustee  three  terms.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Democrat. 

EDWIN  CACKLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  April  10,  1824,  and'  is  a  son  of  Christian  and  Theresa 
(Nighman)  Cackler  (see  sketch  of  C.  C.  Cackler,  Franklin  Township).  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Christian  Cackler,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  settled  in 
Hudson,  Ohio,  in  1804,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  Adam  Nighman,  a 
native  of  Maryland,  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1809.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  Franklin  Township,  where  he  received  a  limited  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools.  He  was  married  February  11,  1847,  to  Mary  J., 
daughter  of  Oliver  and  Mary  (Jerrils)  Crosby,  of  Shalersville,  who  settled 
there  about  1825,  and  were  from  New  York.  Her  maternal  grandfather  was 
John  Jerrils,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Mr.  Cackler  and  wife  are 
members  of  the  Disciples  Church,  of  Kent.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JACOB  CACKLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
this  county,  October  3,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of  Christian  and  Theresa  (Nighman) 
Cackler  (see  sketch  of  C.  C.  Cackler,  Franklin  Township).  He  was  reared  in 
Franklin  Township,  this  county,  where  he  received  a  limited  education  in  the 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  887 

common  schools.  He  was  married  September  27,  1849,  to  Cordelia  A., 
daughter  of  Oliver  and  Mary  Crosby,  of  Shalersville,  by  whom  he  had  five 
children:  Mary  A.,  wife  of  S.  Fuller;  Almond;  Kate,  wife  of  P.  H.  Fishel; 
Kittie,  deceased,  and  Belle,  deceased.  Mr.  Cackler  is  a  worthy  citizen  of 
Streetsboro.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat. 

WILLIAM  COWLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Lincolnshire, 
England,  April  27,  1815,  son  of  William  and  Charlotte  (James)  Cowley.  He 
was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his  native  town,  and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  landing  in  New  York  City  in  the  spring  of 
1836,  without  a  copper  in  his  pocket.  He  then  went  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany 
and  walked  from  there  to  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  where  he  worked  in  a  stone  quarry 
one  summer,  and  the  following  winter  went  to  Philadelphia,  following  the 
same  occupation  there  until  the  next  spring,  when  he  moved  to  Lee,  Mass. , 
and  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand  up  to  the  fall  of  1838.  He  then 
came  to  Ohio,  and  in  the  winter  of  1838-39  worked  on  the  Miami  Canal  from 
Defiance  to  Cincinnati.  In  April,  1839,  he  settled  in  Streetsboro  Township, 
this  county,  a  mile  south  of  the  Center,  living  there  some  five  years,  when  he 
settled  on  his  present  farm,  now  comprising  482  acres,  most  of  which  he 
cleared  and  improved.  Mr.  Cowley  has  been  twice  married,  on  first  occasion 
May  4,  1844,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Betsey  (Green)  Olin,  of 
Streetsboro,  this  county,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children:  Heniy  B.,  William, 
Betsey  (deceased),  Eliza  (wife  of  Levi  Raber),  Harriet  (deceased),  Albert,  Ida, 
Emma  (wife  of  Thomas  Elliman)  and  Joseph  J.  January  8,  1867,  our  subject 
married  his  present  wife,  Chloe,  daughter  of  Timothy  and  Frances  (Rathburn) 
Brockway,  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of 
Hartford,  in  that  county.  Mr.  Cowley  is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  and  a 
representative  citizen  of  Streetsboro  Township.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

ALBERT  DOOLITTLE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  New 
Milford,  Susquehanna  Co.,  Penn.,  October  7,  1806,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Fanny 
(Ward)  Doolittle,  natives  of  Cheshire,  New  Haven  Co.,  Conn.,  and  Roxbury, 
Litchfield  Co.,  Conn.,  respectively, and  who  settled  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this 
county,  in  1825,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  our  subject.  They  were  the  parents  of 
the  following  children:  Nelson;  Albert;  George,  deceased;  Henry,  deceased; 
Lydia,  wife  of  E.  F.  Mason;  William,  deceased;  Polly  J.,  deceased;  Theodora 
B.,  deceased,  and  Eloisa,  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Doolittle  were 
members  of  the  Disciples  Church.  He  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Streetsboro 
two  terms,  and  was  a  representative  pioneer,  one  of  the  first  in  Streetsboro 
Township,  and  for  several  years  was  land  agent  for  the  original  owners  of  the 
township.  He  died  in  September,  1849,  in  his  seventy-ninth  year,  his  wife 
having  preceded  him  April  27,  1845,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  Our  subject  has 
resided  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county,  since  1825.  He  assisted  in 
clearing  his  father's  farm  as  well  as  several  others  in  the  vicinity,  and  also 
helped  form  many  of  the  early  roads.  He  was  married  December  22,  1836,  to 
Alamanda,  daughter  of  Simon  and  Lucy  (Green)  Burroughs,  who  settled  here 
in  1818,  the  former  a  native  of  Walpole,  N.  H.,  the  latter  of  Bethel,  Vt.  The 
issue  of  this  marriage  is  four  children:  Charles  R. ;  Augusta,  wife  of  N.  S. 
Olin;  Horace  A.,  and  Lucy  A.,  wife  of  Charles  E.  Harmon.  Mr.  Doolittle 
has  served  his  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  one  term  and  in  other  minor 
offices.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

CHARLES  R.  DOOLITTLE,  farmer  and  cheese  manufacturer,  Streets- 
boro, was  born  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  August  31,  1837;  a  son  of  Albert 
and  Alamanda  (Burroughs)  Doolittle.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Benja- 
min Doolittle,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who   settled   in  Streetsboro  in  1825, 


888  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  Simon  Burroughs,  a  native  of  Walpole, 
N.  H.,  who  settled  in  Shalersville,  this  county,  in  1818,  and  later  in  Streets- 
boro.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  Streetsboro,  and  educated  in  the  high  schools 
of  Kent  and  Shalersville,  this  county.  He  was  married  February  10,  1864,  to 
Adelaide,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mercy  (Seymour)  Olin,  of  Streetsboro,  this 
county,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children:  Clarence  S.,  Addie  M.  (deceased) 
and  Mettie.  Mr.  Doolittle  has  always  been  occupied  in  farming,  and  has 
resided  on  his  present  farm  since  1883.  Since  1870  he  has  (in  company  with 
his  father)  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  butter  and  cheese.  He  has  filled 
nearly  all  the  minor  offices  of  Streetsboro  Township,  and  is  now  serving  his 
third  term  as  Infirmary  Director  of  this  county.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican.  He  is  one  of  the  enterprising  farmers  and  business  men,  and  is 
a  worthy  citizen  of  Streetsboro. 

LUCIUS  O.  ELDRIDGE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborougb,  was  born  on  the 
farm  where  he  now  resides,  August  10,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Mary 
A.  (Mason)  Eldridge,  who  had  three  children:  Merrick  E.,  Mary  A.,  wife  of 
Joseph  Lindsey,  and  Lucius  O.  His  father  came  to  Aurora  Township,  this 
county,  from  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ,  about  1820,  and  afterward  settled  in  Streetsboro 
on  the  farm  now  owned  by  L.  O.  Eldridge,  which  he  cleared  and  improved, 
and  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  died  in  1879,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  the  old  homestead, 
where  he  has  always  resided.  He  participated  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
enlisting,  August  10,'  1862,  in  the  Ninth  Ohio  Independent  Battery,  serving 
until  June  20.  1865,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  was  married  Sep- 
tember 29,  1869,  to  Augusta,  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Tryphena  (Wilson) 
Barrett,  of  Streetsboro,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Clarence  and  Clayton. 
In  politics  Mr.  Eldridge  is  a  Republican.  He  is  one  of  the  enterprising  farm- 
ers of  this  township. 

JAMES  FILLMORE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Middle- 
town,  Rutland  Co.,  Vt.,  July  14,  1817;  son  of  John  and  Huldah  (Whitmore) 
Fillmore,  former  of  whom  died  when  our  subject  was  but  four  years  of  age. 
James  Fillmore  was  then  reared  by  his  uncle,  Asher  Seward,  of  Jefferson  Coun- 
ty, N.  Y. ,  with  whom  he  remained  until  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  then  worked 
by  the  month  on  a  farm  for  one  man  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  old,  at  $10 
per  month.  Mr.  Fillmore  maiTied,  on  the  first  occasion,  January  1,  1840, 
Juliette  E.,  daughter  of  Ezra  Nutting,  of  Henderson,  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y.  His 
second  wife  was  Sophia  Myers,  daughter  of  Stephen  Myers,  of  Streetsboro,  by 
whom  he  had  one  child — Dyer  V.  By  his  third  wife,  Rachel  E.  Likers,  of 
Streetsboro,  he  had  three  children:  One  deceased  in  infancy,  Luther  U.  and 
Lucia  M.,  wife  of  Adelbert  Pierce.  His  present  wife  was  Mrs.  Louisa  French, 
nee  Tucker,  by  whom  he  has  one  child — Gracie  L.  In  1840  Mr.  Fillmore 
came  to  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county,  aad  purchased  fifteen  acres  of  wild 
land,  where  he  lived  three  years,  and  then  bought  thirty-five  acres  now  owned 
by  Curtis  C.  Singletary.  In  1860  he  settled  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
township,  where  he  still  resides.  He  has  been  elected  to  the  office  of  Town- 
ship Trustee  two  terms;  in  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

LYNN  HAWKINS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hudson,  Summit  County,  was  born  in 
Streetsboro.  this  county,  November  3,  1843;  and  is  a  son  of  Jesse  G.  and  Sally 
(Hubbell)  Hawkins,  who  were  the  parents  of  eight  children:  Mary,  wife  of  Z. 
Snow;  Delia,  wife  of  A.  S.  Cannon:  Lewis;  Lucy,  wife  of  G.  N.  Wheeler; 
Louisa  (deceased);  Crayton;  Lynn  and  Lillie,  latter  the  wife  of  Sebastian  Mil- 
ler. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  G.  Hawkins  settled  in  1840  on  the  farm  now  occu- 
pied by  our  subject,  part  of  which  they  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  they 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  889 

lived  and  died,  the  father  in  1850,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  and  the  mother  in  1877, 
aged  seventy-tive  years.  Our  subject  was  reai'ed  on  the  old  homestead,  where 
he  now  resides,  and  was  married  March  11,  1873,  to  Addie,  daughter  of  Orris 
and  Sally  (Blair)  Leach,  of  Twinsburg,  by  whom  he  had  one  child — Guy 
(deceased).  Mr.  Hawkins  is  an  enterprising,  public-spirited  citizen;  in  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Democrat. 

WILLIAM  S.  HILL,  retired  farmer,  Streetsboro,waB  born  in  Guilford,  New 
Haven  Co.,  Conn.,  April  19,  1810,  son  of  William  and  Lucy  (Scovill)  Hill. 
William  Hill,  Sr. ,  was  also  a  native  of  Guilford,  and  a  son  of  Thomas  Hill,  whose 
father,  Thomas  Hill,  Sr. ,  was  originally  from  England.  His  wife  was  a  grand- 
niece  of  Gen.  James  Wolfe,  who  was  killed  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  at  Que- 
bec, Canada,  and  a  daughter  of  Israel  Scovill,  a  native  of  Guilford,  Conn. 
Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  town  until  ten  years  of  age,  when  he  was 
thrown  on  his  own  resources.  The  succeeding  ten  years  of  his  life  were  spent 
on  the  sea,  starting  in  the  capacity  of  cabin  boy  and  ending  as  Second  Officer. 
He  then  went  to  Wallingford,  Conn.,  and  worked  as  an  assistant  at  the  carpen- 
ter's bench  until  he  learned  the  trade.  He  has  been  twice  married,  first,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1831,  to  Ruth  A.,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Ruth  (Rice)  Page,  of 
Wallingford,  Conn.  By  this  union  there  were  three  children:  William  H.,  Isaac 
P.  and  Elizabeth  A.  (latter  deceased).  April  '21,  1844,  he  married  his  present 
wife,  Asenath  A.,  daughter  of  William  and  Eleanor  (Wood)  La  Du,  of  Sha- 
lersville.  His  son  W^illiam  H.  married  Augusta  C.  Darling,  and  has  three 
children:  Le  Ette  A.  (wife  of  Dr.  C.  A.  May),  Burdell  A.  and  Henry  S. ;  and 
his  son  Isaac  P.  married  Marion  L.  Lord,  and  has  three  children:  William 
R.,  Arthur  E.  and  Clayton  E.  On  October  4,  1838,  Mr.  Hill  settled  in  Streets- 
boro,  locating  on  a  farm  on  Lot  29,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  township,  a 
part  of  which  he  cleared  and  improved.  About  1852  he  purchased  an  addition 
to  his  farm  of  eighty  acres,  and  since  1850  has  done  a  general  dairy  business 
in  connection  with  his  farming  interests.  He  and  his  son  are  also  doing  quite 
an  extensive  business  erecting  the  white  bronze  monuments  (being  sole  agents 
in  Portage  County)  at  present  manufactured  in  Bridgeport,  Conn. ;  they  erected 
the  first  monument  of  the  kind  here  to  the  late  Henry  Peck,  of  Streetboro, 
and  have  already  put  over  100  of  these  monuments  in  the  county.  Mr.  Hill  is 
a  member  of  the  Baptist,  his  wife  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He  is 
Treasurer  of  his  church;  has  held  the  office  of  Township  Trustee.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican. 

SAMUEL  W.  JENKINS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Ellis- 
burg,  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y.,  March  8,  1828,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Ursula 
(Brewster)  Jenkins,  who  settled  in  Streetsboro,  this  township,  in  June,  1837, 
locating  east  of  the  Center  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  C.  R.  Doolittle,  which 
they  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  they  lived  for  many  years.  Samuel  Jen- 
kins, Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Fort  Ann,  N.  Y.,  and  a  son  of  Obiah  Jenkins,  for- 
merly of  Providence,  R.  I.,  who  was  of  Welsh  descent  and  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Ursula,  the  wife  of  Samuel  Jenkins,  Sr.,  was  a  native  of 
Middletown,  Vt. ,  and  a  daughter  of  Oramel  Brewster,  of  English  descent  and 
a  tanner  and  currier  by  trade.  They  had  seven  children:  Julia  E.,  wife  of 
Henry  Peck;  Norman  B. ;  Evinice,  wife  of  A.  W.  Hurlburt;  Samuel  W. ;  Mar- 
tha U.,  wife  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Chapman;  Lydia,  wife  of  Henry  Peabody,  and 
Wilbur  A.  Our  subject,  from  nine  years  of  age,  was  reared  in  Streetsboro,  and 
has  always  engaged  in  farming.  He  assisted  in  clearing  his  father's  farm, 
and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age  bought  a  farm  adjoining,  most  of  which  he 
cleared  and  improved,  and  where  he  has  always  resided,  excepting  ten  years 
at  the  Center.    He  has  been  twice  married;  on  first  occasion,  in  1850,  to  Delia, 


890  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

daughter  of  Edward  and  Love  (Spencer)  Russell,  who  settled  in  Brimfield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1829,  and  by  whom  he  had  two  children:  Eva,  wife 
of  Ransom  Richards,  and  Sumner.  October  5,  1870,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  his  present  wife,  Julia,  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Electa  (Power) 
Wilcox,  of  Twinsburg.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  three  children:  Stella, 
Theodore  and  Albert.  Mr  Jenkins  has  held  various  towmship  offices;  is  one 
of  Streetsboro's  representative  citizens.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JAMES  T.  JUDD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  on  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides  in  this  township,  October  20,  1838,  son  of  Orrin  and  Minerva 
(Blair)  Judd,  parents  of  six  children:  Cordelia,  deceased;  Sophronia,  wife  of 
L.  F.  Wyatt;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Wyatt;  Amanda;  Watson  E.,  deceased,  and 
James  T.  Of  these  Watson  E.  was  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  serving 
in  the  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  died  of  disease  contracted  in  the 
army  after  three  years'  service.  The  parents  of  our  subject  settled  in  Streets- 
boro  in  1830,  coming  from  Blanford,  Conn.,  and  here  they  cleared  and 
improved  the  farm  now  occupied  by  James  T. ,  and  on  which  they  lived  the 
remainder  of  their  days,  one  of  the  lirst  families  to  help  raise  the  Baptist 
standard  in  Streetsboro,  dying  in  full  faith  of  eternal  life.  Our  subject  was 
reared  on  the  old  homestead,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  and  select 
schools.  He  was  married  January  26,  1864.  to  Huldah  L.,  daughter  of  Ana- 
nias and  Samantha  (Squires)  Derthick,  of  Bedford,  Ohio,  by  whom  he  has 
five  children:  Nellie,  Carrie,  Mertie,  Addie  and  Clayton  O.  Mr.  Judd,  wife 
and  three  eldest  daughters  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican. 

D.  F.  McGrREW  (deceased)  was  born  in  Springfield,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio, 
July  18,  1830,  son  of  William  McGrew,  an  early  settler  of  Streetsboro  Town- 
ship, this  county,  who  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  here,  on  which  he  lived  and 
died.  William  McGrew  was  parent  of  six  children:  Margaret;  D.  F. ,  our  sub- 
ject; Willis,  deceased;  Delight;  Newton,  deceased,  and  William.  Our  subject 
was  reared  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  where  he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade, 
which  he  followed  all  his  life.  He  also  conducted  a  small  farm.  He  was  mar- 
ried October  24,  1852,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Rebecca  (Wal- 
ker) Myers,  first  settlers  of  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county.  Mrs.  McGrew's 
grandfather,  Mr.  Myers,  was  a  pioneer  of  Streetsboro  Township,  and  lived  to 
be  one  hundred  and  six  years  old.  To  our  subject  and  wife  was  born  one  child 
— Emma  C  ,  wife  of  E.  C.  Root.  Mr.  McGrew's  father  dying  when  he  was 
but  eight  years  of  age,  he  was  thus  early  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  and 
as  a  consequence  his  schooling  was  very  limited,  yet  at  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  a  man  well  versed  in  matters  of  history  and  general  information.  The 
young  came  to  him  for  advise  and  counsel,  and  the  middle-aged  found  in  him 
a  friend  and  co-worker  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  elevation  and  improve- 
ment of  society.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  took  an 
active  interest  in  the  Sabbath-school,  and  for  many  years  was  Superintendent, 
teacher  and  one  of  its  most  earnest  workers.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  two  terms,  and  was  serving  in  this  office  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  In  politics  he  was  ever  a  Democrat.  Mr.  McGrew  died  July  5, 
1878,  in  his  forty-eighth  year. 

GEORGE  D.  McGREW\  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Streetsboro, 
this  county,  November  18,  1838;  son  of  George  B.  and  Susannah  (Martin) 
McGrew,  latter  of  whom  died  February  29,  1884.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert and  Mary  Martin.  George  B.  McGi'ew  was  born  in  Springfield,  Mahoning 
Co.,  Ohio,  March  6,  1803,  son  of  Archibald  and  Margaret  (Baird)  McGrew, 
natives  of  Westmoreland  County,  Penn.     He  was  reared  in   Springfield  (now 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  891 

Summit  County),  Ohio,  where  he  lived  until  thirty  years  of  age,  and  in  1833  set- 
tled in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  and  cleared  and  improved  the  farm  now  owned 
by  R.  H.  Peck,  where  he  resided  up  to  1860,  when  he  settled  on  his  present  farm 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  township,  a  part  of  which  he  also  cleared.  He 
was  married,  February  6,  1838,  to  Susannah,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Martin,  of  Beaver  County,  Penn.,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children:  George  D., 
William  T.,  Mary  (deceased),  Robert  M.  (deceased),  Margaret  B.,  Archibald  D., 
Marcia  F.,  Sarah  E.,  Scott  M.,  Susan  D.  (Mrs.  A.  N.  Sperry).  The  father  is 
a  prominent  member  of  and  a  Deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which 
he  has  been  connected  upward  of  fifty  years.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
reared  in  his  native  place,  where  he  has  always  resided,  and  was  educated  in 
the  common  and  high  schools.  He  served  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
enlisting  August  9,  1862,  in  the  Ninth  Ohio  Independent  Battery,  and  was 
honorably  discharged  June  16,  1865.  He  was  married,  November  18,  1869,  to 
Alvira  E.,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Emily  (Newton)  Stone,  of  Tallmadge, 
Ohio,  by  whom  he  has  had  five  children:  George  B.  (deceased),  Alvin  N.,  Susan 
R.,  Emma  D.  and  Bertha  M.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McGrew  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  of  which  he  is  an  ofiScer;  he  has  been  Superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath-school  several  terms.  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

ORRIN  NIGHMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Streetsboro,  this 
county,  November  10,  1832;  son  of  Frederick  and  Parmelia  (Van)  Nigbman, 
who  were  the  first  couple  married  in  Streetsboro.  His  paternal  grandparents 
were  Adam  and  Betsey  Nighman,  formerly  of  Westmoreland  County,  Penn., 
and  who  settled  in  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  in  1809.  His  maternal 
grandparents  were  Absolem  and  Abigail  Van,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native 
of  Vermont  and  an  early  settler  of  Stowe,  now  in  Summit  County,  Ohio.  Our 
subject  was  reared  in  his  native  town,  where  he  has  always  resided.  He  was 
married,  July  2,  1863,  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Abram  B.  and  Jane  M.  (Clark) 
Nash,  of  Streetsboro,  natives  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  respectively. 
Mrs.  Nighman's  paternal  grandfather  was  Jonathan  Nash,  a  native  of  Great 
Barrington,  Mass.,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  who  settled  in  New  Hartford,  N. 
Y.,  in  1802,  but  removed  to  Ohio  in  1834,  and  died  in  Penfield,  Lorain  County, 
January  15,  1838.  Her  maternal  grandfather  was  Robert  Clark,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  an  early  settler  of  Streetsboro.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nighman 
have  had  three  childi'en:  Gertie  L.,  an  infant  sou  (deceased)  and  Alvin  W. 
They  reside  on  the  old  homestead  on  which  his  father  settled  in  1832.  Mrs. 
Nighman  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  politics  our 
subject  is  a  Democrat. 

ALONZO  E.  OLIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Earlville,  was  born  in  Perry,  N.  Y. ,  May 
18,  1820:  son  of  Samuel  and  Betsey  (Green)  Olin,  who  settled  in  Streetsboro  in 
1839,  where  they  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  on  which  they  lived  and  died 
(see  sketch  of  N.  S.  Olin).  Our  subject  came  to  Streetsboro,  this  county,  with 
his  parents,  with  whom  he  remained  until  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
when  he  located  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  his  brother  Elon, 
where  he  resided  three  years.  He  then  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now  lives, 
most  of  which  he  has  cleared  and  improved  himself.  He  was  married,  Octo- 
ber 12,  1812,  to  Almira  B.,  daughter  of  Solomon  and  Hannah  (Brown)  Squiers, 
of  Perry,  N.  Y.,  by  whom  he  has  four  children  living:  James,  Arthur  S.,  John 
and  Frank,  all  married;  and  there  are  seven  grand-children.  Mr.  Olin  is  a  repre- 
sentative of  one  of  the  leading  pioneers  of  Streetsboro  Township,  his  father 
having  at  one  time  owned  over  900  aci'es  of  land  here  and  in  Franklin  Town- 
ship, most  of  which  was  divided  and  now  owned  by  his  descendants.  Mr. 
Olin  ill  politics  is  a  Democrat. 


892  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES :  / 

NATHANIEL  S.  OLIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Perry, 
Wyoming  Co.,  N.  Y.,  December  28,  1838;  son  of  Samuel  and  Mercy  (Seymour) 
Olin,  who  settled  in  Streetsboro  March.  11,  1839,  locating  on  the  farm  now 
occupied  bj*  our  subject,  which  they  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  they 
lived  and  died.  Samuel  Olin  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  son  of  Ezra 
Olin,  late  of  Perry,  N.  Y.  He  was  twice  married,  having  by  his  first  wife, 
Betsey  Green,  eight  children:  Silas  (deceased);  Sophia  (deceased);  Alonzo; 
Sarah  (deceased);  Elon;  Bethania  (deceased);  Ezra  (deceased);  Betsey  A.,  wife 
of  Thomas  Price.  His  second  wife  was  Mercy  Seymour,  of  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y.,  who  bore  him  seven  children:  Emily  L.,  wife  of  Dow  Pease;  Seymour 
(deceased);  Nathaniel  S.;  Adelaide,  wife  of  C.  R.  Doolittle;  Martha  (deceased); 
Mary  (deceased)  and  Samuel.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in  Streets- 
boro and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  He  was  married,  December  18, 
1861,  to  Augusta,  daughter  of  Albert  and  Alamanda  (Burroughs)  Doolittle,  of 
Streetsboro,  by  whom  he  has  one  child — Albert  D.  For  the  past  fifteen  years 
Mr.  Olin  has  been  a  breeder  of  Shorthorn  Durham  cattle,  and  now  has  a  fine 
herd  of  twenty-five,  all  registered  in  the  American  Herd  Book.  At  the  Ohio 
State  Fair,  in  1884,  with  an  entry  of  five  head,  he  took  three  first- class  premi- 
ums, competing  with  over  200  head  of  cattle  on  exhibition  from  Ohio  and  other 
States.  He  has  been  President  of  the  Portage  County  Agricultural  Society 
four  years;  is  a  member  of  the  Horticultural  Society;  the  P.  of  H.,  and  is  a  F. 
&  A.  M.  He  has  held  several  of  the  minor  township  offices.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Democrat.      Mr.  and  Mrs.  Olin  are  members  of  the  Universalist  Church. 

ENOS  PAGE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Wallingford, 
Conn.,  August  3,  1806,  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Ruth  (Rice)  Page.  He  was  reared  iu 
his  native  town  and  settled  in  1830  on  the  farm  in  Streetsboro  where  he  now 
resides,  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and  for  which  he  paid  $2  per  acre. 
It  was  then  an  unbroken  wilderness,  and  his  nearest  neighbor  was  Mr.  Hol- 
comb,  who  resided  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  C.  S.  Hannum.  Our  subject 
was  married  November  8,  1832,  to  Cinderella,  daughter  of  Joseph  C.  and 
Rosetta  (Griswold)  Baldwin,  of  Atwater  Township,  this  county,  by  whom  there 
were  five  children:  Sidney,  deceased;  Eli;  Mary,  wife  of  Jefferson  Mellen; 
Slyvanus,  deceased,  and  Alfred.  Mr.  Page  is  one  of  the  few  pioneers  still 
living  in  Streetsboro,  and  is  one  of  its  representative  citizens.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  with  which  they  have  been  connected 
about  fifty  years.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

LEWIS  C.  PATTERSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  August 
21,  1831,  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  son  of  Ira  and  Jane  (Crawford)  Patterson, 
who  reared  a  family  of  seven  children:  Charlotte,  wife  of  Stephen  Lekens; 
Lewis  C. ;  Oscar  D. ;  Emerancy;  Mary  J.,  wife  of  M.  Ladu;  Crawford  and 
Henrietta,  latter  wife  of  Harry  Ellis.  Ira  Patterson  settled  in  Streetsboro, 
this  county,  about  1829,  and  assisted  in  clearing  and  improving  several  farms. 
Our  subject's  maternal  grandfather,  David  Crawford,  was  among  the  first  set- 
tlers of  Tallmadge,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  but  afterward  settled  in  Streetsboro  on 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  our  subject,  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and 
where  he  lived  and  died.  Lewis  C.  Patterson  has  always  resided  in  his  native 
township,  and  followed  farming  as  an  occupation.  He  was  married  June  30, 
1853,  to  Fanny  C,  daughter  of  Elisba  and  Fanny  Rogers,  of  western  New 
York,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Scott  F.  and  George  L.  Mr.  Patterson 
is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  here.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

ELI  PECK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Newtown,  Fairfield 
Co.,  Conn.,  February  13,  1808,  and  is  a  son  of  Rufus  and  Sally  (Hall)  Peck, 
who  settled  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county,  coming  here  in  1836,  with 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  893 

a  family  of  five  children  and  two  grandchildren,  in  a  two-horse  wagon.  They 
were  twenty- one  days  on  the  road,  starting  October  14,  1836,  and  arriving  in 
Hudson  November  4  following.  Kufus  Peck  settled  on  Lot  81,  in  Streetsboro 
Township,  a  part  of  which  he  cleared  and  improved.  They  were  the  parents 
of  twelve  children:  Chloe  (deceased),  Lyman  (deceased),  William,  John,  Eli, 
Paulina  (deceased),  Clara,  Sarah  A.  (deceased),  Russell,  Henry  (deceased), 
Nathan  (deceased)  and  Horace.  Our  subject  was  married  April  27,  1840,  to 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Hezekiah  and  Mary  (Buell)  Judd,  of  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  by  whom  he  has  had  four  children:  Buell  J.  (deceased),  Julia  (deceased), 
Cyrus  (deceased)  and  Charles  E.  Of  these,  Julia  married  James  J.  Osgood, 
and  at  her  death  left  three  children:  Charles  B.,  William  W.  and  Elliott  I. 
Charles  E.  married  Lizzie  Davidson,  of  Pennsylvania  (have  two  children:  James 
E.  and  Fred  T. )  Mr.  Peck  first  settled  on  Lot  82.  and  has  lived  on  his  pres- 
ent farm  since  1856.  He  has  held  several  minor  ofl&ces  in  the  township.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

NORMAN  D.  PECK,  merchant,  Streetsboro,  was  born  June  14,  1843,  in 
Streetsboro,  this  county,  a  son  of  Henry  and  Julia  E.  (Jenkins)  Peck,  former 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  a  tailor  by  trade,  a  son  of  Rufus  and  Sally  (Hall) 
Peck,  who  settled  in  Streetsboro  in  1837,  here  worked  at  his  trade  for  several 
years,  after  which  he  engaged  in  farming  and  dairying,  and  became  also  a 
producer  and  buyer  of  cheese.  Henry  Peck  was  married  January  1,  1840,  to 
Julia  E. ,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Ursula  (Brewster)  Jenkins,  former  of  whom 
was  a  native  of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  a  son  of  Abiat  Jen- 
kins, formerly  of  Providence,  R.  L,  and  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
the  latter  was  born  in  Middletown,  Vt.,  a  daughter  of  Oramel  Brewster.  To 
the  union  of  Henry  and  Julia  E.  Peck  were  born  seven  children:  Sophia  E., 
wife  of  Henry  M.  Lane;  Norman  D. ;  Arthur  H.,  deceased;  Helen  M.,  wife  of 
W.  L.  Case;  Effie.  wife  of  H.  A.  Doolittle;  Elsie  N.,  wife  of  Charles  E. 
Kent,  and  Cora  E.  In  1860  the  father  embarked  in  mercantile  business  in 
Streetsboro,  with  John  C.  Parsons,  Esq.,  who  was  associated  with  him  for  a 
time,  but  subsequently  retiring,  Mr.  Peck  continued  the  business  alone  for  sev- 
eral years,  when  his  sons  were  taken  into  partnership,  under  firm  name  of  H. 
Peck  &  Sons.  Our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  the  common  schools  of 
Streetsboro,  and  also  attended  the  Eastman  Business  College  at  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.  He  has  been  twice  married,  on  first  occasion  October  21,  1869,  to  Alice, 
daughter  of  Frederick  and  Melissa  (Wait)  Plum,  of  Streetsboro,  and  by  her 
he  had  one  child — Harry  D.  On  30th  January,  1876,  our  subject  married  his 
present  wife,  Eva  M. ,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  E.  M.  (Cox)  Ross,  of  Boston, 
Mass.,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Arthur  N.  and  Raymond  H.  Mr.  Peck 
is  the  leading  merchant  of  Streetsboro,  keeping  a  large  and  varied  stock  of 
goods,  such  as  is  usually  found  in  a  country  store.  He  also  manufactures  but- 
ter and  cheese,  and  has  a  dairy  of  100  cows.  He  served  as  Township  Treasurer 
four  years  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  two  terms ;  has  been  Postmaster  of  Streets- 
boro eleven  years.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

FREDERICK  PLUM  (deceased)  was  born  December  16,  1802,  in  Chester, 
Mass.,  son  of  Comfort  and  Betsey  (Black)  Plum,  who  were  parents  of  William, 
Fred,  Alonzo,  James,  Albert,  Henry,  Alanson,  Betsey,  Louisa  and  Cordelia. 
His  education  was  received  in  the  country  schools,  and  he  began  for  himself 
working  by  the  month.  In  1821  he  came  to  this  county;  was  married  April 
16,  1829,  to  Melissa  Wait,  who  was  born  January  3,  1810,  in  Chester,  Mass., 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Betsey  (Bell)  Wait,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1827,  settling 
in  Aurora  Township,  and  later  in  Streetsboro, where  they  died.  Their  children 
were    Samuel,    Sarah,    Andrew,    Mary,    William,    Orlinda,    Malissa,    Betsey, 

48 


894  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Edward,  Delilah,  Washington,  Wellington  and  Ellen.  The  mother  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Plum  were  born  nine  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  are  now  living:  William,  Leroy,  Wilson,  Lydia  (now  Mrs. 
C.  Olds,  in  Michigan),  Cornelia  (now  Mrs.  George  Blake)  and  Jane  (now  Mrs. 
Horace  Russell).  Our  subject  began  life  with  but  little,  and  at  his  death, 
October  12,  1883,  he  owned  110  acres  well-improved  land,  besides  other  prop- 
erty, after  giving  his  children  a  good  start.  Mr.  Plum  was  a  good  citizen, 
well  liked  by  his  neighbors.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  His  worthy 
widow  now  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  which  is  managed  by  her  son  Wilson. 
Out  of  respect  for  her  deceased  husband,  Mrs.  Plum  has  inserted  a  portrait  of 
him  in  the  history  of  Portage  County. 

HART  L.  RISLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  in  Streetsboro  Township,  this  county,  March  7,  1838, 
son  of  Nathaniel  H.  and  Emily  (Loomis)  Risley,  who  were  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Celinda  (wife  of  Wesley  Lewis)  and  Hart  L.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Nathaniel  Risley,  was  among  the  first  to  settle  in  the  south  part  of 
Aurora  Township,  this  county,  where  he  cleared  and  improved  the  farm  on 
which  he  lived  and  died.  His  children  were  Nathaniel  H.  (deceased),  Julia 
A.  (deceased),  Emily  E.,  Amanda  M.,  Roxany  L.,  Henrietta  (deceased),  Mary 
M.  (deceased),  Austin  (deceased),  Andress,  Caroline  A.  (deceased),  Freeman 
(deceased)  and  Susannah  C.  (deceased).  Our  subject  was  reared  on  and  has 
always  resided  on  the  old  homestead  in  Streetsboro  Township,  where  his  father 
first  commenced.  He  has  been  twice  married;  on  first  occasion  September  10, 
1866,  to  Adda,  c'aughter  of  Josiah  and  Eliza  Combs,  of  Streetsboro.  The 
issue  of  this  union  was  two  children:  Louie  H.  and  Jay  C.  September  10, 
1879,  Mr.  Risley  married  his  present  wife,  Minnie  A.,  daughter  of  Rev.  P.  P. 
and  Sarah  (Grow)  Kennedy,  of  Streetsboro.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Risley  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  has  served  his 
township  as  Trustee  one  term.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

WALLACE  ROOT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  February  2, 
1830  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  son  of  Alonzo  and  Susan  (Streator)  Root, 
parents  of  four  children:  G.  Wellington,  Wallace,  Augusta  (wife  of  J.  F,  Wing) 
and  Alonzo  D.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Benjamin  Root,  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, and  among  the  first  settlers  of  Shalersville  and  later  of  Streetsboro, 
clearino-  and  improving  farms  in  both  townships.  He  removed  to  Kentucky  in 
1850,  and  died  there.  His  children  were  eight  in  number:  Alonzo,  Herod, 
Nelson,  Obediah,  Decalvous,  Albert,  Theresa  and  Worthington,  who  is  the 
only  one  now  surviving.  Alonzo,  the  eldest,  settled  in  Streetsboro,  this 
county,  about  1826,  locating  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Henry  Sawyer,  which 
he  cleared  and  improved,  and  in  1835  he  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by 
our  subject,  which  he  also  cleared,  and  where  he  lived  until  1843,  in  which 
year  he  died  aged  forty- three.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Isaac 
H.  Streator,  settled  here  in  1826,  being  the  third  settler  in  Streetsboro,  clear- 
ing and  improving  a  farm.  In  1849  he  removed  to  Cleveland  and  died  there. 
Wallace  Root  was  reared  in  his  native  town  and  received  a  common  school 
education.  He  was  married  November  13,  1851,  to  Lucy,  daughter  of  Josiah 
and  Eliza  Combs,  of  Streetsboro,  by  whom  he  had  four  children,  of  whom  but 
one  is  now  living — Ernest  C,  married  to  Emma  C,  daughter  of  D.  F.  and 
Elizabeth  McGrew,  of  this  place,  by  whom  he  has  two  children:  Wallace  F. 
and  Earl  A.  Mr.  Root  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  he  is  Steward  and  Class  Leader,  and  for  upward  of  ten 
years  he  has  been  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school,  in  which  he  takes  an 
active  interest,  being  one  of  its  earnest  workers.     He  has  served  his  township 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  895 

three  terms  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  also  several  terms  as  Trustee,  which  latter 
office  he  now  holds.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

LUTHEK  RUSSELL  (deceased)  born  November  9,  1801,  in  West  Wind- 
sor, Conn.,  was  descended  from  William  Russell,  who  early  emigrated  from 
England.  His  father,  Return  Russell,  was  born  in  West  Windsor,  Conn., 
March  1,  1778.  Hisraothex',  Jerusha  (Osborn)  Russell,  was  born  December  20, 
1780,  in  Connecticut.  They  left  their  Connecticut  homeAvhen  our  subject  was 
a  child  and  settled  in  Rodman,  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  whence  they  removed  to 
Ohio  in  1822.  They  soon  joined  the  Shaker  Society  near  Cleveland  and  here 
lived,  died  and  were  buried.  Luther,  the  eldest  of  eleven  children,  remained 
in  Rodman  to  settle  up  his  father's  business.  The  children  were  very  fond  of 
their  father,  who,  physically,  was  large  and  well  developed.  He  was  genial, 
intelligent  and  agreeable.  He  died  October  5,  1834.  They  also  reverenced 
their  gentle  and  loving  mother,  who  died  March  23,  1854,  having  lived  a  life 
of  self-sacrifice.  Of  the  members  of  the  family  who  joined  the  Shakers  only 
two  remain  with  the  Society,  the  other  members  of  the  family  living  in  differ- 
ent States,  excepting  Mrs.  Nelson  Phillips,  of  Cleveland,  and  Samuel  S.  Rus- 
sell, of  Mantua.  The  latter  was  born  May  14,  1807,  and  September  15,  1840, 
he  was  chosen  by  the  Shaker  Society  Presiding  Elder,  which  position  he  filled 
satisfactorily  until  August  19,  1858,  when  he  withdrew,  leaving  a  prosperous 
membership  of  about  200.  The  interest  he  still  maintains  and  the  affection 
and  confidence  the  Society  has  in  him,  are  manifested  by  the  many  pressino- 
invitations  to  return.  In  1867  he  became  a  resident  of  Mantua,  where  he  still 
survives,  a  worthy  and  respected  citizen.  His  estimable  wife  died  December 
26,  1883.  In  June.  1823,  Luther  Russell  came  to  Ohio  and  March  13,  1828, 
he  was  married  to  Polly  Russell,  of  Aurora  Township,  Portage  Co. ,  Ohio,  born 
March  25,  1806,  in  Chester,  Mass.,  daughter  of  Samuel  Russell,  born  January 
14,  1781,  in  West  Windsor,  Conn.,  and  Hepsabeth  (Ellsworth)  Russell,  born 
August  30,  1785.  Her  parents  came  to  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in 
1811,  after  a  long  and  toilsome  journey  on  foot,  horseback  and  in  cart,  and 
they  were  soon  settled  and  contented  in  their  new  home  in  the  Western  Reserve. 
Here  they  died,  the  father  June  8,  1863,  and  the  mother  February  6,  1837. 
In  1830  Luiher,  with  his  wife,  located  on  a  farm  in  Streetsboro  Township, 
this  county,  where  they  lived,  toiled  and  endured  such  hardships  as  befall  the 
early  settlers  of  a  new  country,  and  in  after  years  they  took  pleasure  in  relat- 
ing to  their  children  many  incidents  of  pioneer  life.  In  his  early  life  our 
subject  was  deprived  of  elaborate  educational  advantages,  but  during  his 
mature  years  he  devoted  considerable  time  to  study.  In  politics  he  was  a 
life -long  Democrat,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  public  affairs.  In  ]  845-46  he 
represented  the  county  in  the  State  Legislature.  For  many  years  he  filled  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  acceptably  not  only  to  his  own  political  party, 
but  to  his  entire  township.  In  all  his  acts  he  aimed  to  be  true  to  his  convic- 
tions of  truth  and  right.  Not  finding  satisfaction  in  the  orthodox  faith,  he 
espoused  the  cause  of  Spiritualism  and  was  firm  in  the  belief  that  this  life 
would  continue  after  death.  Happy  in  this  belief  he  died  August  5,  1878, 
after  an  illness  of  fourteen  months,  during  which  he  received  the  most  devoted 
care  at  the  hands  of  his  family.  His  children  were  Martin  L.,  born  December 
29,  1829,  died  July  2,  1855;  Cynthia  M.,  born  May  22,  1832,  died  December 
25,  1834;  Sarah  E..  born  June  3,  1834;  Marion  B.,  born  November  10,  1837, 
died  January  18,  1879;  Helen  M.,  born  November  16,  1841,  married  to  John- 
son J.  Sadler,  both  deceased,  former  November  28,  1881,  latter  May  19,  1882 
(their  daughter  Nellie  Agnes,  born  September  24,  1874,  now  resides  with  her 
grandmother,  the  widow  of  Luther  Russell).      Chester  N.,  son  of  Newell  Rus- 


896  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

sell,  was  another  orphan  who  found  a  home  with  Mr.  Bussell.  He  was  brought 
from  Quincy,  111.,  April  28,  1864,  at  the  age  of  nine  years.  His  father  served 
in  the  late  war  and  at  the  death  of  the  mother,  Laura  Lola  and  Charles  H. 
were  brought  to  the  same  happy  home  of  their  brother — Chester  N.  Laura 
Lola  married  Walter  A.  Folger,  of  Akron,  Ohio.  Her  sister  Agnes  V.  is  now 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Seaton,  residing  in  Omaha,  Neb.,  and  her  eldest  brother,  Frank  P., 
is  a  physician  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county.  A  portrait  of  Luther  Russell 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

NATHAN  SHAW,  farmer,  P.  O.  Kent,  was  born  in  Keene,  Essex  Co.,  N. 
Y.,  March  4,  1818,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Polly  (Wheeler)  Shaw.  He  was  reared 
in  his  native  county,  and  in  1839  came  to  Rootstown,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio,  where 
he  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand  and  taught  school  winters  for  several 
years.  He  was  married  January  23,  1845,  to  Almira,  daughter  of  George  and 
Laura  (Dergy)  Moulton,  and  grand-daughter  of  Judge  Jeremiah  Moulton,  who 
settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  this  county,  in  1817.  By  this  union  there  was 
one  child — Selden  W.,  who  was  married  March  4,  1878,  to  Ellen,  daughter  of 
JohnD.  and  Mary  (Ferry)  Dewey,  of  Franklin  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio. 
In  1848  Mr.  Shaw  purchased  a  farm  in  the  northwest  part  of  Rootstown  Town- 
ship, this  county,  which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  he  resided  up  to 
1876,  and  then  removed  to  the  farm  in  Streetsboro  Township,  where  he  now 
resides.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  C.  SINGLETARY,  farmer  and  attorney  at  law,  Streetsboro,  was 
born  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  December  19,  1810,  son  of  John  C.  and 
Harriet  (Powers)  Singletary,  former  a  native  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  latter 
of  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  who  were  parents  of  live  children:  Anthony  P., 
deceased;  John  C. ;  Cyrus,  deceased;  Earl,  deceased,  and  Charles,  deceased. 
The  parents  settled  and  took  up  a  farm  of  fifty  acres  in  Aurora  Township,  this 
county,  in  1808,  which  they  cleared,  improved  and  kept  adding  to  until  1828, 
when  they  located  in  Streetsboro  on  the  property  now  occupied  by  our  subject, 
where  they  kept  a  public  house  for  many  years  and  at  the  same  time  engaged 
in  farming.  John  C.  Singletary,  Sr. ,  was  the  first  Postmaster  at  Streetsboro 
this  county,  an  office  he  held  for  several  years.  He  died  in  1851  at  the  age  of 
sixty-seven.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  township  and  educated  in 
Western  Reserve  College  at  Hudson.  He  afterward  studied  law  with  his 
uncle,  Gregory  Powers,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1835,  though  he  has  never  practiced  his  profession  to  any 
extent.  He  was  married  August  11,  1845,  to  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  (Mills)  Carter,  natives  of  Ireland,  who  settled  in  Boston  (now 
in  Summit  County)  in  1824.  By  this  union  there  were  eight  children:  Cyrus  C, 
deceased;  Theodore,  deceased;  Zachary  T.,  deceased;  Harriet  E.;  Mary  A.; 
Theodora  (the  last  two  mentioned  are  graduates  of  the  W^estern  Reserve  Col- 
lege, and  at  present  teaching  in  the  high  school  at  Denver,  Colo.);  Delia, 
deceased,  and  Kate  F.  Mr.  Singletary  located  in  Akron,  Ohio,  in  1835,  and 
was  elected  the  second  and  third  Mayor  of  that  city.  The  principal  part  of 
his  life,  however,  has  been  spent  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  where  he  has 
been  engaged  in  farming.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  Prohibitionist. 
In  religion  he  and  hie  family  are  Methodists. 

MERRILL  STANTON  (deceased),  was  born  in  Hampden  County,  Mass., 
January  13,  1820,  son  of  Asher  and  Lucy  (Wait)  Stanton,  who  settled  on 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  M.  Stanton  in  1830,  which  they  cleared  and 
improved,  and  where  they  lived  and  died.  Their  children  were  nine  in  num- 
ber: Betsey,  deceased;  Harty,    deceased;  William;   Delilah,   deceased;  Sally, 


STREETSBORO  TOWNSHIP.  897 

deceased;  Lucy,  deceased;  Julia,  wife  of  Thomas  Plum;  Merrill,  deceased, 
aud  Christopher.  Asher  Stanton  died  June  21,  1868,  aged  eighty-nine  years. 
Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather,  Abel  Stanton,  and  his  maternal  grand- 
father, Jonathan  Wait,  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  settled  in  Aurora 
Township,  this  county,  in  1830.  Our  subject  came  to  Streetsboro,  this  county, 
with  his  parents  when  eleven  years  of  age,  and  with  the  exception  of  ten  years 
he  resided  in  Solon,  Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  always  lived  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Streetsboro.  He  was  married  January  1,  18-46,  to  Amelia  M. ,  daugh- 
ter of  Reiiben  and  Corinne  (Lewis)  Avery,  who  settled  in  Aurora  Township  in 
1815.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  three  children:  Emma  F.  (wife  of  Chaun- 
cey  Taylor),  Herbert  M.  and  Arthur  N.  The  maternal  grandparent  of  Mrs. 
Stanton  was  Oliver  Lewis,  a  native  of  Farmington,  Conn.,  who  settled  in 
Mantua  Township,  this  county,  in  1813.  He  afterward  removed  to  Ridgeville, 
Lorain  Co. ,  Ohio,  and  died  there.  His  wife  was  Lucinda  North,  and  they 
reai'ed  a  family  of  eleven  children.  Reuben  Avery,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Stanton,  died  in  Aurora  May  23,  1873,  at  the  advanced  age  of  one  hundred 
and  one  years.  He  retained  his  memory,  other  faculties  and  habits  of  indus- 
try until  within  three  years  of  his  death.  Our  subject  was  one  of  the  thorough 
practical  farmers  of  Streetsboro,  and  filled  several  of  the  minor  offices  in  the 
gift  of  his  township.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  He  died  February  23, 
1881,  in  his  sixty-second  year. 

CHARLES  STONE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Hudson,  Summit  County,  was  born  in 
Hudson  Township  (now  in  Summit  County),  Ohio,  January  25,  1812,  son  of 
Nathaniel  and  Sally  (Hollenbeck)  Stone,  who  were  the  parents  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  are  now  living:  Caroline,  wife  of  Sydney  Collar;  Charles; 
Sydney  J.;  Helen,  wife  of  George  Bentley;  Roswell  and  Orlando.  Nathaniel 
Stone  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  son  of  Jei'orae  Stone,  of  that  State.  He 
settled  in  Hudson  Township  in  1810,  and  cleared  and  improved  a  farm,  on 
which  he  resided  (except  when  in  the  war  of  1812)  until  1832,  when  he  removed 
to  Streetsboro,  locating  on  the  farm  which  he  also  cleared  and  improved,  and 
where  he  died  in  1861  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  The  maternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  Samuel  Hollenbeck,  a  native  of  Canaan,  Conn.,  settled  in  Hud- 
son Township  in  1810,  and  lived  and  died  there.  Charles  Stone  came  to 
Streetsboro  with  his  parents  in  1832,  and  assisted  his  father  in  clearing  the 
farm  until  twenty- five  years  of  age,  when  the  latter  gave  him  sixty  acres  of 
land,  on  which  he  built  a  log-cabin  on  the  site  of  his  present  residence.  He 
was  married  April  18,  1837,  to  Sabrina,  daughter  of  Moses  Draper,  who  set- 
tled in  Hudson  Township  in  J  831.  The  issue  of  this  union  was  seven  chil- 
dren: Harriet,  Frederick  (who  died  serving  his  country  during  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion),  Salina  (wife  of  Charles  Cash),  David,  Moses,  Lavonia 
(deceased),  Clara  (Mrs.  Wesley  Higley).  Mr.  Stone  is  a  member  of  the  Pio- 
neer Society.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

OSMAN  THOMAS,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Jeffer- 
son County,  N.  Y.,  February  9,  1809;  son  of  John  and  Lois  (Farr)  Thomas, 
who  settled  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  in  1829.  They  had  eight  children: 
Osman;  David  (deceased);  Julia  A.,  wife  of  Andrew  Boyd;  James;  Maria  P., 
deceased  wife  of  IchabodBoyd;  William  F. ;  Roswell  and  John  W.  (deceased). 
Our  subject  was  twenty  years  of  age  when  his  parents  settled  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  west  of  Streetsboro  Center,  clearing  and  improving  the  farm,  and  on 
which  he  resided  nntil  1850,  when  he  removed  to  and  resided  for  twenty  years 
•on  the  farm  now  owned  by  N.  B.  Jenkins.  He  then  went  to  Akron,  but  at  the 
expiration  of  a  year  and  a  half  returned  to  the  old  homestead  in  Streetsboro 
Township,  which  he  still  owns,  remaining  there  until  1879,  when  he  removed 


898  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

to  Streetsboro  Center,  where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Thomas  was  married  Jan- 
uary 11,  1S37,  to  Lois  J.,  daughter  of  William  Matthews,  of  Westtield,  Mass., 
and  by  her  he  has  had  live  children:  Willard  W.,  Juliette  (wife  of  Dr.  L.  D. 
Stockon).  Jefferson,  Millicent  (wife  of  George  L.  Andrews),  and  Delos 
(deceased;.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  with 
which  he  has  been  connected  fifty-one  years,  serving  as  Deacon  for  forty  years. 
He  has  served  the  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  three  terms,  and  has  held 
other  minor  oiBces;  in  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

JEFFERSON  THOMAS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  July  4, 1842, 
in  Sti-eeisboro,  this  county;  and  is  a  son  of  Osman  and  Lois  J.  (Matthews) 
Thomas.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  John  Tiiomas,  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Streetsboro.  Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  town,  receiving  his 
early  education  in  the  common  schools,  after  which  he  attended  a  select  school 
at  Kent,  Ohio,  and  Mt.  Union  College.  He  was  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, enlisting  November  4,  1861,  in  Company  K,  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry,  and 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Cross  Keys,  Second  Bull  Run,  followed  Stone- 
wall Jackson  from  Cross  Keys  to  Strasburg,  and  was  in  an  engagement  every 
other  day.  He  received  an  honorable  discharge,  February,  1863,  on  account 
of  disability.  Mr.  Thomas  was  married  November  13,  1866,  to  Martha  E., 
daughter  of  Eben  and  Mary  (Green)  Joy,  of  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  by  whom  he 
has  three  children:  Garrison  O.,  Mary  J.  and  an  infant  son.  Mr.  Thomas  is 
a  prominent  farmer  of  Streetsboro;  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. ;  in  politics  a 
Republican. 

SAMUEL  WAIT,  Jr.,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  in  Hampden 
County,  Mass.,  September  21,  1816;  son  of  Samuel  and  Rachel  (Judd)  Wait, 
who  settled  in  Aurora  Township,  this  county,  in  1826,  where  they  cleared  and 
improved  a  farm  on  which  they  lived  seven  years,  and  then  removed  to  the 
farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  their  son,  Samuel,  in  Streetsboro  Township, 
which  they  also  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  they  lived  and  died.  The 
paternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Jonathan  and  Margaret  (Smith) 
Wait,  formerly  of  Hampden  County,  Mass.,  who  settled  in  Aurora  Township 
m  1829,  and  lived  and  died  thei-e.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Reuben  Judd, 
also  of  Hampden  County,  Mass.,  was  an  early  settler  of  Streetsboro,  this 
county,  and  his  maternal  grandmother  was  Rachel  Smeed.  Samuel  Wait, 
Sr.,  was  twice  married,  having  by  his  first  wife,  Betsey  Bell,  three  children: 
Melissa,  wife  of  Frederick  Plum;  Betsey  (deceased)  and  Samuel  (deceased). 
By  his  second  wife,  Rachel  Judd,  he  had  eleven  children:  Samuel,  Sarah  (wife  of 
Linus  Smith),  Andrew,  Mary  (deceased),  William,  Orlinda  (deceased),  Edward, 
Delilah  (deceased),  G.  Washington,  Wellington,  and  Ellen,  wife  of  Harvey 
Ferris.  Our  subject  was  married  April  22,  1855,  to  Maria,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Fanny  Welch,  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  and  by  her  he  has 
three  childi-en:  Elbert  H.,  Estella,  wife  of  Charles  King,  and  Gertrude  M. 
Mr.  Wait  is  one  of  Streetsboro  Township's  representative  farmers  and  citizens. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

HENRY  H.  WILCOX,  farmer,  P.  O.  Streetsborough,  was  born  January  1, 
1845,  in  Streetsboro,  this  county;  son  of  Alanson  and  Sylvia  (Lawrence)  Wil- 
cox, and  grandson  of  Benjamin  Wilcox  who  came  from  Jefferson  County,  N. 
Y.,  to  Streetsboro  in  3832,  and  located  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  our  sub- 
ject, which  he  cleared  and  improved,  and  where  he  lived  and  died.  He  had 
seven  children:  Wealthy,  wife  of  Rufus  Ellsworth;  Julia,  deceased  wife  of 
James  W.  Clark;  Jeanette,  wife  of  Alanson  Plum;  Betsey,  wife  of  Daniel 
Tucker;  Alanson  (deceased);  Newell  and  Frank.  Alanson  Wilcox,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade.      He  put  up  the  Methodist  Church  at 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  899 

Streetsboro,  besides  many  other  buildings.  He  was  married,  February  2, 
1837,  to  Sylvia,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Susannah  (Parker)  Lawrence,  who 
settled  in  Streetsboro  in  1833.  By  this  union  there  were  two  children:  Har- 
riet E.  (deceased)  and  Henry  H.  In  1837  Alanson  Wilcox  moved  to  the  farm 
settled  by  his  father,  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  died  August  24, 
1862,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  Our  subject  was  reared  on  the  old  homestead 
where  he  has  always  resided.  He  was  married,  September  10,  1871,  to  Agnes, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Louisa  (Tucker)  French,  of  Streetsboro,  by  whom  he 
has  three  children:  Millard  D..  Artemas  J.  and  John  H.  Mrs.  Wilcox  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Wilcox  has  served  his  town- 
ship as  Clerk  and  Trustee;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


SUFFIEI.D  TOWNSHIP. 


HORACE  ADAMS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born  in 
Suffield  Township,  this  county,  July  19,  1811;  son  of  Moses  Adams,  who 
represented  this  district  in  the  Legislature  at  the  sessions  of  1820-22.  On 
December  8,  1842,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy  Richards  and  resided 
with  his  parents  until  their  death.  His  mother  died  in  October,  1844,  andhis 
father  in  March,  1845.  He  removed  to  his  present  home,  a  productive  farm  of 
171  acres,  in  1859,  where  Mrs.  Adams  died  August  26,  1879.  They  were  the 
parents  of  the  following  children:  Martha  Ann  (Mrs.  McKnight),  Benton, 
Sarah  (Mrs.  Hildebrand),  Albin,  Emma,  Maria  Lucy  and  Clayton.  Our  sub- 
ject is  an  earnest  Republican.  He  has  served  in  several  of  the  county  offices, 
having  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  twenty-nine  years.  County 
Commissioner,  etc.,  and  he  discharged  the  trusts  committed  to  his  care  with 
unswerving  fidelity. 

HENRY  AGNE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  in  Jackson  Township, 
Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  May  3,  1843;  son  of  Philip  and  Elizabeth  Ague,  natives  of 
Bavaria,  Germany,  who  immigrated  to  America  in  1833  and  settled  in  Suffield 
Township,  this  county,  in  1844.  Their  children  are  Catharine  (Mrs.  Myers), 
Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Moatz),  Mary  (Mrs.  Goetz),  Caroline  (Mrs.  Mohler)  and  Henry. 
Our  subject,  November  24,  1864,  was  married  to  Mary  Jane  Stamm,  of  Suf- 
field Township,  this  county,  and  by  her  has  following  children:  Nelson  Eugene, 
Clarence  Sidney,  Alverna  May,  Minnie  Belle  and  Forest  Earl,  besides  four 
who  died  in  childhood.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Agne  now  own  the  Stamm  homestead, 
consisiing  of  268  acres  in  Portage  and  Stark  Counties,  Ohio.  Mr.  Agne  is  a 
life- long  Democrat;  a  representative  citizen,  and,  with  his  wife,  a  member  of 
the  German  Reformed  Church. 

ANDREW  AREHART,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore.  Summit  County,  was  born 
December  17,  1831,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.;  son  of  Joseph  Arehart,  a  native ^of 
Germany,  who  is  still  living.  Our  subject  was  married,  November  3,  1858, 
to  Lena  Paulus,  a  native  of  France,  where  she  was  born,  August  7,  1836, 
daughter  of  Anthony  and  Barbara  Paulus,  and  has  since  resided  with  his  wife 
in  the  home  of  his  adoption  in  Suffield  Township.  To  this  union  have  been 
born  six  children:  Louisa  (Mrs.  Memmer),  George,  Emma,  Clara,  Frank  and 
Ida,  all  of  whom  received  a  substantial  literary  and  musical  education.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Arehart  have  by  their  industry  acquired  a  productive  farm  of  ninety- 
seven  acres;  are  consistent,   pious  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


900  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Mr.  Arehart  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  township,  a  man  of  worth 
and  enterprise. 

JOHN  AREHART,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  Countj,  was  born 
January  19,  1840,  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county;  son  of  Joseph  and  Eve 
Arehart,  natives  of  Rhenish  Bavaria,  Germany,  who  immigrated  to  America 
and  settled  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  about  1832,  where  they  went  on 
an  entirely  new  farm  which  they  cleared  and  improved.  Mrs.  Arehart  died 
August  15,  1856,  leaving  eight  children:  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  May);  Andrew; 
Joseph,  in  Missouri;  Cordelia  (Mrs.  Wehner)  in  Michigan;  Barney,  in  Mich- 
igan; John;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Spielmam)  in  Denver,  Col.,  and  Lawrence,  in  Mich- 
igan. Mr.  Arehart  is  now  living  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two  years.  Our 
subject  married,  October  26,  1862,  Miss  Mary  Ann  XVilsou,  and  located  where 
they  now  live  in  1872.  They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Meda, 
Charles  E.,  Ella  (deceased),  William  J.  and  Jessie  May.  Mr.  Arehart  has 
served  his  township  as  Trustee,  discharging  his  duties  faithfully  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  people.       Politically  he  has  been  a  life-long  Democrat. 

FREDERICK  J.  BAUER,  physician  and  surgeon,  Mogadore,  Summit 
County,  was  born  March  5,  1854,  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  where  his 
father,  Jacob  Bauer,  still  resides.  He  early  engaged  in  teaching,  and  acquired 
a  good  literary  and  scientific  education  at  Mount  Union  College.  In  1877  he 
entered  into  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Ferguson,  subsequently  attend- 
ing lectures  at  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  Cincinnati,  and  the  University  at 
Wooster,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  1880,  and  settleei  down  to 
practice  with  his  former  preceptor  at  Mogadore,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he 
has  built  up  a  large  and  influential  practice.      He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

MICHAEL  BLETZER,  manufacturer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  born  in  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Germany,  September  1,  1833,  son  of  Philip  Peter  Bletzer,  who  died  in 
1853.  The  same  year  his  widow,  accompanied  by  her  family,  emigrated  to 
America,  landing  in  this  country  May  5.  Our  subject  at  once  located  in  Ran- 
dolph Township,  this  county,  where  he  established  a  blacksmith  shop  in 
"  Johnny  Cake  Hollow."  On  June  4,  1855,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Albertine 
Helwig,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children,  four  of  whom  survive:  George 
Henry,  Eva  Harriet,  Philip  Hartmann  and  Emanuel  Emil.  On  the  night  of 
March  26,  1867,  the  family  residence  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and  five  of 
the  children  perished  in  the  flames.  After  eleven  years'  residence  in  Ran- 
dolph, our  subject  removed  to  Suffield  Township,  where  he  established  a  wagon 
and  blacksmith  shop,  and  where  he  is  known  as  a  skillful  mechanic.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  Our  subject's  mother 
is  residing  with  him,  and  is  eighty-two  years  of  age.  Mr.  Bletzer  has  been  a 
sound  Democrat  all  the  davs  of  his  life,  and  has  never  voted  any  other  ticket. 

CONRAD  L.  BRUMBAUGH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mishler,  was  born  October  2, 
1842,  in  Randolph  Townshij),  this  county;  son  of  Henry  and  Catharine  Brum- 
baugh, both  now  living.  Our  subject,  April  23,  1868,  married  Miss  Eliza 
Mishler,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  five  children:  Jesse,  Albert,  Manno,  Lydia 
and  Delia.  After  residing  four  years  in  the  eastern  part  of  Suffield  Township, 
and  a  few  months  in  Randolph  and  Brimfield  Townships,  they  settled  on  a 
farm  of  sixty-two  acres,  in  1873,  where  they  have  since  made  their  home.  They 
also  own  thirty  acres  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  and  a  little  homestead  of  ten  acres 
one- fourth  mile  east  of  his  present  home.  Our  subject  is  a  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics. He  has  served  his  constituency  in  the  township  as  Trustee,  School 
Director  and  Supervisor.  He  is  an  industrious  and  successful  farmer,  univer- 
sally respected.  Mrs.  Brumbaugh  is  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist  Con- 
gregation. 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  901 

MICHAEL  CAHILL,  farmer,  F.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  December  25, 1830, 
in  County  Kilkenny,  Ireland;  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary  Cahill.  He  was  edu- 
cated principally  in  his  native  county,  and  was  married,  in  1853,  to  Margaret 
Wilson,  who  died  in  1860,  leaving  one  son — Joseph  P.,  who  now  resides  in 
Illinois.  Mr.  Cahill  when  nineteen  years  of  age  went  to  the  County  of  Dur- 
ham, England,  and  engaged  in  the  coal  mines  there  until  1855,  when  he  met 
with  an  accident  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  right  leg  below  the  knee. 
He  emigrated  to  America  in  1865,  and  engaged  with  Mr.  Loomis,  of  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  Ohio,  to  sell  tin- ware,  glass,  etc.,  for  him  through  the  surrounding 
country.  In  3867  he  was  again  married,  this  time  to  Betsey  E.,  widow  of 
Harrison  Way,  and  daughter  of  Robert  Fenton,  of  SuflSeld  Township,  and 
they  immediately  settled  where  they  now  live  at  Suffield  Center.  Mr.  Cahill  is 
a  man  of  wide  range  of  information,  which  he  has  acquired  by  extensive 
reading.  He  is  a  close  student  of  public  affairs,  and  takes  a  deep  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  his  adopted  country.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  has 
served  his  township  as  Assessor  and  member  of  the  Board  of  Education.  He 
is  now  holding  his  fourth  commission  as  Notary  Public,  and  has  done  consid- 
erable local  legal  business  in  this  community. 

JOEL  COBURN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  August  28,  1825,  in 
Brimtield  Township,  this  county;  son  of  David  Coburn,  of  Mauson,  Mass., 
and  Nancy  (Moulton)  Coburn,  of  Brimtield  Township.  Of  their  eight  chil- 
dren three  are  now  living:  Joel,  Lucy  Ann  (Mrs.  Meacham)  and  Martin  V., 
all  of  this  county.  Our  subject  married,  September  28, 1848,  Diantha,  daugh- 
ter of  David  Perkins,  who  became  a  resident  of  Springfield  Township  when 
thirteen  years  of  age,  and  Electa  (Tupper)  Perkins.  Seven  children  were 
born  to  them,  four  of  whom  are  still  living:  Silas,  Simon,  Ellen  (Mrs.  Rog- 
ers) and  Mrs.  Coburn.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coburn  are  parents  of  the  following 
children:  Wilbur  D.,  married  to  Lunetta  A.  Sabins,  and  Curtis  E.,  who  died 
February  27,  1879,  aged  twenty-five  years.  After  a  four  years'  residence  in 
Brimfield  Township  our  subject  settled  upon  his  farm  of  161  acres  in  Suffield 
Township,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  been  a  life-long  Democrat; 
has  served  the  township  as  Assessor  and  Trustee.  Mrs.  Coburn  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

NATHAN  COOK  (deceased)  was  born  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county, 
April  9,  1816,  son  of  David  Cook.  On  January  14,  1842,  our  subject  was 
married  to  Miss  Clarinda  Hulbert,  born  November  16,  1816,  daughter  of 
Jamen  and  Lurinia  Hulbert,  natives  of  Vermont  and  Connecticut,  respectively, 
and  who  accompanied  their  families  at  an  early  day  in  their  trip  from  the  East 
with  ox-teams,  and  settled  in  Springfield  Township,  this  county.  Our  subject 
and  wife  after  their  marriage  located  near  Suffield  Center,  where  they  devel- 
oped their  farm  and  raised  a  family  of  six  children,  viz. :  David,  in  Michigan; 
Esther,  Mrs.  Brown;  Marion,  in  Kansas;  Newton;  Jamen;  and  Eveline,  Mrs. 
Shanafelt.  Mr.  Cook  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  a  useful  citizen  and  a 
worthy  man.  He  died  February  2,  1875.  His  widow  still  resides  on  the 
family  homestead,  respected  by  the  community  for  her  excellent  qualities. 

LEE  COOK,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  November  11,  1821,  in  Suf- 
field, Township,  this  county,  son  of  David  and  Chloe  (Moore)  Cook,  who  came 
to  this  county  from  Connecticut  at  a  very  early  period  in  their  lives,  married 
and  here  remained  until  their  death.  The  father  died  in  February,  1859,  the 
mother  in  1879,  aged  ninety-one  years.  Their  children  were  Mary  (Mrs.  Pot- 
zer).  Nathan  and  John,  all  deceased;  Lee,  Galvin,  Orange  and  Rachel  (Mrs. 
Stahlsmith)  still  living.  Our  subject  mari'ied  Miss  Phebe  Buckmau,  who 
died  February  4,  1872,  and  he  then  married  Margaret  Ebel,  born  near  Stras 


902  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

burg,  France,  December  11,  1831,  daughter  of  John  and  Catharine  Ebel,  who 
settled  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in  1833.  where  they  were  highly 
respected  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  They  died  many  years  ago.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cook  are  much  esteemed  by  the  community  for  their  worth  and  intel- 
ligence. He  owns  a  farm  of  107  acres.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  Mrs. 
Cook  is  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

AVERY  CROSS,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Brimfield,  was  born  at  Wells,  Rut- 
land Co.,  Vt. ,  April  4,  1800,  son  of  Daniel  and  Hannah  (Avery)  Cross,  whose 
seven  brothers  were  present  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  In 
1809  the  father  of  our  subject  made  a  trip  West,  and  the  year  following  came 
to  Ohio  accompanied  by  his  familj^,  locating  in  Randolph  Township,  this 
county.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  carpenters  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
He  and  his  son  Samuel  were  frozen  to  death  in  January,  1812,  while  on  their 
way  to  Harrisville,  Medina  Co.,  Ohio.  Our  subject  adopted  the  carpenter's 
trade,  and  when  sixteen  years  of  age  purchased  fifty  acres  of  land,  which  was 
the  nucleus  of  his  present  farm  of  210  acres  in  Suffield  Township.  He  was 
twice  married,  first  February  20,  1841,  to  Miss  Hannah  Frasier,  of  Richmond, 
Ohio,  who  died  in  1845,  leaving  two  children:  Susanna  (Mrs.  Hubbard)  and 
Nancy.  His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  September  15,  1846,  was 
Mrs.  Mary  Larkins,  widow  of  John  Larkins,  and  daughter  of  James  and  Mary 
Byers,  who  had  two  children  by  her  first  husband:  Henrietta  (Mrs.  Smith, 
deceased),  and  James  K.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cross  were  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren: Frances  J.  (deceased)  and  Lucy  E.  (Mrs.  Potter). 

JACOB  CABOT  FERGUSON,  physician,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County, 
was  born  August  7,  1819,  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Samuel 
Ferguson,  of  Armstrong  County,  Penn. ,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1815,  and 
Rosanna  (Reynolds)  Ferguson,  a  native  of  Londonderry,  Ireland,  who  settled 
in  Springfield  Township,  in  1816.  After  living  the  lives  of  pioneers  they 
died,  leaving  three  children:  Sarah  (Mrs.  Moore);  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Colvin), 
deceased,  and  Jacob  Cabot.  Our  subject,  having  finished  his  education  at  Wads- 
worth  Academy,  became  a  teacher,  and  so  continued  for  several  years.  He  then 
began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  M.  Jewett,  and  after  practicing  at 
intervals  in  Uniontown,  New  Baltimore  and  Mogadore,  Ohio,  where  he  settled 
in  1852,  he  graduated  at  the  Western  Reserve  College  in  1858.  On  June 
18,  1844,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Ward,  of  Randolph  Township,  who  died 
January  7,  1863,  mother  of  the  following  children:  Rose  (Mrs.  Weimei',  in 
Cincinnati);  Kate  (Mrs.  Trenton);  and  George  W.  Our  subject  married  for  his 
second  wife,  March  8,  1864,  Mrs.  Margaret  (Cochrane)  Chamberlain,  widow  of 
James  Chamberlain  (her  son,  Capt.  W.  F.  Chamberlain,  is  Postmaster  at  Han- 
nibal, Mo. )     Our  subject  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 

JOHN  FRITCH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  in  Suffield  Township, 
this  county,  October  5,  1811,  son  of  John  and  Mary  Ann  Fritch,  natives  of 
Berks  County,  Penn.,  who  immigrated  to  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in 
1805,  with  their  three  little  girls,  and  settled  at  Fritch's  Lake.  They  endured 
the  hardships  of  pioneer  life,  and  died  leaving  a  family  of  eleven  children,  of 
whom  John  is  the  fifth.  Our  subject  was  twice  married;  on  first  occasion, 
March  2,  1843,  to  Mary  Frank,  a  native  of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  who  died 
February  12,  1853,  the  mother  of  the  following  children:  George  W.;  Lucy 
A.,  Mrs.  Bickel,  deceased;  Rebecca,  IMrs.  Garl;  Susanna,  Mrs.  Werstler;  John 
H.  and  Mary  Elizabeth,  both  deceased.  On  July  17,  1853,  Mr.  Fritch  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Frank,  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  by  whom  he  has  had  the  follow- 
ing children:  William  B. ;  Sarah,  Mrs.  McCloughan;  Daniel;  Caroline,  Mrs. 
Weaver;  AVilson;  Mary  Ellen  and  Caudas.      For  over  thirty  years  Mr.  Fritch 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  ^03 

was  a  popular  auctioneer  in  Portage  and  Summit  Counties,  Ohio  He  now 
owns  a  farm  of  308  acres,  including  the  beautiful  lake  known  as  Fntch  s  Lake. 
He   and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.     Politically  he  is  a 

Democrat.  -i    i-    iqiq    ;,t 

GEORGE  FRITCH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  April  lo,  i»lrf,  m 
Suffield  Township,  this  county;  son  of  John  and  Mary  Fntch.  He  was 
broufrht  up  on  his  father's  farm  and  attended  the  primitive  schools  of  those 
early  days  He  was  married,  November  U,  1839,  to  Mary  Rhodes,  who  was 
born  Januarv  U,  1821,  in  Germany,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Rhodes.  By  this 
union  there  are  the  following  children:  Jacob  D.,  Henry,  John  (deceased), 
Lucinda  and  Catherine  (now  Mrs.  Wegman).  Our  subject  and  wife  settled 
where  they  now  reside,  after  their  marriage,  and  by  industry  and  good  manage- 
ment have  acquired  a  fine  farm  of  229  acres  of  well-improved  land.  Mr. 
Fritch's  father  gave  him  172  acres  of  land,  in  consideration  of  which  our  sub- 
iect  paid  his  brother  Jacob  $34  per  annum  during  his  life  and  |loU  to  his 
brother  Benjamin.  Mrs.  George  Fritch  received  from  her  father,  Jacob 
Rhodes,  fif ty-tive  acres  of  land.  Mr.  Fritch  and  his  worthy  wife  are  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  He  is  an  upright  pioneer  citizen,  highly  respected 
by  the  community  in  which  he  lives.     He  has  ever  been  a   Democrat   m  poll- 

tics.  ,  T- 

JACOB  GARL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born  Janu- 
ary 17,  1815,  in  Stark  County,  Ohio;  son  of  Reuben  and  Catharine  (Uay) 
Garl,  natives  of  Northamptom  County,  Penn.,  and  early  settlers  of  btark 
County.  His  grandfather,  a  native  of  Germany,  was  a  teacher  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  his  father  followed  this  profession  in  the  same  State  and  in  Utiio. 
Our  subject  was  married,  February  21,  1833,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Kreichbauna, 
who  died  in  1876,  and  he  subsequently  married  Caroline,  widow  of  John  Cook, 
born  in  Mahoning  County,  this  State,  January  12,  1823,  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Charlotte  Hudson.  Mr.  Garl  was  fatherof  the  following  children :  George; 
William  (deceased);  Catherine  (Mrs.  Walter)  now  deceased;  Sarah  (Mrs^Kose); 
Mary  (Mrs.  Myers)  deceased;  Lydia  (Mrs.  Ague);  Daniel,  residing  m  Portage 
County,  and  Eli,  in  Kansas.  Mr.  Garl  has  a  comfortable  home  comprising 
eighteen  acres  of  land  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  besides  eighty-two 
and  a  half  in  Summit  County.  He  has  given  his  children  all  a  start  in  life. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  his  wife  of  the  Disciples  denom- 
ination.     In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JACOB  HIVELY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  January  lo,  18^<J,  m 
Stark  County,  Ohio;  son  of  George  and  Polly  Hively,  who  settled  m  Suffield 
Township,  this  county,  where  the  father  died.  The  mother  subsequently  moved 
West  and  died  in  Indiana.  On  December  8,  1842,  our  subject  married  Miss 
Anna  Saxe,  who  bore  him  the  following  children:  Willmm,  Caroline  (Mrs 
Powell),  Jacob.  Mrs.  Hively  died  December  11,  18/9.  In  about  18o3  Mr. 
Hively  settled  where  he  now  resides,  a  farm  of  168^  acres,  secured  through 
industry  and  good  management,  and  February  21,  1881  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Louisa  Mellinger,  born  in  Summit  County,  Ohio,  April  i,  18bl,  daugh- 
ter of  Levi  and  Catharine  Mellinger,  who  settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  tins 
county.  Our  subject  is  a  man  respected  by  those  who  know  him,  a  citizen  ot 
integrity,  of  genial  characteristics.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

JOSIAH  KENT,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born  May 
16,  1811,  on  the  farm  which  he  now  occupies  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county; 
son  of  Martin  and  Abigail  (Hale)  Kent,  natives  of  Connecticut,  who  after  liv- 
ino-  nineteen  years  of  their  married  life  in  New  Hampshire,  moved  to  this 
colntj  and  settled  in  Suffield  Township  in  1806.    They  came  with  a  two-horse 


904  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

team  and  while  crossing  Conneaut  Creek  the  ferry-boat  sunk  and  it  was  with 
diffioalty  that  they  saved  their  goods.  Martin  Kent  was  thrown  into  a  fever 
through  the  exposure,  which  compelled  him  to  remain  in  Cleveland  several 
weeks  while  the  family  came  on  and  settled  on  a  new  farm  which  they  bought 
of  Royal  Pease.  They  built  the  first  frame  house  in  the  township,  which  is 
still  in  use  by  the  family,  and  brought  up  the  following  six  children:  Martin, 
Jr.  (deceased);  James  (deceased);  Almira  (Mrs.  Andrews)  deceased;  Eliza  (Mrs. 
Greene)  deceased;  Abigail  (deceased),  and  Josiah.  The  parents  have  long 
since  passed  to  their  reward.  They  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  all  who  knew  them.  Our  subject  married,  Decem- 
ber 1,  1836,  Miss  Lucia  T.  Miller,  and  has  six  children. 

JOHN  C.  KLINE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  July  31, 1837,  in  Suffield 
Township,  this  county;  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Yager)  Kline,  natives  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  who  immigrated  to  America  and  were  married  at 
Canton,  Ohio,  immediately  settling  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  where 
Mr.  Kline  died  in  August,  1872.  His  widow  still  lives  in  the  township.  Our 
subject,  October  16,  1860,  was  married  to  Miss  Gertrude  Kemmery,  who  has 
borne  him  the  following  childrea:  Katie,  Barbara,  Mary,  George  H.,  William 
B.,  John  J.  and  Gertrude.  Mr.  Kline  owns  a  farm  of  fifty-seven  acres;  a  citi- 
zen of  enterprise  and  integrity.  He  and  his  family  are  communicants  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 

ABRAHAM  KURTZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Lake,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  was  born  June 
26,  1829,  in  Lebanon  County,  Penn.,  son  of  Jacob  and  Catharine  Kurtz, 
former  of  whom  died  June  25,  1883,  aged  eighty- two  years;  they  removed 
to  this  county  in  1854,  where  they  lived  and  died.  They  were  the  parents  of 
Lydia.  Mrs.  Royer;  Abraham;  John;  Elias;  Mary,  Mrs.  Cai'ber;  Jacob;  Eliza- 
beth, Mrs.  Bollinger,  in  Michigan;  Samuel  and  Isaiah.  Our  subject  was 
married,  March  6,  1859,  to  Anna  Mishler,  and  they  settled  on  the  old  homestead 
farm,  where  they  have  since  resided  and  have  enlarged  its  dimensions  to  182^^ 
acres.  Mr.  Kurtz  is  a  leading  and  highly  respected  farmer.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

NICHOLAS  LULEY,  manufacturer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  April  28, 
1854,  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  and  when  seventeen  years  of  age  immi- 
grated to  America,  locating  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  nine  months, 
and  then  came  to  Ravenna.  After  a  three  years'  residence  in  the  latter  city,  fol- 
lowing his  trade,  that  of  a  blacksmith,  he  removed  to  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  thence 
to  Indianapolis,  residing  at  both  places  an  aggregate  of  ten  months.  He  was 
married  July  6,  1875,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Dauber,  of  Ravenna  Township,  this 
county,  and  established  himself  in  Bellevue,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  two 
years,  finally  returning  to  this  county,  and  settling  in  Suffield  Township,  car- 
rying on  the  blacksmith  and  wagon  trade,  a  portion  of  the  time  as  partner  of 
John  McLone.  He  now  has  an  extensive  establishment  and  conducts  a  large 
business,  turning  out  about  thirty  vehicles  annually.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luley  are 
the  parents  of  four  children:  Mary,  Lizzie,  Josephine  and  Clement.  He  is 
an  accomplished  mechanic,  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  and  his  wife  and  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

EZRA  LUTZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born  in  1835, 
in  Lancaster  County,  Penn.,  son  of  Aaron  and  Elizabeth  Lutz,  who  came  to 
Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in  1839,  where  the  former  died  in  August, 
1876,  aged  seventy-two  years.  He  was  an  old-line  Whig,  one  of  the  first 
Republicans,  and  an  upright  man,  leaving  an  honorable  name  to  posterity. 
His  widow  still  lives  on  the  old  homestead.  Their  children  are  Margaret  (Mrs. 
Montz),   Heury,   Susanna    (Mrs.   Crouse),    George,    Elizabeth  (Mrs.   Mishler), 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP. 


905 


William,  Maria  (Mrs.  Woodring),  Nancy  (Mrs.  Eoudebush),  Joseph  and  Ezra. 
Our  subject,  December  10, 1854,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Ruble,  born  in  Cen- 
ter County,  Penn.,  September  29,  1836,  daughter  of  John  and  Julia  Ann 
Euble,  and  who  was  raised  in  Jo  Daviess  County,  111.,  where  her  parents 
resided  temporarily,  and  to  this  union  have  been  born  following  children: 
John  A.,  Emma  (Mrs.  Robenstine),  Isaac  Warden,  Lewis  W.,  Henry  Grant, 
Lizzie  L.,  Cora  J.,  Julia  Ann,  Sophia  and  Maud.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lutz  have  a 
well-improved  farm  of  sixty-two  acres.  Mrs.  Lutz  is  a  member  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

WILLIAM  LUTZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born  in 
Suffield  Township,  this  county,  February  7,  1842,  son  of  Aaron  and  Elizabeth 
Lutz.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  of  the  district  wherein  his 
parents  resided,  and  when  eighteen  years  of  age  began  learning  the  carpen- 
ter's trade.  During  the  war  he  was  in  the  Government  employ,  building 
bridges  on  the  railroad  between  Nashville  and  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  and  at  its 
close  returned  home,  where  he  settled  down.  Our  subject  was  married  Octo- 
ber 26,  1861,  to  Miss  Catharine  Wilson,  of  Suffield  Township,  this  county, 
born  February  10,  1844,  daughter  of  Samuel  Wilson,  and  by  her  he  has  had 
three  children:  Mrs.  Meritta  Alice  Yerrick,  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio;  Arthur 
James,  deceased;  and  Jennie  Grace.  Our  subject  hasbuiltmany  of  the  houses 
and  most  of  the  improved  barns  in  the  vicinity  of  his  home,  and  is  esteemed 
a  skilled  and  successful  mechanic.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church. 

HUGH  K.  MARTIN,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County, 
was  born  January  17,  1803,  in  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  son  of  Thomas  and 
Catharine  Martin,  natives  of  York  County,  Penn.,  whence  they  moved  to  Ohio. 
They  lived  a  brief  period  in  Jefferson  County,  then  came  to  Trumbull  County, 
where  thev  resided  seven  years,  finally  settling  in  Suffield  Township,  this 
county,  in'lSlO.  In  the  fall  of  1812  they  moved  from  their  home  on  Congress 
Lake  to  the  present  family  homestead,  where  tbey  remained  permanently  and 
died  at  an  advanced  age.  Our  subject  was  married  September  18,  1834,  to 
Rosanna  M.  AYilliams,  of  Franklin  Township,  this  county,  taking  up  their 
residence  at  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  where  they  remained  fourteen  years, 
and  where  he  carried  on  a  carding  machine  and  saw-mill.  Mrs.  Martin  came 
with  her  parents  from  East  Granville,  Mass,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  In  1849 
our  subject  erected  his  present  residence  on  the  homestead  farm,  where  they 
have  since  resided,  and  where,  September  18,  1884,  they  celebrated  their  golden 
wedding.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the  latter  event,  the  attendance  numbered 
nearly  200,  including  W.  E.  Williams  and  daughter,  Mrs.  Dr.  Gregg,  and  Miss 
Ada  Reisin,  a  grand- daughter,  all  of  Seneca  County,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Samuel  Williams,  of  Minnesota,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Depew,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  B. 
Wirt,  Thomas  Martin,  and  James  G.  Williams,  of  Michigan,  in  addition  to 
neighbors  and  friends.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  have  raised  a  family  of  five  chil- 
dren: Calista  (Mrs.  Wirt),  in  Van  Buren  County,  Mich.;  Amanda  (Mrs.  Stuts- 
man), Almeda  (Mrs.  Creque),  Melissa  (Mrs.  Price),  all  in  Akron  and  Marshall, 
Ohio.  Our  subject  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  has  served  twelve  years  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace;  a  man  of  influence  and  a  valuable  citizen.  His  son, 
Marshall  O.,  living  at  the  family  homestead,  is  now  serving  his  third  term  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace. 

LAWRENCE  MEMMER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  October  15,1829, 

in  Rhine-Bavaria,    Germany;  son  of  David  and  Margaret  (Arehart)  Memmer. 

The  family  came  to  America  in  1836,    and  remained  in  New  York  until  the 

spring  of  1838,  when  they  moved  to  and  settled  in  this  township  and  county, 


906  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

where  the  parents  died.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Memmer  were  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  George  (deceased),  Joseph  (deceased),  John  (of  Akron),  Law- 
rence, Margaret  (Mrs.  Gulp),  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  Schulty),  Barbara  (Mrs.  Miller), 
and  Maria  (Mrs.  Miller).  Our  subject  married,  September  29,  1855,  Rebecca 
Wise,  born  in  Stark  County  September  21,  1832,  daughter  of  Jacob  Wise,  and 
by  this  union  there  are  the  following  children:  John  Allen,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Mil- 
ler), Charles  Edward  and  Joseph  Franklin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Memmer  settled  on 
their  present  farm,  consisting  of  eighty-four  and  a  half  acres,  in  1865.  Mr. 
Memmer  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  the  township.  He  was  elected  Township  Treasurer  in  April, 
1882,  re-elected  in  1883  and  1884,  and  fulfills  his  duties  faithfully  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  people. 

JOSEPH  ailSHLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mishler,  was  born  in  Lancaster 
County,  Penn.,  November  11,  1811;  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  Mishler, 
who  came  to  Ohio  in  1833,  settling  in  Springfield  Township,  where  they  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  In  December,  1838,  oiu' subject  married  Magda- 
lene Garl,  born  May  4,  1817,  daughter  of  Reuben  Garl.  They  are  parents  of 
the  following  children:  Isaac;  Jacob  G.,  born  December  9,  1843,  married  De- 
cember 13,  1868,  Mrs.  Fianah  Schrantz,  born  July  6,  1846,  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Maria  Martin,  by  whom  he  has  one  child — Ellen  (Jacob  G.  was  ordained  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  in  1880);  Benjamin;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.Way);  Eliza  (Mrs. 
Brumbaugh);  Kate  (Mrs.  Richard)  and  Joseph,  besides  five  who  died  in  child- 
hood. After  residing  six  years  in  Springfield  Township  our  subject  with  his 
family  settled  where  they  have  since  lived  on  a  farm  of  ninety  acres  in  Suffield 
Township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mishler  are  members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church, 
respected  by  all  who  know  them. 

BENJAMIN  MISHLER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mishler,  was  born  in  Suffield 
Township,  this  county,  August  27,  1845;  son  of  Joseph  and  Molly  Mishler. 
He  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  and  received  his  education  at  the 
schools  of  the  home  district.  He  married,  February  28,  1869,  Nancy  Young, 
born  September  9,  1851,  in  Springfield  Township,  Summit  County,  daughter 
of  David  and  Catharine  Young,  by  whom  he  has  one  son — Samuel.  After 
residing  with  the  family  of  Mr.  Young  for  six  years,  they  removed  to  their 
present  home.  Mr.  Mishler  is  an  industrious  toiler  in  the  ways  of  life,  a 
respectable  citizen  and  an  honorable  man.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  German  Baptist  Church. 

ANSON  MOITLTON,  retired  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  born  December  7,1800, 
in  Hampden  County,  Mass:;  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Martha  Moulton,  also  natives 
of  Massacausetts,  who  came  to  and  settled  in  Brimtield  Township,  this  county, 
in  1817.  The  father  of  our  subject  served  two  terms  as  Associate  Judge,  was 
active  in  township  affairs  and  attended  largely  to  the  settlement  cf  decedents' 
estates.  Mrs.  Moulton  died  in  1846,  and  Mr.  Moulton  then  again  married.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  Our  subject  married,  August  31,  1820, 
Daphne  Minard  and  they  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Anna 
(Mrs.  Wilson),  in  Rockford,  111. ;  Jeremiah  C,  in  Mogadore,  Summit  County; 
Myron  (deceased);  Carlista  (Mrs.  Russ),  deceased;  Charles;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Will- 
iams); Calvin  H.,  in  Lead  City,  D.  T.;  Harmon  Benton;  Lydia  (deceased); 
Bierce,  in  Kansas;  Almon;  Wilson,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Twenty- seventh 
Regiment,  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  died  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  in  May, 
1863;  Perry,  who  was  a  member  of  theBrough  Guards  and  was  drowned  at  the 
sinking  of  the  steamer  "Sultana"  in  the  Mississippi  River,  April  27,  1865,  and 
Cordelia  (deceased).  Mr.  Moulton  resided  in  Brimfield  Township  until  April, 
1864,  when  he  removed  to  his  farm  of  ninety-five  acres  in   Suffield  Township, 


SUFFIELD  TOWNSHIP.  907 

where  he  now  resides  with  his  son  Almon.  The  latter  married  Miss  Kate 
Crine  and  has  two  children:  Elmer  and  Walter.  Our  subject  has  always  been 
a  Democrat;  has  served  the  township  in  a  public  capacity  repeatedly,  and  is  a 
man  above  reproach. 

WILLIAM  PAULUS,  retired  farmer  and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  P.  O.  Suf- 
tjeld,  was  born  March  16,  1825,  in  Stark  County,  Ohio;  son  of  David  and 
Catharine  Paulus,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  early  pioneers  of  Stark 
County,  and  who  removed  to  SuflQeld  Township  in  1839,  where  they  died  at  the 
advanced  age  respectively  of  eighty-three  and  seventy-one  years.  When  six- 
teen years  of  age  our  subject  left  home  and  removed  to  Stark  County,  where 
he  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  and  where,  March  1,  1846,  he  married 
Rebecca  Brouse,  by  whom  he  has  had  the  following  children:  Urias,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-fourth  Kegiment,  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry,  who  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  June  29,  1865;  Mary  E.  (Mrs.  Seth- 
man);  Isaac;  James  B.;  Jane  (]Mi-s.  Neubauer);  Jefiferson  and  Catharine  (Mrs. 
Schwartz).  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Paulus  settled  in  Suffield  Township,  this 
county,  and  followed  his  trade  for  six  years,  which  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
on  account  of  failing  health.  Upon  his  partial  recovery  from  a  prolonged  ill- 
ness, he  engaged  in  farming  and  also  in  contracting  for  the  erection  of  build- 
ings. In  1849  he  was  elected  Constable,  serving  nearly  two  terms.  In 
August,  3851,  he  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  has  held  the  position 
to  this  day,  the  longest  continuous  term  of  service  in  the  county.  In  1852  he 
was  elected  Township  Clerk,  which  office  he  served  two  terms.  In  1869  he 
was  elected  Land  Appraiser,  and  also  in  1879.  In  addition  to  the  above  he 
held  the  position  of  Acting  Manager  of  the  Public  Schools  for  several  years. 
He  now  owns  a  farm  of  fifty  acres  in  this  township,  one  of  seventy-eight  acres 
in  Stowe  Township,  Summit  County,  besides  valuable  town  property.  Politi- 
cally he  is  a  Democrat.  Mrs.  Paulus  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Lutheran 
denomination. 

FRANKLIN  P.  RUSSELL.,  M.  D.,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  October  29, 
1852,  in  Valparaiso,  Ind.,  son  of  Newell  Russell,  a  native  of  Aurora,  this 
county,  who  married  Miss  Paulina  Blakeslee,  of  Porter  County,  Ind.  They 
removed  to  Iowa  and  remained  until  1860,  when  they  located  at  Quincy,  111. 
Mr.  Russell  served  three  years  in  the  army,  after  which  he  engaged  in  mining 
in  the  Western  Territories  and  died  at  Denver,  Colo.,  November  5,  1874.  His 
wife  died  at  Quincy,  111.,  July  29,  1867.  leaving  the  following  children:  F.  P.; 
Chester  N.,  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  Ohio;  Agnes  V.  (Mrs.  Seaton),  Omaha ;^ 
Lola  L.  (Mrs.  Folger),  of  Akron,  Ohio,  and  Charles  Henry,  of  Streetsboro, 
Ohio.  Our  subject  came  to  this  county  when  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  in  1877 
began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Belden,  of  Ravenna,  taking  the  degree 
of  M.  D.  at  the  University  of  Wooster,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1880.  After 
practicing  nearly  two  years  in  Streetsboro,  this  county,  he,  in  December,  1881, 
located  at  Suffield,  this  county,  where  he  has  built  up  for  himself  a  large  and 
influential  practice.  On  May  13,  1880,  the  Doctor  married  Miss  Lillie  E. 
Tucker,  of  Streetsboro,  this  county,  and  is  the  father  of  one  daughter — Cora 
Leona. 

ISAAC  SAUSAMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  June  8,  J838,  in 
Suffield  Township,  son  of  John  and  Catherine  Sausaman,  who  came  here  from 
Union  (now  Snyder)  County,  Penn.,  in  1829.  Our  subject,  who  is  the  only 
one  of  their  nine  children  remaining  in  Suffield  Township,  spent  about  three 
years  in  Indiana  when  a  young  man.  September  5,  1865,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Catherine  Swinehart,  and  settled  where 
they  now  reside.      They  have  three  children  living:  Daniel,  Salome  and  Ben- 


908  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

jamin,  and  four — Louisa,  Nathan,  Zaida  and  Mabel  Amelia — who  died  of 
diphtheria  within  the  space  of  six  days  in  November,  1881.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sausaman  are  highly  respected  for  their  integrity  and  upright  character.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

AMOS  H.  SAXE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  born  Decem- 
ber 2,  1829,  in  Springfield,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio,  son  of  Michael  and  Sarah  Saxe, 
natives  of  Bucks  County,  Penn. ,  who  lived  a  few  years  in  Lancaster  County, 
thence  moved  to  Summit  County,  Ohio,  iu  1820,  where  they  remained  about 
nine  years,  and  finally  settled  in  Sufiield  Township,  Portage  Co.,  Ohio.  This 
was  then  an  entirely  new  country,  and  they  had  to  contend  with  various  diffi- 
culties in  the  wilderness.  Game  of  all  kinds  was  plentiful,  and  many  were 
the  adventures  which  these  settlers  experienced  in  their  struggle  for  existence. 
Only  a  small  place  was  cleared  for  a  house,  which  was  16x16,  the  floor  of 
which  was  made  of  split-logs,  a  blanket  doing  service  for  a  door,  and  in  this 
they  managed  to  exist  for  several  years,  the  family  numbering  nine  when  the 
house  was  first  occupied.  They  were  faithful  members  of  the  Disciples  Church 
and  regular  attendants  at  church,  having  to  walk  two  miles  (oxen  only  being 
then  employed).  Michael  Saxe  was  a  tailor  by  trade,  therefore  the  manage- 
ment of  the  farm  fell  upon  the  eldest  son  (Amos  H. ),  when  but  a  boy.  Mrs, 
Saxe  was  a  kind  and  devoted  mother;  a  peacemaker  in  her  family  of  children, 
always  ready  to  listen  to  their  troubles  and  furnish  some  means  of  relief.  She 
died  January  16,  1868.  Mr.  Saxe  died  December  10,  1882,  at  the  home  of  his 
son  Amos  H.,  aged  eighty-two  years.  Of  their  family  of  twelve  children,  six 
are  now  living  in  this  county,  two  in  Suffield  Township:  Amos  H.  and  John 
H.  Amelia  (Mrs.  Harter),  Jeremiah  and  Elizabeth  are  residents  of  Brimfield 
Township,  and  Jennie  (Mrs.  Shirtlefif),  of  Kent.  Our  subject  was  married 
May  11,  1865,  to  Amanda  Harter,  and  they  have  the  following  children: 
Florence,  Grace  and  Kay.  Mrs.  Saxe  is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  Church. 
By  industry  they  have  acquired  a  fine  farm  of  165  acres  of  well-improved  land. 
Mr.  Saxe  is  a  life-long  Democrat;  has  served  his  township  six  years  as  Trustee 
and  as  School  Director  fifteen  years. 

PETER  SCHULZ,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  February  15,  1826,  in 
Hemsback,  Baden,  Germany,  son  of  George  and  Margaret  Schulz,  who  came  to 
America  August  9,  1843,  settling  at  once  in  Randolph  Township,  this  county. 
They  were  parents  of  the  following  children:  Adam,  Eve  (now  Mrs.  Eberly) 
and  Peter.  George  Schulz  died  about  1857;  his  widow  followed  him  January 
5,  1874.  Our  subject  was  married  March  15,  1852,  to  Catherine  Shafer,  by 
whom  he  has  the  following  named  children:  Margaret,  Emeline  (now  Mrs. 
Andrews)  and  three  who  died  in  childhood.  Mr.  Schulz  lost  this  wife  April 
20,  1862,  and  he  subsequently  married  Mary  Kaiser,  a  native  of  Wurtemberg, 
Germany.  He  settled  where  he  now  resides  April  1,  1863,  and  here  he  has  a 
fine  farm  comprising  ninety-seven  acres  well-improved  land.  He  is  a  man  of 
integrity,  much  esteemed  by  the  whole  community.  He  and  his  wife  and 
daughters  are  members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

ISAAC  SLABAUGH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  March  15,  1830,  in 
Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  son  of  Christian  and  Nancy  Slabaugh,  natives  of 
Lancaster  County,  Penn.,  who  settled  in  Rootstown  Township,  Portage  Co., 
Ohio,  about  1835.  Here  Christian  Slabaugh  died  about  1848.  His  widow  sub- 
sequently moved  to  Elkhart  County,  Ind.,  where  she  remained  until  her  death. 
Of  their  family  of  twelve  children,  Isaac  is  the  fifth.  Our  subject  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm  and  attended  the  limited  schools  of  the  home  district.  He 
early  learned  the  brick-maker's  trade,  which  he  followed  about  eleven  years, 
in  Akron  and  the  surrounding  country,  being   four  years  foreman  of   a  large 


SUFFIELD  TOAVNSHIP.  909 

brick-yard  in  Akron.  Ho  was  married  JuJy  4,  1850,  to  Catherine,  daughter  of 
Samuel  J.  and  Elizabeth  Wise,  of  Stark  County,  Ohio.  Their  children  are 
Lewis,  Ella  (now  Mrs.  Alexander,  of  Akron,)  and  Emma.  In  1868  they 
settled  where  they  now  reside  in  Suffield  Township,  and  here  by  industry  have 
acquired  a  fine  farm  of  107  acres  of  well- improved  land.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Slabaugh  are  pioneer  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which 
they  have  belonged  for  twenty- five  years.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican;  a  suc- 
cessful farmer;  an  upright  citizen  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 

HENRY  SMYTH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  born  September  29,  1806,  in 
County  Antrim,  Ireland;  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Smyth,  who  lived  in 
Scotland  three  years,  soon  after  embarking  for  the  New  World.  They  came  by 
way  of  Hudson's  Bay  up  Nelson  River  and  into  the  wild  Red  River  country  of 
Minnesota,  landing  there  in  1812.  Here  they  remained  thi'ee  years,  then 
moved  South,  traveling  by  bark  canoes  through  Lake  Winnipeg,  Lake  of  the 
Woods  and  Rainy  Lake  into  Lake  Superior,  thence  down  the  lakes  to  Cleve- 
land and  located  at  Cuyahoga  Falls.  After  ten  years  residence  there  they  set- 
tled in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in  about  1828,  where  they  died  at  an 
advanced  age.  One  son,  John,  died  in  California  in  1870,  and  their  daughter, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Pendleton,  died  here  about  1833.  Henry,  our  subject,  married 
Miss  Mary  Gilbert,  of  Summit  County,  Ohio,  about  1830,  and  with  her 
cleared  up  and  developed  their  home,  now  consisting  of  222  acres  of  finely 
improved  land  with  excellent  buildings  thereon.  Mrs.  Smyth  died  in  1870. 
She  was  a  believer  in  the  Episcopal  faith,  a  lady  highly  esteemed  by  all  who 
knew  her.  Four  of  their  sons,  James,  Ernest,  Gilbert  and  Edward,  enlisted 
during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  the  latter  being  killed  at  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg Landing.  Their  other  children  are  Orrin,  Lyman  (in  Dakota),  fi'rank  (in 
Illinois),  Mary  (Mrs.  Spencer,  in  Iowa),  and  Ella  (Mrs.  Hale,  in  Mogadore, 
Summit  Co.,  Ohio).  Mr.  Smyth  is  living  on  the  homestead,  enjoying  the 
comforts  of  a  quiet  old  age.  Beginning  with  Gen.  Jackson  he  has  supported 
the  Democratic  party  ever  since. 

HORACE  ADELBERT  TICKNOR,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit 
County,  born  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  February  9,  1845;  son  of  J. 
Wooster  Ticknor  (a  native  of  Sharon,  Conn.,  who  came  with  his  parents  hither 
in  1812)  and  Rachel  (McCarty)  Ticknor  (who  moved  here  from  Columbia, 
Penn.,  in  1822).  They  lived  the  lives  of  pioneers  and  raised  a  family  of  five 
children,  three  of  whom  survive:  Horace  Adelbert,  Pulaski  and  Celestia.  J. 
Wooster  Ticknor  died  December  31,  1882,  and  is  buried  in  Kent,  Ohio.  His 
widow  resides  with  her  two  youngest  children.  Our  subject  in  August,  1863, 
enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry,  in  which  he  served  two  years,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
where  he  made  an  honorable  record  as  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier,  receiving 
his  discharge  in  November,  1865.  July  2,  1874,  he  married  Sarah  Ann 
White,  born  March  10,  1848,  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Timothy  and 
Nancy  (Moore)  W^hite,  who  settled  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county,  in  1849, 
and  where  the  father  died  November  4,  1854,  leaving  three  children:  Henry, 
Sarah  Ann  and  Rachel  (Mrs.  Mishlei').  The  mother  is  yet  living.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ticknor  have  three  children:  Eva,  Emma  and  Ella  Pearl.  They  are  now 
owners  of  the  White  estate,  149  acres  of  well-improved  land. 

SOLOMON  WAY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Suffield,  was  born  August  3,  1817,  in 
Suffield  Township,  this  county;  son  of  David  and  Rebecca  (Baldwin)  Way. 
natives  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  this  county  by  wagons  in  1801,  stopping 
one  year  in  New  York  en  route.  After  living  the  lives  of  upright  pioneers 
and  passing  a  few  years  of  retired  life  both  died  in  Springfield  Township, 

49 


910  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Summit  Co.,  Ohio.  Our  subject  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools 
of  those  early  days.  He  married  Mrs.  Hannah  Potter,  widow  of  Joseph  Pot- 
ter, by  whom  he  had  three  children:  Luna  (Mrs.  Palmer),  Thomas  Jefferson 
and  Melissa  (Mrs.  Thorp).  Mrs.  Way  died  in  1853,  and  Mr.  Way  then  mar- 
ried Mrs.  Rebecca  Brittan.  Their  children  are  Clara  (Mrs.  Crist),  B.  F.  (de- 
ceased), Almina  (Mrs.  Royei;),  Andi-ew  Jackson,  Laura  (Mrs.  Potts)  and  Minnie 
(Mrs.  Keister).  Our  subject  has  a  farm  of  113  acres,  is  an  old  and  respected 
pioneer  citizen,  and  enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  entire  community. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

JOHN  WEBER,  farmer  and  horticulturist,  P.  O.  SufiSeld,  was  born  in 
Rhine  Pfalz  Byron,  Germany,  September  13, 1833,  and  immigrated  to  America  in 
1854,  where  he  married,  October  28,  1856,  Miss  Margaret  Wilhelm,  also  born 
in  Germany,  then  a  resident  of  Sufi6eld  Township,  this  county,  and  who  bore 
him  the  following  children:  Jacob,  Mary,  George,  Adam.  Frank,  William, 
John,  Albert,  Katie,  Frederick,  Clara,  Ellen  and  Charles.  For  a  few  years 
our  subject  resided  in  Tallmadge,  Ohio,  but  finally  settled  in  Suffield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  where  he  now  resides.  He  here  has  a  farm  of  fifty  acres 
highly  cultivated  and  improved,  containing  a  carp  pond,  and,  in  addition,  in 
the  township  an  orchard  of  600  trees,  a  vineyard,  and  other  first-class  improve- 
ments. Mr.  Weber  does  a  large  business  supplying  the  markets  of  Akron, 
Ravenna  and  Kent  with  supplies  of  fruits  and  vegetables,  and  is  a  prosperous 
citizen.     He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

SAMUEL  WILSON,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was  born 
September  2,  1812,  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio;  son  of  Charles  Wilson,  a 
native  of  London,  England,  who  was  apprenticed  to  a  cloth  di'esser,  but  ran 
away  and  immigrated  to  America  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Shelton,  of  Maryland,  and  resided  some  years  each  in  Maryland,  Stark  Co., 
Ohio  (where  he  clerked  for  seven  years  with  Gideon  Hughes,  of  New  Lisbon), 
and  in  Suffield  Township,  this  county.  The  most  of  his  life  he  followed  the 
profession  of  a  teacher.  Our  subject  was  married,  November  3,  1836,  to  Miss 
Catherine  Soldars,  born  October  4,  1818,  in  York  County,  Penn.,  but  who 
immigrated  to  Ohio  when  six  years  of  age  with  her  widowed  mother.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wilson,  after  living  four  years  in  the  southern  part  of  this  township, 
settled  where  they  now  reside,  and  by  industry  and  good  management  have 
acquired  title  to  a  fine  farm  of  100  acres  of  well-improved  land.  They  are 
the  parents  of  the  following  sons  and  daughters:  John,  Mrs.  Hetty  Lutz,  Mrs. 
Mary  Ann  Arehart,  Mrs.  Catharine  Lutz,  Mrs.  Angeline  Upham,  Aaron,  James 
Elmer  and  Mrs.  Lethy  Ellen  Lutz  (twins).  Mr.  Wilson  is  a  Democrat  in  poli- 
tics.    He  has  served  his  township  as  Trustee  three  terms. 

DANIEL  WISE  (deceased),  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  settled  in 
1812,  at  a  very  early  age,  with  his  parents,  Henry  and  Elizabeth  Wise,  in 
Greentown,  Stark  Co.,  Ohio,  where  he  was  brought  up,  and  where,  in  1830,  he 
married  Miss  Susanna  Stripe,  by  whom  he  had  the  following  children:  Jere- 
miah, Abraham  (has  resided  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  since  1851),  Mary  (Mrs. 
Flickinger,  in  Stark  County,  Ohio),  Henry,  J.  Wesley,  William,  Anna  (Mrs. 
Hinman)  and  Sarah  (deceased  in  1862).  The  family  moved  to  Suffield  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1846,  where  our  subject  died  in  1848,  and  where  his 
widow  brought  up  the  children,  keeping  them  together.  In  1855  the  family 
came  to  where  they  now  reside,  and  where  Mrs.  Wise  now,  at  an  advanced  age, 
enjoys  the  love  of  all  who  know  her.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Her  son  Henry  and  one  of  her  daughters  with  her  hus- 
band are  living  with  her. 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  911 

JOHN  WESLEY  WISE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mogadore,  Summit  County,  was 
born  in  Lake  Township,  Stark  County,  Ohio,  November  10,  1838,  and  in  18^6 
settled  with  his  parents,  Daniel  and  Susanah  (Stripe)  Wise,  in  this  township  and 
county,  where  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  September,  1861,  he  enlisted 
in  the  Twenty- ninth  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  during  the  first 
two  years  served  in  the  campaigns  of  Virginia.  His  regiment  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  the  West  and  became  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  He 
passed  through  the  noted  battles  of  that  region,  and  was  wounded  in  the  left 
shoulder  at  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  June  17,  1864.  The  fol- 
lowing September  he  secured  an  honorable  discharge  and  returned  home, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming.  On  November  20,  1870,  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Anna  Shafer,  and  in  1875  they  settled  where  they  now  reside,  and 
own  a  farm  of  sixty  acres.  They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children: 
Wilkie  Anson,  Rosa  J.,  Preston  E.,  Daniel  W.,  Chester  Garfield  and  James 
Blaine.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  Republican;  himself  and  wife  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

ANTHONY  ZOLLER,  manufacturer,  Mogadore,  Summit  Co.,  born  Novem- 
ber 24,  1847,  in  Rhenish  Bavaria,  Germany,  son  of  Frank  and  Frances  Zol- 
ler,  who  still  reside  at  the  place  of  our  subject's  nativity.  He  immigrated  to 
America  in  1866,  locating  at  Akron,  Ohio,  where  for  seven  years  he  was 
employed  in  the  drug  store  of  E.  Steinbacher.  On  June  1,  1872,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  Eckstein,  of  Akron,  and  one  year  later  removed  to  Suffield  Cen- 
ter, where,  along  with  George  Michael,  he  opened  a  general  merchandise  store, 
which,  however,  was  burned  within  the  succeeding  ten  months.  Our  subject 
then  purchased  and  kept  the  Sufiield  Hotel,  also  the  hotel  at  Mogadore,  Sum- 
mit County,  which  latter  he  still  owns.  In  1882  he  secured  an  interest  in  the 
Eagle  Block  in  Mogadore,  and  a  year  subsequent  became  owner  of  the  clay 
works  in  the  same  place.  Mr.  Zoller  is  the  father  of  three  children:  Frank, 
Joseph  and  Helen.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics;  a  member  of  the  Knights 
of  Pythias. 


WINDHA3I  TOWNSHIP. 


ELIJAH  ALFORD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mahoning,  was  born  April  23,  1829,  in 
Windham  Township,  this  county.  His  grandfather,  Elijah  Alford,  was  a 
prominent  Deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Becket,  Mass. ,  previous  to 
coming  to  Windham  Township,  of  which  he  became  one  of  the  original 
owners.  Two  of  his  sons,  Elijah  and  Oliver,  came  here  in  March,  1811,  to 
prepare  a  home  for  the  family,  who  followed  in  July.  He  was  parent  of  seven 
children:  Elijah,  Oliver,  Levi,  Ruth,  Sally,  Anna  and  Olive.  Of  these,  Levi 
was  born  in  Becket,  Mass.,  April  14,  1789;  married,  April  6, 1814,  to  Edna  E. 
Conant,  born  October  8,  1795,  and  who  bore  him  eight  children:  Elizabeth  O., 
Rebecca  E.,  Louisa,  Sidney  L.,  Samuel  N.,  Edward  (consumed  in  a  burning 
house,  October  23,  1836),  Elijah,  our  subject,  and  Durias  M.  Levi  Alford 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  served  as  a  private  in  the  war  of  1812, 
receiving  a  land  grant  for  his  services.  He  held  many  of  the  township  offices 
of  trust,  and  always  took  a  prominent  and  liberal  part  in  all  public  improve- 
ments. He  was  for  many  years  a  consistent  member  of  church.  He  died  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1869,  his  widow  following  him  January  23,  1873.     Our  subject,  like 


912  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  : 

his  father,  has  always  been  a  farmer.  During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion 
he  enlisted  in  the  100  days'  service  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first 
Ohio  National  Guards.  Mr.  Alford  has  been  twice  married,  first  in  1856,  to 
Silence  A.  Brewster;  on  second  occasion,  October  12,  1865,  to  Harriet  C. 
Snow,  born  October  1-1,  1836,  in  Windham  Township,  daughter  of  Milton  and 
Clemena  (Jagger)  Snow,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  early  settlers  of  Wind- 
ham Township.  Mr.  Snow  was  a  public-spirited,  influential  man,  and  filled 
the  oflSces  of  Township  Clerk  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many  years.  He 
died  July  30,  1867.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alford  have 
three  children:  Estella  S.,  Herbert  J.  and  Arthur  M. 

THOMAS  O.  ANGEL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Hopewell, 
Ontaria  Co.,  N.  Y.,  November  25,  1835,  son  of  Joseph  and  Cornelia  (Arnold) 
Angel,  natives  of  Rhode  Island,  who  raised  a  family  of  four  children:  Thomas 
O.,  Elizabeth  M.,  Abbie  E.  and  Ephraim  C,  who  died  in  1859.  Joseph  Angel 
was  born  at  Smithfield,  R.  I.,  May  15,  1805,  and  settled  in  Windham  Town- 
ship, this  county,  February  2,  1837,  where  he  became  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent farmers  in  the  county  and  the  promoter  of  all  ventures  designed  to  secure 
the  advancement  of  religious  and  educational  enterprises.  He  was  a  stanch 
Republican,  though  never  a  candidate  for  any  office.  For  many  years  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He  died  December  26,  1872;  his 
widow  September  23,  1879.  The  early  life  of  our  subject  was  passed  on  the 
home  farm,  which  he  purchased  of  his  father  in  1860.  During  the  late  war 
of  the  Rebellion  he  was  in  the  100  days'  service  as  a  member  of  Company  I, 
One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guards,  participating  in  the 
battle  of  Kellar's  Bridge,  Ky.  On  November  8,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Strong,  born  in  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  May  8,  1841 ;  she  died  May  17, 
1869,  the  mother  of  two  children:  Joseph  W.  and  Ernest  S.  Mr.  Angel 
removed  to  Windham  Center  in  1869.  In  1870  he  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  a  position  he  has  filled,  with  the  exception  of  about  six  months,  for  a 
period  of  twelve  years;  has  been  commissioned  Notary  Public  for  five  years. 
He  is  a  member  of  Earl-Milliken  Post,  No.  333,  G.  A.  R.;  a  communicant  of 
the  Congregational  Church. 

HEZEKIAH  D.  BALDWIN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  N.  Y.,  July  2,  1829,  son  of  Daniel  and  Nancy  (Allen)  ^Baldwin, 
former  a  native  of  New  York,  latter  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1805.  They 
were  parents  of  six  children:  Hezekiah,  Mary  A.,  Henry  R.,  Edwin  D.,  Laura 
C.  and  Cordelia  S.  Daniel  Baldwin  was  a  farmer  and  a  local  preacher.  He 
went  to  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  in  1833,  and  became  a  very  influential  man, 
highly  esteemed  by  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  He  died  in  1847,  his 
widow  in  1881.  Our  subject  was  married,  September  27,  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah 
J.  Bradford,  a  resident  of  Ravenna,  this  county,  born  in  Cuyahoga  County, 
Ohio,  September  27,  1834.  By  this  union  there  are  four  childi-en:  Linton 
D. ;  Eva  L.,  wife  of  R.  D.  Loomis;  Addie  H.  and  Willie  G.  Mr.  Baldwin 
early  in  life  entered  upon  his  career  as  a  farmer,  and  has  always  followed 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1856,  locating  in  Charles- 
town  Township,  but  in  a  few  years  moved  to  Ravenna,  where  he  remained 
till  1869,  when  he  came  to  his  present  farm,  the  appearance  of  which  does 
not  belie  his  reputation  for  being  one  of  the  practical  and  substantial  farmers 
of  Windham  Township.  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Baldwin  have  for  many  years  been 
identified  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

HIRAM  BINGHAM,  retired  minister,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, May  30,  1815,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Rhoda  (Fenn)  Bingham.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  our  subject  began  clerking,  but  at  the  end  of  two  years 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP. 


918 


entered  college  at  Middlebury,  Vt.,  gi-aduating  in  1839;  thence  he  matricu- 
lated at  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  In  iSll  he  came  ^y est,  gradu- 
ating the  following  year  at  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
While  there  he  accepted  a  call  from  Red  Oak  Church,  in  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
where  he  remained  for  two  years.  The  succeeding  two  years  were  spent  at 
Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  the  four  years  following  as  Professor  of  college  at 
Marietta,  Ohio.  He  was  married,  September,  1842,  to  Abigail  Bushnell,  born 
in  Vermont  October  14,  1815,  daughter  of  Rev.  J.  Bushnell,  who  for  thirty- 
three  years  was  pastor  of  a  church  in  Cornwall,  Vt.  In  the  spring  of  1850 
Mr.  Bino-ham  came  to  Windham  Township  on  a  visit  to  an  old  teacher,  and 
eventually  became  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  here,  but  after  live  years 
he  went  South  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  during  the  winter  of  1855-56.  In  the 
sprino-  following  he  received  a  unanimous  invitation  from  the  session  to  stand 
as  a  candidate  for  the  pastorship  of  the  church,  but  deeming  the  charge  too 
great  for  his  state  of  health  he  declined.  Mr.  Bingham  found  the  climate 
South  favorable  to  his  health,  and  was,  therefore,  strongly  inclined  to  remain 
there,  but  judging  from  what  he  saw  and  heard  among  the  people  that  a  polit- 
ical r'evolution^was  imminent,  he  returned  North,  and  for  the  last  twenty-nine 
years  has  resided  at  his  former  home,  supplying  vacant  and  feeble  churches  in 
the  vicinity  as  he  has  had  the  opportunity.  In  the  meantime  he  has  taken 
much  out-door  exercise  on  his  farm,  which  he  has  found  not  only  highly  con- 
ducive to  his  general  health  but  also  to  a  comfortable  support.  From  the 
beginning  of  Ihe  Republican  party  he  has  been  known  as  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican, unfil  of  late  having  lost  confidence  in  that  party  as  a  reform  party,  he  has 
joined  the  Prohibition  party,  and  is  now  known  as  a  pronounced  Prohibi- 
tionist. 

COL.   M.  A.  BIRCHARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  January  31, 
1808,  in  Becket,   Berkshire  Co.,    Mass.,    son  of  Nathan  and  Marcy   (Ashley) 
Birchard,  the  former  born  September  30,  1769,  in  Becket,  Mass.,  and  the  lat- 
ter born  July  22,  1766,  in  Westfield,  Mass.       They  came  to  Windham  Town- 
ship in  1812,  and  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Aaron  Castor,  where  they 
died,  the  father  Septembers,  1889,  and  the  mother  Jane  1,  1835.      They  were 
original  members  of  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  organized  in   Windham. 
They  had  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  only  one  now 
living.       M.  A.  Birchard  attended  the   log-cabin  schools  of  Windham  a  few 
months  during  the  winters  of  his  early  boyhood  days.      He  began  for  himself 
when   twenty-one  years  old,  and  with  an  ax,   which  he   purchased  for  |3,  he 
soon  felled  the  trees  on  parts  of  his  present  farm,  where  he  has  always   lived 
since  reaching  majority.     In  1834  he  was  married  to  Mary  E.  Cantield,  daugh- 
ter of  Amasa^and  Nancy  (Randall)  Canfield,  and  by  her  had  one  son— Edward 
L.  (deceased  in  1878,  five  years  subsequent  to  the  demise  of  his  mother).    Mr. 
Birchard  was  married,  a  second  time,  to  Lois  A.  Richards,  daughter  of  Mills 
and  Aurelia  (Humphrey)  Richards,  natives  of    Connecticut  and  who  settled  in 
Medina  County,  Ohio,  as  early  as  1828.       By  this  union  were  born  Emily  E. 
and  Mary  A.    'in  an  early  day  Mr.  Birchard  was  Colonel  of  a  militia  com- 
pany.    In  1851  he  was  elected  County  Commissioner,  and  served  three  years. 
He  has  been  Township  Trustee  and  has  held  other  minor  offices.       He  cast  his 
first  Presidential  vote  for  Gen.  Jackson,  and  has  clung  closely  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party  since.       Col.  Birchard  is  well  known  and  respected  by  all.      The 
late  Judge  Mathew  Birchard,  of   Warren,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,   was  an   elder 
brother  of  our  subject.  -.oco  • 

MARK  BIRCHARD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  June  2b,  1852,  m 
Windham   Township,   this    county,   son    of    Nathan   A.  and   Eliza    (Alford) 


914  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

Birchard,  eavly  settlers  of  Windham  Township.  Our  subject  was  reared  on 
the  farm  and  received  a  common  school  education.  He  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, October  18,  1876,  with  Miss  Lucy  C.  Chaffee,  boi*n  in  AVindham  Town- 
ship, this  county,  July  3,  1858,  daughter  of  Wolcott  Chaflfee.  By  this  union 
there  are  two  children:  Chaffee  AV,  and  Grace  E.  Mr.  Birchard,  who  has 
always  followed  agricultural  pursuits,  keeps  his  farm  well  cultivated,  and  is 
destined  to  be  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  township.  He  filled  the 
office  of  Constable  of  Windham  Township  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  people. 

WOLCOTT  CHAFFEE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Garrettsville,  was  born  in  Becket, 
Mass.,  June  15,  1826,  son  of  Newman  K.  and  Elizabeth  (Phelps)  Chaffee,  also 
natives  of  Becket,  Mass.,  where  the  former  was  born  in  1796,  and  the  latter 
in  1800.  They  raised  a  family  of  five  children:  Ebenezer,  Frederick,  Wol- 
cott, Joseph[C.  and*Elizabeth  A.  Newman  K.  Chaffee  died  in  1858;  his  wife 
April  30,  1826.  Our  subject  was  raised  by  an  uncle,  Wolcott  Chaffee,  after 
whom  he  was  named,  and  who  took  him  when  an  infant  and  brought  him  up 
as  his  own  child.  The  uncle  died  November  22,  1870,  and  his  widow,  Abigail 
(Kingsley)  Chaffee,  June  8,  1882.  Our  subject  came  to  this  county  in 
November,  1839,  but  at  the  expiration  of  a  year  and  a  half  returned  to  his 
native  town.  In  1847  he  came  to  Ravenna,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  till  1851, 
when  he  came  to  Windham  Township,  and  commenced  farming,  an  occupation 
he  has  since  followed.  He  was  married,  July  8,  1849,  to  Jennett  A.  Judd, 
born  in  Ravenna  Township,  this  county.  May  12,  1826,  daughter  of  Howard 
and  Ruthalia  (Carter)  Judd,  natives  of  New  Yox'k  and  Connecticut  respect- 
ively. To  this  union  were  born  three  children:  George  N. .  deceased;  Alva 
B.,  and  Lucy  C,  wife  of  M.  E.  Birchard.  Mr,  Chaffee  organized  Portage 
Lodge,  No.  456,  L  O.  O.  F.,  July  25,  1870,  and  for  four  years  has  been  Dis- 
trict Deputy  Grand  Master  of  Portage  County,  and  is  also  a  F.  &  A.  M.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

GEORGE  B.  CONANT,  of  Windham,  was  born  October  12,  1825,  in 
Windham  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Asa  M.  Conant,  was  born  March 
16,  1800,  in  Becket,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  and  his  mother,  Eunice  H.  (Bierce) 
Conant,  was  born  January  22,  1801,  in  Connecticut,  daughter  of  Philo  Bierce, 
and  who  came  to  Windham  Township,  this  county,  when  yoiang.  The  father 
came  to  Windham  Township  in  1811,  with  his  parents,  Thatcher  and  Elizabeth 
(Manley)  Conant,  whose  children  were  Susannah,  Thatcher  F.,  Edna,  Mehita- 
bel,  Asa  M.,  Chloe,  Rebecca,  George  E.,  Lydia  M.  and  Angelina  G.  Our  sub- 
ject's parents  were  married  September  25,  1824,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Treat,  and 
their  children  were  nine  in  number:  G.  B.,  Philo  B.,  Thatcher  G.,  Nelson 
B.,  Amanda  N.,  Frederick,  Lucy,  Henry  and  Edward.  The  father  died  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1846,  and  the  mother  May  7,  1878.  Both  were  long  connected  with 
the  Congregational  Church.  The  subject  of  this  sketch,  George  B.  Conant, 
was  educated  in  the  district  schools  and  academy  of  Windham.  He  began 
teaching  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  and  for  some 
six  or  seven  years  thereafter  a  large  part  of  the  time  was  thus  spent.  He 
taught  in  Parkman,  Ohio,  and  in  different  schools  of  his  native  township,  and 
gained  an  honorable  reputation  as  a  teacher.  The  year  1851  Mr.  Conant  spent 
teaching  near  Perryville,  Ky.,  the  place  more  recently  made  celebrated  as  a 
battle-field.  During  the  intervals  of  teaching  he  spent  his  time  in  selling  car- 
riages for  N.  D.  Clark  &  Co. ,  of  Ravenna.  Thus  by  his  energy  he  made  a  very 
successful  year  in  that  State.  In  1847  he  was  married  to  Maria  E.  Birchard, 
who  was  born  September  2,  1827,  daughter  of  Nathan  A.  and  Betsey  E. 
(Alford)  Birchard,  originally  of  Becket,  Mass.       To  this  union  seven  children 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  915 

were  born,  three  of  whom  lived  to  adult  years:  Lucy,  married  to  Henry  N. 
Donaldson,  at  present  Train  Master,  Mahoning  Division,  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania &  Ohio  Railroad,  and  residincr  at  Girard,  Ohio;  Hattie  C,  married 
September  27,  1883,  to  Dr.  Charles  H.  Dixon,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.  (she  died 
March  12,  1885,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  Windham  the  Sabbath  following); 
Gertie  M. ,  the  youngest,  is  at  present  a  student  at  Oberlin.  In  1856  Mr. 
Conant  bought  a  farm  in  the  west  part  of  Windham,  where  he  remained  until 
1864.  Here  he  evinced  his  characteristic  ability  to  farm  in  an  attractive  man- 
ner. In  1864  he  sold  this  farm  and  moved  to  Mineral  Ridge,  Ohio,  where  he 
remained  until  the  spring  of  1866,  when  he  left  that  place  and  spent  the  sum- 
mer traveling  on  business  in  the  West.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he 
bought  the  old  homestead  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Treat,  the  first  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Windham.  Subseqiiently  he  has  added  to  this 
farm  until  he  has  now  over  100  acres  all  in  good  condition.  Mr.  Conant  has 
repaired  and  enlarged  the  outbuildings,  and  built  in  1882  an  attractive  and 
commodious  farm-house,  thus  making  a  residence,  situated  as  it  is  a  little 
north  of  the  center  of  the  township,  that  ranks  among  the  most  desirable  in 
the  vicinity.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Conant  are  active  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church  and  Sabbath-school,  and  to  all  projects  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
society  lend  helping  hands.  In  politics  he  has  been  steadfastly  Republican, 
and  for  its  interests  has  been  an  ardent  worker.  He  has  held  the  oflSce  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  two  terms,  as  well  as  other  official  positions  from  time 
to  time.  Having  by  his  own  energy  placed  himself  in  his  present  desirable 
surroundings,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  he  is  entitled  to  much  credit  and  to  be 
ranked  among  the  most  substantial  men  of  the  community. 

ELIZUR  A.  CURTISS,  farmer.  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Granville, 
Hampden  Co.,  Mass.,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sally  (Fairchild)  Curtiss,  natives 
of  Massachusetts,  and  who  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children:  Saxton,  Mary 
F.,  Anson,  James,  Hannah,  Orpha,  Elizur  A.  and  Eliza  (twins),  Lowell,  Sarah 
and  Alonzo.  The  father  died  in  1851,  the  mother  in  1868.  Our  subject  in 
early  life  was  emj^loyed  in  assisting  on  the  farm  and  attending  the  common 
schools,  to  which  his  educational  privileges  were  limited.  He  entered  on  the 
battle  of  life  as  a  farmer,  an  occupation  he  always  followed.  He  was  married 
April  19,  1854,  to  Laura  Seymour,  born  in  Massachusetts  August  27,  1832, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Ardon  and  Orpha  (Collins)  Seymour,  of  Massachusetts, 
By  this  union  there  were  ten  children:  Frederick  S.,  Eliza  S.,  William  F., 
Charles  E.  (deceased),  Julia  C,  Herbert  E.,  Alice  S.  (deceased),  Fanny  A. 
(deceased),  Ellen  M.  and  Charles  S.  Mr.  Curtiss  came  to  this  county  in  1858 
and  located  in  Charlestown  Township,  where  he  remained  two  years,  and  then 
removed  to  his  present  place  of  residence  in  Windham  Township.  His  farm 
is  under  a  state  of  cultivation  second  to  none  in  the  township,  and  its  appear- 
ance denotes  its  owner  to  be  a  practical  farmer  as  well  as  an  energetic  and  enter- 
prising man.  During  the  war  Mr.  Curtiss  was  taken  prisoner  at  Cynthiana, 
Ky.,  he  having  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio 
National  Guards.  Politically  he  is  identified  with  the  Republican  party.  He 
and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

IRA  S.  CUTTS,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Addison  County, 
Vt.,  October  22,  1829,  son  of  Daniel  B.  and  Lucy  (Smith)  Cutte,  natives  of 
Vermont,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  1804.  They  had  a  family  of  eight 
children:  Mary,  Ira  S. ,  Henry  (deceased),  Sarah  A,,  Roswell  B.,  Jane,  Henry 
and  Fanny.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1831  and  located  in  Windhaiu 
Township,  vvhere  Mr.  Cutts  followed  his  trade,  shoe-making,  for  many  years, 
thence  moved  to  Paris  Township,  where  he  eventually  purchased  a  farm    and 


916  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

for  many  years  previous  to  his  death  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was 
a  cousistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  died  in  1874, 
his  wife  having  preceded  him  in  18(34.  Our  subject  received  a  common  school 
education  and  has  always  been  a  farmer.  He  was  married  in  1856  to  Mary  L. 
Russell,  who  died  in  1871  and  by  whom  he  had  one  daughter — Perlea,  wife  of 
Charles  Smith.  Mr.  Cutts  next  married  Delia  Russell,  a  sister  of  his  first 
wife,  and  by  her  has  a  son — Daniel.  Mr.  Cutts  is  a  man  highly  esteemed  by 
the  community  in  which  he  lives.  He  is  very  enterprising  and  energetic,  and 
his  property  represents  many  hours  of  hard  labor  performed  by  his  own  hands. 

NATHAN  D.  DUNBAR^,  Station  Agent,  Windham,  was  born  in  Bushkill, 
Pike  Co.,  Penn.,  October  1,  1846,  son  of  F.  K.  and  Maria  (Dewitt)  Dunbar, 
who  were  parents  of  six  children:  Andy,  Superintendent  Eastern  Division 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad,  at  Meadville,  Penn. ;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  George  Van  Tile,  of  Warren,  Ohio;  Katherine,  Avife  of  Lewis  Wright, 
of  Oiean,  N.  Y. ;  Nathan  D.,  our  subject;  John  D.,  Station  Agent  at  Cochran- 
ton,  Penn.,  and  who  has  been  engaged  in  railroad  business  for  twenty  years, 
and  Armida,  now  living  at  Olean,  N.  Y.  F.  K.  Dunbar  (the  father),  a  native 
of  New  York,  is  a  retired  tailor  now  residing  in  Warren,  Ohio.  His  wife  died 
in  1873.  Our  subject  acquired  a  common  school  education  and  began  life  for 
himself  in  canal  business,  in  which  he  continued  till  1866,  when  he  removed 
to  Evansburg,  Penn.,  and  was  employed  by  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western 
Railway  Company  as  telegraph  operator.  He  soon  after  became  Station  Agent 
at  Orangeville,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1872,  when  he  accepted  a  like 
situation  at  Windham,  which  position  he  still  retains,  and,  as  agent,  has 
gained  the  respect  of  the  community  by  his  business  ability,  and  kind  and 
obliging  manners.  In  September,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Nettie  Graves,  who 
was  born  at  Harbor  Creek,  Penn.,  in  1848,  and  by  her  he  has  five  children: 
Delia,  Imogene,  Chauncey,  Andy  and  Lorena.  Mr.  Dunbar  has  been  for  years 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

EBENEZER  W.  EARL  (deceased)  was  born  in  Braceville,  Ohio,  Febru- 
ary 12,  1806,  and  came  with  his  father's  family  to  Windham,  this  county,  in 
1814.  There  were  then  fourteen  families  in  the  township,  of  which  there  are 
now  but  eight  persons  living:  Eli  Case,  R.  M.  Higley,  Lorin  Higley,  M.  P. 
Higley,  Moses  A.  Birchard,  Jesse  Lyman,  Mrs.  Eliza  Birchard  and  Mrs. 
Clemens  Snow.  Soon  after  coming  to  Windham  a  friendly  plan  was  hit  upon, 
by  which  Mr.  Earl  was  engaged  as  mill  boy  for  a  neighborhood  of  young 
married  people — JohnSeley,  Hardin  Seley,  A.  P.  Jagger,  John  Streator— who 
settled  a  mile  or  so  south  of  the  Center,  so  that  they  could  clear  up  their  farms 
without  the  delay  incident  to  such  necessary  work.  Mr.  Earl's  father  and 
some  others  made  it  necessary  that  two  or  three  trips  a  week  should  be  made, 
as  there  were  no  roads  opened,  and  only  a  bridlepath  with  blazed  trees  to 
guide  the  horseman.  Two  bushels  of  grain  was  a  full  load  in  those  days,  and 
Mr.  Jagger  owned  the  only  horse  in  the  syndicate.  The  most  frequented  road 
to  Garrettsville  led  across  the  Rudd  farm  and  very  often  a  delay  at  the  mill 
would  necessitate  young  Earl's  starting  home  w^hen  near  dark,  and  when  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  to  keep  the  path.  Many  a  time  the  howling  of 
wolves  in  every  direction  would  announce  their  fearful  proximity  to  the  path 
he  was  following.  Hunger  and  danger  were  mighty  strong  powers  for  a  lad 
of  twelve  years  to  contend  with,  and  sorely  it  taxed  the  youthful  energies  of 
our  hero  many  times  to  the  utmost  limit  of  endurance,  as  he  toiled  along  his 
forest  path  in  these  labors  of  kindness  during  the  four  or  five  years  of  this 
service.  On  one  occasion  he  made  a  trip  to  Barnum's  mill  in  Braceville,  and 
a  severe  thunder  shower  prevented   his  starting  for  home  until  sundown.     As 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  917 

he  emerged  from  the  woods  to  cross  Eagle  Creek  Bridge,  east  of  William 
Moore' s  present  farm,  tlie  darkness  was  complete,  and  some  fox-fire  on  a  stump 
in  the  State  road  frightened  him  greatly,  as  he  imagined  it  to  be  the  glisten 
of  a  bear's  eyes  or  some  more  furious  animal.  It  was  11  o'clock  when  he 
reached  home,  and  found  all  the  family  a-bed  and  asleep.  On  another  occasion 
Mr.  Earl  made  a  trip  to  New  Falls  with  a  horse  that  was  extremely  ugly  and 
vicious  and  a  blow  from  a  whip  would  cause  him  to  rear  and  kick  with  such 
violence  as  to  pitch  both  boy  and  grist  clean  off  his  back  on  short  notice. 
Young  Earl  found  the  mill  so  crowded  with  grists,  that  he  was  unable  to  stai't 
for  home  until  late  in  the  day,  and  at  his  arrival  at  Mr.  Brooks'  place,  with  a 
long  swampy  mudhole  ahead,  the  horse  refused  to  go  any  further.  After  every 
plan  he  could  think  of  had  been  tried  to  make  the  animal  proceed,  the  boy 
reluctantly  took  his  back  track  to  the  mill  and  stayed  with  Ben  Yale,  who  then 
ran  the  mill  at  night.  In  the  morning  on  reaching  the  same  place  the  horse 
refused  to  proceed,  and  neither  leading  nor  coaxing  would  induce  him  to 
advance  a  step.  In  this  dilemma  Mr.  Brooks  saw  the  boy  and  came  to  his 
relief  with  a  whip,  which  he  applied  so  vigorously  that  the  kicking  up  "  racket  " 
was  suspended,  and  a  rapid  advance  made  for  home.  Chopping  was  a  favorite 
employment  with  Mr.  Earl  in  those  days,  forty  or  sixty  acres  in  one  job  being 
not  uncommon,  and  he  would  slash  down  an  acre  in  a  day  by  the  windrow 
style  of  felling  a  long  line  of  trees  across  a  "  bush  "  by  cutting  them  half  or 
two-thirds  through  and  directing  the  course  of  each  so  that  the  first  tree  of  the 
line  would  fall  against  the  second,  the  second  against  the  third  and  so  on  until 
the  roar  and  crash  of  falling  timber  for  fifty  or  one  hundred  rods  would  bear 
comparison  with  a  first-class  cyclone  of  modern  times.  Splitting  rails  was 
another  work  in  which  IVIr.  Earl  excelled,  and  he  could  split  from  400  to  600 
per  day.  The  ordinary  price  for  this  kind  of  work  was  then  12|^  cents  per 
100.  January  20,  1852,  he  left  his  home  and  started  for  New  York  with  money 
to  purchase  eight  tickets  for  California  via  the  Panama  route,  and  these  were 
procured  for  $300.  The  company  left  in  a  few  days  for  Chagres,  Panama, 
and  finding  no  boat  on  the  Pacific  side  connected  with  the  line  they  went  by, 
they  had  to  remain  there  eighteen  days  and  were  finally  obliged  to  sue  the 
purser  of  the  boat  they  came  on,  whereby  they  received  nearly  enough  returns 
to  purchase  tickets  from  there  to  San  Francisco  on  an  old  sailing  vessel;  $252.50 
secured  their  tickets  and  paid  hospital  fee  at  Chagres.  They  had  a  long, 
dreary  voyage  of  sixty-five  days,  during  which  time  they  saw  land  only  once 
and  but  one  sail.  A  number  of  the  passengers  died  on  the  passage,  one  of 
whom  was  Barnus  Ives,  of  Nelson,  this  county.  On  arrival  at  May vi lie  they 
were  obliged  to  walk  seventy-five  miles  to  the  mines.  The  following  December 
deep  snow  stopped  the  mule  train,  which  carried  the  supplies  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles,  and  all  their  provisions  had  to  be  carried  by  men.  The  scarcity 
brought  flour  up  to  $2  per  pound,  but  Mr.  Earl  managed  to  secure  from  the 
three  bakeries  twenty-five  one-pound  loaves  for  fifty  cents  each,  and  thus 
escaped  the  higher  prices  that  followed.  He  was  successful  in  securing  a 
considerable  quantity  of  gold.  May  26,  1884,  he  died.  His  widow  is  now 
residing  on  the  old  homestead.  Mr.  Earl  was  an  active  worker  in  the  Sunday- 
school  and  was  a  devoted  Christian. 

ORLANDO  L.  EARL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  July  29,  1838, 
on  the  farm  which  is  still  his  home.  His  father,  James  Earl,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  a  plastering  mason  by  trade,  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Higley,  who  bore  him  three  children:  Edwin  D.  (killed 
in  the  army),  Amanda  E.  (deceased)  and  Orlando  L.  James  Earl  was  a  prom- 
inent man  in  his  day,  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


918  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

He  died  November  25,  1846.  His  widow,  who  still  survives,  was  married  in 
1879,  to  David  P.  Robinson,  who  died  the  same  year.  Our  subject  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  and  the  academy  of  this  county,  and  farming  has 
been  his  life's  avocation.  During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  in 
Company. A,  Forty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  for  three  years, 
participating  in  the  engagements  at  Port  Gibson,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Thompson's 
Hill  and  Black  River.  He  was  married  October  11,  1865,  to  Jane  E.  Cutts, 
born  April  18,  1842,  in  Paris,  and  by  whom  he  has  three  children:  Edwin  C, 
Mabel  A.  and  Ernest  B.  Mr.  Earl  is  a  member  of  the  School  Board,  and  has 
served  as  Township  Trustee  for  three  years.  He  is  connected  with  the  Con- 
gregational Church;  is  a  member  of  Earl-Milliken  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  "Wind- 
ham.    In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

MATTHEW  P.  HIGLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Windham 
Township,  this  county,  September  12,  1813,  the  second  white  child  to  see  the 
light  of  day  in  the  township,  and  the  oldest  living  resident  now  that  was 
born  here,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sally  (McCown)  Higley,  who  were  the  parents 
of  seven  children:  Robert  M.,  Edward,  Loren,  Matthew  P.,  Sarah,  Hannah  and 
Alfred  M.  Benjamin  Higley  was  a  native  of  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  born 
in  1877;  came  to  this  township  in  1811;  served  as  a  Colonel  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  died  about  1865,  his  wife  having  died  several  years  previous.  Our 
subject  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  made  farming  the  principal  occupation  of 
his  life.  He  was  married  September  25,  1839,  to  Miss  Luna  C.  Robbins,  born 
in  Windham  Township,  this  county,  February  16,  1821,  by  whom  he  has  had 
six  children:  Lodisa  H.,  Philander  R.,  Marion  C,  Benjamin  P.,  Franklin 
(deceased)  and  Mack  D.  In  1869  Mr.  Higley  removed  to  Windham  Center, 
still  retaining  his  farming  interests,  however,  for  a  few  years.  During  the 
Rebellion  he  offered  his  services  to  the  country,  but  they  were  not  accepted. 
Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  and  though  not  an  office-seeker  he  has  held 
some  of  the  minor  township  offices.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  for  forty-live  years,  and  always  took  an  active  part  in  Sabbath- 
school  work,  until  within  a  few  years  past,  when  deafness  interfered  with 
those  duties. 

HENRY  A.  HIGLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Becket,  Mass., 
February  21,  1814,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sybel  (Cogswell)  Higley,  the  former 
of  whom  was  born  April  25,  1774,  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  The  latter,  also 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  born  March  14,  1776.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children:  Sybel  R.,  born  September  21,  1804;  Joseph  N.,  born  Sep- 
tember 6,  1806;  Sarah  M.,  born  November  6,  1808;  Ezra  C,  born  August  22, 
1810;  Elizabeth  D.,  born  April  22,  1812;  Henry  A.,  born  February  21,  1814; 
John  L.,  born  January  17,  1816;  Oliver  B.,  born  March  18,  1818.  Joseph 
Higley  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  an  influential  man,  and  an  active  church 
member.  He  died  October  18,  1825;  his  widow  December  1,  1864.  Our  sub- 
ject was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Windham  Township,  this  county,  when  but 
two  years  of  age,  and  here  he  grew  to  manhood,  fully  inured  to  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  life.  He  has  always  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  Mr.  Higley 
was  thrice  married;  first  on  May  7,  1840,  to  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  James 
Seeley,  born  October  16,  1821,  died  October  4,  1866,  leaving  to  his  care  one 
child — Henry  J.  (Charles  O.  died  January  21,  1862).  Our  subject  next  mar- 
ried, November  7,  1867,  Marion  M.  Udall,  who  died  October  7,  1870,  and  by 
her  he^had  one  son — Frank  S.  August  24,  1871,  he  then  married  Sarah  Jos- 
lin,  born  in  Mesopotamia,  Ohio,  April  6,  1825,  daughter  of  Reuben  and  Sarah 
(Parker)  Joslin,  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Vermont,  respectively,  and  early 
settlers  of  Trumbull   County,  Ohio,  and  who  were  the  parents  of  eleven  chii- 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  919 

dren,  of  whom  Mrs.  Higley  is  the  ninth.  During  the  war  Mr.  Higley  was 
one  of  the  Township  Trustees,  and  has  held  other  offices  of  trust.  He  is  a 
regular  attendant  of  the  Congregational  Church,  in  which  his  wife  is  an  active 
member.     He  has  always  been  identified  with  the  Republican  party. 

JOHN  L.  HIGLEY,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  January  17,  1816, 
in  Windham,  son  of  Joseph  Higley  (see  sketch  of  Henry  A.  Higley).  He  was 
married  in  1841  to  Miss  Elizabeth  K.  Frary,  born  in  Becket,  Mass.,  in  1820, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  (Gilford)  Frary,  and  has  a  family  of  sis  chil- 
dren. Mr.  Higley  is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Windham  Township,  this 
county,  and  the  property  he  has  accumulated  represents  mauy  hours  of  hard 
labor  with  his  own  hands.  Though  he  took  no  active  part  in  the  late  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  he  aided  the  soldiers'  families  at  home.  He  has  been  a  consist- 
ent member  of  the  Congregational  Church  since  1841,  and  has  also  been  an 
active  worker  in  the  Sabbath-school.  Mr.  Higley  bears  the  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  his  township,  which  he  has  served  as  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  one  term  and  in  other  offices  of  trust.  Politically  he  is  iden- 
tified with  the  Republican  party. 

OLIVER  B.  HIGLEY   (deceased)  was  born  in  Windham  Township,  this 
county,  March  18,  1818,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sybel  (Cogswell)  Higley.     He  was 
twice  married,  on  first  occasion  to  Eunice  West,  who  bore  him  one  son— Mil- 
ton.    His  second  marriage,   June   14,    1849,  was  with  Betsey  Case,  born    in 
Pennsylvania  June    4,  1827,  daughter  of  Daniel  and   Phalley  (Peck)  Case, 
natives  of  New  York.     By  this  union  there  were  five  children:  Charley,  Mary, 
July,  Clint  and  Edwin.     Our  svibject  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  received  a  com- 
mon' school   and  academic  education,  and  entered  upon  his  career  in  life  as  a 
teacher.     At  the   age  of  twenty- one  he  went  to  Iowa,  and  for  several  years 
taught  school  in  the  Western  States.     Returning  to  Ohio  in  1851  he  turned 
his   attention  to  farming  and  sheep-raising.     He  soon  had  his  farm  under  a 
state  of  cultivation  which  won  for  him  the  reputation  of  being  a  practical  as 
well  as  a  representative  farmer  of  his  township.     His  motto  was  to  excel,  and 
all  his  efforts  were  to  that  end.     He  filled  several  of  the  township  offices,  and, 
although  not  identified  with  any  religious  denomination,  was  for  many  years 
previous   to  his  death   a  professed  Christian,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
support  of  religious  and  educational  institutions,  as  far  as  his  limited  means 
would  allow.     He  died  February  19,  1866,  and  since  his  death  the  farm  haa 
been  successfully  carried  on  by  his  widow  with  the  assistance  of  her  children. 
JESSE  LYMAN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Mahoning,  was  born  in  Windham  Town- 
ship, this  county,  November  29,  1813.    His  father,  Jeremiah  Lyman,  a  tanner 
by  trade  but  in  later  years  a  farmer,    was   a  native  of  Connecticut,   and  was 
reared  in  Massachusetts,  where  he  lived  with   an  uncle  until   1811,   when  he 
came  to  this  county  and  became  one  of  the  original  owners  of  what  is  now 
Windham  Township.     On  his  way  to  his  new  home  his  wife,  Rhoda  Fuller, 
died,  leaving  to  his  care  four  children:  Anna,  Hulda,  Milton  and  Laura,  all  of 
whom  are  now  deceased.     He  subsequently  married   Hannah  Sperry,  of  Con- 
necticut, who  bore  him  two  children:    Hannah  (deceased  wife  of  A.  West)  and 
Jesse.      Jeremiah  Lyman  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.    He  died 
August   19,    1845,   his  widow  surviving  him  until  1863.     The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  married,  March  27,  1839,  to  Miss  Dorcas  Finch,  born  in  Otis,  Mass., 
September  9,  1821,  and  by  her  has  two  children  living:  Clara  H.,  wife  of  C. 
L.  Bryant  (they  had  three  children:  Stowell,  Vernie,  died  March  8,  1885, aged 
twelve  years,  and  Belle,  died  March  7,  1885,  aged  sis  years),  and  Lettie  M., 
wife  of  E.  J.  Hill.     Mr.  Lyman,  who  has  always  been  a  farmer,  resides  on  the 
old  homestead.     He  has  held  several  offices  of  trust  in  the  township,   and  is 
energetic,  enterprising  and  highly  esteemed  by  the  community. 


920  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

WILLIAM  A.  MESSENGER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  March 
12,  1827,  in  Windham  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  William  Anson 
Messenger,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  born  December  28,  1794,  son  of 
Ebenezer  N.  Messenger,  one  of  the  original  owners  of  Windham  Township, 
where  he  was  drowned  October  13,  1828,  in  a  spring  on  his  farm.  He,  Ebenezer 
N. ,  had  married  Miss  Campbell, who  bore  him  ten  children:  Ebenezer  O.,  Nathan 
H.,  Polly,  Sarah,  Susan,  Lucinda,  William  A.,  Benoni  Y.,  Wells  and  Marvin. 
William  Anson  Messenger  came  to  Windham  Township,  this  county,  in  1811, 
with  his  parents,  in  company  with  several  other  families.  He  was  thrice  mar- 
ried; first,  February  24,  1819,  to  Desire  Fowler,  who  died  September  30,1822, 
leaving  one  daughter — Phebe  F.  (Mrs.  West).  His  second  marriage.  May  31, 
1826,  was  with  Edna  Prentice,  born  May  2,  1798,  died  January  25,  1859.  By 
this  union  there  were  four  children:  "\7illiam  A.  (our  subject);  Edna  D.,  born 
October  12,  1831  (died  in  infancy);  Edna  A.,  born  April  30,  1833,  married 
N.  Whitney,  of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  died  June  5,  1854;  and  Adna  C,  born  May 
19,  1835,  now  a  resident  of  Anderson  County,  Kan.  Mr.  Messenger  married 
for  his  third  wife,  August  31,  1861,  Lydia  Cadwell,  born  April  6,  1833,  and 
who  is  still  living.  He  held  nearly  all  the  township  ofifices,  and  was  an  influ- 
ential man,  a  liberal  supporter  of  all  public  enterprises,  and  for  many  years 
was  a  consistent  Christian  and  attendant  at  the  Sabbath- schools.  He  died 
March  27,  1864.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married,  September  26,1852, 
to  Elizabeth  Ann  Chaffee,  born  in  Becket,  Mass.,  October  5,  1831,  daughter  of 
Newman  and  Elizabeth  (Phelps)  Chafifee,  natives  of  Massachusetts,  both  now 
deceased.  Three  children  were  the  fruit  of  this  union:  Arthur  W.,  Hattie 
E.,  wife  of  P.  B.  Higley,  and  Nettie  E.,  wife  of  F.  B.  Jagger.  During  the 
late  war  of  the  Rebellion  Mr.  Messenger  enlisted  in  the  lOO-days  service  in 
Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-tirst  Ohio  National  Guard.  He  has 
always  followed  farming  as  an  occupation  and  came  to  his  present  place  in 
1867.  Though  at  one  time  the  Messengers  were  most  numerous  in  W^indham 
Township  there  are  now  but  two  male  representatives  of  this  name  in  the 
township— our  subject  and  his  son. 

HENRY  PALMER,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Palmyra  Township, 
this  county,  June  25, 1820;  son  of  Jesse  and  Amanda  (Rogers)  Palmer,  the  former 
of  whom  was  born  in  Connecticut  September  1,  1780,  the  latter  in  Connecticut 
November  7,  1782.  They  were  married  March  29,  1808,  and  had  a  family  of 
eight  children:  Frederick,  Caroline  (deceased),  James  R.,  Laura  A.  (deceased), 
Clarissa  (deceased),  Milton,  Henry  and  Harriet.  Jesse  Palmer,  who  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  a  strict  Christian  man,  died  April  15,  1834,  his  widow 
surviving  him  until  Aiigust  12,  1837.  His  parents  dying  when  he  was  young, 
our  subject  worked  as  a  farm-hand  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  since 
when  he  has  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account,  and  has  the  reputation 
of  being  enterprising  and  energetic,  and  is  esteemed  for  his  many  good  qual- 
ities. During  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guard,  and  participated  in  the 
engagement  at  Cynthiana,  Ky.  He  was  married,  September  11,  1845,  to 
Rebecca  Turner,  born  in  Windham  June  28,  1817,  daughter  of  Levi  Alford, 
and  widow  of  Samuel  Turner,  who  was  born  August  1,  1810,  married  Septem- 
ber 10,  1834,  and  died  December  17,  1842.  (By  Mr.  Turner  she  had  three  chil- 
dren: Joseph  L.,  Edna  R.  and  Edward  W.)  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  has 
been  born  one  daughter— Emogene,  born  November  21,  1849,  now  the  wife  of 
J.  Ramsdell,  of  Erie  County,  Ohio.  Mr.  Palmer  and  wife  have  been  consist- 
ent members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  nearly  forty-two  years, 
and  have  also  taken  an  active  part  in  Sabbath- school  work. 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  9-1 


SAMUEL  A    PARDEE,    farmer,  P.  O.    Windham,   was  born  in  Addison 
County,  Vt.,  September  10,  1829;  son  of  Benjamin  F.  and  Harriet  (Perkins) 
Pardee    the  former  of  whom,  a  hatter  by  trade,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
the  latter  of  Vermont.     They   were  parents  of  ^^^  children:  Chauncey  A 
born  July  1.  1816;  Benjamin  F.,  born  August  27,  1818;  Marcus  L    born  Octo- 
ber 19   1820;  Azro  A.,  born  November  6,  1823,  and  Samuel  A.     Benjamin  F 
Pardee  died  February   28,    1830,    when  our  subject  was  not  a  year  old,  and 
when  he  was  seven  years   of  age  his   mother  married  Samuel   H.  Pardee  (a 
brother  c,f  her  deceased  husband),  who  was  elected  County  Assessor  i^  l^.^o 
and  eventually  became  State  Representative  from  Portage  County,  and  ^ith  him 
our  subject  lived  till  he  reached  his  majority.     His  mother  died  May  1    18bb. 
Samuel  A.  Pardee  was  brought  to  this  county  by  his  parents   m   1835.     He 
acquired   a  common  school  education,  and  early  in  life  learned  the  carpenter 
and  joiner  trade,  which  he  followed  more  or  less  for  fifteen  years,  since  when 
he  has  given  his  entire  attention  to  farming.     He  was  married   July    ^    IS^I; 
to  Diadama  Owen,   born  in  Lebanon  Springs,  N.  Y^,  December  30  1828   and 
has    live   children:  Salmon  A.,   civil  engineer  in  California;  ^\i  ham  C.     a 
physician  in  Warren  County,    Ohio;  Ella  A. ;  Howai^d  L  and  Silas  O.     Mr^ 
Pardee,  with  the  exception  of  five  years,  has  lived  m  the  same  neighborhood 
for  forty-eight  years.      During  the  |war   of  the    Rebellion  he  served  m   the 
100    days    service,    enlisting    in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first 
Ohio  National  Guards.     He  has  held  several  offices  of  trust  m  the  township. 

Politically  he  is  a  Democrat.  .  t.t  lu      •  i  Tf,.AA 

ALT  AN  Y   RXIDD,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  is  a  son  of  Nathaniel  Kudd, 
who  was  born  in  Becket,  Mass.,  May  17,  1795,  and  came  to   Windham  Town- 
ship, this  county,  in  1816,  purchasing  land  on  which  he  made  some  improve- 
ment.    The  following  year  he  returned  to  his  native  State  f„^  J^f  rried,  Janu^ 
ary  15,  1817,  Sophia  Messenger,  born  May  22,  1797.      In  1818  they  returned 
in  company  with  Xenophon  Wadsworth  and  wife  to  this  township,  making  the 
trip  of  about  500  miles  with  a  team  of  horses  and  oxen  in  six  weeks    entered 
upon  pioneer  life,  and  in  a  few  weeks  had  erected  the  log-cabm  jbich  was  to 
be  their  home  for  so  many  years,  and  where  were  born  to  them  five  children: 
William  B.,   Alonzo  M.,    Samuel  V.,   Alvan   V.   and  an  infant  all  of  whom 
are  now  deceased  but  our  subject.     Nathaniel   Rudd  was  an   influential  man 
in  his  day,  always  first   in   any   enterprise   tending  to  the  improvment  of  the 
county   and  a  liberal  supporter  of  its  public  institutions.     He  was  Captain  ot 
the  State  militia  and  also  served  a  short  time  the  war  of  1812.      tie   was  a 
Whig  in  politics.     He  filled  several  offices  of  trust  m  Windham  Townshp, 
was  an  active  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  a  leader  m  Sabbath - 
school  work  for  several  years  previous  to  his  death,  which  occurred  Decembei 
19,  1844.     His  widow  still  survives  him.     The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  bom 
Auo-ust  15,  1830,  in  Windham  and  still  resides  on  the  fai-m  which  has  always 
been  his  home.     His  father  dying  when  he  was  but  fourteen  years  of  age  his 
educational   advantages   were   limited,   but  by  reading  and  ^bservation  he  has 
acquired  an  average  education.     Having  a  taste  for  live-stock,  he  e^^ly  b^^ame 
the  possessor  of  some  Shorthorn  cattle  and  has  gradually    increased  bi^  W 
till  it  is  now  one  of  the  finest  in  the  county,  and  he  is  considei;ed  one  ot  the 
oldest  cattle-breeders  in  the  same,  having  made  his  start  m   ^»0f     ^ J^J 
served  in  several  of  the  minor  township  offices.     During  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion he  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National 
Guards,  and  served  100  days.      Since  he   was  fourteen  years  of  age  he  has 
been   identified  with   the  Congregational  Church.       February   16,   1854,   he 
was   united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Irene  Franklin,  born  m  Lewis  Count),  N. 


922  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES: 

Y.,  July  2,  1833,  daughter  of  Alonzo  and  Dianthia  (Torrence)  Franklin,  natives 
of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  respectively,  and  early  settlers  of  Cuyahoga 
County,  Ohio,  the  former  of  whom  is  now  deceased.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rudd 
have  been  born  four  children:  Willis  A.,  Orton  N.,  Emma  S.  and  Ann  D. 

PHILIP  RUSSELL,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  in  Madison 
County,  N.  Y.,  October  25,  1811,  son  of  Philip  and  Nancy  (Sanford)  Russell, 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  Madison  County,  N,  Y.,  respectively.  They  were 
parents  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  seven  are  now  living:  Nancy,  Philip, 
William,  Daniel,  Madison,  Webster  and  Delia,  latter  wife  of  Ira  S.  Cutts,  of 
Windham  Township,  this  county.  Philip  Russell,  Sr.,  a  carpenter  and  joiner 
by  trade,  but  by  occupation  a  farmer,  came  to  this  county  in  1815,  and  located 
in  Nelson  Township,  but  removed  to  Windham  Township  in  1822.  He  died  in 
Windham,  July  1,  1879,  aged  ninety- three  years;  his  widow,  October  8,  1882. 
Our  subject  early  learned  the  carpenter  and  joiner  trade,  though  farming  has 
been  his  principal  occupation.  He  has  been  twice  married,  first  to  Sally  E. 
Jagger,  born  October  5,  1815,  in  Windham,  who  bore  him  six  children:  Sarah 
E.,  Elmina,  Alanson  R. ,  Augusta,  Abby  C.  and  Daniel  J.  Mrs.  Russell  died 
in  April,  1877,  and  on  May  3, 1881,  Mr.  Russell  married  Margaret  Owen,  born 
in  Ontario,  Canada,  June  20,  1857,  daughter  of  Anson  and  Antoinette  (Bliss) 
Owen,  natives  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  and  New  York,  respectively.  Mr. 
Russell  is  an  energetic,  enterprising  and  successful  farmer,  having  his  farm 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  takes  deep  interest  in  all  public 
improvements,  and  has  filled  several  offices  of  trust  in  the  township.  In  pol- 
itics he  has  ever  been  a  Republican. 

EBENEZER  S.  SHAW,  druggist,  Windham,  was  born  in  Cuyahoga 
County,  Ohio,  October  6,  1851,  son  of  James  and  Sarah  A.  (Seward)  Shaw. 
The  former  was  born  in  Ashland  County,  Ohio,  in  1808,  and  after  graduating 
at  the  Western  Reserve  College  and  Allegheny  Theological  Seminary  at  Alle- 
gheny, Penn. ,  was  regularly  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  at  Chillicothe, 
Ohio.  He  removed  to  Windham  in  1859,  where  he  served  as  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  until  a  few  weeks  prior  to  his  demise  in  April,  1875. 
James  Shaw  had  been  twice  married,  first  to  Harriet  Metcalf,  who  bore  him 
one  son — James  M. ,  a  graduate  of  Western  Reserve  College,  Hudson,  Ohio, 
and  Lane  Seminary,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He  went  to  China  in  1874,  as  a  mis- 
sionary, and  there  died  in  June,  1876.  His  widow  and  one  child  still  reside 
in  China.  James  Shaw's  second  wife  was  Sarah  A.  Seward,  born  in  New  York 
in  1817,  and  brought  to  Summit  County,  Ohio,  when  an  infant.  She  is  now 
residing  with  her  only  son,  Ebenezer  S.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed 
the  year  1876  attending  the  Dental  College  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  In  1S79  he 
opened  a  drug  store  at  Windham,  in  partnership  with  Dr.  Longhead,  and  the 
year  following  graduated  at  the  Dental  College,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  His  part- 
ner having  retired  he  carries  on  the  drug  business  in  connection  with  den- 
tistry. He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  Librarian  of  the 
Windham  Circulating  Library. 

NELSON  C.  SMITH,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  December  1, 
1826,  in  North  Becket,  Mass.,  son  of  Champion  and  Achsah  (Little)  Smith, 
natives  of  Massachusetts,  born  in  1803  and  1806,  respectively,  parents  of  five 
children:  Nelson  C,  Elmira,  Martha,  Mary  (deceased)  and  Leona.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  1834,  and  the  original  homestead  tract  consisted  of  seventy 
acres,  to  which  they  added  until  it  contained  150  acres,  and  from  a  state  of 
nature  was  gradually  placed  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Champion 
Smith  died  June  6,  1881,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  January  2,  1879.  The- 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  December  10,  1857,  to  Mary  E.  Ford,  born 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  923 

in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  March  2,  1831,  daughter  of  Augustin  and  Susan- 
nah (Krahl)  Ford,  natives  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  respectively,  and 
early  settlers  of  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  To  this  union  was  born  one  daugh- 
ter— Alice  Blanche,  born  November  8,  1863,  and  married,  January  4,  1883,  to 
Arthur  Roper,  of  Nelson,  Ohio,  by  whom  she  has  one  child — Esther  Beuno, 
born  January  4,  1884.  The  principal  occupation  of  our  subject  has  been 
farming,  thou.gh  for  two  or  three  years  he  peddled  jewelry.  He  offered  his 
services  two  or  three  times  in  his  country's  defense,  but  was  not  accepted  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  one  of  his  eyes.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  Constable 
three  terms.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  has  been  actively  connected  with  the 
F.  &  A.  M.  and  I.  O.  O.  F.  fraternities.  As  a  rule  the  Smith  family  have 
been  Republican  in  politics. 

JUSTIN  E.  SNOW,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  May  10,  1828,  in 
Windham  Township,  this  county.  His  father,  Erastus  Snow,  was  born  in 
Connecticut  in  1782,  and  came  to  Windham  Township,  this  county,  in  1813. 
He  was  a  prominent  farmer,  strictly  honest  in  all  his  dealings,  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Erastus  Snow  was  first  married  to 
Anna  Alford,  who  died  May  23,  1828,  and  by  her  had  foui-  children,  two 
attaining  majority:  Anna  L.  and  Justin  E.  For  his  second  wife  he  married 
Polly  Hawley,  who  bore  him  five  children:  Frank,  Sarah,  Lucretia,  Francis 
and  an  infant.  Erastus  Snow  died  February  23,  1850;  his  widow  January  1, 
1870.  Our  subject,  who  was  reared  on  a  farm,  received  a  common  school  edu- 
cation, and  early  in  life  learned  shoe-making,  which  occupation  he  followed 
for  twenty-five  years,  part  of  the  time  in  Pennsylvania.  He  married.  May  22, 
1850,  Eunice  JL.  Rockwell,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  died  February  16,  1855, 
leaving  to  his  care  one  daughter — Elda,  wife  of  Washington  Beach,  of  Mis- 
souri (have  three  children:  Nora,  Cora  and  Millie).  Mr.  Snow  was  married 
the  second  time  September  27,  1857,  to  Fanny  H.  Watson,  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  May  22,  1833,  at  Appledore,  County  of  Kent,  England,  daughter  of 
George  and  Sarah  (Fullagur)  Watson,  and  by  this  union  was  born  November 
13,  1863,  one  child — Linda  L.  Mr.  Snow  served  in  Company  I,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guards,  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. He  returned  to  this  county  in  1876,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  to 
farming.  He  is  a  member  of  Garrettsville  Lodge  F.  &  A.  M.,  Portage  Lodge 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  Ravenna  Encampment.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

HENRY  B.  WALDEN,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  May  8,  1832,  in 
Windham  Township,  this  county,  on  the  place  that  has  always  been  his  home. 
His  father,  Joshua  Walden,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  1818,  locating  in  Windham 
Township,  this  county,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  was  mar- 
ried to  Esther  Wilmot,  born  in  Connecticut  in  1798  (she  was  the  widow  of 
Harry  Blair,  by  whom  she  had  one  son — Orrin  H.  Blair — who  attained  his 
majority,  now  deceased).  To  our  subject's  parents  were  born  two  children: 
Caroline  (deceased  wife  of  Seth  Strickland)  and  Henry  B.  Joshua  Walden 
was  a  prominent  farmer,  and  by  industry  and  economy  amassed  a  large  prop- 
erty. He  died  October  4,  1865.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Our  subject  in 
early  life  was  employed  like  farmer  boys  of  the  present  day,  and  farming  has 
been  his  principal  occupation.  He  was  married  December  24,  1864,  to  Lovisa 
H.  Higley,  born  August  15,  1841,  daughter  of  M.  P.  Higley,  and  by  this 
union  are  four  children:  Frank  H.,  Luna  E.,  Delia  A.  and  Carrie  M.  Dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  Rebellion  Mr.  Walden  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy-first  Ohio  National  Guards.  He  has  served  in  several  oflices 
of  honor  and  trust  in  his  township.  He  is  a  member  of  Earl  Milliken  Post, 
G.  A.  R.     In  politics  a  Republican. 


924  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

ISAAC  N.  WILCOX,  fanner,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  near  Cuyahoga 
Falls,  Summit  County,  Ohio,  December  24,  1833.  His  father,  Capt.  Isaac 
Wilcox,  was  born  in  Berlin,  Conn.,  May  17,  1779;  married  first  December  26, 
1800,  to  Lucy  North,  who  bore  him  ten  children.  In  1809  he  came  with  an 
ox-team  to  Stowe,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio;  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  eventually 
became  one  of  the  most  influential  men  of  that  township,  by  industry  and 
economy  accumulating  quite  a  large  property.  He  was  married  on  the  second 
occasion  April  23,  1822,  to  Mary  Kandall,  of  Washington,  Columbiana  Co., 
Ohio,  and  a  native  of  Baltimore,  Md. ,  where  she  was  born  October  18,  1792, 
and  by  whom  he  had  six  children,  our  subject  being  the  fifth.  Capt.  Wilcox 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  many  years, 
and  died  September  15,  1847;  his  widow  surviving  him  until  March  1,  1883, 
when  she  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  Our  subject  was  raised 
on  the  farm,  and  received  a  common  school  and  academic  education.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen  years  ho  entered  upon  his  career  in  life  as  a  teacher,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  profession,  more  or  less,  for  fifteen  years;  some  of  his  labors 
in  that  capacity  being  in  the  Windham  Academy,  and  in  the  graded  schools 
of  Akron,  Ohio.  For  two  years  he  was  one  of  the  County  School  Examiners, 
and  at  various  times  has  taken  an  active  part,  as  instructor  and  lecturer,  in  the 
County  Teachers'  Institute.  He  was  married  May  26,  1857,  to  Miss  Melissa  S. 
Scott,  born  in  Freedom  Township,  Ohio,  February  24,  1836,  daughter  of 
Elijah  Scott,  late  of  Eootstown.  Thev  have  three  children:  Ida  M.,  born  July 
17,  1858;  Scott  S.,  born  June  14,  1864;  Wesley  W.,  born  August  31,  1881. 
About  1858  Mr.  Wilcox  came  to  Windham,  this  county,  and  has  owned  a  farm 
most  of  the  time  since,  upon  which  he  and  family  have  resided,  and  although 
he  has  never  given  his  entire  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  the  manage- 
ment of  his  farm  has  been  under  his  direct  superintendence.  He  at  one  time 
owned  an  interest  in  a  coal  mine  in  Coshocton  County,  and  for  some  time  was 
the  Secretary  of  the  company,  but  owing  to  an  accident  at  that  time,  he  dis- 
posed of  his  interest  in  that  enterprise,  and  resigned  his  position.  In  answer 
to  the  first  call  for  troops  in  April,  1861,  he  offered  his  services  and  enlisted 
in  Company  F,  Seventh  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  three  months  as 
Second  Lieutenant.  He  afterward,  in  company  with  Capt.  Prior,  of  Kavenna, 
raised  a  cavalry  company  which  was  attached  to  the  Sixth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  and  served  as  First  Lieutenant  until  near  the  close  of  the  war,  when 
he  received  a  Captain's  commission.  He  is  now  Quarter-Master  of  Earl-Milli- 
ken  Post,  No.  333,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Windham.  Since  1872  he  has  been  a  stanch 
advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  is  Committee- 
man and  one  of  the  leaders  in  this  township.  He  has,  at  different  times, 
been  correspondent  for  Eastern  papers,  and  several  of  the  weekly  periodicals 
of  Portage  County. 

THE  WOODWORTH  FAMILY  OF  WINDHAM.  There  is  a  tradition  in 
this  family  that  some  time  near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  En- 
gland, a  gentleman  named  Wood  married  a  lady  named  Worth,  but  instead  of 
adopting  his  name,  they  blended  both  names,  thus  originating  the  name 
"  Woodworth."  Two  sons  by  this  union  came  to  America,  one  settling  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  the  other  in  New  Lebanon,  Conn.  The  grandsons  of  the 
latter  were  young  men  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Pvevolutionary  struggle,  in  which 
some  of  them  served;  others  took  part  in  the  war  of  1812.  Joseph  Wood- 
worth  participated  in  the  noted  New  Jersey  retreat,  and  in  the  battles  of 
Monmouth,  Princeton  and  Trenton,  wintering  at  Valley  Forge.  He  was  with 
Wayne  at  Stony  Point,  and  served  under  Gates  in  the  campaign  preceding  the 
surrender  of  Burgoyne.     He  was  also  present  at  other  of  the  stirring  scenes 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  925 

of  that  war.  Some  portion  of  his  service  was  in  the  regiment  of  Col.  Tilden, 
late  of  Hiram,  this  county.  After  the  war  he  moved  to  Schoharie  County,  N. 
Y.,  and  about  1816  to  Madison  County  in  the  same  State.  He  was  blessed 
with  a  very  large  family  of  children,  of  whom  fifteen  lived  to  adult  years,  and 
to  raise  families.  Late  in  life  he  removed  with  some  of  his  sons  to  Catta- 
raugus County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  in  18-12  in  his  eighty-fifth  year.  Two  of 
his  sons,  William  and  Thomas  J.,  became  residents  of  Windham.  William 
and  family  are  noticed  in  an  accompanying  sketch. 

THOMAS  J.  WOODWORTH  (deceased!,  a  younger  brother  of  William, 
was  born  at  Rensselaerville,  Schoharie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  June  9,  1808.  His  parents 
removed  to  Madison  County,  N.  Y. ,  when  he  was  about  eight  years  old.  When 
about  nine  he  was  afflicted  with  what  was  known  as  the  putrid  epidemic,  and 
of  a  large  number  of  cases  in  that  region,  he  was  the  only  one  who  survived. 
But  from  its  effects  he  never  recovered,  his  hearing  being  permanently  affected 
and  in  other  respects  he  suffered.  Growing  up  amid  the  rugged  activities  of 
pioneer  life,  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  and  was  thus  trained  to 
habits  of  persevering  industry  and  self-reliance.  Having  secured  such  intel- 
lectual training  as  was  afforded  by  the  district  school,  he  entered  Oneida  Con- 
ference Seminary,  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  study.  His 
name  appears  on  the  records  of  that  institution  for  1829.  He  was  dissuaded 
from  entering  the  legal  profession,  which  he  had  contemplated  doing,  on 
account  of  his  imperfect  hearing.  Some  three  years  were  then  spent  in  the 
employ  of  Col.  Hezekiah  Sage,  of  Sullivan,  a  part  of  the  time  as  foreman  on 
his  extensive  farm.  One  fall  he  sowed  300  bushels  of  seed  wheat  by  hand. 
With  the  means  thus  obtained  in  the  employ  of  Col.  Sage  he  made  the  first 
payment  in  the  purchase  of  a  farm  in  Fenner  in  the  same  county.  In  1833  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Sarah  S.  Wager,  daughter  of  Philip  Wager,  Esq., 
of  Sullivan.  Her  father  was  in  early  life  a  pioneer  preacher  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  He  joined  the  itinerancy  in  1790.  In  1792  he  was  one 
of  the  eight  ministers  who  formed  the  first  New  England  Conference  as  organ- 
ized by  Bisho]D  Asbury,  with  Jesse  Lee  as  Presiding  Elder.  He  was  the  first  min- 
ister of  this  conference  sent  into  the  States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and 
Rhode  Island.  He  located  about  1800.  He  was  brother  of  Rev.  David  Wager,  of 
Columbia  County,  N.  Y.,  and  of  Henry  Wager,  father  of  Hon.  David  Wager, 
law  partner  of  Horatio  Seymour,  and  grandfather  of  Gen.  Henry  Wager  Hal- 
leck.  Immediately  after  his  marriage  Mr.  W^oodworth  removed  to  his  Fenner 
farm.  Twenty-six  years  were  passed  here  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  respect  of 
the  community,  shown  by  the  many  positions  of  honor  and  trust  he  held  in 
township  and  county;  among  them  Commissioner  of  Deeds  and  Magistrate  for 
several  years.  One  incident  of  his  life  exemplifies  his  indomitable  energy 
and  perseverance  very  forcibly.  When  he  had  nearly  paid  for  his  farm  and 
began  to  feel  in  somewhat  easy  circumstances,  he  undersigned  a  friend  and 
relative  to  a  large  amount,  and  by  so  doing  lost  heavily  and  was  plunged  into 
debt  so  deeply  that  his  friends  despaired  of  his  saving  his  farm.  But  he  at 
once  sold  off  everything  except  the  bare  necessaries  for  farming  purposes,  and 
with  an  industry  that  knew  no  flagging,  set  to  work  to  pay  off  the  debt,  a  task 
which  took  more  than  ten  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  accomplish.  In 
1859  he  sold  his  farm  and  removed  to  Cazenovia  in  the  same  county,  and  from 
there  to  Windham,  this  county,  in  1860.  His  deafness  increasing,  he  led  a 
more  retired  life  in  Windham  than  in  former  years.  Home  was  the  most 
attractive  place  to  him  and  to  make  it  enjoyable  he  gave  his  best  energies. 
He  was  a  keen  observer  of  men  and  things,  and  all  his  actions  and  words 
evinced  a  sound  judgment  which  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who   knew 


926  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES: 

him.  From  the  days  of  his  majority  he  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  voting 
for  Buchanan,  but  supporting  Lincoln  in  1860,  and  ever  after  the  Republican 
party  with  zeal.  During  the  Rebellion  he  was  a  member  of  the  War  Com- 
mittee of  Windham,  and  did  what  lay  in  his  power  to  support  the  X^nion 
cause.  Mr.  Woodworth  was  of  an  inquiring,  active  cast  of  mind,  was  a  great 
reader  during  the  intervals  from  more  active  duties,  always  seeking  informa- 
tion. His  knowledge  of  the  political  history  of  our  country  was  extensive. 
He  delighted  in  discussion,  and  his  sword  of  argument  was  edged  with  a 
satire  and  wit  which  rendered  it  keen  and  cutting.  Though  jSrm  and  decided 
in  his  convictions,  he  extended  to  others  in  the  sphere  of  thought  the  suffrage 
he  secured  to  himself.  In  early  life  he  became  a  Methodist,  he  while  here 
holding  a  certificate  of  membership  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Cburch,  of 
Cazenovia,  N.  Y.  Thorough  honesty  was  his  admiration,  and  for  hypocrisy 
he  entertained  the  highest  contempt.  To  be  more  than  he  seemed  rather  than 
less  was  his  highest  aim.  These  traits  were  exemplified  in  his  character.  In 
business  he  was  successful  in  spite  of  his  misfortunes,  and  he  accumulated  a 
handsome  competency,  far  in  advance  of  those  whose  dishonesty  robbed  him 
of  years  of  toil.  To  be  a  good  farmer,  according  to  his  ideal,  was  his  highest 
happiness  as  an  occupation.  On  coming  to  Windham  he  bought  Lot  33,  then 
known  as  the  Willis  Strickland  farm.  It  was  ever  after  his  residence.  He 
made  his  home  in  Fenner  an  attractive  place,  and  his  Windham  home  will 
long  bear  the  impress  of  his  energy  and  love  of  order.  He  died  suddenly  of 
paralysis,  January  30,  1884. 

HON.  E.  S.  WOODWORTH,  son  of  Thomas  J.  Woodworth,  was  born  in 
Fenner,  N.  Y. ,  August  24,  1841.  His  boyhood  years  were  spent  on  the  farm 
and  in  the  district  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  In  1858  he  entered  Oneida 
Conference  Seminary,  and  completed  a  three  years'  course  in  1860.  In  the 
winter  of  1 858-59  he  taught  his  first  term  of  school  in  Lenox,  N.  Y. ,  and  so 
well  did  he  succeed  that  the  next  winter  he  was  employed  to  take  charge  of 
one  of  the  principal  school  in  Cazenovia,  the  village  of  his  home,  his  parents 
having  moved  to  this  place  in  1859.  In  July,  1860,  after  leaving  school,  he 
came  to  W^indham,  Ohio,  his  parents  having  made  their  home  there  in  May 
previous.  He  at  once  began  labor  on  their  farm.  In  the  winter  of  1860-61 
he  taught  in  Ravenna,  and  for  many  succeeding  winters  in  different  schools  of 
Windham.  In  1862  he  spent  some  time  in  school  at  Hiram,  thinking  to  enter 
the  Junior  Class  of  Michigan  University  in  1863,  but  the  events  of  the  war 
and  other  circumstances  changed  that  plan,  as  well  as  his  ideal  for  life-work 
— the  study  of  law.  In  1864  he  was  a  member  of  Company  I,  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-first  Regiment  Ohio  National  Guards,  and  in  the  battle  of  Kel- 
lar's  Bridge,  Ky.,  he  was  severely  wounded  by  a  ball  shattering  his  right  leg 
below  the  knee.  On  the  morning  of  this  battle  he  volunteered  at  the  request 
of  Gen.  Hobson  to  gain  what  knowledge  was  possible  of  the  situation  of  the 
Rebel  force  under  John  Morgan  at  Cynthiana,  some  two  miles  away,  who 
earlier  in  the  day  had  an  engagement  with  a  small  detachment  of  our  men 
under  Col.  Garis.  He  was  to  advise  Col.  Garis  to  fall  back  to  Kellar's  Bridge 
if  practicable.  However,  it  was  found  that  our  force  there  had  already  been 
forced  to  surrender,  and  Woodworth,  who  succeeded  in  getting  within  the 
enemy's  picket  line  and  almost  in  the  town,  was  happy  to  get  out  much 
faster  then  he  went  in,  after  a  close  range  encounter  with  a  calvary- man  who 
followed  him  and  after  exchanging  several  shots  got  the  benefit  of  a  ball  from 
Woodworth's  revolver.  On  reporting  to  Gen.  Hobson  he  received  his  thanks 
as  well  as  much  credit  by  all  who  knew  the  circumstances  of  the  exploit. 
Being  much  exhausted  on  his  return  to  his  company  the  officers  advised  him 


WINDHAM  TOWNSHIP.  927 

not  to  go  into  the  right  that  was  commencing,  but  he  insisted  on  going,  and 
was  wounded  as  stated.  With  the  wounded  from  this  battle  he  was  taken  to 
Covington,  Ky. ,  where  he  remained  nearly  four  months  before  he  was  able  to 
be  removed  home.  He  refused  to  have  his  leg  amputated  when  advised  to  do 
so  by  the  post  surgeons,  and  so  saved  his  limb.  In  1871  he  married  Belle  C, 
daughter  of  William  Rudd,  late  of  Sullivan,  Ashland  Co.,  Ohio,  who,  while 
a  member  of  the  Forty -second  Ohio  (Garfield's  regiment),  received  a  wound  at 
Champion  Hills,  from  which  he  died.  The  William  Rudd  family  at  present 
reside  at  McMinnville,  Tenn.  The  children  of  this  union  are  Nellie  E.,  born 
October  20,  1873;  Glenn  R.,  born  January  29,  1877,  and  Clyde  W.,  born 
November  26,  1880,  but  who  died  March  19,  1885.  He  was  an  attractive  child 
who  won  all  hearts.  Mr.  Woodworth  is  in  politics  an  ardent  Republican,  and 
enjoys  the  remembrance  that  his  first  vote  was  cast  for  Garfield  on  his  first 
election  to  Congress,  and  his  first  Presidential  vote  was  for  Lincoln  on  his 
second  election.  He  has  held  many  positions  of  trust,  among  them  Justice 
of  the  Peace  some  eight  years,  which  position  he  resigned  on  his  election  to  the 
Legislature  in  1881.  In  that  body  he  was  esteemed  for  his  strict  and  assid- 
uous attention  to  the  duties  of  his  position,  and  for  a  new  member  was  more 
highly  honored  than  is  usual  by  being  placed  in  important  positions  on  com- 
mittees. In  the  County  Convention  of  1888  he  lacked  only  seven  votes  of  a 
re-nomination.  Like  many  others  of  the  Sixty-fifth  Ohio  General  Assembly 
he  8ufi"ered  because  of  his  vote  favoring  the  "  Scott  Law  "  and  kindred  tem- 
perance legislation.  However,  his  friends  believe  he  has  nothing  to  regret, 
for  even  in  defeat  is  sometimes  high  honor.  He  has  been  an  active  worker  polit- 
ically for  several  years,  and  in  the  campaign  of  1884  served  his  party  as  mem- 
ber of  the  Republican  County  Central  and  Executive  Committees.  Mr.  Wood- 
worth  lives  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  attractive  farm-home,  made  so  by  the  joint 
labor  of  his  father  and  himself,  he  having  added  to  his  paternal  acres.  He  is 
at  present  Senior  Vice-Commander  of  Earl-Milliken  Post,  No.  333,  G.  A.  R. , 
and  is  a  member  of  Silver  Creek  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Windham,  in  the  Sabbath-school  of  which  he  is  an 
active  worker.  Wherever  known  he  enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  life  he  sustains 
such  a  character  as  to  stand  high  in  the  esteem  and  honor  of  the  people  of 
Portage  County. 

SAMUEL  YALE,  farmer,  P.  O.  Windham,  was  born  September  15,  1844, 
in  Windham  Township,  this  county,  son  of  Edmund  and  Nancy  (Russell)  Yale, 
the  former  born  in  1806  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  and  the  latter  in  1809  in 
Hamilton  County,  N.  Y.  They  had  a  family  of  five  children:  Edwin,  Celia, 
Sanford  S.  (died  in  the  army  during  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion),  Samuel 
and  an  infant  (deceased).  Edmund  Yale  was  a  good  farmer,  a  thorough  busi- 
ness man  and  an  influential  citizen.  He  died  in  1878,  and  his  loss  was  not 
only  felt  in  his  family  but  by  the  whole  community.  His  widow  still  survives. 
Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm,  his  educational  advantages  being  limited  to 
the  common  schools  of  his  township.  He  was  married  September  5,  1867,  to 
Miss  Savilla  S.  Shibley,  born  in  Windham  Township,  this  county,  March  30, 
1848,  and  by  her  he  has  three  children:  Edmond,  Alta  C.  and  Edith  A.  Mr. 
Yale  has  made  farming  the  principal  occupation  of  his  life,  having  no  special- 
ty but  growing  the  usual  crops  and  handling  stock.  He  is  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  Church,  energetic  and  enterprising.  Mr.  Yale  is 
one  of  the  substantial  men  of  this  township. 


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